Good morning everyone.

I'm Lyndall Stout and we have another great show lined up for you today on SUNUP.

Spring is here and with summer right around the corner, how bad will fly and tick pressure be this year for cattle?

Then the US beef cattle herd continues to shrink.

We'll have the latest analysis.

And we find out about an Oklahoma bird recently taken off the endangered species list.

Grab that hot cup of coffee because SUNUP starts right now.

We begin this morning talking with OSU Extension entomologist, Dr.

Jonathan Kamek about fly and tick management for your cattle herd this spring and summer.

Let's start with ticks, Jonathan.

Certainly.

So we've got kind of a, you know, some timely issues right now and that is with Asian longhorn ticks.

So it's a topic that we've discussed, I guess, off and on over the past two years since they entered the state.

But given the time of year that we're at, this is when we start to expect to see that nymphal stage.

It's been overwintering, hiding in the leaf litter, kind of in our wooded areas, start to come out and be active, look for host animal to feed on.

Where are they in the state right now?

So right now we've got them confirmed in Craig County and Mays County.

And, you know, that hasn't changed that we're aware of since they were first documented in the state in 2024.

But given that they're present in Missouri and Arkansas, really kind of that northeast corner of the state is where producers need to be on the lookout.

So from Sequoia County up to Ottawa County, kind of that kind of range of, you know, maybe six to eight counties kind of in that corner of the state is where producers should be looking.

We've talked off and on about Asian longhorned tick and you get a lot of inquiries.

But for those who maybe are newer to the state or need a refresher, why this tick in particular is concerning?

Sure.

There's a couple of reasons.

You know, one, it's a non-native species.

So we don't necessarily have some of the natural control options that would maybe be present in the environment.

They also have a strange reproductive strategy in comparison to our native species.

So they reproduce asexually through a process known as parthenogenesis.

So they don't need a male, basically.

So the females are able to lay eggs without having to have that added challenge of finding a mate in the environment.

So populations of them can get very large very quickly.

And we can see, you know, in some states where they have established populations of them, hundreds, if not thousands of Asian longhorned ticks present on a single animal.

It sounds a little scary, but luckily there's treatment options.

Yes.

So there have been a lot of studies conducted around the country and around the world, actually, because this is a pest that's been spreading for about 125 years at this point to a lot of different locations.

And what we know is that essentially products that are labeled for tick control are effective against Asian longhorned ticks.

So as long as you've got, you know, maybe a pyrethroid or some other product that's an acaricide or labeled for managing ticks in general, what we've seen from laboratory studies is they are effective against Asian longhorned ticks.

What's the best time for that application?

So there have been a couple of studies that have kind of looked at kind of all encompassing ways to manage them.

And typically what we see is that a springtime treatment of a synthetic pyrethroid works really well.

So, you know, as you're working the animals, you know, maybe giving them the dewormers and checking them out for the springtime before they get released out on the pastures, go ahead and treat their bodies with a pyrethroid and, you know, spray that material on them where you see those ticks and that should take care of them.

Let's switch gears.

It's really nice out here.

Not many flies this morning, but it's a matter of time when it comes to hornflies and cattle.

What kind of guidance are you giving producers at this stage in the spring?

Certainly, you know, it is a beautiful day here in Stillwater, but we can think about the state and how the weather patterns change.

So, you know, hornflies, we typically start to see them become a problem in the southeast corner of the state first.

So, you know, McCurtain County, Idabel.

And then as the weather warms up, we start to get our springtime rains.

We see those populations move a little bit further north.

So usually about beginning of March, we'll see them in kind of the Idabel area.

And then, you know, maybe beginning of April, we start to see them become active in maybe Woodward area.

So the northwest corner of the state.

And then because the season's long, once it starts really warming up, is it important to kind of stagger your treatment approach?

Definitely.

So one of the best things producers can do right now is start providing their animals with a feed through insect growth regulator.

