Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are pleased to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!

It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For the 2010 wheat harvest, Johnston has opened up four million bushels of additional storage space. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as one of our regular sponsors of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with nine locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K website.

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Francie says USDA is partnering with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to reduce fraud in farm programs and streamline payment limits for family farmers. The actions are intended to strengthen the integrity and defensibility of USDA farm safety net programs and help the agricultural industry to meet requirements included in the 2008 Farm Bill.

The electronic process that USDA developed with IRS reviews data from tax returns, performs a series of calculations, and compares these values to the adjusted gross income (AGI) limitations from the 2008 Farm Bill. FSA and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) will receive a record that indicates whether or not the program participant appears to meet the income limits. Written consent is required from each producer or payment recipient for this process. NO ACTUAL TAX DATA WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT THAT IRS SENDS TO USDA. As part of the review and evaluation process, participants whose AGI may exceed the limits will be offered an opportunity to provide third party verification or other information to validate their income. Each individual and entity who received 2009 payments or who requests 2010 payments must complete a consent form and provide it to the IRS so compliance with AGI requirements can be verified.

You can read more online as we have this story for you on www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Just click on the link below and learn more about this consent form and where you can go to download it- or you can get the form and perhaps a little help at your local FSA office. It does not go to the FSA folks- rather it gets mailed directly to the IRS at an address in California.

Click here for more on the Consent Form to be sent to the IRS to perserve your right to receive farm program payments.

Overall beef exports for the first two months of 2010 are up a solid 9 percent in volume to 144,439 metric tons (318.4 million pounds) valued at $500.5 million - a 10 percent increase. Importantly, these gains are coming as the United States' No. 1 destination for beef exports, Mexico, continues to suffer from the economic downturn. In January and February, Mexico purchased 39,364 metric tons (86.8 million pounds) of U.S. beef valued at $123.9 million - a 23 percent drop in volume and a 31 percent drop in value versus the first two months of 2009.

We talk about the exports broken down by country- including the continued slide we have seen in our top export market- Mexico. That slide was more than offset with a strong performance into several other countries- click on the link below to learn more.

Click here for our Beef Buzz about strong Beef Exports helping cattle prices get into profitable territory.

We have several links to direct your attention to- including details about this morning's Commercial Cattle Grading Contest, about Pink Day on Friday at the Farm Show and a look at the general schedule of the 2010 Southern Plains Farm Show.

If you click on the link below- you can listen to our conversation with John Sampson about not just what's going on at this year's farm show- but we chat about the general farm economy and the better weather conditions that Oklahoma producers are dealing with this year versus last.

Click here for our conversation with John Sampson of Midwest Farm Shows.

The folks from the Mesonet wrote an intriguing account of that Sunday- saying "Unlike the sand blows that occurred with the sirocco-like winds from the southwest, the Black Sunday event was one of the less frequent but more dramatic storms borne south on polar air originating in Canada. Rising some 8000 feet into the air, these churning walls of dirt generated massive amounts of static electricity, complete with their own thunder and lightning. Reports of the storm indicate that the cold air from the "Norther" struck first, with the wall of dust following soon thereafter. Temperatures plunged 40 degrees along the storm front before the dust hit. Mr. Ralph H. Guy, National Weather Service cooperative observer in Kenton, Oklahoma, noted about the storm:

"Severe dust storm hit at 4:20 p.m., turning afternoon brightness immediately into midnight darkness, and absolutely zero visibility. It was totally dark and impossible to see without searchlight, for at least 15 minutes- the storm came from the north and northeast and traveled at a very great speed." On his official observer form, Guy remarked "The month was slightly warm and very dry. It was driest April in history of Weather Bureau. It was probably one of the windiest months on record. Sandstorms and dust storms prevailed on at least 17 days to a marked extent. Severe dust storm on April 14th caused the afternoon to turn as dark as the darkest possible night."

The Mesonet reports goes on to say "Many area residents were caught unaware by this unique storm, remembered by locals at the time as one of only three in living memory that appeared to "roll" as it approached. Those caught out in the open were forced to crawl on hands and knees in search of shelter in the impenetrable darkness, literally unable to see their hands in front of their faces. Cars stalled and stopped in the choking dust, and many thought the end of the world had come."

Click here for our story on WWW.OKlahomaFarmReport.Com with links to pictures and a great video prepared by the folks in the Oklahoma Panhandle looking back at Black Sunday.

The Field Day begins at 10:00 AM and will include several highlights-
Variety tests for winter canola
Planting date study
Time of weed removal study
Best management study
Fungicides
Fertility including sulfur and zinc applications
Nitrogen rates, Seeding rates, Planting study by method and row width, Row spacing impact on biotype and Residue managers and 15 versus 30 inch rows.

Watch for Tweets on Friday from OkieAgMan, Michael Marlow, who is the Territory Agronomy Advisor for Monsanto.

"Many homeowners and landowners take great pride in having the largest specimen of a particular tree species in their yard," said Alanna McFarland, Champion Tree Coordinator for Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture, Food, & Forestry. "Oklahoma Champion Trees will also be submitted to the National Big Tree Registry." You don't have to be a forester to nominate a tree. Simply click on the link below and that gets you to the ODAFF website where a simple form is located to nominate that special tree.

Once a nomination is received an Oklahoma Forestry Services forester will contact you to obtain an official measurement. Nominations are accepted from rural and urban areas across the state. The deadline for the 2011 - 2012 Oklahoma Champion Tree Registry is August 15, 2010. Champions will reign for two years and property owners will receive a certificate from Oklahoma Forestry Services. For more information, contact Alanna McFarland at (405) 522-6158- or click on the link below.

Click here for more on the Champion Tree Nominating Process.

I would love to hear from you and get a picture or two or three from you that shows at what growth stage your crop is- and any details you can provide about that field. We'll share them via our website and on our new Facebook Fan page for the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network- and update everyone about our fall based crops as they mature ahead of harvest. As your spring planted crops emerge- would love to see some pictures from you as well.

Crop me an email at the email link at the bottom of this morning's email- or cut and paste this address into your email program- ron@oklahomafarmreport.com.

Thanks for your support and help on helping us share the story of farming and ranching here in the state. AND remember- when you have an event we need to include on the Calendar we keep on the website- be sure and let us here from you on those events as well!

We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

Here are some links we will leave in place on an ongoing basis- Click on the name of the report to go to that link:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101 mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. <
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.