FarmWeek September 14 2009 issue

AG SECRETARY Tom Vilsack is frustrated that some media continue to mislabel the H1N1 virus as “swine flu.”.......................................2

THE POPULAR herbicide atrazine poses no threat to the safety of drinking water, according to its manufacturer, Syngenta. .............3

PROSPECTS FOR cap-andtrade legislation to come out of the Senate appeared less likely last week, but the fight isn’t over. ........4

Monday, September 14, 2009

Two sections Volume 37, No. 37

Crop estimates rise, price forecast lower

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

Periodicals: Time Valued

USDA on Friday raised it projection for corn and soybean production due in part to a continuation of the mild summer weather pattern.

Now it’s a “race to the finish” to determine if the crops can meet their yield potential before the first frost ends the growing season, said Don Rosse, market analyst with U.S. Commodities, during a teleconference hosted Friday by the CME Group.

Crop production this month was projected at 12.95 billion bushels for corn (up 2 percent from the August estimate) and 3.25 billion bushels for soybeans (up 1 percent from last month).

If realized, the soybean crop would be the largest on record and the corn crop would be the second-largest ever harvested behind only the record crop of 2007.

“Big crops typically get bigger,” Rosse said. “We expected that to happen.”

USDA boosted yield projections by 2.7 bushels for beans and 8 bushels for corn compared to last year. Yields for this season were pegged at 42.3 bushels per

RIDING FOR AG EDUCATION

FarmWeekNow.com View the latest supply-demand and crop report information online by visiting FarmWeekNow.com.

acre for beans and a record 161.9 bushels per acre for corn.

Yields in Illinois were projected to average 179 bushels per acre for corn (up 4 bushels from last month) and 44 bushels for soybeans (unchanged from last month).

But while the trade generally expected the big production estimates, farmers and traders are “weary of a potential early frost,” according to Jim Bower, market analyst with Bower Trading.

“There is still an element of concern. A lot of corn, particularly to the north, is not mature,” Bower said. “We must realize these are not the final (production) numbers.”

The large production estimates for now could keep a lid on crop prices.

USDA lowered its estimates for the average farm price in the 2009/10 marketing year by 25 cents per bushel for corn (to a current range of $3.05 to $3.65), 30 cents per bushel for beans (to a current range of $8.10 to $10.10), and 20 cents per bushel for wheat (to a current range of $4.70 to $5.50).

But there was some friendly news Friday as USDA’s 2009/10 ending stocks projections of 1.63 billion bushels for corn and 220 million bushels for beans were below trade expectations.

Meanwhile, the value of the U.S. dollar last week plunged to new lows. “As we go lower (in price) what we’ve been able to do is buy demand,” Rosse said.

“And the U.S. dollar is key. That’s really what started the previous commodity price advance.”

USDA on Friday projected soy exports will set a new record at 1.28 billion bushels and it raised corn exports by 100 million bushels.

Riders leave Sullivan Elementary School last week during the IAA Foundation-hosted 14th annual bike ride to raise funds for Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC). Through rider fundraising and sponsorships, the ride was on track to raise $35,000. Fifty cyclists traveled routes through Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Jasper, Moultrie, and Shelby counties. Along the way, riders visited 25 schools to share the message of agriculture and to highlight bike safety. See more on page 2. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

Are signs pointing to a fall health care compromise?

BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek

While President Obama did not retreat from supporting a controversial “public option” before Congress last week, he stressed budget-responsible health measures and hinted he was open to legal reforms that could reduce patient costs.

Critics of Obama’s plan — seen by some as a threat to the existing private health care system — were further heartened to learn influential U.S. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (DMont.) has rejected including a governmentmanaged insurance option or mandated employer insurance coverage in his committee’s draft health proposal.

At the same time, Republicans such as Collinsville’s Rep. John Shimkus are touting “market-based” alternatives to help the uninsured. And Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-Iowa) move from Senate Ag Committee leadership to chair the Senate Health Committee has spurred hopes for a greater rural health focus.

“It seems like all things are possible this week in Washington,” American Farm Bureau Federation analyst Pat Wolff said in an RFD Radio/FarmWeek interview last week.

She said Obama’s promise to reject any plan that would contribute to the federal deficit and “new” recognition that medical malpractice liability has prompted doctors to “cover all their bases” through extra tests and procedures addressed “two Republican concerns.” She further noted the White House is maintaining an

FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com

“open line” with key Senate Republicans.