So go down to the co-op, your local feed store and get a mineral block or a mineral tub that's got some sort of an insect growth regulator in it.

That way, the animals, your cattle are going to consume that mineral and that pesticide product is essentially going to pass through their digestive tract and end up in the manure.

And so what we want to do is have as many of the manure pats in the pasture already treated with that pesticide product.

So when the hornflies do start to arrive and lay their eggs in those manure pats, that pesticide will kill the larvae that will be developing in the manure.

What is the best time then to use ear tags?

Yeah, so that's a tricky one, right?

Everybody wants to do it during spring break when they've got maybe the extra help or the free help that might be home from school.

But that's typically a little too early.

Most ear tags are going to give us about three to four months worth of control, depending on how hot it is, the chemical that's in that ear tag and maybe the manufacturer of that product.

Because some products are a little bit better than others.

You know, we see that with with all pesticide products, basically.

And so we really want to wait.

You know, maybe May to June would be an ideal situation.

End of May, beginning of June would be the best time to tag.

But also it's starting to get a little hot.

So producers have to weigh stress on the animals and employees versus effective hornfly management.

But certainly if you're tagging now, those tags are going to essentially lose their efficacy by June, July.

And hornfly season is going to peak in July and August.

We're talking broad recommendations today, but producers can always check in with their local extension office.

That's right.

The ag educator that's in each county is going to have great recommendations for what works in that local environment.

All right.

Thanks a lot.

And we will see you again soon.

And for a link to your local county OSU extension office, we have it for you at sunup.okstate.edu.

Good morning, everyone, this is state climatologist Gary McManus with the Mesonet Weather Report.

Well, we finally got some rain and some pretty good rain in some areas, but we also got more severe weather.

Let's take a look at the tornadoes we've had so far in 2026.

Well, we started off hot with five in January, which ties a previous record.

So that's quite a few for January.

We had a very slow February, which is wonderful.

But we did have a record number 22 in March and we've already had four in April with all that rain last week.

And the worst statistic of these tornadoes is we've had four fatalities so far.

So we definitely need to keep that in mind and keep those safety plans ready and in place.

In case severe weather approaches.

Now, the other hazard we want to talk about is drought, of course.

The latest drought monitor still shows most of the state in drought.

In fact, it's ninety nine percent still.

But we did reduce some of that extreme drought, the red color, especially from just southeast of Oklahoma City.

But we still have plenty of that extreme to severe drought across the state.

That's the red and the darker brown color.

We talk about that rainfall we had last week.

Well, it did reset the consecutive days with less than a quarter inch of rainfall map for most of the state.

But look at that orange up there in northwest Oklahoma.

We still have from about 34 to almost 140 days without a single day with at least a quarter inch of rainfall.

So definitely need some more up in that area of the state.

And we take a look at that 30 day rainfall, which, you know, it includes that rainfall we had last week.

We do see those great totals down from south central up to east central Oklahoma, down into southeast Oklahoma and even up into Oklahoma City metro area and just south of Tulsa with wide ranging three to as many as eight inches of rainfall.

But again, look at that area in the northwestern quarter of the state.

In some cases, no rainfall and in most cases less than a quarter inch of rainfall for that unfortunate region of the state.

The percent of normal rainfall map for the last 30 days tells the story again.

Look up in northwest Oklahoma.

Some of those places have had zero percent of normal, which is obviously not good.

We did have those surplus amounts from southwest into south central Oklahoma and up into east central Oklahoma.

But again, most of the state still suffering deficits, at least over that last 30 day period.

And of course, we know the deficits increase as we go back farther in time.

The USDA soil moisture maps finally came out to begin 2026.

And we do see for the week ending April 5th that our top soil moisture is at 72 percent short to very short.

So obviously impacted right before that rain last week.

And that's up from 25 points from this time last year.

So not a good report, despite that rainfall, which might improve this next week.

The subsoil moisture at percent short to very short is even worse at 77 percent.

