FarmWeek

IMPROVEMENTS TO THE Illinois and Mississippi River locks came a step closer to reality Friday with action in the U.S. House. .......4

WAL-MART WILL LINK its customers with the Illinois farmers who grow their produce at a midOctober farmers’ market. ..............4

ILLINOIS FARMERS each year harvest 13,679 acres of pumpkins on 502 farms, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture. .........9

Monday, October 5, 2009

Two sections Volume 37, No. 40

State Senate Ag Committee hears pesticide drift issues

BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek

Communication was the watchword at last week’s Illinois Senate Agriculture and Conservation Committee hearing on pesticide drift.

Later, a Senate fertilizers and chemicals subcommittee was named to

address drift concerns.

Over four-plus hours of testimony and questioning, several senators, farmers, and representatives of ag industry and farm groups agreed that communication would help address some pesticide drift issues.

“We have good communication with our neighbors,” Adam Watson, a Champaign County Farm Bureau member, told the senators. “Communi-

cation is going to be vital on both sides of the fence,” Watson said. “I want to know if an organic” field is nearby.

Illinois Farm Bureau Director Bill Olthoff of Bourbonnais testified that his family communicated with neighboring farmers by posting signs around tomato fields and asking them to use less volatile herbicides near those sensitive crops. “They complied,” he added.

Several organic farmers testified they could lose their organic certification — and premium prices — for several years if pesticides drift over their fields and crops. Two grape growers who use pesticides testified their grapes and vines were harmed by drift and described potential problems from pesticide use along road and railroad rights of way.

According to the Illinois

Department of Agriculture (IDOA), total pesticide-use complaints, including those from non-farm uses, have varied between 87 to 117 annually. Only a small portion of those complaints, about 11 out of 117, involved aerial applications, said Warren Goetsch, IDOA bureau chief of environmental programs. About 60 percent of pesticide-use complaints are agriculture See Pesticide, page 3

U.S. Senate climate bill lacks farmer carbon offsets

Periodicals: Time Valued

The climate change bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week lacks many of the provisions sought by farm groups to ensure that growers could get paid for carbon-storing practices and is vehemently opposed by Farm Bureau and other ag groups.

Farm Bureau will work to defeat the measure — introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (DMass.) — in the upper chamber.

It was reported last week that others in the Senate are working on provisions for agricultural offsets to climate legislation.

The Boxer-Kerry proposal would leave the decision of off-

sets oversight to the president, while the earlier House-passed bill gives that authority to USDA. The Senate draft also would establish a new independent Offsets Integrity Advisory Board to help the president determine what projects should be eligible and assure that they represent “verifiable, additional, and permanent” reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Rick Krause, American Farm Bureau Federation senior director of congressional relations, called the Senate bill a “step back” from the House bill on credits for farmers.

Krause said he expects the Senate Agriculture Committee to try to rewrite the credit provisions.

Dissatisfaction with the bill was voiced by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who said he would “continue to fight against such proposals that ship jobs overseas, ration domestic energy, and result in greater government bureaucracy.”

“It is not in the best interests of the United States to unilaterally undertake mandatory carbon reductions until developing countries like China, India, and Brazil agree to the same,” said Roberts, a member of the Senate Ag and Finance committees.

Former ag secretary and now a Republican senator from Nebraska, Mike Johanns, also voiced his displeasure: “This kind of legislation, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is

an assault on farmers and ranchers in an economic way, and when they are hurt, our rural and small town economies are very directly hurt because they depend upon the farmer and rancher for the success of Main Street.”

The Boxer-Kerry proposal would seek to achieve a 20 percent reduction of 2005 levels

of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, compared to a 17-percent reduction goal in the House bill.

Both the House and Senate bills feature a long-term target of an 83-percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.

Boxer said she wants her Senate Environment and Pub-

lic Works Committee (which she chairs) to begin hearings on the 801-page bill on Oct. 20.

There is, however, still doubt on Capitol Hill that the Boxer-Kerry bill will make it to a Senate vote this year, and the measure is said to lack the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster.

BUCKING BALES

Bill Wey, left on hay rack, and his grandson, Jared Wey, last week were bucking bales of hay from the third cutting of alfalfa on an eight-acre field near LeRoy in McLean County. The hay crop on Wey’s farm produced 900 square bales and 115 large round bales this year. Wey produces corn and soybeans and has 10 quarter horses. Jared works for Mark Wade, LeRoy, in tractor, who does custom baling. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com

Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org

FarmWeek Page 2 Monday, October 5, 2009

Quick Takes TRUSTEES TO DISCUSS U OF I PRESIDENT — The University of Illinois Board of Trustees was expected to take up the matter of President B. Joseph White’s resignation and possibly name an interim president in an emergency meeting held last Saturday.

New trustees chairman Christopher Kennedy called a special meeting “to act upon items which cannot wait until the next regular (Nov. 12) meeting.” The meeting agenda included an executive session and presentations from search firms that may be hired to locate a permanent president.

White is to step down at the end of December.

FARMERS FEATURED ON NCGA VIDEO — A new video that focuses on increasing sustainability in agriculture debuted last weekend on the television program “This Week in Agribusiness.”

The short video produced by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) features farmers telling the story of how better management and modern technology is good news for consumers and the environment.

“The only thing as important as growing a crop and getting a fair price is doing so in a way that is socially responsible and assures opportunities for the next generation of farmers and consumers,” said Darrin Ihnen, NCGA president.

The video on sustainability was aired over the weekend and will be shown today (Monday) on RFD-TV, which is available on Direct TV and Dish Network.

The video, features Donna Jeschke of Mazon, former chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board (ICMB) and a current director on the ICMB board, and also can be viewed online at {http://ncga.com/sustainability}.

AMERICANS NOT EATING ENOUGH FRUIT, VEGETABLES — Americans have yet to achieve the recommended consumption levels of fruit and vegetables, according to a report issued last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Department of Health and Human Services’ goal is for at least 75 percent of Americans to eat two or more daily servings of fruit and for at least 50 percent of Americans to eat three or more servings of vegetables each day.

However, the CDC reported only 33 percent of adults are eating enough fruit and only 27 percent are consuming enough vegetables. Teenagers are doing worse than their elders. Only 32 percent of high school students eat the recommended servings of fruit, and only 13 percent eat the recommended servings of vegetables.

“A diet high in fruits and vegetables is important for optimal child growth, maintaining a healthy weight, and prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, all of which currently contribute to health care costs in the United States,” said Dr. William Dietz, director of CDC’s division of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity.

(ISSN0197-6680) Vol. 37 No. 40

October 5, 2009

Dedicated to improving the profitability of farming, and a higher quality of life for Illinois farmers.

FarmWeek is produced by the Illinois Farm Bureau.

FarmWeek is published each week, except the Mondays following Thanksgiving and Christmas, by the Illinois Agricultural Association, 1701 Towanda Avenue, P.O. Box 2901, Bloomington, IL 61701. Illinois Agricultural Association assumes no responsibility for statements by advertisers or for products or services advertised in FarmWeek.

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STAFF Editor Dave McClelland (dmcclelland@ilfb.org) Legislative Affairs Editor Kay Shipman (kayship@ilfb.org) Agricultural Affairs Editor Martin Ross (mross@ilfb.org) Senior Commodities Editor Daniel Grant (dgrant@ilfb.org) Editorial Assistant Linda Goltz (Lgoltz@ilfb.org) Business Production Manager Bob Standard Advertising Sales Manager

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EXPORTS

Taiwan delegation pledges to purchase Illinois grain

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

Corn and soybeans produced in the U.S., particularly in Illinois, should continue to flow in large quantities to the island nation of Taiwan.

A 17-member Taiwanese delegation last week, during a ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, signed letters of intent to purchase in the next two years as much as 531 million bushels of U.S. corn and soybeans.

A large portion of those purchases is expected to be sourced from Illinois. Overall, the intended sales of both crops to Taiwan could total an estimated $3.5 billion.

“Exports are absolutely vital to Illinois’ ag industry,” said Tom Jennings, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA). “These agreements represent jobs in Illinois.”

Taiwan is the fourth-largest export destination for U.S. corn and beans, according to IDOA. It imports about one-third of all its food needs from the U.S., and in 2008 it was the top customer of Illinois agricultural products with purchases of more than $955 million.

