North Fork Red River Conservation

06/11/2026

New world screwworm explained lol

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Csiza1VNo/

06/10/2026

📢📢New cost share program available‼️‼️

This program is not like all our other cost share programs. Please read through the program details for more information on it and how to apply. Applications will only be done online, so there will be none available at the office.

🚨 Applications Are Now Open for the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) Initiative! 🚨

What if conservation and profitability didn't have to compete?

The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts is excited to launch the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) Initiative, a new opportunity for Oklahoma producers who are ready to strengthen their operation, improve their land, and build new market opportunities for regeneratively raised products.

AMP is more than a cost share program. It's an investment in producers and the systems that support long term success. Through conservation planning, technical assistance, market development, and financial support, participants will develop pathways that improve both operational performance and natural resource stewardship.

Whether you're a row crop producer, rancher, specialty crop grower, orchardist, or urban producer, AMP is designed for those who are ready to take their operation to the next level.

🌱 Invest in your land.
📈 Strengthen your operation.
🤝 Build your market.

At OACD, we believe conservation is a shared Oklahoma value. AMP is an opportunity to demonstrate that healthy soils, resilient operations, and profitable markets can work together to support the future of Oklahoma agriculture.

Applications close July 31, 2026.

Apply today: www.okconservation.org/amp

06/10/2026

Want hummingbirds? Check out this great post by OSU.

06/09/2026

June Bugs! Here is some information on the infamous beetle (beetles).

In honor of June Bug Day, we've asked OBS entomologist James Hung to tell us a little more about them...

"June bug" is a catch-all term for many members of beetle family that emerge in notable numbers in June (or May, in Oklahoma). Even the genus Phyllophaga, comprising most of the common brown beetles that struggle upside down on your front porch, contains more than 400 species (!!) in North America. They spend up to several years underground developing as larvae (grubs) where they help cycle nutrients and aerate the soil. June bugs have brief adult lives eating leaves and trying their darndest to reproduce—it's hard to get mad at them when you know that the beetle that just crashed into you spent 3 years underground prepping for just few nights' worth of activity.

Most species are nocturnal and navigate in part using the moon as reference—hence why they end up getting "sucked into" porch lights and other sources of artificial light at night. They seem exceptionally clumsy because the digging part of their biological machinery requires more fine-tuning for their daily survival than their aboveground navigational abilities: they need to be able to burrow into the soil to avoid predators by day and to lay eggs, whereas their flight needs to just be good enough to get them from point A to point B (where they often just crash-land and get backup).

June bugs always struggle on their back on concrete because in their evolutionary history, such flat surfaces are exceedingly rare—they could always count on some 3D structure to cling onto to flip back up (leaves, stems, uneven soil terrain), so they never needed to right themselves this way. Other than being a nuisance when they use your face as a landing strip, they are harmless—and in fact quite delicious, according. If you go to a park and find s**t of raccoons and coyotes, or owl pellets around this time of year, you can often see many fragments of beetle armor--those don't break down easily, but the insides are very nutrient-dense.

We hope you'll take some time this evening to appreciate the June Bugs on your porch!

06/08/2026

👏🙌👏🙌

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

U.S. CATTLE REPORT 🚨 USDA Confirms First New World Screwworm Case in the United States 🚨

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, marking the first confirmed U.S. case. The larvae were found in the calf's umbilical area, and no additional cases have been detected to date. New World screwworm is a serious pest whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, posing risks to livestock, pets, wildlife, and, in rare cases, humans.

In response, USDA and Texas animal health officials have activated their NWS Response Playbook and are taking immediate action to contain and eradicate the pest. Measures include establishing a 20-kilometer quarantine zone around the detection site, increasing surveillance and trapping efforts, deploying additional sterile screwworm flies, implementing wildlife monitoring programs, and forming a unified incident command team. USDA emphasized that the U.S. food supply remains safe, as screwworm does not infest meat products and any affected animals would be identified during federal meat inspection. Officials also urged livestock producers and pet owners in the region to monitor animals closely for signs of infestation and report any suspected cases immediately.

06/02/2026

Cost of overgrazing - disrupting water infiltration & soil function

Grazing pressure directly influences water movement in soil, as higher plant cover & litter allows for higher rainfall infiltration & lowered runoff. As grazing pressure increases, plant cover & litter decreases, soil structure decreases & sediment/nutrient transport during runoff increases.

Well-managed, properly-stocked grazing systems can maintain vegetation that supports infiltration, stabilizes soil moisture & supports watersheds.

Effects of management decisions such as virtual fencing, rotational grazing, prescribed fire, patch-burn grazing & more are less effective when overgrazing is still present.

Read full publication here: https://bit.ly/4eFdgqT

05/26/2026