Obama indicated his plan — tagged at a possible $900 billion — would have to be financed by increasing taxes or by squeezing savings from existing federal spending.

Baucus wants the Finance Committee to release a plan this week in order to allow time for “serious discussions necessary to get a bill by year’s end,” Wolff said. Because it holds the purse strings for health initiatives, she sees that committee as being “on the forefront” of debate.

That’s potentially crucial because Shimkus anticipates “limited debate” once proposals reach the full Senate.

He noted alternatives to the public option, such as one offering the uninsured the type of menu-driven coverage plan members of Congress enjoy are being discussed.

Wolff cited further proposals to “trigger” programs that fill specific health care gaps or offer federal funds for cooperatives that provide the self-employed, small businesses, and others affordable coverage.

Shimkus is generally in favor of co-op-style proposals but fears co-op pooling could be used as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” to promote a public “single-payer” system. “(Obama) might hold out medical liability as a compromise ‘big’ movement, but I don’t think that gets him there,” he told FarmWeek. “He has to walk away from this public option. For us to really believe (Obama), he needs to look at solving the problem through the private sector first.”

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

FarmWeek Page 2 Monday, September 14, 2009

Quick Takes MONSANTO CUTS JOBS — Monsanto Co. announced last week it is eliminating another 900 jobs to reduce costs amid slower-than-expected sales of Roundup, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported.

The company in June announced plans to cut 900 jobs, so the latest round of cuts would bring a total to 1,800, about 8 percent of Monsanto’s workforce.

The job cuts are part of a broad restructuring plan aimed at saving as much as $250 million per year.

Monsanto reportedly expects to earn as much as $6.3 billion in the 2010 fiscal year, but the average per share of stock was projected to drop from $4.08 to as low as $3.10.

Monsanto still is on track to double its 2007 gross profit by 2012, the newspaper reported.

U OF I TRUSTEE CHAIRMAN ELECTED — Chicago businessman Christopher Kennedy was elected chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees last week. Kennedy, who recently was appointed to the board, defeated reappointed trustee Edward McMillan of Greenville, who later was elected to the Executive Committee.

Gov. Pat Quinn seconded Kennedy’s nomination for chairman. “We have a great group of trustees,” Quinn said in a news conference. “Today was a landmark day.”

Quinn stressed the importance of having trustees with business and economic backgrounds. “This University of Illinois system is a gigantic corporation — one of the largest in the state,” he said.

The board unanimously passed a resolution on admission reforms and an administrator code of conduct. The governor said the goals are openness, fairness, and integrity for considering admissions to the university.

LIVESTOCK Vilsack vilifies media for H1N1 confusion

USDA prepares for possible outbreak in U.S. swine herd

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack last week said USDA is taking steps to prepare for the possibility this fall of H1N1 infecting a portion of the nation’s swine herd.

USDA established a flu surveillance program and developed a master seed virus so private companies can produce a vaccine.

“Should there be any of this detected in the swine herd, we want to respond quickly to avoid the spread of the virus,” Vilsack said.

H1N1, which is a novel strain that contains components of human, avian, and swine viruses, so far has not been detected in the U.S. swine herd, but a few cases have been confirmed in the Canadian herd.

The virus currently circulating in humans is passed from person to person and cannot be contracted by eating or handling pork.

Vilsack expressed frustration about the constant media use of the term “swine flu” to describe the novel strain and urged members of the media to refer to the virus more accurately as H1N1.

“By continuing to mislabel this virus, it causes undue and undeserved harm to America’s ag industry, especially to pork producers,” he said.

Vilsack displayed some of his frustration with the situation when a media member during a teleconference last week said the pork industry

already was in financial trouble prior to the H1N1 outbreak in April, and suggested the confusion created by the term “swine flu” did not necessarily add to economic losses in the industry.

“Every time this flu is mislabeled and misrepresented, it makes it that much more difficult for us to climb out of these difficult economic times for pork producers,” Vilsack said.

“It’s frustrating and upsetting.”

Vilsack noted 38 countries banned imports of U.S. pork, although most markets have been reopened with the exception of China; schools have been hesitant to purchase pork for lunch programs; and consumers generally have been more “squeamish” about purchasing pork since the H1N1 outbreak.

The National Pork Producers Council recently estimated additional market losses to the pork industry due to confusion about H1N1 this year could total $1.2 billion.

“It’s not fair and it’s not right,” said Vilsack, who recently met with IFB President Philip Nelson and other Farm Bureau leaders to discuss the situation.

