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With triple-digit temperatures and very little rain, the livestock industry is feeling the effects of drought. The United States Department of Agriculture has rated 90 percent of pasture conditions in the region as very poor. To make matters worse, most livestock water sources are drying up or have reached a point where water quality is a major concern.

In most years, winter pasture would be planted by Sept. 1 and some fields would be turning green at the start of October. However, throughout southern Oklahoma and northern Texas in 2011, this may not be the case because of the drought.

Fertilizer prices are high and we are suffering severe drought conditions. Why would anyone consider fertilizing bermudagrass or other warm-season grasses now? There are good reasons to consider a late summer or early fall fertilization program, namely to extend the grazing season and improve the quality of available forage.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the price of nitrogen fertilizer increased more than 120 percent between 2000 and 2007. More alarming are the unexpected periods when the price of nitrogen spikes well above the trend price.

In a free market economy, price is ultimately determined by the supply and demand for a product or commodity. Short-term price gyrations often occur and can be influenced by market reactions to news concerning such things as weather, government reports and/or policy.

Estrus synchronization and timed artificial insemination are an economically viable alternative to owning a bull if the producer has multiple bulls.

Agriculture, by its very nature, is a volatile business. Many producers worry about how long high prices can be sustained. Fear of falling prices, combined with high input costs, seems to have risk management on everyone's mind, but few individuals are comfortable with the details.

Numerous nontraditional fertilizers are being marketed with little replicated research demonstrating their effectiveness compared to traditional commercial sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

The downward spiraling cattle market has caused great grief. What's the best strategy going forward?

In 2015, I wrote about the proposed Federal Marketing Order (FMO) for pecans. On May 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the order passed by an overwhelming majority of pecan...