And that's up from 30 points at this point last year.

So obviously not good for for that subsoil moisture either.

But again, we hope that this will improve with the rainfall that we've had last week and also hopefully some this week.

Now, obviously, the drought and other weather factors have had an impact on the winter wheat conditions.

So we look at the percent poor to very poor and it's up to 54 percent, which is 36 points higher than at this point last year.

So definitely not a good report in that area.

Now, if we take a look at next week's outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center, we do see that heat is expected to continue with increased odds of above normal temperatures really across most of the United States and also increased odds of above normal precipitation right here in the Southern Plains, including all of Oklahoma, which would certainly be great news.

Now, hopefully we get to reset a lot of these maps next week with some more rainfall at the end of this weekend.

However, we don't want that tornado map to change at all.

Now, hopefully we have some better precipitation maps for northwest Oklahoma next week, and we hope that tornado graph stays the same.

That's it for this week.

We'll see you next week on the Mesonet Weather Report.

We just want to take a quick break in the show to let you know about OSU Extension's upcoming Small Flock Poultry Workshop.

This event will be at the Canadian County OSU Extension Center on April 29th.

This is a great opportunity for poultry owners and those interested to learn about health, parasites, biosecurity and small business opportunities in small flock poultry.

If you would like more information on this event, just scan this QR code at the bottom of your screen or go to our website, sunup.okstate.edu.

It's that time in the show where we check in the livestock markets with our livestock marketing specialist, Dr.

Darrell Peel.

And Darrell, last year, beef production decreased.

So what's happening this year?

Beef production continues to drop.

So, you know, last year we were down about 3 .6 percent for the whole year.

So far in the first quarter of this year, we're down a little bit over 5 percent.

We think by the end of the year, we might be down about like last year before it's all over with.

But we will continue to see beef production decrease this year.

So what is driving that?

Well, you know, not enough cattle is basically it.

Cattle slaughter is down.

You know, all cattle slaughter is down about 8 percent so far this year.

Fed cattle slaughter, steer and heifer slaughter is actually down about 8.8 percent.

So that's, you know, that's the main driver is we simply don't have enough cattle right now.

Are carcass weights offsetting that at all?

They are.

You know, the industry has responded with tighter numbers by trying to increase carcass weights.

And they have done that significantly in the last two years.

We added about 50 pounds to steer carcass weights.

We're up about 34 pounds so far this year.

So that partially offsets it.

But it won't won't be enough to keep beef production from declining farther.

Is the spring demand starting to kick in at all?

Yeah, it is.

You know, wholesale values are up early this year.

We're up about 16 percent over last year.

You know, we normally go up this time of the year.

So wholesale beef values go up in April, getting ready for Memorial Day in May and so on.

The summer grilling demand.

And it actually started early this year.

So we started seeing beef wholesale values go up in early March.

And I expect them to go up even further here as we go through April.

So we recently got some rain in Oklahoma, finally.

So is that going to help prices at all?

Not really.

It's not going to change things as far as beef production or or consumer prices, for sure.

You know, it is very important, however, because the drought situation was looking pretty, pretty scary in terms of the possibilities of even trying to stabilize the beef cow herd.

You know, we might we might be trying to grow a little bit, but that's only going to be if we have a good forage year.

So, you know, the rain we got was was was helpful.

We're going to need even more as we go forward.

And, you know, with conflict overseas, is that having any impacts at all on prices in regards to exports or imports?

It is having a number of impacts around the world, obviously.

I don't know that it's directly affecting trade flows all that much as far as beef per se.

But obviously, fuel costs are a big factor for producers.

Probably the bigger factor going forward will be gasoline prices and the potential impact that might have on consumer demand.

So this thing lasts very long.

That could be a negative factor for for beef demand as it affects consumers' ability to to purchase.

All righty.

Thanks, Darrell.

Dr.

Darrell Peel, Livestock Marketing Specialist here at Oklahoma State University.