“The sale of Illinois corn and corn products to the Taiwanese is great news for Illinois growers as we prepare to harvest another large crop,” said Jim Rapp, chairman of the Illinois Corn

Marketing Board. “Taiwan continues to be a valued customer while Illinois growers remain reliable producers of corn.”

USDA last month estimated U.S. farmers this year will harvest the largest soybean crop and second-largest corn crop on record. Production in Illinois was projected to total 2.17 billion bushels of corn and 398.2 million bushels of beans.

Paul Sun, former ag minister of Taiwan who led the delegation to the U.S., said Taiwan buys the bulk of its ag products from the U.S. because of the quality of the crops and the reliability of U.S. as a supplier.

“Despite the economic downturn, Illinois exports to Taiwan last year were up 8.8 percent from 2007,” Sun said. “The signing (of the letters of intent to purchase grain) helps solidify this mutually beneficial relationship.”

The Taiwanese also have become large buyers of U.S. distillers dried grains (DDGs) since the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) in 2002 initiated feeding trials with the hog, poultry, and dairy industries in Taiwan, according to Clover Chang of the USGC Taiwan office.

Taiwan last year imported 250,000 metric tons of DDGs from the U.S. and should purchase more this year, according to Chang.

Pockets of grain quality issues not a concern for importers Pockets of grain quality issues reported so far this harvest should not affect U.S. crop exports.

In fact, representatives of a Taiwanese trade delegation in Springfield last week praised members of the Illinois Corn Growers and Soybean Associations for the quality of their products.

“The quality of American ag products always has been appreciated by Taiwanese importers and consumers,” said Paul Sun, former ag minister of Taiwan, who led the 17member delegation to the U.S. The Taiwanese delegation toured agribusinesses and farms in Illinois, and Sun said after the tour he has no concerns about the quality of grain this year despite reports of white mold in soybeans and ear rot in corn due to the cool, wet growing season.

“We heard the production level of soybeans (3.25 billion bushels) is supposed to break a record,” Sun told FarmWeek.

“That gives us confidence” to remain major buyers of U.S. ag products, he said.

Taiwan in 2008 was the top customer of ag products from Illinois with purchases of more than $955 million, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Overall, Taiwan is the fourth largest export destination for U.S. corn and beans.

“The price is reasonable and the U.S. is a reliable supplier, which is very important,” said Yau-Kuen

Hung, chairman of the Taiwan Feed Industry Association.

The downturn in crop prices since last year and large crop production potential in the U.S., combined with the fact that corn production in China and soybean production in South America declined this year due to weather issues, should help build export demand for the U.S., according to Ron Moore, chairman of the Illinois Soybean Association.

“There are opportunities to capture market share we’ve lost (in the past) based on cheaper prices (that were available in other mar-

kets),” said Moore, who believes the grain quality issues in the U.S. are confined to “isolated areas.”

The U.S. Grains Council reported last week corn prices in China are as high as $5 to $6-plus per bushel compared to U.S. prices which are about half those levels.

“Buyers always prefer a lower price,” Sun added.

USDA last month projected U.S. soy exports for 2008/09 will set a record of 1.28 billion bushels and raised its projection for U.S. corn exports by 100 million bushels. — Daniel Grant

FarmWeek Page 3 Monday, October 5, 2009

GOVERNMENT

IDOA fielding typical requests for temporary storage

BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek

tures must have a permanent base; hot-spot detectors, aeraThe Illinois Department of tion fans, and ducts; rigid sideAgriculture (IDOA) is receivwalls; and a waterproof covering the typical ing. Emergency number of storage requirerequests from ments are less ‘The most impor- strenuous. licensed elevators and wareGiven the tant thing when houses for temconcerns far mers deliver the qualityabout porary storage, of g r a i n i s ( t h a t ) this year’s crop, according to Stuart Selinger, t h e y r e c e i v e a farmers need head of IDOA’s scale ticket rep- to be sure they warehouse receive an r e s e n t a t i v e o f accurate reprebureau.

Selinger t h e q u a l i t y o f sentation of anticipated a grain they’ve de- any grain delivdecrease in the ered, Selinger usual number of livered.’ stressed. emergency stor“The most — Stuart Selinger important age requests Illinois Department because harvest thing when of Agriculture 2009 is expectfarmers deliver ed to be drawn grain is (that) out enough to provide elevathey receive a scale ticket reptors time to move the grain. resentative of the quality of Temporary storage strucgrain they’ve delivered,”

Selinger said. “Once they’ve dumped it and left with a scale ticket, that’s what it (the quality) is as far as the department’s

concerned,” he added.

In recent years, IDOA has approved temporary storage ranging from 107 million to

152 million bushels. The approved emergency storage varied widely from 12 million to 36 million bushels.

Eric Mennenga, in combine, opened a small portion of a field south of LeRoy in McLean County last week to make final adjustments on a new combine. Assisting Mennenga was Don Copley, LeRoy, in tractor with auger wagon, and Adam Murray, LeRoy, in semi. Mennenga, who farms with his father, Dennis, said slightly better yields than last year are expected despite a two-week delay in planting last spring. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

Library card not needed to use the National Ag Library Info and news from all over One of USDA’s bestkept secrets is a treasure trove of infor mation.

The National Agricul-

tural Librar y with locations in Beltsville, Md., and Washington, D.C., offers a wide variety of infor mation and news “from all over,” M. Louise Reynnells, a librar y infor-

mation specialist, told Far mWeek.

“Anybody can use us,” said Reynnells, who works in the library’s Rural Information Center in Beltsville.

Requests for specific

ROOFTOP GARDENER

information may be submitted by e-mail, by calling 800633-7701, or through an interlibrary loan program with a local library.

In addition to helping someone locate information, librarians also may match individuals with experts or other resources that may provide additional information, Reynnells explained.

For example, the National Ag Library’s rural information center focuses, not surprisingly, on rural issues. The website is {http://ric.nal.usda.gov}.

The center offers a special page for farmers and ranchers.

It includes information on a variety of farm programs, reports, and funding sources.

Information also is divided among several topics, including rural health, rural education, rural populations, funding resources, and rural housing.

Each topic provides links to related agencies, reports, and studies.

“We’re a great resource,” Reynnells said. — Kay Shipman

Pesticide

Senyah Haynes, left, the special events and program coordinator for Chicago’s Gary Comer Youth Center on Chicago’s south side, describes the center’s rooftop gardening program for urban teens to Hamilton County Farm Bureau leaders and their “adopted” legislator, Rep. Will Burns (D-Chicago).

Burns hosted Farm Bureau leaders for a tour of his district. Looking on left to right are: Hamilton County Farm Bureau manager Chris Bunting, Burns, Illinois Farm Bureau Director J.C. Pool, and Randy Kirsch, Hamilton County Farm Bureau board member. The students raise and sell about 2,000 pounds of produce on a third of an acre on the center’s roof. (Photo by Christina Nourie, Illinois Farm Bureau)

Continued from page 1 related, Goetsch noted.

IDOA routinely distributes information about its toll-free complaint hotline, recently updated its website information, including bee hive locations, and is seeking avenues to provide other information, Goetsch reported.

Rep. Don Moffitt (R-Gilson) told committee members and those testifying about the need for emergency information to be available during non-business hours.

Goetsch said IDOA is working with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), which has an emergency telephone number manned around the clock. The two agencies are exploring whether IEMA could forward after-hours pesticiderelated emergency calls to the IDOA employee on call, he explained.

Jean Payne, president of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, encouraged people to report suspected cases of pesticide drift and to have those incidents investigated by IDOA. Payne told Moffitt the agrichemical industry is willing to work with him to better inform the public about who to call in an emergency.

Sen. David Koeller (D-Peoria) will chair the new fertilizers and chemicals subcommittee. Subcommittee members include: Sens. Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign), Linda Holmes (DAurora), Gary Dahl (R-Granville), and Tim Bivins (R-Dixon).

FarmWeek Page 4 Monday, October 5, 2009

GOVERNMENT

House OK’s funds for Illinois, Mississippi River projects Legislation that includes money for Illinois and Mississippi River projects passed the U.S. House Friday.