USDA this month purchased $30 million of pork products to support the industry, assist various federal food programs, and to set an example that it believes pork is safe.

USDA likely will make more pork purchases after Oct. 1 when it receives more federal funding, Vilsack added.

TALKING CAREERS

KRAFT TO CUT SUPPLIER BASE — Chicago-based Kraft Foods Inc. announced plans to cut its supplier base in half, which would impact more than 30,000 companies, according to Reuters.

The food manufacturer will consolidate purchases of everything from ingredients to packaging.

The review and potential cost savings would occur before Kraft attempts to buy the British candy company Cadbury.

An executive said Kraft is taking a holistic view of its suppliers, existing and future company needs, and the potential for each supplier to meet those needs.

(ISSN0197-6680) Vol. 37 No. 37 September 14, 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.

FarmWeek is published by the Illinois Agricultural Association for farm operator members. $3 from the individual membership fee of each of those members go toward the production of FarmWeek.

Address subscription and advertising questions to FarmWeek, P.O. Box 2901, Bloomington, IL 61702-2901. Periodicals postage paid at Bloomington, Illinois, and at an additional mailing office.

POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices on Form 3579 to FarmWeek, P.O. Box 2901, Bloomington, IL 61702-2901. Farm Bureau members should send change of addresses to their local county Farm Bureau. © 2009 Illinois Agricultural Association

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

Richard Verdery Classified sales coordinator

Nan Fannin Director of News and Communications

Dennis Vercler Advertising Sales Representatives

Hurst and Associates, Inc. P.O. Box 6011, Vernon Hills, IL 60061 1-800-397-8908 (advertising inquiries only) Gary White - Northern Illinois Doug McDaniel - Southern Illinois Editorial phone number: 309-557-2239 Classified advertising: 309-557-3155 Display advertising: 1-800-676-2353

Don Bergfield, left, agriculture program director at Parkland College in Champaign, talks with students at Okaw Valley High School in Bethany in Moultrie County about agricultural educational opportunities available at a junior college. He was one of a number of speakers who participated in last week’s bike ride for Agriculture in the Classroom and talked with students about careers in agriculture. (Photo by Ken Kashian. Additional photos appear at {www.ilfb.org}. Click on Ken Kashian’s Photo Gallery.)

FarmWeek Page 3 Monday, September 14, 2009

ENVIRONMENT

Illinois watershed efforts show success on atrazine

BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek

Voluntary efforts, best management practices, and water treatment technology are handling Illinois water quality issues related to atrazine successfully.

“Keep up the good work,” said Roger Selburg, manager of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA) public water supply. Since 2006, Illinois has had no violations of quarterly public water standards for atrazine, according to Selburg.

It was different in the early ‘90s when IEPA reported about 40 community water supplies exceeded water standards for atrazine, Selburg said. IEPA enforced regulations, and water supplies started treating water to remove the herbicide.

In response, several local watershed groups were formed by farmers, agrichemical dealers, conservation agencies, county Farm Bureaus, and community water supplies.

The Lake Springfield watershed is a prime example. The city’s water treatment facility once spent from $6,000 to $143,000 a year on powdered activated charcoal to remove atrazine from untreated water, said Tom Skelly, water division director for City Water, Light, and Power (CWLP).

To address the issue, CWLP worked closely with a watershed group, agrichemical dealers, and watershed farmers, according to Skelly. The best management practices employed in the watershed included reduced rates, split applications, and use of alternate products.

“They did a very good job of reducing atrazine,” he said.

The group’s efforts were so successful CWLP spent no money for atrazine removal in 2004 through 2007. However, last year and this year have been more problematic, and the city is spending money on atrazine treatment for the first time in five years, Skelly noted.

Farmers and agrichemical dealers faced a tough challenge this year in the Lake Springfield watershed, said Dick Stiltz, agronomy manager for Lincoln-Land FS. Given the frequency of rainstorms, the application opportunity was squeezed into a shorter-than-usual period of time, and buffers and fields lacked the normal amount of vegetation to slow and catch storm runoff, Stiltz explained.

“To me this was probably a weather phenomenon — and a one-year phenomenon,” Stiltz added.

Atrazine application rates continue to decrease, and farmers and agrichemical dealers continue to use best management practices, Stiltz said. “I think they’re (farmers) all quite aware, and definitely the retailers are,” he added.

