Texas Ag Today - September 9, 2026

0:00I'm Dickie Hargis with R&D Farms in Hemp Hill, Texas. You're listening to the latest news in Texas Agriculture on Texas Ag Today. This is Texas Ag Today, the number one source for the latest news in Texas agriculture. The largest and most experienced farm news team in the Lone Star State covers it all. From the tiny woods of East Texas to the rocky ranges of the Transpacus and from the Peminyl down to the Rio Grande Valley. Here's today's top stories. Maintaining cool environments for Texas Pultry in the hot summer temperatures. I'm Tom Nicolati and I'll have more from a Pultry specialist on how Texas Pultry producers keep their laying on the ground and borrowers cooled during the summer heat on Texas Ag Today. How is the silage market shaping up in the Texas High Plains? I'm James Hunt and we'll talk about that on Texas Ag Today.

1:02USDA has released its latest farm income projections. I'm Jessica Domo and we'll have a rundown for you coming up on Texas Ag Today. Now, here's the host of Texas Ag Today, Karen Martin. Hello, Texas. Why don't you jump on in with me and buckle up. We're going to take a ride around the Lone Star State as we cover the most important industry in his greatest state in the nation. Texas agriculture. Be sure to hold on tight because it all starts right now. Lying stock can now move freely in more new world screw or infested zones. Texas Animal Health Commission executive director Bud Dengis released the areas of Uvalde, Zavala, Koch and Tom Green counties. This follows the release of two other zones earlier last week. Reported screw or minfestations have dropped dramatically since the past cross the border back in June. A total of 48 cases have been reported with only three of those now active.

2:04Two of those active cases are in Valverde County. One is in Crockett County. Both of those counties are near the border. Despite some disease pressure, Texas Pocong growers are expected to see an above average crop this year. According to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Pocong growers are looking at modestly larger yields over last year. But disease, extreme heat and dry conditions in August may have an impact on nut kernel fill. Due to an unusually wet spring, Pocong growers in northeast in Central Texas saw some Pocong scab, as well as higher instances of downy spot and powdery mildew. There's also been above normal pressure from Pocong nut case bearer. Still, growers hope for a good finish to the year and some prize improvement. AgriLife's Montenezbit estimates this year's Pocong crop at 39 million pounds. That's up 7 million pounds over last year. For the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network, I'm Jessica Domell. The cattle markets have taken a big drop over the past several weeks and there are several reasons for that.

3:06David Anderson is a livestock marketing specialist with Texas A&M. Boy prices have been going down and they've gone down a lot. We look at calf prices in the last six, eight weeks are down, $100, $100 weight. So it's been a dramatic decline, not only for fed cattle calves, but our call cow markets declining too. I think there's a bunch of reasons for that, including some increase in beef production, summer time. It's hot out here. That cuts into grilling season a little bit for a lot of us. And some two is just the, we've had packing plants that close. They've reduced the number of shifts that they're running. And so our capacity utilization is much closer than it was. I think that's showing up in some lower fed cattle prices as well. And then, you know, there's a number of other things like particularly rising corn prices. Corn prices are up dramatically in the last six to eight weeks. And when corn prices go up, calf prices go down. And so a big part of that decline in the calf market is simply higher corn prices. Texas A&M's Dr. David Anderson.

4:07Texas poultry growers are keeping their birds cool in this brutal summer heat. Tom Nicoletti has more. Animal care for Texas poultry is extremely important at this time of year as the outdoor temperatures continue in the upper 90s to over 100 degrees in poultry houses. Broilers and egg layers need to remain cool and comfortable to continue normal production. To talk more about this, we go to college station. Dr. Greg Archer is my guest. He is a Texas A&M poultry extension specialist. And Dr. Archer, what are some best management practices that poultry producers are following to keep their birds safe and productive in the summer heat? The main thing that they do is going to be ventilation. So it's going to be having wind speed of bird is going to cool itself down by releasing that heat on their body. And so most of the time they are making sure that there's a good air flow. They have large fans on the billions that are going to be basically making it like a wind tunnel. Because you may in our summer conditions, they also may be using evaporative cooling, somewhat like swamp coolers.

