STILLWATER, Okla. – The latest drought monitor map from the Oklahoma Mesonet shows dry conditions intensifying, and 34 counties are currently under a burn ban.

Drought is taking its toll on agricultural producers and two of the state’s largest commodities – cattle and wheat.

Wheat grazing challenges

Jimmy Kinder is one of three generations who have grown dual-purpose wheat in southwest Oklahoma’s Cotton County. The wheat he plants is used as a forage for stocker calves to graze in late fall. In early September, Kinder dusted in wheat, a planting technique commonly used by producers when conditions are dry and subsoil moisture is low. Producers dust in the wheat seed at a shallow depth to maximize germination speed.

Typically, the stocker calves he buys would graze on this young wheat in a few weeks, but weather conditions are concerning.

“It’s up and growing, but with the hot weather we had in September and October, I’m wondering whether it’s a blessing or curse because it’s showing drought stress, and we’re losing plants,” Kinder said.

The experienced producer usually feeds out more than twice the number of stocker calves he currently owns, but when weather reports earlier this summer began forecasting a dry fall, Kinder knew he needed to take a conservative approach with forage and cattle for the rest of the year.

“We’ve got the calves on some stockpiled forages and grasses of various improved and native varieties, but there isn’t a whole lot of nutrient value in them,” he said. “We’re blessed with a barn full of hay, but we’re going to have to supplement with feed to make the stockers gain (weight).”

Kinder’s neighbors who manage cow/calf operations have exhausted many of their forage pasture resources for the year and are already feeding stockpiled hay to their herds. The remaining grass that has not yet turned dormant is drought-stressed and potentially high in nitrates that threaten cattle health. Varieties like Johnsongrass carry the risk of fatal prussic acid toxicity to cattle once overnight freezing temperatures arrive.

In addition to forage shortages, drought conditions deplete water sources, drying up ponds and forcing many producers to haul water to their cattle herds. Kinder said rural water is available in some of his pastures, but water quality has to be monitored during drought for excessive sulfur content.

“There are a lot of things in the environment that can kill livestock, including poisonous plants and low water quality,” he said. “Whenever all the water in a pond evaporates, it condenses the naturally occurring sulfur nutrients. You’ve got to be careful with supplements because distillers’ grain is also high in sulfur.”

Planting delays due to drought

For dual-purpose producers like Kinder, all wheat should be planted at this point in the season, said Amanda Silva, Oklahoma State University Extension small grains specialist. Most was dusted in.

“We don’t need a lot of rain, just a little for the wheat to germinate and emerge to sustain that seedling,” she said.

OSU Extension has received reports of armyworms in wheat fields planted in early September in north and north-central Oklahoma.

“Keep a lookout for that,” she explained in a recent segment of “SUNUP,” the production agriculture television show of OSU Agriculture. “Those armyworms are very tiny, and they change in activity depending on the time of day, especially for no-till fields, so look under residue.”

Grain-only wheat producers may be able to delay planting more than initially expected. Silva said preliminary OSU Extension research in delayed planting dates shows grain-only wheat producers can still reach satisfactory yields when sowing later, such as in November, especially when early fall planting conditions are unfavorable. Also, increasing the seeding rate from 870,000 seeds per acre to 1 million or 1.4 million does not appear to improve harvest yields.

“Going forward, the best decision farmers can make is whatever they’re most comfortable with,” she said. “We always face these (drought) situations in Oklahoma, and we do the best we can.”

Drought reduces forage amounts and wheat pasture for cattle to graze but will have little effect on cattle inventory because herd numbers are already so diminished.

No signs of recovery

“We haven’t recovered from what the drought has done to us over the past three years,” said Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist. “Our resources and pastures aren’t healed up, and with re-emerging drought threat now, producers are understandably being very cautious about restocking their herds.”

Producers have kept their herd numbers trimmed so low that drought is not forcing the additional sale of cattle. Peel said they will hang on to the cattle they have this fall if hay and water are available.

“It’s pushing off any potential recovery,” he said. “Next spring will be the key – if we’re still in drought conditions at that time, we’ll see some additional liquidation. If it looks better, we’ll start to rebuild with replacement heifers.”

Peel said beef consumers will continue to see record-level retail prices as supplies tighten into 2025.

“There’s no relief from the current situation, and whenever we do start saving replacement heifers in our herds, that will decrease beef supplies and impact consumers even more,” he said.

The new normal

Low cattle inventory, restricted water supplies, drought-stressed wheat and high retail beef prices all point to dry conditions that have gripped the Southern Great Plains off and on for the past three years. Oklahoma recorded 100-degree temperatures in early June and continues to hit the 90-degree mark in late October.

Wes Lee, OSU Extension Mesonet agriculture coordinator who retired this month, said drought tendencies are the new normal for Oklahoma weather.

“If we look over records going back to 1895, every decade during the past 40 to 50 years is hotter than the decade before,” Lee said. “We just finished an El Nino weather pattern this past winter, and we’re now into a La Nina cycle, which tends to be drier than normal. More heat is something we’ve got to get used to.”

Watch Lee discuss Oklahoma’s hot and dry fall pattern as he delivers his final weather segment on “SUNUP.”

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