OSU Farm Management

09/05/2026

Save the date! Our Rural Economic Outlook Conference is November 4, 2026.

Producers, lenders, and policy-makers seeking to gain insight into the rural agricultural economy and make more informed decisions will be interested in attending the 2026 Conference. Attendees will learn about livestock market uncertainty, farm transitions, data centers in Oklahoma, grain market trends, along with updates on the Food and Ag Products Center, ag finance, and ag policy.

Register online at https://agriculture.okstate.edu/departments-programs/agecon/extension/rural-economic-outlook-conference.html.

09/04/2026

How do I record a line of credit in Quicken?

If you have a line of credit, you may want to keep a close watch on the limit. In Quicken, the best way to record transactions for a credit line is to create a credit card account (not a liability loan account). Choose:

Tools
Account List
Add an account
Credit Card
Click on Next

Credit Card Account Setup (To avoid using an online link, click on Advanced Setup and "I want to enter my transactions manually.")

Enter a name and optional description
Account Name: Line of credit
Financial Institution: 1st National Bank
Description (optional):
Click on Next
Enter the starting point information. Statement Date:
Balance Due:
Click on Edit.
Enter the credit limit for this account:
Credit Limit, if Applicable
Click on Done.

If you want to monitor the balance closely. Quicken has a credit limit alert that will warn you when the amount approaches the limit. Choose:

Tools
Alerts Setup Center
Click on Banking and select the appropriate item(s).

Recording the transfer of funds into the checking account from the line of credit is easy. Open the Line of credit account and click on Account Actions, Transfer. If $20,000 is advanced, enter:

Transfer Money From: Line of Credit
To Account: Checking
Date:
Description: Transfer Money
Amount:
Click on OK

This account can be reconciled with a loan statement in the same way that checking accounts are reconciled with the bank statement. Information that will be needed from the loan statement includes charges and cash advances, payments and credits to the account, and the ending balance.

Note: If you have a credit card account, but it did not specify a credit limit when you set it up and now want to do it, choose your credit card account from the account list (press Ctrl+A to get the account list or click on Finance, Account List), then choose Edit (from the account list window), enter the Credit Limit and then click on the X to close the window. Click on Yes to save the changes.

Find more resources for adapting Quicken for farm and ranch record keeping at https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/farm-management-and-finance/quicken-for-farm-financial-records/index.html

09/03/2026

New World Screwworm and the Border

The announcement last month of the Mexican border's planned reopening, after being closed since May 2025, seemed to shock producers, consumers, auction owners, and the markets. In truth, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Furthermore, it does not serve our industry well to fear monger about it.
There is currently strong, sustained demand for beef in the United States, even as our calf crops and cowherds sit at historic lows. To help make up the difference, beef, whether on the hoof or on the hook, is imported into the U.S. Prior to the border closing in November 2024, U.S. imports of Mexican cattle had averaged 1.18 million head annually (Peel, 2026).

Looking back to January 2025, the border was briefly reopened for inspected cattle imports, but as the New World screwworm (NWS) drew closer, it was closed again by May. The primary goal of the closure was to slow or prevent the spread of NWS for as long as possible, though these policies came with significant economic costs.

Even so, NWS has been confirmed in the United States, along the south Texas border. While the goal remains the same, to slow the spread of NWS, it raises an important question for policymakers at APHIS and USDA: does keeping the border closed still provide enough benefit to justify it?
An argument can be made that Canada closed its borders to livestock originating from Texas… well, a few other states did also. It is largely symbolic. The border closure did delay the pest, but it could not keep it out entirely. We use Mexican beef to supplement our own industry, and without it, it has tightened supplies, and even increased feeder cattle prices (Sumner, Jones, et al., 2026).
The specific port that reopened, in Douglas, AZ, sits roughly 350 miles from the nearest active NWS case, a considerable distance from the currently infected zones.
Something to keep in mind also, in a Southern Ag Today article, OSU’s Dr. Schaefer wrote, “Biosecurity policies are rarely static. As conditions change, so should the economic questions used to evaluate them. The challenge is no longer asking “Did the border closure buy enough time?” It is asking “How much additional protection does the closure provide today and is that protection worth its continuing economic cost?”” (Schaefer and Smith, 2026).

Conditions have changed. The original goal, it seems, was to keep the pest out as long as possible while doing as little economic damage as possible. We can only hope this was the right call, but there's little value in stirring up unnecessary drama now. As producers, and more specifically, as price takers, we're on the front line of this industry. The cost of a screwworm infestation will be significant, but so is the cost reflected in grocery store prices.

References
Schaefer, K. Aleks, and Rylee Smith. “Reopening the Border to Mexican Cattle Imports is the Right Decision.” Southern Ag Today 6(31.4). July 30, 2026.
Sumner S., Jones S., Islam T., and Schaefer K.A. (2026) “Delaying the Inevitable? U.S. Screwworm Closures and Feeder Cattle Market Dynamics,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.70111.
Peel, Derrell S. “Mexican Border Basics,” Cow-Calf Corner Newsletter. April 6, 2026

Article by Kallie Clifton, Area Agricultural Economics Specialist

Biosecurity trade restrictions are commonly framed as preventive measures, yet in many settings they function primarily as policies of delay: they impose immediate market costs while only postponing ...

09/02/2026

The upcoming webinar, Meet the Southeast Area Agricultural Economics Specialist will take place Tuesday, September 15 at 12 PM.

Viewers will get to hear from Kallie Clifton, who recently started as the Southeast Area Agricultural Economics Specialist with OSU Ag Extension. She will introduce herself, talk about her background, and discuss some of the projects she is working on in this position. Note: Must register in advance to view this webinar.