The fiscal year 2010 Energy and Water Development Act, HR 3183, passed by a vote of 308 to 114. It will be voted on in the Senate this week.

The legislation includes $24.15 million for Illinois, including the river projects, funding for pennycress development, and the Illinois Community College Sustainability Network.

The legislation contains funding for the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, money to design the modernization of the locks on the rivers (officially called the Upper Mississippi River — Illinois Waterway System), and the Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan.

“By funding for these important ecosystem, lock modernization, and

flood-control projects, Congress will provide for simultaneous improvements in the ecological and economic health of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers while also protecting riverside communities from devastating flooding,” said U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, a Peoria Republican, who voted for the measure.

A partial breakdown of the funding: • UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER RESTORATION: $16.4 million.

Funding will be used for the construction, design, and evaluation of environmental restoration projects along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also will use the funding to conduct long-term resource monitoring and a public involvement program.

• ILLINOIS RIVER BASIN RESTORATION: $336,000.

Funding will be used to continue the design and planning of ecosystem restoration projects along the Illinois River.

• EMIQUON FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION: The funding will be used to restore the Illinois River floodplain to its natural state within the Thompson Drainage and Levee District.

• PEORIA RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT: $45,000.

Goal of the project is to enhance aquatic habitat in Peoria Lake by dredging approximately 200 acres and constructing three islands.

• DEMONSTRATION PLANT FOR BIODIESEL FROM LOWIMPACT CROPS: $500,000. Funding for construction of a biodiesel plant using pennycress as a feedstock. Pennycress is a winter crop, which would

allow producers to work it into their crop rotations.

• UPPER MISS RIVER COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: $269,000.

Funding will be used to complete plans for a comprehensive flood control system along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

• UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVERILLINOIS WATERWAY SYSTEM: $6.28 million. The funding will be used to continue pre-construction engineering and design for new locks along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

• ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK: $250,000. The Illinois Community College Sustainability Network strengthens Illinois community colleges’ capacity to promote and provide energy education and sustainable practices across Illinois.

Illinois growers focus of Wal-Mart regional farmers’ markets

BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek

Linking customers with the Illinois far mers who grow their produce will be one benefit of a mid-October far mers’ market planned at 12 South-Central Illinois Wal-Mart stores.

“Wal-Mart is very committed,” said Doris Lane, marketing grocery manager for the 12 stores. “I don’t think far mers get enough recognition, and I want to

make sure they get recognition.”

From Oct. 15-17, her area’s stores will host an “old-fashioned far mers’ market with everything out there produced on Illinois far ms,” Lane said. The only exception may be the bananas offered at a few locations, she added.

The stores are located in Carlyle, Centralia, Effingham, Fairfield, Flora, Lawrenceville, Olney, Pana, Robinson, Salem, Shel-

Illinois avoids first frost; more cool weather expected

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

The cloud cover that hung over Illinois much of last week may have been somewhat dreary, but it apparently also saved the state from its first widespread frost of the season.

Low temperatures last week in most portions of the state managed to remain above 40 degrees despite a frost advisory that was issued last Wednesday.

FarmWeekNow.com “We managed to avoid (frost) Check out the latest harvest this time around, although we weather outlook by going to got close at a couple locations” FarmWeekNow.com. in Northeast Illinois, said Matt Barnes, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Lincoln. “The cloud cover helped keep temperatures warmer than we thought they’d get.”

The fall freeze map updated daily on the Midwest Regional Climate Center’s website {http://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu} as of Thursday showed no official reports of frost in the state.

Pockets of frost, however, were indicated in Iowa, and Indiana and Wisconsin had frost in numerous locations.

Temperatures this week are expected to remain well below average, according to Barnes. But he believes the threat of the first frost this season in Illinois for the time being remains low.

Daytime highs in large portions of the state this time of year typically reach the lower 70s, but highs this week may reach only the 50s and 60s, according to Barnes.

“It looks like we’re going to keep this cool fall weather going through (this) week,” he said.

The forecast as of Friday also showed the possibility of more rain across the state early this week, creating more harvest delays.

byville, and Vandalia.

Making the connection between Wal-Mart and agriculture is a priority for Lane, who has done promotions at the Illinois State Fair and next year is planning promotions at county fairs.

This summer, Lane and five other regional WalMart managers toured several Central Illinois farms.

Illinois Farm Bureau, along with Prairie Farms Dairy and the Tazewell County Farm Bureau, helped arrange the tours.

State Fair visitors ques-

tioned Lane about why WalMart is interested in agriculture. “We have a lot to do with agriculture,” she said. “We want local farmers to produce for our stores.”

Lane added she also is interested in working with future farmers. “We want to offer the opportunity to the FFA,” she said. “We’re always looking for new items for them to grow. I think that’s a missed opportunity to not pull them into it. They’re the future.”

Lane said she also has worked with the Illinois

Department of Agriculture and its marketing bureau to find new growers.

Far mers who supply WalMart may grow for one store or for many, according to Lane. A far mer supplier must complete an application and meet certain standards, she said.

Interested farmers may go online to {http://walmart stores.com/suppliers/}, talk to the manager of their local WalMart store, or call 1-800-9256278.

“There’s a lot of potential,” Lane said. “We want to be out there on the forefront.”

COMBINE DISCUSSION

Clark County Farm Bureau President Brad Daugherty, right, discusses his farm near West Union with state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, left, (D-Cicero) during her recent visit with her “adopted” county Farm Bureau. Looking on is Clark County Farm Bureau manager Tony Trimble. Hernandez and her legislative assistant, Griselda Delgado, toured Daugherty’s grain farm and the Clover Field Farm livestock operation. They also toured the LincolnLand Agri-Energy ethanol plant in Palestine and Yargus Manufacturing, Marshall, which makes fertilizer blenders and material-handling equipment. (Photo by Christina Nourie, Illinois Farm Bureau)

FarmWeek Page 5 Monday, October 5, 2009

PRODUCTION

U of I researchers testing natural filter on swine odor Funk described his project during a recent manure manTwo University of Illinois agement workshop on the Illiresearchers are reducing the nois State University research odor coming farm near LexFarmWeekNow.com from swine ington. buildings on the Funk and Check out our photo gallery on in-ground biofilters at campus farm by Matt Robert, U FarmWeekNow.com. sending the of I research exhaust air engineer, are through in-ground testing the effectiveness of biofilters. one biofilter filled with wood “We know the thing is chips and hay and another filworking. We think it’s someter filled with tree bark biothing anybody could build,” mass.

Ted Funk, U of I agricultural Their biofilter is a shallow engineer, told livestock propit with a bottom layer of ducers. sand covered by a ground

BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek

cloth then filled with organic material. Funk and Robert lined the pit sides with concrete and included a sump pump to remove excess water.

To be effective, the biofilter material must be moist, but not wet, and porous enough to allow air movement. The filter also needs to be the right size to retain the exhaust air for about five seconds, Funk added. Organisms

in the filter material breakdown odor components in the exhaust air.

The cost for a U of I biofilter system was $3,836 and took 62.5 man-hours for construction. Funk noted a farmer wouldn’t need a $99.95 water meter included in the U of I cost.

Farmers could further reduce construction costs by using recycled materials, such

as recycled silo material, Robert added.

Annual operating cost estimates range from $5 to $15 per 1,000 cubic feet per meter of airflow.

The most effective use of the filters, Funk said, would be for producers to send building exhaust air through biofilters during times when air is stabilized — a time when most complaints are registered.

Harvest window opens briefly between periods of showers

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

Harvest activity intensified in many parts of Illinois at least for a few days early last week before another round of showers rolled into the state on Thursday.

Ross Prough, a farmer from Greenfield in Greene County, reported moisture readings as of Sept. 30 in some cornfields in his area were down to the upper-teens.

Farmers in some cases were able to shell corn, and early yield reports were encouraging as some 200-plus-bushel corn was harvested, according to Prough.

Elsewhere, Roger Reynolds, a farmer from Middletown in Logan County, early last week cut his first 60 acres of soybeans of the season.

“I thought the damage from the wet weather would be worse than it was,” Reynolds said while taking a break from harvest in a field near Elkhart. “I am pleasantly surprised (with bean yields) so far.”

