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. One of the great success stories of the Johnston brand is Wrangler Bermudagrass- the most widely planted true cold-tolerant seeded forage bermudagrass in the United States. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website that features their grain, ports and seed business!

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 ten 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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There are more than 70 participants this year and they projected a 40 bushel average across northern Kan.; yield estimates range from 16 to 78 bushels per acre. The first night for the tour was in Colby, Kansas. There were a total of 267 stops on Day One- with the participants coming up with that forty bushel per acre average versus 40.7 bushels per acre a year ago.

As the scouts begin day two, they will travel from Colby to Wichita- and the wheat they will be seeing is expected to be much poorer. That is especially expected in the westernmost counties of Kansas, as well as in eastern Colorado.

Click on the LINK below for more on the Wheat Crop Tour- including an audio overview that we have of Day One.

Click here for more on the 2011 Wheat Quality Council Winter Wheat Tour

His program was judged to be the best of the best as Weichel was named the 2011 Star Farmer of Oklahoma at this year's Oklahoma FFA Convention, now underway in downtown Oklahoma City.

With the honor, Weichel received the Governor's Trophy as well as a $2,000 cash award sponsored by Davis Farms of Guthrie, Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma and Sirloin Club of Oklahoma.

Through his SAE program, Weichel plants wheat and raises stocker steers on his 200 acres and on 300 acres of rented land. Last year, his operation included 421 head of cattle and 30 acres of planted wheat. Both his father and grandfather raise cattle, and Weichel said their experiences have taught him to take risks, manage his finances, and nurture his land and his animals.

Click here for more on the 2011 Star Farmer of Oklahoma- including a chance to see the video we produced that was seen last night at the State Convention as Weichel's name was announced.

Conaway owns his own lawn business, called JCon Landscaping. When he first started, he only had one lawn to mow: his parents'. Now his company has expanded to include landscaping and water pond services, and he raises water plants, groundcover and pond goldfish. He has earned more than $20,000 and saved $9,000 for his college education.

"Joshua is a student with a strong faith who believes in others and does all that he can to help anyone he possibly can," said Will Bunt, Conaway's agricultural education instructor and FFA advisor. "The personality and leadership traits Joshua possesses are hard to find in an individual, and he is a student who always reaches above and beyond the call of duty in anything that is asked of him. In the one year I have known him, he has impressed me and added to my confidence that agricultural students will remain the leaders of the future."

Click here to read more about Joshua Conaway- and to see the video that we produced that explains his program- and was seen Tuesday night at the Convention.

After growing up and working on her family's 3,200 acre farm, Weatherford FFA member Alison Slagell knows better than most just how difficult and important agricultural production can be. "I consider myself fortunate not only to be born into a family that has agriculture at its core but also to be given the opportunity to learn and be a part of production agriculture firsthand."

Click on the LINK below to learn more about Allison's work program on her family's diversified crop farm that includes variety of contracted vegetable crops. You can see the video that we produced about her program that was shown on Tuesday evening during the convention.

Click here for more on the 2011 Oklahoma FFA Star in Ag Placement- Allison Slagel

The Ohio River at Cairo, near where it joins the Mississippi river, had climbed to more than 61 feet as of Monday, a day after beating the 1937 record of 59.5 feet. More rain was forecast for the region on Tuesday. On Tuesday, photographers who were able to take to the skies had an incredible view of the result of the devastation that came in the form of a "mini tsunami" across the flooded farmland that resulted from the deliberate destruction of the levees. Click here for a set of the photos that we found on the internet this morning- very sad.

We heard from both Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack yesterday morning while we were at USDA in Washington- as well as from NRCS Chief Dave White- and they both pledged to do whatever they could to help these farm families who have had their life plunged beneath several feet of dirty Mississippi River water. Vilsack said that Crop Insurance would be available to farmers impacted by the destroyed levee while Dave White said they were looking at ways to use EQIP money to help repair infrastructure like irrigation systems that are likely ruined by the flooding. Our Wednesday morning farm news led with the flooding from the levee- and had comments from Secretary Vilsack on the subject- click here to listen to that report.

"The ethanol subsidy and tariff is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy. As our nation faces a crushing debt burden, rising gas prices and the prospect of serious inflation, continuing our parochial ethanol policy that increases the cost of energy and food is irresponsible. I'm pleased to introduce this common sense bill with Senator Feinstein and will push for its consideration at the earliest opportunity," Dr. Coburn said, noting that the bill has been filed as an amendment (#309) to the small business bill pending in the Senate.

The VEETC is a de facto cash subsidy that directs 45 cents to refiners for every gallon of ethanol they blend with gasoline. The VEETC costs taxpayers approximately $6 billion a year. If the VEETC subsidy is repealed by July 1, 2011, as the Coburn/Feinstein bill calls for, it will save approximately $3 billion this year. Nearly 40 organizations on the left and right, including the refiners who benefit from the VEETC subsidy, have called for the elimination of the subsidy.

While ethanol advocates decry this proposal- one group that loves it is the National Cattlemen's Beef Association- click here to see their reaction

The next Canola Answer Plot® Knowledge Event will be held this afternoon (May 4), at 3:00 p.m., just west of the Kingfisher Fairgrounds on the South side of Hwy 33.

There is also two Answerplot events planned Thursday, May 5- the first at 9:30 a.m., two miles south of Pond Creek on N2920 Road, as well as at at 3:00 p.m., ¼ mile North of Capron on N2490 Road.

Growers can contact Justin Stejskal at 405-747-4415 for more information.

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.