OSU Agriculture's Field Day season is right around the corner.

First up is the Wheat and Forages Field Day at the South Central Research Station in Chickasha on April 24th from 830 to 1.

Field days are a great opportunity for the community and for producers to talk directly with extension specialists and see the research firsthand to learn how it applies to you and your operation.

If you would like more information on the event, just scan the QR code at the bottom of your screen or go to the SUNUP website.

Good morning, Oklahoma, and welcome to Cow-Calf Corner.

This week, we're talking about beef quality grades, and this is a good news story for our industry.

We continue to see a shift from select quality grade beef carcasses to more prime quality grade beef carcasses, indicating a more marbling rich, higher quality product in the weekly harvest mix.

Earlier in this year, we saw the percentage of select dip into single digits.

For the month of March, it looks like the percentage of prime is going to be right at 15 percent, the percentage of select right at 8 percent.

That percentage of choice remains about unchanged.

And if we go back and look at it a year ago, we're seeing roughly 4 percent less cattle grading select and 4 percent more actually grading prime.

We go back and take a look at about 2010.

We were seeing close to 30 percent of our weekly harvest mix grading select, only about 65 percent reaching those choice and prime quality grades.

What is the impact this is having and why is it happening?

Well, there has been tremendous improvement in the additive genetic merit of beef cattle for more marbling over the past 20 to 25 years.

And as a result of that, the longer days on feed taking these cattle to historically heavier weights than we ever had before are permitting our fed cattle to tap that genetic potential and marble more abundantly.

The impact that we're seeing if we track beef demand going back to the turn of the century, it is up about 50 percent.

It is apparent that consumers, given that more ample supply of upper two thirds of choice and prime quality grades, are sampling the product, liking the product and are more willing to pay more to enjoy the product.

Again, great new story for our business.

And as always, thanks for joining us on Cow-Calf Corner.

All right, so we're in spring and although we've had unseasonably warm temperatures, it's time to think about a few things for our cow-calf operations.

First, we need to be thinking about do we have facilities that are able to handle processing both of our cows as well as our calves?

And in particular, with the threat of New World screw worm being very close to the U.S.

border, we also want to be thinking about it from that perspective.

Do we have our operations set up to apply or administer treatments as well as preventatives should we see New World screw worm?

So good time for producers to be thinking about are my facilities adequate and putting that on the list of things to do as we finish out spring into summer.

With our heat, it's always a good idea to be thinking again towards those later summer months when we'll have our extreme temperatures.

Looking at our cattle comfort index and becoming familiar with that particular tool, as well as thinking, do our cattle have access to water, space, as well as shade from a welfare standpoint?

We want to make sure we're prepared for that before those sizzling temperatures hit.

With our calves on board, we're probably finishing up for many calving season.

And so we want to think about, you know, getting those cows bred back.

We want to make sure that our bulls are having those breeding soundness exams, making sure they're ready to go and enrolling, evaluating our cows from a culling perspective, too, to make sure that they're ready to enter the breeding season, getting that breeding season defined.

And then for our calves that we've had earlier this this spring, we need to be thinking about health protocols for for those guys.

And in particular, our vaccination protocols, as we look at our traditional branding time of about three to four months of age, sitting down with our veterinarian, evaluating our current protocol and then making changes and adjustments as we need them there.

Additionally, one thing we oftentimes think about in the spring on into summer is typically our high time for parasites.

And we want to think about internal parasites and which protocols are going to be appropriate and how we're going to apply those to our different classes of animals on an operation.

And then we're already starting to see the flies and ticks.

So we want to think about our preventatives, visiting with our veterinarians.

We've got great resources from our livestock entomologist to take a look at those so that we can be managing flies and ticks well before we reach summer.

We've got various resources to help producers kind of tackle and learn more about these issues.

Certainly, we've got fact sheets.

Visit our websites as well as reach out to your respective county educator for more information.

And always don't forget to visit the SUNUP website.