Reynolds as of last week had not found white mold in his soybeans, but Diplodia ear rot was present in some of his cornfields.

Farmers still have a long way to go this season as just 2 percent of the corn crop and 1 percent of soybeans were harvested as of the first of last week, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service state office.

Harvest in the state already is 26 percent behind the average pace for corn and 20 percent behind for soybeans.

“The biggest problem is waiting for the corn to get dry enough to harvest,” Prough said. “I’ll be tickled to death if I’m done by Thanksgiving.”

Jeff Adkisson, executive vice president of the Grain and Feed Association of Illinois, said reports around the state indicate it’s a “slow dry-down year” for corn. He said the industry will do its best to get all the wet bushels through dryers.

“It’s been a challenge all year,” Adkisson said. “It was a challenge to get (the crop) planted, it will be a challenge to get it out, and it will be a challenge to get it priced at a profitable level.”

Prough and Reynolds both reported that despite recent harvest activity a large number of green fields existed as the calendar flipped to October.

“There still are a number of fields susceptible to frost,” Reynolds added.

Roger Reynolds, a farmer from Middletown, makes some minor adjustments to his combine. Reynolds last week cut his first 60 acres of soybeans of the season before more showers rolled into the state. He believes harvest will last until at least Thanksgiving, as evidenced by the immature soybean field in the background. (Photo by Daniel Grant)

University of Illinois research engineer Matt Robert adds wood chips and other materials to an experimental air biofilter beside a swine building on the U of I research farm. Ductwork (shown in the inset) links air from the building’s exhaust fan to the biofilter and reduces odor from the exhaust air. (Photos by Ted Funk, U of I agricultural engineer)

FarmWeek Page 6 Monday, October 5, 2009

CROPWATCHERS Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Harvest started in a very small way here in Winnebago County. Three different farmers I know of were able to combine some beans on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a small field that averaged 12.2 percent moisture and yielded in the upper 40s. Thursday the rain came back, and we ended up with 1.25 inches by Thursday night. We don’t need anymore this time of year. Corn is not drying down very fast. One farmer tried to combine some early corn but decided to wait when the moisture averaged 35 percent.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: We got three quarters of an inch of rain last weekend and a little more than an inch Thursday night. Corn and beans are turning, but still need time. Some beans in the area probably will be cut this week with some dry weather.

Unfortunately, rain is forecast every other day this week. Not much silage has been cut. Everyone is waiting for crops to mature. Hopefully, the weather man is wrong and we will have a sunny week. Be patient.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: September’s rain totaled 1.35 inches — the driest month this year. Oct. 1 brought 1.2 inches of rain. No frost yet even though we’ve had very cool mornings. Only a few acres of corn have been combined. Test weight is reported to be low.

Insurance adjusters are checking yields on fields that are being chopped for silage. Soybeans need more time to dry down and very few have been combined.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: I have not seen any corn being harvested. There are still lots of green leaves and very high moisture. Wednesday, a few people had some beans that were fit and they started. I have not heard how the yields were, though. Heavy rains Thursday and more forecast for most of this week will keep fieldwork stopped.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: Harvest in Lee County officially started, although I’ve only seen one corn field and one soybean field harvested.

The one yield report that I have is a 102-day corn averaging 208 bushels an acre at 23 percent moisture. A good yield for that early of a variety. After the recent rain dries up, there should be a lot of combines running in soybeans. Most fields are right on the edge of being ready. It is a late start this season, and the pressure will be on to hurry through harvest, but remember to put safety on the top of your priority list.

Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: There has been some harvest activity in the immediate area, but for the most part Western Illinois is still a week away from full-swing harvest. The producers who are going are mainly in corn, but there are a few fields of soybeans that have been cut. Yields for both corn and soybeans have been quite good given the conditions this year. We even got a little wheat planted. Rains Thursday halted harvest activity, but that shouldn’t be for long. I expect we will be back in the field by the time you are reading this.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: I had 1 inch of rain Thursday. Soybean harvest had gotten going on Group II soybeans. A few yields I heard were in the mid-50s and one in the 60s. It is interesting driving around seeing totally green, later-planted beans sometimes next to fields of fully mature ones. There is quite a contrast in corn, too, between completely brown and green. Most who have tried corn have found 30 percent or more moisture unless it was a pretty short-season corn planted early.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We received 0.5 of an inch of rain last Thursday. We started harvest on Monday (Sept. 28). The corn was testing 25 percent and yielding in the 200-bushel range. We only had 40 acres that was that moisture, so we moved to soybeans before the rain. They appeared to be in the mid-50s.

Much of this crop is still not mature, so this will be another challenging season.

Tim Green, Wyoming, Stark County: We had some cool days with highs in the low 60s and some even in the 50s, so we didn’t get many drying days last week. Beans are continuing to drop their leaves but still quite a ways off. Some early-planted beans have been cut and yields have been all over the board. One person I talked to said the field that didn’t have white mold in it had pretty good beans and the fields that did have white mold in them were pretty disappointing — he thought probably a 40 percent yield reduction. Corn is still not drying down. The people who picked a little stopped and came back four to six days later to find it had dropped only half a point or so. Have a safe harvest.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Many farmers started harvesting soybeans before we got rained out. Early reports on yields are great. The soybeans we harvested were very large in size. My neighbor tried some April-planted 104-day corn, and it was still 30 percent moisture. What will 113-day corn planted May 22 be like? It’s the first week in October and much of the corn is not black layered yet. Markets are up and down.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: Soybean harvest began but was stopped by rain Thursday. We received a range of 0.45 to 0.6 of an inch on our farms. Most soybean fields are in the full maturity growth stage (R8). Some fields have been harvested while the rest are at R7. From what little I have heard, farmers have been happy with the early soybean yields. The majority of cornfields in the area are still in the dent stage (R5). The milk line in our corn is anywhere from 50 percent to all the down the kernel or at black layer (R6). Most of our corn would have the milk line from 50 percent to 80 percent of the way down the kernel.

I did hear of some hand samples of corn testing from 21 percent to 24 percent moisture. The local closing prices for Oct. 1: nearby corn, $3.15; nearby soybeans, $9.06.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: As I “twitter” away, we are getting as much done in a week as we often get done in a day. Most of the crop is close to being safe from a freeze. Lighter test weights, stalk quality, and Diplodia damage are concerns. Corn yields are about where they yield-checked a month ago.

Soybeans are a pleasant surprise. Jokes about spending Christmas at the elevator are getting less funny. Corn, $3.22; January $3.34; soybeans, $8.98; January, $9.01; wheat, $3.97.

Steve

Champaign, Champaign County: Combines rolled last week in both corn and soybeans until rain began Thursday morning.

So far we have had 0.35 of an inch with 1 inch or so predicted. More rain expected today and Tuesday. The big news will be low temperatures in mid-30s on Oct. 8–11 that may bring a little frost to the pumpkin. Area yields from Amy Brammer’s Topflight Grain comments have beans from 52-69 bushels per acre and corn 185 to 220 dry at 27 percent harvest moisture. Concern remains about Diplodia in corn and one farmer reported that quality and yield improved as he moved away from a neighboring cornfield.

Think safety!

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Hello again from our little corner of Illinois where the moon was absolutely beautiful Friday morning. So big! It must be the Harvest Moon.

Anyway, it is clear after a rainy Thursday which put 0.45 of an inch in the gauge and brings the total for September to 1.9 inches. Total for the year comes in at 36.75 inches since March 1 at our place. Corn harvest is picking up a little in some areas with good yields reported and most soybeans are still standing. Stay safe!