Please register in advance to view this webinar at: https://okstate-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/mEOaSX6dR9u1NlCY9VvLhw

For more information and instructions on how to view this webinar, email Brent Ladd ([email protected]).

Viewers will get to hear from Kallie Clifton, who recently started as the Southeast Area Agricultural Economics Specialist with OSU Ag Extension. She will introduce herself, talk about her background, and discuss some of the projects she is working on in this position. Note: Must register in advance...

09/02/2026

OSU Extension offers Oklahoma producers free assistance with farm financial planning. This program is open for all types of animal and crop operations.

This assistance includes helping develop beginning balance sheets and other financial statements which are useful for farmers and ranchers as they try to secure loans. Additionally, many USDA support programs require beginning balance sheets as part of the application process. These financial statements can help producers see how their operations performed.

Sign up at

Learn more about Farm Financial Planning Assistance & Benchmarking, such as the offered programs by OSU Extension and additional resources.

09/01/2026

In 2022, farms with all beginning operators stood apart from operations with either a mixture of beginning and established operators and those with all established operators, in terms of commodity specialization, according to a report by USDA, Economic Research Service. U.S. farms were divided into one of three segments based on the operators’ experience. The first, all beginning farm operations, are those where all operators have no more than 10 years of experience on any farm or ranch, which accounted for 23 percent of all operations in 2022. The second, established operations mean all operators have more than 10 years of experience farming or ranching (67 percent of all operations). Finally, multigenerational beginning operations include a mix of the two, accounting for 10 percent of all operations. In 2022, all beginning farm operations were slightly more likely to be primarily fruit or vegetable producers than multigenerational beginning and established operations (10 percent versus 9 and 6 percent, respectively). All beginning farms were more likely to produce poultry (7 percent) compared to multigenerational beginning (4 percent) and established (3 percent) operations. The high degree of vertical integration of the U.S. poultry sector, in which a large share of poultry is grown under production contracts, may play a role in the composition of farmers’ experience in this sector. All beginning operations were also less likely to produce field crops than the other two farm types (12 percent for all beginning versus 19 and 20 percent for multigenerational beginning and established, respectively), which is consistent with increased consolidation and changes in farmland availability over the past three decades. This chart appears in Beginning Farmer and Rancher Operations: Characteristics Associated With Business Survival, published March 2026.

Read at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/115097

08/29/2026

In June 2024, we wrote about a novel new concept for adding base acres to farms that had been proposed in the House Ag Committee-passed version of the 2024 Farm Bill (Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024). The concept ultimately was adopted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) that was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. As we noted in July 2025 (link), the provision allowed up to 30 million additional base acres across the nation. Over the past year, USDA has been working to implement the provision. On June 1, 2026, USDA began notifying producers about the opportunity to add base acres to farms. The notification includes a “Base Allocation Summary” that provides the farm’s reported acres by covered commodity for any planted, prevented planted, failed, double crop, and subsequent acres (acres planted after an initial commodity)—along with the total number of acres of non-covered commodities—for each year from 2019 to 2023. While the calculations in the worksheet can be a little confusing to follow, the good news is that the additional base allocation will occur automatically (and can only increase the base acres on your farm—in other words, the additional base allocation cannot take base acres away from you nor reallocate existing base acres). Since the process is largely automated, you really only have to make some basic decisions by the August 31, 2026, deadline.

Read at https://southernagtoday.org/2026/07/23/upcoming-farm-policy-decisions-for-producers/

Article by Bart L. Fischer and Joe Outlaw, Texas A&M University Agricultural & Food Policy Center

Authors: Bart L. Fischer and Joe Outlaw In June 2024, we wrote (link) about a novel new concept for adding base acres to farms that had been proposed in the House Ag Committee-passed version of the 2024 Farm Bill (Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024). The concept ultimately was adopted in....

08/28/2026

Farm Business Operating Agreement

This agreement is similar to a partnership and involves the entire operation. Farm Business Operating Agreements are used when both parties contribute labor and management, invest capital, and share the income generated from the farm business. Often the older party furnishes all the land, although the parties may rent additional land. Many variations of ownership of machinery, feed, and livestock are used. The accounting requirements are simplest if the parties have equal ownership of much of the personal property.

Learn more at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c4-43.html

Find additional farm and ranch transition resources at https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/farm-transitions/putting-your-game-plan-into-action/index.html

A Farm Business Operating Agreement is one of your farm business choices and can be the next step in the farm business transfer process. It can be used after an Enterprise Operating Agreement. It can also be used as an intermediate arrangement between a Wage and Incentive Agreement and a partnership...

08/27/2026

This fact sheet begins with a brief overview of data centers and a discussion on why Oklahoma is being considered as a potential location for these facilities. This is followed by an overview of some of the most frequently discussed economic considerations, including revenue, employment and infrastructure. The purpose of this fact sheet is to offer a high-level introduction for communities navigating data center proposals. Additional fact sheets will explore specific topics (such as water or electricity use) in greater detail. This fact sheet is informational only and does not indicate support for or against data centers.

Read at https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/the-economics-of-data-centers-considerations-for-communities

Fact Sheet by Mckenzie Boyce, Brian Whitacre, OSU Department of Agricultural Economics

08/26/2026

On February 3, 2026, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS officially unveiled the long-awaited proposed regulations for the I.R.C. §45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit. The proposed regulations are more than just a technical update; it represents a historic pivot in how the U.S. government incentivizes energy. By formally integrating the sweeping changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of 2025, these rules transition the industry away from traditional, technology-specific subsidies toward a performance-based, technology-neutral framework.

Read at https://www.agmanager.info/ag-law-and-human-resources/ag-law-issues/proposed-irc-45z-regulations

Article by Roger McEowen, Washburn University School of Law