CONCERNS ABOUT THE cost of the Senate Democrat climate/energy plan have prompted an Indiana senator to unveil his own alternative energy plan. ....................4
THE NUMBER OF DAIRY cows in the U.S. continues to decline, but milk production continues to increase many times over. Yet dairymen struggle to meet costs. ..............5
Monday, June 7, 2010
Two sections Volume 38, No. 23
Carp concerns
Halvorson: Open locks crucial to the economy
BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
FarmWeekNow.com
Periodicals: Time Valued
O’Brien Locks aimed ostensibly at preventing migration of the invasive and voracious Asian carp from the Illinois River system into Lake Michigan. In 2008, 6.9 million tons of oil, cement, coal, ag goods, and other essential products moved through the two locks. Halvorson, whose district includes a significant stretch of the Illinois River, helped head off a recent federal plan that might have limited traffic at
Farmers playing catch-up in fields after a wet May BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek
In the shadow of Chicago’s landmark Wrigley Building, U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, a Crete Democrat, Friday reiterated a call to control the carp without compromising commerce. Illinois Farm Bureau has joined the “UnLock Our Jobs” campaign, which opposes proposed shutdowns at Northeastern Illinois’ Chicago and Visit Far mWeekNow.com to learn more about Asian carp and the “Unlock our Jobs” issue.
R E TA I L M E A T P R I C E S inched up prior to the unofficial start of the grilling season (Memorial Day weekend) and could be poised to go higher still. ................8
Illinois Farm Bureau board member Mike Kenyon, left, speaks on behalf of keeping Chicagoland locks open during a Friday news conference beside the Chicago River in downtown Chicago. U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, center, a Crete Democrat, has championed the cause, which is supported by a number of commercial groups with interests in river shipping, including the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, represented at right by Donna Jeschke of Mazon. (Photo by Adam Nielsen)
those locks to a few days a week or even one week per month. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce warned the closures could cost $4.7 billion in lost commerce over the next two decades. The Illinois Corn Growers Association sees shutdowns adding an annual $500 million to industry transportation costs. The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected motions by the state of Michigan to close the locks, and Halvorson challenged the notion that lock closures could control the carp’s movement. “We seem to be winning this case,” she told FarmWeek. She noted no Asian carp have been found past Chicago locks or electronic barriers installed in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Halvorson noted there has been DNA testing to trace carp movement, construction of a physical barrier to prevent movement between the Des Plaines River and the canal, and harvesting of the carp for Chinese and other markets. A one-week lock closure in May to conduct a staged fish kill
on a two-mile stretch of the Little Calumet River in search of Asian carp yielded none of the invasive species among some 11,000 fish. Detroit-based Great Lakes Environmental Law Center Director Nick Schroeck subsequently stated that “perhaps we can concede that asking for an injunction to close the locks was not the right solution.” “So many businesses and jobs in the 11th Congressional District depend on our waterways,” Halvorson said. “There are 8,500 direct jobs (tied to port activities at the two Chicagoland locks), let alone the indirect jobs. “Michigan and our other Great Lakes states want to close these locks. They think it’s the only way to prevent Asian carp from ‘escaping’ the Illinois River. To me, that’s a slap in the face, intellectually. “Carp don’t wait for that fifth day of the week or that one week of the month (when locks would be open). If people knew the workings of our locks, they’d see carp can move freely See Carp, page 3
FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com
Farmers the past couple weeks made significant progress with fieldwork after rain delayed many activities for much of May. Corn planting as of the first of last week was 99 percent complete, and 73 percent of soybeans were in the ground, the National Agricultural Statistics Service Illinois field office reported. The planting pace was 5 percent ahead of the fiveyear average for corn and 2 percent above average for beans. Meanwhile, farmers during the last week of May harvested 38 percent of the alfalfa crop. Overall, 64 percent of the first cut of alfalfa was complete as of the first of last week compared to the average of 53 percent. “The bean planting is just about finished,” said Ted Kuebrich, a FarmWeek Cropwatcher from Jersey County. “The corn is growing well with the hot and humid weather, as are the beans.” Illinois for the month of May averaged 5.68 inches of rain, 1.42 inches above normal, according to Jim Angel, state climatologist with the Illinois State FarmWeekNow.com Water Survey. P l a nting season is winding The average temperature, down, and farmers are now foafter a cool start to the month, cusing on spraying. Check the ended up 1.3 degrees above latest CropWatchers reports at normal at 64.1 degrees. FarmWeekNow.com. “It was a pretty wet month,” Angel said. “And the second half (of May) was much warmer” than normal. In fact, the average temperature from March through May was 55.3 degrees, 3.3 degrees above normal. The National Weather Service forecast for this month called for an increased chance of above-normal precipitation, Angel reported. More rainy and cloudy conditions could contribute to reports of corn that is pale or yellow in appearance. “Environmental conditions play an important role in nutrient availability,” said Fabian Fernandez, University of Illinois Extension soil fertility specialist. “Any factor that restricts root growth and activity has the potential to restrict nutrient availability.” Nutrient deficiencies in corn observed so far this season likely were caused by excess water (which depletes oxygen levels in soil), cool soil temperatures (which decrease root activity), numerous cloudy days (which lower light intensity and reduce photosynthetic rates and nutrient uptake by the crop), and immobilization of nitrogen (which occurs typically in cornon-corn when nitrogen becomes temporarily unavailable as microorganisms break down crop residue). “As growing conditions improve, most nutrient deficiency symptoms will disappear without additional fertilization,” Fernandez said. If a nutrient deficiency is suspected, farmers should collect plant samples and send them to a laboratory for nutrient analysis, the specialist added. Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org