Harry Schirding, Petersburg, Menard County: Harvest got under way last week as producers searched for fields that were ready. From the producer to the elevator manager, everyone is nervous about the effects damaged kernels will have. Some have been able to find corn testing in the high teens but most is in the low 20s. It is too early to get a trend, but I think most producers are pleased with yields in both corn and soybeans. Soybeans will be the priority thus allowing corn to continue to dry down. The slow soybean harvest is impacting wheat seeding, which is just getting started. Corn nearby, $3.23, same as last week; corn for January, $3.19, up 3 cents; soybeans nearby, $9.03, down 17 cents; soybeans for January, $9.18, down 2 cents.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: Rain on Thursday morning put a halt to all fieldwork, but harvest was not quite in full swing. A number of farmers have been trying corn. There are many who have started and stopped and some who are continuing to go. Only 5 percent of the corn that was planted in April has been running anywhere from 18 percent up to 28 percent. Corn planted early May, which was very little, is running in the upper 20s, and the vast majority of the corn is still well above 20 percent. Yields, though, have been very good, but there also is a fair amount of white mold damage on the kernels, which will be tough to control in on-farm storage as well as at the elevators. No real yield reports on soybeans that have been harvested, but quality of the soybeans looks excellent. There will be a fair number of acres ready for harvest, probably more acres of beans than corn, whenever weather permits here through the week. Forecast wise, bean cutting may be very difficult.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: The waiting game lingers on here in Coles County as corn and soybean crops seem to be approaching harvestability very slowly.

Farmers quickly ran out of Aprilplanted corn to harvest, if they even had any, and still found it to be above 20 percent moisture over the last week of September. Abnormally high amounts of damage (10-20 percent) from disease made for an ugly surprise for most producers who had early corn. Mayplanted corn is far from ready for harvest. I could not help but try some of my May 11 corn and found it to be a very wet 34 percent.

The later-May, early-June fields look much worse. As for the soybeans, ripe fields seem to be few and far between. Farmers are cutting them as fast as they become ready.

Bean yields so far are in the 50s and 60s — much better than many were thinking they would be. I will be surprised if the later beans can sustain these levels. All we can do is have patience and clear our November calendars.

Ayers,

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: We had 1 inch of rain this past week. We had a lot of cold nights and some fog much of the week. The beans are starting to come around real well. There have been several fields cut. The earlier varieties produced pretty decent yields. I wouldn’t say fabulous, by any means, but most of them are better than expected. A few people are shelling corn.

Some early-planted 110-day variety fields had moisture down to 19 percent. Many are shelling it at 22-25 percent, but nobody is hitting it very hard, just spots here and there.

Some whole fields are gone. Need to be careful because your family and friends need you.

FarmWeek Page 7 Monday, October 5, 2009

CROPWATCHERS David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: We received 0.08 of an inch of rain on Saturday, Sept. 26 and another shot of rain came through on Thursday evening. It has been a long time coming. We have been wanting it to rain for weeks. It is little too late for most things, but will help late-crop beans or double-crop beans that are still green. Not too much harvest is going on in this neck of the woods. A few guys who planted beans early or in place of corn are harvesting some. Yields are 38 to 53 bushels per acre, but every producer cutting early beans says yields will be down hill from here on. Harvest for most, including me, is 10 days to two weeks off. Corn planted May 20 is still testing above 25 percent moisture. We will get combines and heads looked over and maintained this week and get ready to roll.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: Spotty showers moved through the area on Saturday, Sept. 26, and again on Thursday, leaving little or no precipitation. The temperatures have been very cool, leading to slow maturation of the crop. Most of the corn is still too green to chop for silage. A very few fields of beans have been harvested; a few more are turning. The vast majority or beans are still very green. Some harvest could take place this week, weather permitting. More cool weather and a chance of showers are expected, which will not help the crops mature.

Bob Biehl, Belleville, St. Clair County: Missed out on the rain again, but cool weather persists. Forty-one degrees was the coldest temperature last week with a few other days in the 40s.

Little activity for the week, just a couple of farmers shelling some early corn and a few isolated bean fields being cut. Group III beans planted in mid- to late March are turning fast now. Hopefully, more to report next week.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: We had a nice little shower Thursday evening. We didn’t really need it, but what the hay. Harvest is slowly beginning. A few patches of beans have been cut, and a little corn has been shelled.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: After rains on Sept. 27, we finally had an open week last week. We shelled corn on Monday (Sept.

28) and cut beans on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before showers moved in on Thursday afternoon. We had about 0.04 of an inch of rain Thursday afternoon and evening.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to be back shelling corn on Saturday. We’ve been pretty pleased with the yields on the corn and beans we cut last week. Remember to be careful during this busy harvest season.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Another month is gone. It seems like we should have more harvest done for this time of year. We had a small shower Thursday, so that may slow harvest. Corn yields are good. Some damage in my white corn. I have shelled some yellow corn and it looks OK. There have been some beans cut, but I haven’t heard any yields. The ground is a little too wet to sow wheat, but I am anxious to get some sown as soon as the ground will allow it.

Reports received Friday morning.

Numerous diseases showing up in Illinois crop fields

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

Many Illinois farmers who have conducted pre-harvest field checks or fired up the combine in recent weeks have discovered quite a variety of crop diseases.

Kevin Black, insect and plant disease technical manager for GROWMARK, last week told FarmWeek that outbreaks of Diplodia ear rot in some areas are the “worst I’ve ever seen.”

“In some cases it’s severe and in some spots it’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” Black said. “But it’s not universal.”

Ross Prough, a farmer from Greenfield, reported damage from some initial loads of corn in his area ranged from 5 percent to 15

percent. The dock at an elevator for the most severely damaged load of corn ranged from $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel.

“You take that off $3.50 corn and it really hurts,” Prough said.

Roger Reynolds, a farmer from Middletown, recently scouted some of his cornfields and said of Diplodia, “it’s in there. No question about it.”

So far the Diplodia outbreak seems to be most severe in earlier-planted varieties. Jeff Adkisson, executive vice president of the Grain and Feed Association of Illinois, said that fits a typical pattern.

“A lot of times we’ll see problems with the crop at the beginning stages, but as we get further into harvest, it’s not as

BY KEVIN BLACK

Grain bin preparation ahead of harvest Stored grain insect pests are active as long as the grain temperature is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and insect activity increases as temperatures increase.

The best time to deal with stored grain pests is before they infest the grain. With warm-weather harvest of wheat or other grains, this is sometimes impossible because the grain is infested in the field. Still, advance preparation is always better than trying Kevin Black to correct a problem after it develops.

Strategies for managing stored grain include some basic, common sense practices: Sanitation: • NEVER put new grain on top of old.

• Thoroughly clean inside the bin and consider an empty-bin insecticide treatment.

big of problem,” Adkisson said. “We certainly hope that is the case this year.”

Farmers who have confirmed the presence of Diplodia ear rot should attempt to harvest those fields first and dry the corn down as quickly as possible, Black noted. He also suggested farmers increase the air output of their combines when harvesting moldy corn.

Meanwhile, Black recently also found soybean rust in a field in Pulaski County in deep Southern Illinois. The finding as of press time had not been confirmed by USDA, but as soon as it is, it will be posted at the website {www.sbrusa.net}. Soy rust was confirmed recently in a field in Posey County, Indiana.

Fortunately, the soybean crop is far enough along that rust no longer poses an economic threat, according to Prough, who is on the Illinois Soybean Association board of directors.

Elsewhere, a disease in beans typically more prevalent in the South (Cercospora leaf blight) has been found in a number of Illinois fields.

“We’re trying to determine how it will affect yields,” Black said of the disease that gives beans a yellow-orange tint. “There are many other things out there because of the (cool, wet) weather we had this year.”

In some cases, leaf blight may occur late enough that it has no impact on yields, Black added.

• Clean up spilled grain around bins, mow weeds, apply an insecticide perimeter treatment.

• Clean out augers and other grain-handling equipment.

Harvest: • Eliminate crop debris during harvest or clean the grain as it goes into the bin.

• Avoid binning moldy or chaffy grain.

• Set the combine for minimal damage to grain.

Protection: • Spray approved insecticides inside the empty bin, including under the drying floor.

• Spray around the outside of bins to prevent infestation from these areas.

• Apply protectant insecticide to grain that will be stored more than a few months.

• Consider treatment of at least the first and last few loads to create top and bottom barriers.

• Use “no pest” strips in bin head spaces to prevent insect entry at the top of the grain.

Kevin Black, insect and plant disease technical manager for GROWMARK, inspects corn infected with Diplodia ear rot. The samples were collected last week in Central Illinois.

(Photo by Daniel Grant)

Remediation: • Check grain often for signs of insect activity. Use a grain probe and check the surface. Draw grain off the bottom for examination. Place traps to help monitor insects.

• Fumigate as infestations develop.

• Re-apply topside insecticide barriers any time this layer is disturbed.

• Market infested grain early, as contracts allow, before serious damage develops.