5:07Like a cool pad where water runs over a pad and air goes over that helps cool the air. But when it gets super humid in Texas in our summers, sometimes that doesn't work well. So it's more about the air speed because you don't want to make it more humid. There are a lot of temperatures in Texas and there are a lot of temperatures in Texas. So the thermal is going to be much better than the average. What's the ideal indoor temperature for poultry houses in Texas this time of year? The thermal neutral zone of a chicken is about 70 degrees. But they're trying to keep it as cool as they can. So the hundreds are probably going to be in barns that are in the 80s to 90s. So they're basically trying to keep them as cool as possible. For other chickens especially when the reason we have to keep them cool is they get larger. They are growing so fast. The metabolism is going so high. They're reading and growing. They're producing a lot of internal body heat as well. Because they're not as big of a bird. They're producing as much body heat themselves. More with Dr. Greg Archer, Texas A&M poultry extension specialist on an X program. I'm Tom Nicoletti for the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. How is the silage market shaping up in the Texas High Plains? James Hott looks for an answer from the Pay&Handle. As this year began, we were looking at a depressed silage market in the Texas High Plains.

6:10Prices were low and contracts were a little scarce. That's because the 2025 growing season was so rainy, silage production was very high and buyers built up a pretty good reserve. Well of course, this year has been miserably dry. But Texas A&M AgriLife Economist, D.D. Jones, says it's too early to tell if we'll see a turnaround in the silage market. On one hand, quite a bit of corn was cut this year for silage and the feed lots and the dairy spotted in a big discount. So they actually already had some very hot stocks and then they bought more this summer. That being said, the stuff they bought was dry and very marginal. And so they're going to have to blend that silage with the higher quality silage. So whether or not they have enough in storage to blend a drier mediocre stuff with the higher stuff and the better stuff, that's one question mark. And then two, most feed lots and dairies when they factor in their supplies, they factor in the fact that they produce and grow a lot of silage on their own farms. And they're having the same issues that every other farm in the paint handle has.

7:10And so when they say they've got a lot of in and stocks, that's probably assuming that they would make a silage crop this year. Most of them are not going to make a silage crop this year or it's going to be relatively weak. So the fact that they're coming into 2027 with lower reserves in the field from 2026 and they've got a lot of dry silage that they're going to have to blend with some higher quality, do they have enough in reserve to meet all those needs or they're going to have to go out and buy some. And we don't know yet. We'll know more probably later in the fall November, December is when they start really offering contracts. That's AgriLife Economist, D.D. Jones. I'm James Hunt on the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. USDA released the latest farm income projections. Jessica Domo has the details. The US Department of Agriculture's latest farm income projections for this year are mixed. USDA Research Economist, Carrie Latowski says net cash farm income is forecast increase just slightly this calendar year by just under half a percent. However, this is less than the rate of inflation. So when are just the formflation net cash farming come with forecast to fall about two and a half percent net farming come is forecast to fall 4.3 billion or about 2.6%.

8:21Net farm income is a broad measure of profits net cash farm income includes cash receipts from farming cash farm related income, including federal government payments minus cash expenses net cash farm income is forecast down to 1.5% to 4.6 billion dollars which remains above the 20 year average. And for the farm sector balance sheet access that inequity are all forecast increase nominally in 2026 was equity forecast to rise 2.7%. Total production expenses are forecast up 21 billion dollars or 4.5%. The latest projections forecast farm sector debt will rise 4.6% this year not adjusted for inflation or 26.4 billion dollars. The asset levels are forecast to rise from 13.34% in 2025 to 13.54% in 2026. Average net cash farm income for farm businesses comes in around $122,000 that's about 7% from last year households that operate farm are expected to generate median farm income of more than 108,000 for an increase of about 5%.

9:29For the Texas Farm Bureau radio network, I'm Jessica Domell. Next, the triple digit temperatures and very dry conditions this summer in Central Texas have dried out pastures and A is now being fed to livestock. I'm Tom Calletti and I'll have more from the Central Texas Black Lands. I'm Texas Ag today. And horses are feeling this Texas heat. These stories plus a look at the markets are straight ahead of Texas Ag today. Young farmers ranchers and agriculture professionals ready to strengthen their leadership skills and tackle the issues shaping agriculture can now register for the 2026 Texas Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet. Hi, I'm Roger Hall. Young Farmer and Rancher Coordinator for Texas Farm Bureau. The discussion meet is open to TFB members between the ages of 18 and 35. It's designed to simulate a committee meeting where active participation, collaboration and thoughtful discussion are encouraged.

10:30The winner will receive an ATV with an estimated prize value of $9,000 courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company and an expense paid trip to compete in the National Contest during the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention. For more information visit Texas Farm Bureau.org slash YFR. We're heard on over 140 great Texas radio stations. This is Texas Ag today on the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. Triple digit temperatures and no rain have forced Central Texas livestock producers to feed hay. Tom Calletti reports from Waco. We go to Central Texas where Dr. Shane McCullan is standing by with his report on agriculture in the Black lands and Shane we are now into September but the last several weeks have been extremely hot and dry in the region and of course that's affecting what farmers and ranchers are doing and certainly the crops in the pastures.

