Farmers Take Advantage Of Soil Health Programs To Increase Productivity And Profitability Of Crops

 

Today, the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, in cooperation with Redlands Community College and the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, hosted their fifth seminar in the Central Oklahoma Soil Health series, at Redland’s Darlington Chapel just outside of El Reno. This educational series was designed to expose interested producers to conservation practices that can be implemented on their operations to help increase the overall productivity and profitability on their land. Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Associate Farm Director Carson Horn was on the scene and spoke with the event’s organizer, Clay Pope, who works as a conservation consultant, about the day’s program.

 

“We’re talking a little more today about tools and technology that are available to producers that are looking into these strategies,” Pope said, citing several of the presenters in attendance slated to speak on some of the latest innovations and research being done today on soil health. “We’re just trying to get more information to folks that are trying to do some things to help their bottom line and also harden the farming and ranching operations to droughts and floods and other extreme weather events.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.