The important thing is to recognize the need to spend time cleaning and getting ready for harvest.

Grain in the bin is like money in the bank. Storage molds and grain insects are like tiny robbers.

It’s been said that “grain never improves in storage.”

We have one chance to get this right — or pay later.

Kevin Black is GROWMARK’s insect and plant disease technical manager. His e-mail address is kblack@growmark.com

FarmWeek Page 8 Monday, October 5, 2009

EXPORTS

Drought shrinks Chinese corn crop: U.S. exports could grow

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

U.S. corn exporters in the coming year may see increased marketing opportunities in Asia as China likely will not be a major player in that market, based on recent yield and production forecasts for that country.

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC), which last week completed its annual China corn tour, projected Chinese corn production this year could shrink by 9.7 percent compared to last year.

Corn production in China this year was projected by USGC to total 5.58 billion bushels compared to China’s National Grain and Oils

Information Center (CNGOIC) production estimate last year of 6.53 billion bushels.

“Drought and dryness affected the crop. It definitely is not as good as last year (when China harvested a record-large crop),” Cary Sifferath, USGC senior director in China, told FarmWeek.

The drought in China has been ongoing since July, it disrupted corn pollination, and it was particularly severe in some of China’s major corn-producing regions such as the western parts of Jilin and Liaoning provinces and eastern portions of the Inner Mongolia province, according to Sifferath.

“In some areas (corn pro-

duction) is down as much as 30 to 50 percent,” he said.

USGC projected China’s national corn yield this year will average 79 bushels per acre compared to the CNGOIC estimate last year of 88.5 bushels per acre.

Chinese yields typically are much less than those in the U.S. due to lower plant populations (about 90 percent of the crop is harvested by hand) and less productive hybrids, Sifferath noted.

China is not expected to become an importer of corn, at least through the end of the year, as the government last year established a strategic reserve of 1.4 billion bushels.

However, the situation has

caused corn prices to spike as high as $6.95 per bushel in South China — where there is strong feed demand — while prices in production areas of northeast China have reached $5.58 per bushel.

“The prices we see today (in China) are too expensive to compete with the U.S.,” Sifferath said last week. “South

Korea traditionally is a big corn market (for China) but we’re seeing South Korea buy much more corn from the U.S.” Meanwhile, USGC projected U.S. exports of ethanol byproduct distillers dried grains to China could jump from 8,000 tons last year to as much as 350,000 tons this year.

Drivers can list emergency contacts via licenses Illinois drivers may have emergency contact information linked to their driver’s licenses in case of a crash or some other emergency. The

new service became available in August.

Illinois residents may list up to two family members or friends, their addresses, and telephone numbers anywhere in the United States. Secretary of State Jesse White said his office pursued the legislation to ensure a family member or friend is notified if someone is injured and incapacitated.

To enter information, go online to {www.cyberdriveillinois.com}.

Individuals who don’t have access to a computer are encouraged to use a computer at their local library.

Any state resident who has a driver’s license, instruction permit, or identification card qualifies for the program. Residents may list anyone in the United States as an emergency contact.

Only law enforcement officers will be able to access the emergency contact information once it has been entered into the system. Information about the new program is available at public libraries and law enforcement agencies.

Auction Calendar Sat., Oct. 10. 9 a.m. Land Auction.

Robert Seed, CHAUNCEY, IL. Parrott Real Estate & Auction Co. Sat., Oct. 10. 9 a.m. Real estate and personal property. U Ralph Galloway Trust, SESSER, IL. Jamie Scherrer Auction Co. Sat., Oct. 10. 9 a.m. Real Estate and machinery. Harold and Shirlene Thoman, RAMSEY, IL. Langham Auctioneers.

Mon., Oct. 12. 9 a.m. Farm machinery. Howard E. Foster Trust, ELMWOOD, IL. Col. Gail Cowser and Col. John H. Bliss, Auctioneers.

Mon., Oct. 12. 7 p.m. Land. Van Kalker Family, L.P. Gordyville Auction Arena, GIFFORD, IL. Gordon Hannagan Auction Co. Sat., Oct. 17. 10 a.m. Tools, cars and collectibles. Marianne Schwahn, PONTIAC, IL. Immke and Bradleys’ Auction Service.

Fri., Oct. 23. 10 a.m. Estate land auction. Ruth B. Hamm Trust, HUDSON, IL. Haycraft Auction Co. Sat., Oct. 31. 9:30 a.m.

Consignment Auction. N.I.T.E. Equipment, PECATONICA, IL. Sat., Nov. 14. 8 a.m. Machinery consignment auction. Route 9 Auction Co., CANTON, IL. Sat., Nov. 21. 10 a.m. Real Estate.

Charles Lukas Trust/Mary Lukas Trust, COLLINSVILLE, IL. Ahrens and Niemeier, Auctioneers.

FarmWeek Page 9 Monday, October 5, 2009

FROM THE COUNTIES ACTION TEAM PROJECT

L

EE — Lee County plat books are available at the Farm Bureau office. Cost is $30. Call the Farm Bureau office at 857-3531 or visit the website {leecfb@comcast.net} for more information.

• Custom candle orders are due Friday, Oct. 16, to the Farm Bureau office. Payment is due with the order. Delivery will be Friday, Nov. 20, to the Farm Bureau office. Call the Farm Bureau office at 8573531 or visit the website {leecfb@comcast.net} for more information.

S

TARK — The Prime Timers annual Antique Road Show will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at the Farm Bureau office. Bring one or two items which Jim Folger, Folger Auction Services, will appraise. A light breakfast will be served.

Call the Farm Bureau office at 286-7481 for reservations or more information.

“From the counties” items are submitted by county Farm Bureau managers. If you have an event or activity open to all members, contact your county manager.

Knox County Young Farmers donate GPS units to emergency personnel

BY KRISTI LANGE

The Knox County Young Farmers recently made a contribution to the county’s emergency services providers that will benefit the entire community and especially those who live in rural areas.

Through a grant the Young Farmers received from the Galesburg Community Foundation and a donation from Young Farmer Justin Moffitt of Gilson, the group was able to donate $5,500 worth of global position system (GPS) navigational units (40 in all) to 32 emergency providers in the area.

The money was a result of a $4,000 grant from the foundation and $1,500 that Moffitt received for being named Proctor Hospital’s Outstanding Young Farmer and then donated to the committee.

Fire trucks, rescue squads, and law enforcement vehicles throughout the area will now be equipped with the latest GPS technology to help them respond even more rapidly in emergency situations.

A number of the GPS recipients said the technology will aid them in finding locations, particularly those in rural areas, that they may otherwise have had difficulty locating.

The Young Farmers’ donation permitted the emergency responders to move closer to their requested goal of receiving 127 GPS units.

Above: Audrey Sirles, 13, at left, Alex Remsey, 8, and his sister, Abby, 5, munch apples at Rendelman Orchards, Alto Pass.

The sign in the foreground, providing information about Illinois’ specialty crop industry, was developed by the Illinois Farm Bureau Education Action Team.

Betty Sirles, an orchard coowner, called the informational campaign “a great program,” adding that many customers have noticed it.

Right: Karen Hand, vintner with Blue Sky Vineyard, Makanda, shows another of the Action Team’s informational signs.

Signs were posted at Southern Illinois wineries and orchards this summer. Future plans include posting the signs at locations in Northern and Central Illinois.

(Photos by Ken Kashian)

Kristi Lange is manager of Knox County Farm Bureau. She can be reached at 309-342-2036.

Want to stand out LQ \RXU ÀHOG" You can, with ALOT!

$22 million crop

Illinois tops in pumpkin production Illinois, the nation’s No. 1 pumpkin producing and processing state, increased pumpkin acreage in recent years, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA).

Annually, Illinois farmers harvest 13,679 acres of pumpkins on 502 farms, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture in 2007.

That compared to 12,296 acres and 475 farms in 2002.

Illinois also leads the nation in pumpkin processing, which is done primarily at Libby’s in Morton and Seneca Foods in Princeville. Of the state’s 13,679 acres of pumpkins, 9,749 of those acres are harvested for processing.

Last year, Illinois pumpkins had a “field val-

ue” of more than $22 million dollars. Some Illinois pumpkins are sold locally, while many are sold to such national retailers as Wal-Mart.

