As cattle industry leaders gather this week at the Gaylord Rockies Convention Center for the Summer Cattle Industry Business Meeting, Oklahoma cattle producer Clay Burtrum said producers are focused on a handful of critical issues ranging from the threat of New World screwworm to profitability, drought and risk management.
Burtrum, an Oklahoma cattleman and co-owner of Farm Data Services, is serving on several committees during the meeting, including a task force examining potential improvements to Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) insurance and committees covering livestock marketing and policy development.
“We’ve been working on a task force dealing with LRP and maybe some changes there to incentivize producers to build back the herd,” Burtrum said. “I’ve been working on the Livestock Marketing Group and then also working in the policy committees.”
While committee work is focused on long-term industry priorities, Burtrum said one issue is dominating conversations among producers attending the meeting.
“I think first and foremost, everybody wants to know where the screwworm is at,” he said. “How far has it progressed into New Mexico and Texas, and especially for those in Oklahoma, how close is it to the Red River and when are we going to see it? Because I honestly think that we will.”
Beyond animal health concerns, Burtrum said the industry’s record cattle prices are creating new challenges for stocker operators.
“If you look at the auction prices last week from the video sales, they’re extremely high,” he said. “From a profit margin for a stocker guy like me, those cattle right now will not make any money to run on wheat pasture this next year.”
Weather also remains a major concern as producers look toward fall grazing conditions.
Burtrum said many are hopeful forecasts calling for wetter conditions materialize, but drought continues to grip much of the western United States.
“When the western half of the country is in a drought and two-thirds dry, it’s very, very tough,” he said.
Conditions in Oklahoma remain highly variable. Burtrum, who ranches in Payne County just east of Interstate 35, said his operation has benefited from recent rainfall.
“We’re very blessed right now,” he said. “Ponds are full, grass is green.”
However, he noted producers farther west are facing much different circumstances.
“I know my friends in the southwest part of the state are already chopping corn for silage,” Burtrum said. “We’re just now getting done with wheat claims and now we’re turning in spring crop claims. We’re also right at the acreage reporting deadline for spring crops.”
As co-owner of Farm Data Services, Burtrum also reminded producers that July 15 is the deadline to enroll annual forage crops in crop insurance coverage.
“That’s the wheat, the triticale and those forages that you plant to graze or hay,” he said. “You can get insurance on those, and that closes July 15.”
Burtrum encouraged producers not to overlook the coverage despite expectations for improved moisture.
“We sent out a lot of very big checks this last year because we were extremely dry,” he said. “Even though we think it’s going to be wet, we’re not real sure. You might want to get an application on file just to have that tool in your toolbox.”
Burtrum emphasized that the Summer Cattle Industry Business Meeting is where much of the policy direction for the beef industry is developed through the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the marketing and promotion plans by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Federation of State Beef Councils.
“If you’re a cattle producer, you need to be here,” he said. “If you’re not here, you’re not involved. That’s why I come. I want to be involved in the policy that goes on and what goes on in the checkoff side.”
He added that committee members are working to develop policy recommendations and funding priorities that will shape programs for the coming year.
“There’s a lot of work going on here,” Burtrum said. “There’s not much play time. It’s all work, and we’re trying to get some policies done for the cattle producers and determine what’s the best avenue for this industry right now.”
Our coverage of the 2026 Summer Cattle Industry Business Meeting from Denver is powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
