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This is a story that aired on OETA Public Television's The Oklahoma News Report in Tulsa Oklahoma as reported by Lis Exon and photojournalist Tim Carson. For more information or to contact us, please go to the new and improved www.oeta.tv The verbatim script follows below... AN OKLAHOMA FARM IS SO UNIQUE THAT THE CLOSEST FARMS PRODUCING ANYTHING LIKE IT ARE AS FAR AWAY AS ILLINOIS AND FAR SOUTH TEXAS. J-M FARMS INCORPORATED, LOCATED IN MIAMI OKLAHOMA, IS A THRIVING MUSHROOM FARM. AS IT GETS READY TO CELEBRATE IT'S 3OTH ANNIVERSARY THIS FALL, O-E-T-A'S LIS EXON TAKES US THERE TO SHOW US WHY THIS FARMING OPERATION IS SO UNIQUE.. THIS IS THE PACKAGING ROOM FOR J-M FARMS LOCATED IN MIAMI, OKLAHOMA. WHOLE MUSHROOMS, SLICED MUSHROOMS FROM BUTTON SIZE TO THE LARGEST OF MUSHROOMS AND PACKAGED FOR RETAIL OUTLETS AND FOOD SEVICE COMPANIES. MANY OF YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN THE FAMILLIAR LABEL ON THE MUSHROOMS AT YOUR GROCERY STORES. PLANT SUPERINTENDENT JOE SHARBUTT HAS BEEN WITH J-M FARMS SINCE THE BEGINNING 30 YEARS AGO. WHILE TOURING THE PLANT I LEARNED THIS NOT ONLY THE THE ONLY FARM OF IT'S KIND IN OKLAHOMA BUT IN THE WHOLE REGION. AND IT SURE IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL FARM. FROM THE OUTSIDE IT LOOKS LIKE A BRICK BUILDING....AND THAT'S WHAT IT IS...THE MUSHROOMS ARE GROWN INSIDE IN A NUMBER OF GROWING ROOMS WHICH ARE PRODUCING MUSHROOMS 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR. THE MAIN OUTSIDE ACTIVITY IS COMPOSTING. THIS IS WHERE THE PRODUCTION OF MUSHROOMS BEGINS. THE HUGE PILES OF COMPOST PRODUCE HEAT AFTER NITROGEN AND POULTRY LITTER IS ADDED TO THE WHEAT STAW. beginning of the process to get through the whole process, around 80 days but from the time they start growing the mushroom will actually double in size every 24 hours THE MUSHROOM BEDS AND THE ROOMS THEY ARE GROWN IN ARE CONSTANTLY BEGING MONITORED TO INSURE A QUALITY PRODUCT. we are monitoring all the way through we are monitoring tremperatures bed temperatures air temperatures co 2 AND EVERY DAY THE MUSHROOMS ARE HAND PICKED. THE PICKERS SORT THEM BY SIZE AND WITH SWIFT PERCISION THEY CUT THE STEMS ON THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF MUSHROOMS DISCARDING ANY NOT UP TO STANDARD. BECAUSE MUSHROOMS HAVE A REALTIVELY SHORT SHELF LIFE, FRESHNESS IS ESSENTIAL. as we pick these mushrooms these mushrooms will be moved up into the packing area and they will be cooled and packaged and will be shipped out, a lot of them will be shipped out this evening or tonight and be in the markets the next morning J-M IS VERY BIG ON FOOD SAFTEY, IN FACT IT IS WAY AHEAD OF MOST PRODUCE GROWERS. THIS BAR CODE CONTAINS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION. from those bar codes on the boxes we can tell you what room the product was picked out of who picked it what time, what size it was what the quality was, what size container we can go back and get a lot of information from that FROM HERE THE MUSHROOMS GO INTO A STORAGE ROOM WHERE THE TEMPERATURE IS A CONSTANT 38 DEGREES. UP TO EIGHT REFRIGERATED AIR RIDE SEMI'S ARE LOADED FOR SHIPMENT EACH AND EVERY DAY. THIS SHIPMENT WILL BE IN DENVER IS LESS THAN 24 HOURS. WITH 600 WORKERS, THIS SOPHISTICATED OPERATION IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST EMPLOYERS IN THE AREA. J-M HAS EXPANDED GREATLY OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS. IN THE BEGINNING IT GREW 40,000 POUNDS OF MUSHROOMS A WEEK. TODAY THAT NUMBER IS 400,000 POUNDS A WEEK. IN MIAMI, I'M LIS EXON, THE OKLAHOMA NEWS REPORT.