“Our specialty crop producers are working hard to meet the increasing demand for Illinoisgrown produce,” said Illinois Agriculture Director Tom Jennings.

IDOA is promoting the specialty crop industry at an Illinois Products Farmers’ Market on the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Through Oct. 22, the market will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. each Thursday in the Commodities Pavilion. A pumpkin-carving contest will mark the final market of the season. For more information, call Kristi Jones at 217-725-4873.

More than 950 men and women have graduated from this dynamic program.

This year’s sessions will be held at Best Western Timber Creek Convention Center and DeKalb County Farm Bureau. Classes begin January 21.

Harvest Your Success. Enroll in ALOT today! Applications must be submitted to your County Farm Bureau by November 16.

Applications are available at www.ilfb.org.

T052C9

FarmWeek Page 10 Monday, October 5, 2009

PROFITABILITY

Nutrient outlook: Lots of needs, but lots of nervousness

BY JOE DILLIER

Economics is the study of how limited resources are allocated against unlimited wants and needs for those resources.

The limited resources in question could be time, money, electricity, gasoline, corn, beef, computers, or whatever.

Joe Dillier Price, of course, is what does the allocating of resources, matching supply with demand. Sometimes it does a better job of matching these than at other

times. (And sometimes government regulations and nonmarket factors limit its ability to adjust and be effective.)

Housing prices are having a tough time finding much demand in my neighborhood.

This brings us to the great, global market for fertilizer commodities, the supply of which is being shipped every day from places such as the Middle East, the Baltic Sea, western Canada, Florida, or the Caribbean, to meet demand which ultimately will materialize in places such as Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa — or India, Australia, or Indonesia.

Similar to housing, but for a

different reason, price currently is struggling to work its “equilibrating” magic in fertilizer markets. The reason is risk.

There is simply overwhelming caution on the part of fertilizer dealers, distributors, and manufactures to hold inventory after having been torched in last year’s great fertilizer price meltdown. And it’s a global phenomenon.

Seems everybody, understandably, is skittish about being wrong (read: “long”) this year.

The U.S. seems very short of urea fertilizers and will need to import large quantities well prior to spring to meet

expected demand. Ditto for UAN solutions.

But to date we are more exporters than importers. Fall phosphate inventories held by manufactures are the lowest seen in several years.

Ammonia supply for fall and the potash supply look to be in relatively good shape, although recent plant outages — should they persist — could tighten up the ammonia situation if demand is large this fall. And after two very wet, very delayed springs, it’s hard to estimate how high fall demand will be.

Uncertainties always have played a big role in fertilizer markets. Now, however, each

uncertainty is a reason for more caution.

This caution, at some point, could limit availabilities of local supply, and we may be at that point for fall phosphate now.

Don’t panic, but be aware of what’s going on and keep lots of discussion going with your local FS retailer. And on phosphate specifically, it looks like a good idea from both a price and supply standpoint to lock in the majority of your fall needs now.

Joe Dillier is GROWMARK’s director of plant food. His e-mail address is jdillier@growmark.com.

High input costs still a major concern for farmers Prices for many energyrelated products, ranging from natural gas and diesel fuel to fertilizer, have softened since reaching historic highs in the past year.

But the concern farmers have about high input costs has not passed as they prepare to harvest what likely will be the most expensive corn and soybean crops ever produced in the state.

Central Illinois farmers since 2002 have absorbed a 35 percent increase in fuel and oil prices, a 65 percent increase in land prices, a 68 percent increase in pesticide costs, a 360 percent boost in seed prices, and as much as a 300 to

400 percent increase in fertilizer costs, according to Illinois Farm Bureau.

The rapid rise of input costs has had a detrimental effect on farmers’ balance sheets, according to the IFB Profitability Advisory Team (PAT). And many producers this year may see their bottom line shift from black to red ink.

The University of Illinois recently projected crop returns in Illinois this year will average minus-$8 per acre for corn and minus-$15 per acre for soybeans despite the fact the average prices were estimated at $3.25 per bushel for corn and $9.40 per bushel for beans.

M A R K E T FA C T S

Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*

Weight 10 lbs.

40 lbs.

50 lbs.

Receipts

Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price $20.00-$32.04 $29.11 n/a n/a n/a n/a This Week Last Week 12,031 22,946 *Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

Eastern Corn Belt direct hogs (plant delivered) Carcass Live

(Prices $ per hundredweight) This week Prev. week $45.44 $47.54 $33.63 $35.18

Change -2.10 -1.55

USDA five-state area slaughter cattle price (Thursday’s price) Steers Heifers

This week 82.78 82.87

Prv. week 84.37 84.38

Change -1.59 -1.51

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs. This is a composite price of feeder cattle transactions in 27 states.

(Prices $ per hundredweight) This week Prev. week Change 95.36 96.87 -1.51

Lamb prices Confirmed lamb and sheep sales This week 544 Last week 873 Last year 939 Wooled Slaughter Lambs: Choice and Prime 2-3: 90-110 lbs, $98. Good and Choice 1-2: 60-90 lbs., $109. Slaughter Ewes: Utility and Good 1-3: $28-$30. Cull and Utility 1-2: $28.

Export inspections (Million bushels)

Week ending Soybeans Wheat 09-24-09 7.4 24.0 09-17-09 0.7 25.5 Last year 8.4 23.9 Season total 26.0 272.5 Previous season total 20.9 427.0 USDA projected total 1280 950 Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

Corn 29.6 40.9 41.8 139.3 129.5 2200

Those crop prices are high from a historical perspective but when compared to input costs in recent years, they no longer produce even a breakeven year.

Meanwhile, losses in the livestock industry have been even more severe and sustained for a longer period of time, due in large part to higher input costs.

Philip Nelson, IFB president and a grain and hog farmer from Seneca, reported he currently loses about $6,000 on every load of hogs shipped from his family farm.

“Farmers will face difficult decisions in the months ahead as we try to operate in an environment where the cost to put next year’s crop in the ground exceeds what we are projected to receive when we sell what we produced,” Nelson said.

Kent Schleich, PAT chairman and a farmer from Fulton County, has felt the pinch of higher input costs and lamented the idea that some input manufacturers have added to the decline of farmer profits.

“Major seed companies, for example, often price their products based on the potential for yield increases attributable to genetic traits,” Schleich said. “In the real world, farmers assume 100 percent of the

risk for weather, disease, and other perils affecting yield.”

PAT in recent months met with representatives of the seed, fertilizer, and chemical

industries with the goal of understanding supply and demand issues and to challenge input manufacturers about the perceived “imbalance in profit margins between the producer and agribusiness,” according to IFB. Farmers can learn more about the situation during the 2009 Illinois Farm Economics Summit meetings that will be held Dec. 14 in Champaign (I Hotel); Dec. 15 in Bloomington (Interstate Center); Dec. 16 in Galesburg (Best Western Prairie Inn); Dec. 17 in Rochelle (Hickory Grove); and Dec. 18 in Mt. Vernon (Holiday Inn).

More information about the meetings is available online at {www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu}.

Milk price posts a strong gain The Class III price for milk adjusted to 3.5 percent butterfat for the month of September was $12.11 per hundredweight.

This is a 91-cent increase from the previous month, and consecutive-month increases totaled more than $2.

School children returning after their summer break, plus a general optimism that the economy is slowly showing signs of recovery, has helped milk prices.

Prices are near break-even levels, and producers are hoping they continue to move in the right direction.

FarmWeek Page 11 Monday, October 5, 2009

PROFITABILITY Corn Strategy

C A S H S T R AT E G I S T

Soybean demand will be robust Once new supplies start to come into the pipeline in reasonably good quantity, the off take is going to be large enough to easily absorb supplies entering the pipeline. The large new-crop soybean export sales have been well discussed, but the size of product sales and the need for an aggressive crush pace have not.

Soybean meal and oil export sales are equally as robust as those for soybeans.

While the sales don’t guarantee an aggressive shipping schedule, the short-term world fundamental structure indicates that product shipments should be very good as well.

A strong export pace for product exports indicates the pace of soybean crush should be very good as well. Given the comfortable stocks of soybean oil, the industry will continue to crush soybeans for meal.

