Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. Our email this morning is a service of Midwest Farm Shows, featuring the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City April 19-21, 2007, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show held each December. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here.

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The awards presentation is set this morning at 10:00 a.m. in the Governor’s Blue Room on the second floor. Sec. of Agriculture Terry Peach will join OACD President Scotty Herriman in presenting the OACD Conservation Awards for 2007. Three categories will be presented, sponsored by Chesapeake Energy, the Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
Joe Jeter of Copan will receive the Outstanding Landowner/Cooperator Award, sponsored by the Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma. Jeter is a cooperator with and was nominated by the Caney Valley Conservation District.
Paul Brown of Chickasha, on the board of directors of the Grady County Conservation District, will receive the Outstanding District Director Award, sponsored by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
East Woods County Conservation District will receive the Outstanding District Award, sponsored by Chesapeake Energy.

Besides Conservation Day at the Capitol today, the Oklahoma Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and Ranchers will be spending a day at the Capitol tomorrow- including a big Legislative Luncheon planned midday. AND on Wednesday, it will be Agriculture Day at the State Capitol, with a whole host of agricultural groups and companies setting up shop in the Rotunda area to help explain the importance of agriculture here in the state of Oklahoma.

No nickname for the best barrow of the 2007 show- as Yukon FFA swept the top two spots in the Barrow show of this year's OYE- The Champion Crossbred shown by Kristi Mathena was also the Grand Champion, while the Reserve Grand Champion was the top Hampshire, shown by Alisha Kannell. A total of 2450 barrows were shown in the 2007 OYE.

It was not only the selection of the Grand Champion Steer and Barrow last night at the State Fair Arena- but also the naming of the 16 Ag All Staters that received scholarships from several organizations and companies. At the top of the heap were the two $10,000 scholarships presented by Express Ranches- they were won by Chelsea Clifton of Kingfisher FFA and Mason Jones of Calera FFA. Chelsea and Mason were the two top ranking All-State ranking applicants, with the other fourteen members of the All- State Class each receiving a $5000 scholarship apiece. The 16 Ag All- Staters took home $100,000 worth of scholarship money from the Oklahoma Youth Expo!

Click here to listen to an overview of the Grand Finale of the show portion of the Oklahoma Youth Expo- including a full list of the Ag All Staters!

“Right now, USDA spends too much subsidizing million-dollar farm operations, and too little helping farmers be better stewards of our land,” Rep. Kind said. “Three out of four farmers are rejected when they seek USDA conservation assistance because of our misplaced spending priorities. We can’t hope to clean up the Mississippi, the Chesapeake, or other environmental priorities if we don’t give our farmers the right tools and incentives.”

The Kind Proposal has been developed with counsel from the group known as "Environmental Defense" as well as several other environmental organizations that want farm policy dollars shifted to their priorities. That also seems to be the motive for many of the lawmakers who are backing the Wisconsin Democrat. An example of that are comments from Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who will introduce the measure in the Senate, says that he doesn't think that his state gets a fair share of farm bill spending. It is VERY POSSIBLE (and probably LIKELY) that Ron Kind will try to bring his bill forward on the floor of the House and use it as a total substitute for whatever the House Ag Committee develops over the next several months. This was tried in 2002, and he came very close to pulling it off then. We will be touching base with Ron Kind's office and getting a copy of the language of the measure hopefully this week to share with those who have interest.

Click here for the official news release of the unveiling of the measure this past week- which offers more details of the Kind Plan.

Even if Seoul has to make [other] concessions, it must not give ground on the beef issue," Park told farmers. Korea maintains it is impossible to distinguish "normal" bones from those classified as specified risk materials for BSE, or Mad Cow Disease. Hence, it says it can't allow imports of U.S. bone-in beef. "Like people or society, a country must hold steadfast to principles," Park said, adding that while USDA is seeking to satisfy U.S. beef interests, Seoul is seeking to preserve the health of its people.

Park's remarks come as U.S. negotiators arrive in Seoul to begin yet another round of discussions with South Korea on a possible Free Trade Deal with the United States. The beef industry is represented by NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud, as US negotiators realize that without a solution to the Korean refusal to open up to our beef (which is outside the FTA deal), there will not be a favorable vote on any treaty that might be concluded between now and the end of the month.

Here's a link to a Monday morning News update from Korea on the trade negotiations.

The city of Tulsa filed a lawsuit in December 2001 claiming the poultry defendants were responsible for 170 million pounds of phosphorus and nitrogen-rich chicken waste that goes into the city watershed each year through creeks and streams that flow into Lake Eucha, which in turn feeds Lake Spavinaw. Lake Spavinaw is one of two drinking water sources for Tulsa; the other is Lake Oologah. The sides agreed to settle the case on the day the trial was scheduled to begin.

The agreement requires those businesses to implement a nutrient management plan for reducing poultry litter accumulating in Oklahoma watersheds. The poultry defendants and their growers cannot apply poultry litter to land in the watershed until they receive their nutrient management plans. The settlement called for a phosphorus-risk index to govern the conditions under which animal waste or fertilizer may be applied to land in the watershed. The Eucha-Spavinaw Phosphorus Index (ESPI) was developed by a team from Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas and adopted by the court in February 2004.

There were a total of 2,450 barrows run through this year's OYE market hog show- and the breed champions were won by the following young people!
Champion Duroc- Taylor Fort, Elgin FFA
Champion Berkshire- David Vizza, Tuttle FFA
Champion Spot- Reece Seibold, Sterling 4-H
Champion Chester White- Nate Harrington, Alex FFA
Champion Hampshire- Alisha Kannell, Yukon FFA
Champion Yorkshire- Seth Herren, El Reno FFA
Champion Poland- Matt Howeth, El Reno FFA
Champion Crossbred- Kristi Mathena, Yukon FFA

One quick reminder that the Premium Auction of the top market animals in all four species will happen at 4 pm this afternoon at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City!

Click here to listen to Matt Lewis- 2007 OYE Steer judge on today's Beef Buzz from the Radio Oklahoma Network!

I think it was important for a couple of reasons- first, the top electronic media officials in the state were in the room Friday evening- and they got a ten minute plus commercial about the business of agriculture. Secondly, there will be a story about my involvement with Oklahoma agriculture over the past thirty years that will be up on the OAB website for the coming year. We will let you know when it is posted and give you a link. I believe that's important because it will be read by mostly those who don't eat and sleep agriculture as most of us do. And many of these will be media influencers who will have a chance to review how agriculture is a market that is important and is worthy of being served by radio and TV.

One thing I was able to do as I spoke for just a few moments is to acknowledge the special relationship that we have been able to establish between our listeners and myself over the years. I mentioned the fact that as farmers and ranchers in our state have been busy producing a high quality safe and affordable food supply, we have been able to ride along side of them in their pickups, their tractors, in the barn or even at the kitchen table- and that we are humbled to realize that in many cases we have become a trusted part of the family. That's one of the reasons that I still enjoy this business of providing information to our farm community, whether it's by radio or via this email. Thank you for the privilege of serving you in this greatest industry in the world- farming and ranching!

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