11:34Let's start off in the cotton fields and how that crop is doing at this point. With the hot weather we've had we've been expecting our cotton to drop some fruit. It did have a heavy load and it's lost some of that fruit but not as much as we are afraid of it's held on pretty well even with his hot hot temperatures. Producers are defoliating cotton and harvest is just around the corner. Expect about a bell and a half it'll be a lot less than what we had in last year's cotton harvest. The triple digit temperatures have an impact on the pastures in the region as well. They really have and most of our pastures they look yellow as you drive across Central Texas and look at across some there's a little bit of green but most of those pastures have dried down. Producers are even starting to feed hay just because all of our warm season grasses are showing the evidence of heat stress. It's just hard to get away from it when we've had so many days that I think it's 28 plus days of a hundred degree weather. When it comes to the stock tanks in the region with very little rainfall or no rainfall at all over the last month and a half or so those tanks are still suffering at this point.

12:42They are in the problem actually goes back to the spring March April, May, June and even July we had a good bit of rainfall to the middle of July March through June most areas in the glimpsing county had over five inches of rain but they were smaller rainfall events. There was not one large runoff event there was a flood summer calling in the city of Waco at one point where we received over four inches but it was just in Waco on the asphalt out in the country they didn't receive those big runoff events. So stock tanks really never filled in the spring and they caught a little water just from the rain but a big runoff event did not occur so now we're seeing stock tanks that are low. Some producers are having to move livestock around to places that do have water or they've got a hall water. You mentioned hay a little earlier what about hay supplies for agricultural producers as they move into the fall and winter months. We still have a large carryover of last year's hay kind of a record crop last year and had a good amount of hay cut this spring.

13:42We would have had more but the high price of fertilizers kind of kept some people from putting out as much fertilizer with this large carryover of hay it kind of feeds into people that are starting to feed hay they're where dipping deep into those supplies as we get into the fall months and we're already feeding hay in September and it won't take long to feed that hay if we do have a cool winter hay supplies could become tight right now we have kind of a lower price on our hay lower than we really would want but that can change quickly if we feed up our supply. The people that are in the business of cutting hay have slowed down a good bit as our warm season grasses have dry down so much. Shane thanks for your report today. Thank you Tom. That is Dr. Shane McClellan. He is reporting for us from Waco. Horses are feeling this Texas heat Dr. Bob John says it's important to know how much the heat is affecting them. Last program I talked about heat stress and horses and the fact that if you add the temperature in Fahrenheit and the percentage of relative humidity and the result is over 180 you should not ride your horse.

14:43If the result is 130 to 150 you probably can ride depending on the horse and all horses do not have the same heat tolerance. The American Quarter Horse Association indicates poorly conditioned horses, overweight horses and older horses may not be as tolerant of the heat as horses that are younger and in better condition. Horses in poorly ventilated stalls or trailers can be at risk of heat stress as well as those not drinking enough water and electrolytes. Also horses that are not acclimated to Texas weather may be susceptible to heat stress as they may not have their body primed to sweat as they will need to do in this hotter weather. The most important factor in preventing heat stress is that the horse drinks plenty of clean fresh water and trace mineralized salt available. Adult Quarter horses drink 8 to 10 gallons of water per day and may even drink twice that much in the Texas heat. One study showed horses can sweat up to 4 gallons in the Texas heat and that must be replaced to prevent dehydration. Horses also need electrolyte supplements containing sodium and potassium and a lot of the electrolyte supplements on the market do not have enough electrolytes at the recommended dosage to be effective.

15:49Just adding light salt to your horse's feed may be as effective as some of the electrolyte supplements. So ask your veterinarian about electrolyte supplementation and the correct amount needed for your horse this time of the year. I'm Dr. Bob Judd on the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. We'll check the markets coming up next on Texas Ag Today. Your Texas Farm Bureau membership provides discounts on amusement park tickets, make memories with family and friends at some of our state's most popular destinations like SeaWorld, Six Flags, Schlitterbond, DisneyWorld, Universal Orlando and many others. Go to txfb.us slash benefits for information and details. Sometimes you'll love them, sometimes you'll custom. Here's a look at the markets on Texas Ag Today.

16:52Addie Neighbors, I'm Larry Marble with Live Stock Auction Market Report on Texas Ag Today. They're on the line with Kenny Mingus from Milo County Live Stock Auction Cameron. Kenny, how did the sale go? Pretty good Larry. We had 11.04, 231 cows, 37 bulls and 86 cars. What depends with me? We have 118 cows on the Bulls 145 to 208 on your breadcals, 1250 to 4100 and on your pairs, 1849.00. What do you know after this next go round? Well, I went and looked at a bunch of cows this morning, about 50 from one man that got about 45 cows on them.