Basis charts

Other than when soybean prices surged at the end of July because of huge Chinese soybean purchases, the newcrop crush margin has been very good. Even in that short window, the November soybean/December product crush margin didn’t drop below 60 cents per bushel. At this writing it’s at 79 cents.

Since spring, it mostly has been above 70 cents a bushel.

Even applying reasonably conservative basis levels for soybeans and products against the futures crush margin, processors should still make good money crushing soybeans for the next few months.

If export and crush demand match the pace of 2003/2004 over the next six months, the monthly demand for the two primary uses could reach a sustained 350 million bushels.

The question that’s going to dog the industry is whether the infrastructure has the ability to move those quantities while shipping other goods. The sluggish pace of wheat shipping offers some room, but that may be offset by larger corn exports.

The other feature that could be impacted by this potential demand is the basis for soybeans, and possibly meal. The lower soybean and meal prices slip, and the longer they remain at relatively low levels, the stronger the cash prices and basis levels should be.

This could be especially true for soybean basis levels with farmers only metering out sales as they need money, unless prices at least move moderately higher after harvest.

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Cents per bu.

2008 crop: We’re still inclined to hold inventories until after harvest, or use a marketing strategy that would keep pricing open until later this year.

2009 crop: We are inclined to think we’ve reached a seasonal low. However, upside momentum is going to be hard to achieve with the threat of frost diminishing and harvest quickly approaching. Use rallies to $3.40 on December to get at least half of the bushels priced you need to move at harvest. We don’t plan additional sales until later this year.

Fundamentals: Fundamentals are not changing much. The trade is mostly waiting on the October crop report. Weekly exports sales continue to be very good with last week’s 1,223,500 metric ton (46.8 million bushel) sales again coming in above expectations. The trade will continue to keep an eye on weather with rains slowing early harvest activity.

Soybean Strategy 2008 crop: The soybean market continues to act like it’s putting in its “harvest” low. If you still have old-crop inventory, we think there will be better prices to wrap up sales than those offered today.

2009 crop: The market will continue to build a base to rally from over the next number of weeks. Nearby futures continue to hold key support at $8.81-$9. If you need to price soybeans for harvest delivery, use rallies on November futures to $9.45.

But if you can store soybeans, plan to hold them at least into winter.

Fundamentals: The forced liquidation of some investment money from commodities is helping keep soybeans on the defensive. “Big” yield talk is the key fundamental keeping a lid on prices.

Still, we believe the next USDA report has a better chance of reducing production than increasing it. Weather is slowing the harvest pace enough to keep new-crop

supplies from weighing on prices, too.

Wheat Strategy 2009 crop: Wheat traced out a fresh contract low with prices still struggling with large international supplies.

We have a short-term upside target at $4.60 on the December contract, the current 20day moving average. The market needs to close and hold above this resistance for consecutive days to signal a possible bottom. Still, we advise holding off sales, expecting better pricing opportunities

later this fall or winter. Even before advising catch-up sales, we’d wait to see if Chicago December futures can attempt to rally back above $5.

Fundamentals: The notion of abundant supplies again was confirmed in the September USDA numbers.

USDA increased 2009 wheat production by 36 million bushels due to a larger than expected spring wheat crop.

This increased the total wheat output to 2.22 billion bushels vs. the previous forecast of 2.184 billion.

FarmWeek Page 12 Monday, October 5, 2009

PERSPECTIVES

ECONOMIC

REPORT CARD

Is the recession over?

I

s the recession over? Federal Reser ve Chair Ben Bernanke says that it very likely is.

And I can almost hear the complaints: “Sure, Bernanke has a job! What about the 15 million people who were unemployed in August? Bet they don’t think the recession is over!”

What Chairman Bernanke — and most economists — means when he says that a recession is over, is that the economy has stopped declining.

A recession is when the production of goods and services is falling, when the number of jobs is decreasing, and when retail sales are less than they were before.

LARRY The recession is over when proDEBOER duction, jobs, and sales start rising again. But that means the last day of recession is the worst day of all.

What most people probably mean by recession is a less-than-satisfactory level of economic activity. We could have an unemployment rate of 5 percent, but instead it’s 9.7 percent.

Economists recognize this as a problem, too.

It’s an economy operating at less than capacity with unemployed resources. We could produce more, but we’re not.

Bernanke agrees that even with the recession over, unemployment will stay up, and the economy will feel weak for some time to come.

For economists, the end of a recession doesn’t mean that everything is all right. It just means that things aren’t getting worse anymore.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in Cambridge, Mass., is the quasi-official umpire of recessions and expansions. It‘s the one who marked December 2007 as the beginning of this recession. That month marked the peak of economic activity. It’s been downhill since then.

The NBER made that call in December 2008, which let the news media to have fun writing, “This just in, recession began a year ago.” The NBER wants to be absolutely sure of dates, so it takes its time.

How do we know if a recession is over? The NBER’s economists look at four indicators: total payroll employment, personal income less transfer payments adjusted for inflation, manufacturing and trade sales adjusted for inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s industrial production index.

All of these indicators started dropping between

October 2007 and January 2008.

Total payroll employment peaked in December 2007. Since then, almost seven million jobs have disappeared, and, as of August, payroll employment had not stopped falling. The only good news — and this is a stretch — is that the rate of decrease is decreasing.

From November to April, employers cut almost 650,000 jobs a month, on average. Since then, they’ve cut “only” 315,000 a month.

Personal income adds up what people earn.

Part of income is transfer payments, such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, and welfare. Transfer payments tend to rise in recessions, so when they are subtracted from personal income, what’s left is a better measure of economic activity. They take out the influence of inflation for good measure.

Personal income increased in July and August, after falling in 18 of the previous 21 months. This indicator may have turned the corner.

Inflation-adjusted manufacturing, wholesale, and retail trade sales also appear to have stopped falling. May marked the low point for sales, so far. They grew in June, July, and August. The industrial production index hit a low point in June and then increased in July and August.

So, of the four indicators that the NBER uses to mark recessions and expansions, one continues to decline; two “troughed” in June and have increased in the two months since then; and one hit its low point in May and has increased for three months since then.

Is that enough to declare the recession over?

Not according to the NBER, of course. Those careful observers probably will wait until the middle of next year to make their call.

Conveniently, these four indicators make up the “Index of Coincident Indicators” announced each month by the Conference Board. That index is up (a little) since June.

My guess is the NBER will end up marking the end of the recession sometime from May to August 2009.

The recession probably is over. But, remember, that doesn’t mean that everything will soon be OK. The first day of recovery feels a lot like the last day of recession.

Larry DeBoer is an agricultural economics professor at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. His e-mail address is ldeboer@purdue.edu.

Letter to the editor Offers another take on Block comments Editor: I am a Warren County retired farmer/landowner.

In defense of former Agriculture Secretary John Block, I would like to give “my take” on what he was saying in the Aug. 31, 2009, issue of FarmWeek.

Eldon McKie, in response to former Agriculture Secretary Block in his Letter to the Editor on Sept. 14, 2009, stated that “constructive analysis of government spending is always appropriate. But Secretary Block’s article doesn’t do that. It simply quotes the cliché “spend, spend, spend.”

Mr. McKie went on to enumerate benefits of past government spending (i.e. Rural Electrification, Farm Credit System, infrastructure improvements, etc.).

I felt Secretary Block was not addressing the past but the present financial situation in this country. And that the agriculture/rural segment of this nation has “had its fiscal house more in order” and has not been much of a contributing factor in this country’s current financial dilemma.

I hear him saying: • Government cannot be all things to all people.

• That Congress cannot “spend, spend, spend” as a solution to our fiscal debacle.

• That this nation cannot live beyond its means without jeopardizing its financial stability.

To me, one could take the most prominent businessmen in any agriculture community in this nation and they could make more sound fiscal policies/decisions than most of those currently serving in this administration/Congress.

We’re losing the way of life we’ve had, as well as our present liberties. And Americans don’t like it!

I understand what Secretary Block is trying to say.

There is no one in my circle of agriculture friends who would disagree with him in wanting less government and more individual entrepreneurship which has made this country great.

Yes, Mr. McKie is right, “constructive analysis of government spending is always appropriate!”

TED TINKHAM, Cameron

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Look who has a milk mustache now.