Finally, today with the news that after a recent court decision, the lesser prairie chicken is off the endangered species list.

SUNUP's Elizabeth Hokit talked with our OSU Extension Wildlife Specialist, Dr.

Mark Turner, about what's next for the bird.

We're here now with Mark Turner, our OSU Extension Wildlife Specialist.

And Mark, there's been some talk about prairie chickens in the news recently.

So tell us a little bit about prairie chickens in general, the different types.

Right.

So here in Oklahoma, we have two species of prairie chicken.

We have the greater prairie chicken, which is located in north central to a little bit in the northeast Oklahoma.

And then we have the lesser prairie chicken, which is out in the northwest part of the state.

The lessers, as the name would imply, are a little bit smaller.

They also have a little bit more drab coloring as opposed to the greaters.

And both species have, they're both classified as game birds, but neither one has been hunted in Oklahoma since the 90s because of relatively limited population size.

Historically, they had much larger ranges than that, but their ranges have shrunk substantially over time.

What's going on with the lesser and greater prairie chickens right now in the springtime?

Right.

So right now is the lecking season.

If folks are familiar with chickens, they know that they go up on these lecks and there's a lot of videos online of that lecking behavior where those males congregate on these relatively open sites that are usually elevated so that they can broadcast their calls.

And they'll also do this dance in which the males will stomp their feet and they will inflate air sacs and they'll raise up these neck feathers in a way that almost looks like they have ears.

And so it's kind of iconic with prairie chickens.

And so those lecking sites are really important.

That's where obviously a lot of males congregate in order to attract females and sort out mate choice.

And that's happening right now.

Yeah.

So historically, these chickens have not done great in Oklahoma, but the lesser prairie chicken was just taken off the endangered species list.

So what does that mean?

Right.

So the lesser was just delisted.

And so that was through a federal ruling.

But in general, both the lesser and the greater prairie chicken have been doing relatively poorly over the past several decades.

Issues such as tree encroachment into prairie systems and shrubland systems, as well as things like energy development, additional roads, even fencing can negatively impact prairie chickens in general.

They're both lessers and greater or extremely sensitive to any sort of vertical development.

So a single tree can be a big issue for them and they're going to stop using that site.

But there's other issues going on as well that folks should consider.

So just because they were taken off the list doesn't necessarily mean that they're doing better.

Correct.

Correct.

Both of those populations have been contracting in range size.

And so that doesn't really suggest that they're doing any better.

That was just the ruling out of the federal court system.

Yeah.

So what about their habitat?

What kind of habitats do they like to stay in?

Right.

So lesser prairie chickens specifically use things like sand chenery oak or shrublands, along with short grass and mixed grass prairie.

So, again, really thinking about broad landscapes that are dominated by either grasses or relatively short shrubs with a nearly complete absence of trees.

So what can landowners be doing to help these species?

Absolutely.

So fortunately here in Oklahoma, there's a lot of great resources, both through federal and state agencies, to help landowners interested in management for these species in general.

Things like removing trees, reducing fencing where possible, and also using tools like prescribed fire in order to, you know, maintain adequate structure.

And also, again, you know, remove trees like eastern red cedar.

Those are all going to be common practices that we recommend to landowners working on improving land for chickens.

And you guys have some resources on these things, too.

Absolutely.

There's some great resources that we'll link into the SUNUP page from OSU Extension on managing for both greater and lesser prairie chickens.

All right.

Thanks for talking to us, Mark.

Absolutely.

That'll do it for our show today.

A reminder, you can see SUNUP anytime on our website.

Follow us on social media and stream us anytime on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash SUNUP TV.

We leave you today with some photos of the recent Cedar Rodeo in Freedom out in Woods County, where landowners learned about tree management strategies, including herbicides, mechanical controls, prescribed burning, cost share options and prescribed burn associations.

If you'd like to learn more about any of these topics, reach out to your local OSU County Extension office.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

We'll see you next time at SUNUP.