17:54We're going to strip the cows off of them, sell the cows and help make the cows back. The cows looked to be 4 to 7-year-olds, get set across breadcals. They're on our Facebook page. They've actually bred back to charlotte bulls, got another 25 red angus cows that'll be young, home race at a cows error. They'll be about 4 to 5-year-olds and kind of 5 to 7-month bread. Bread to black angus bull is 44-farns bulls. Another man called with about 75 older cows that we're going to pile up 8, so they're lining up pretty good on a 4-monthy on holiday. Tell everybody how to get a hold of you. You've had catch at the office and watch our Facebook page this week for all these cattle coming. Catch at the office 254-697-697. I'll also on a web page at mollumcannylust.com or catch us on Facebook. Kenny, we'll talk to you late weeks. Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a good week. Like cattle futures traded both sides of unchanged. That's how we wrapped it up on Wednesday with the nearby's lower October down $1.17 to $15.85 that he simmered down 75 cents to 18.47.

18:54Feeder cattle closed slightly higher with October up 37 cents, $3.25 82. November feeders up 90, closing at $3.21 35. Cash fed cattle market all quiet for the week so far. No bids to report. We do see some asking prices here in the southern plains at $2.25. Boxed beef prices mixed. Choice up 461 at $3.82 18. Select down 34 cents, $3.50 5. In the grain market's corn closed lower as harvest is now getting underway in the southern part of the corn belt and that harvest pressure is weighing on prices. December corn down 5 and 3 quarters, 5.27 and 3 quarters, March corn down 5 and 3 quarters, closing at $5.43 and 1 quarter. An overbought wheat market continued to pull back. We summed both hard and soft wheat, closed sharply lower with December Kansas City wheat down 12 and 3 quarters, 806 and a quarter. December Chicago wheat down 18 and a quarter, closing at $7.28 and 3 quarters.

19:58Short covering, push the cotton market slightly higher. December cotton up 96.87 28. The March contract up 94, closing at 89.65. In the energy markets, October natural gas down 9 at 282. October West Texas crude up 305. 96.08 a barrel. The financial markets were lower, the Dow down 405 points at 52.380. Nasdaq down 168 at 26,253 with the S&P down 37 points, 7636. Now with a closer look at the energy and financial markets, here's economist Tim Snyder with Matador Economics in Dallas. The overnight story is direct. The US-Aaron conflict is escalating, commercial shipping is increasingly in the crosshairs, bread has crossed $100 a barrel, decals approaching $6 a gallon and treasury yields are climbing again. For months we've been asking whether this war could permanently change the economics of moving energy through the Middle East.

20:58Today we're getting closer to that answer. Takers are being attacked, or most traffic remains severely impaired and geopolitical risk premiums are becoming part of the underlying cost structure of energy that has real economic consequences moving into the fall. Yet Wall Street hasn't panicked. This is an interesting concept, one we are exploring right now. Many analysts miss the mark on the markets reaction to this war and investors want to know why. Today the Dow is leaning lower, the S&P is mostly flat, and the Nasdaq is fractionally higher. That's resilience, not necessarily comfort. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year treasury is around 4.82%, the Fed now faces a strong August jobs report on one side and an externally generated energy shock on the other. And with the CPI and PPI data coming later this week, as the old saying goes, when it rains it pours. And on a brighter note, Yall Street is growing up. Major index providers have cleared the way for the Texas Stock Exchange listed securities to remain index eligible and next Wednesday, September 16th. The Texas Stock Exchange begins primary listings, that's great news for Texas. Here's today's bottom line.

22:01The remarkable story isn't the $100 Brent Crude Oil price today. It's that Wall Street hasn't panicked yet. But when attackers are under attack, diesel approaches $6 a gallon and yields are rising, patience has its limits and something eventually has to give. Today we're watching to see whether it's Crude Oil interest rates or the equities. There's a lot to wrap your head around right now, so exercise caution as these are truly troubled waters. For the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network, I'm economist Tim Snyder. That wraps up our look at the markets and that wraps up this episode of Texas Ag Today. I'm Carrie Martin, hope to see you back here next time as we cover the most important industry in this greatest state in the US of Ag. Texas Ag Reculture. Thanks for joining us for Texas Ag Today. Be sure to follow the Texas Ag Today podcast, found wherever you listen to the podcast. For more Texas Farm and Lanchoos, check out our website at texasfarmburo.org or tfvredio.com. Texas Ag Today is a production of the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network.