Skelly is optimistic about the future: “The Lake Springfield farming community has shown that atrazine can be dealt with, but vigilance is important or we can go backward.”

IEPA’s Selburg attributes the success to “a combination of work done by watershed groups and the surface water suppliers.

“Keep up the good practices to control atrazine on site to the fullest extent possible,” Selburg advised farmers.

“We’ll continue to see less atrazine used,” Stiltz concluded, “but we don’t want to lose it, either, because it’s cost effective.”

Syngenta ‘stands behind safety’ of atrazine product

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

The popular herbicide atrazine does not pose a threat to the safety of drinking water despite recent claims to the contrary, according to officials at Syngenta.

And consumers and farmers would face some serious consequences if the herbicide, which has been in use for 50 years, were not on the market, the company said.

Syngenta officials believe crop productivity could decline and soil erosion could increase if farmers lose their ability to use atrazine.

Syngenta, a major manufacturer of atrazine, reported in a news release that 40 percent of the world’s food supply would not exist without products such as atrazine.

Sherry Duvall Ford, head of external communications for Syngenta America, told FarmWeek during the Farm Progress Show in Decatur that atrazine is used to control weeds nationwide on more than half of the corn crop, about two-thirds of sorghum acres, and 90 percent of sugar cane.

A recent risk assessment of atrazine and simazine conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that “cumulative exposures to these pesticides through food and drinking water are safe and meet rigorous human health standards set forth in the Food Quality Protection Act.” But some recent news stories that made national headlines questioned whether temporary spikes of atrazine in water pose a threat to human health. The Natural Resources Defense Council even accused

EPA of ignoring contamination in surface and drinking water.

The legal annual average for atrazine levels in water is three parts per billion. Duvall Ford said to put that measurement in perspective a part per billion “would be like one blade of

‘Producers are doing a phenomenal job today using atrazine more efficiently and effectively.’

— David Flakne Sygenta governmental affairs manager

grass in a football field.”

And she claimed EPA takes into account any temporary spikes of atrazine, which often are caused by rainy conditions after application, in its risk assessments.

“Those spikes are very short-term and EPA has accounted for those,” Duvall Ford said. “And the spikes fall well within health advisory levels. Anybody exposed to water at those levels are not at all in

harm’s way.”

Meanwhile, farmers have become much more efficient users of the herbicide, according to David Flakne, manager of government affairs at Syngenta.

“Producers are doing a phenomenal job today using atrazine more efficiently and effectively,” Flakne said. “Rates have come down from two to three pounds per acre to a halfpound per acre.”

At the same time, atrazine is an important component of weed control and slowing the rate of weed resistance to the highly popular glyphosate, according to Chuck Foresman, manager of weed resistance strategies at Syngenta.

“Syngenta estimates there are eight to nine million acres of row crops infected with glyphosate-resistant weeds,” Foresman said. “It’s important we keep (herbicide) rates at recommended levels” and use products such as atrazine to vary the modes of action used against weeds.

Atrazine also is a vital component of reduced tillage/notill systems which have been shown to reduce sediment runoff by as much as 90 percent, Foresman added.

FARMLAND FOREVER

Atrazine milestones • 1958 — Atrazine is registered in the U.S. • 1959 — Atrazine is used on a commercial basis for the first time in U.S. cropping systems.

• 1993 — Sampling of Illinois public water supplies show atrazine levels exceed water standards. Local watershed groups form.

• 1994-1995 — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts special review of triazines, which include atrazine. Farmers and Illinois Farm Bureau submit comments.

• 1999 — Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reports water violations

dropped from 53 to 1 for 1998.

• 2003 — EPA completes special review, imposes no additional restrictions after it found no studies that showed atrazine exposure is a potential cancer risk.

• 2005 — Madison County community sanitary district files lawsuit contending any amount of corn herbicide in drinking water is potentially harmful. The case is still pending.

• 2006 — EPA re-registers atrazine and concludes triazine herbicides pose “no harm that would result to the general U.S. population, infants, children, or other major identifiable subgroups of consumers.”

Bruce and Jennifer Stennerson, left and center, look over a sign held

by Richard Gadke of the Boone County nonprofit group “The Farmland Protection Project” which denotes the Stennerson farm as being the first in the county on which an agricultural conservation easement has been placed. The Boone County Board created a farmland protection committee, currently chaired by Gadke, to encourage farms to be conserved for agriculture only. The 260-acre Stennerson farm has been in the family for 157 years. The easement allows the Stennersons and future owners to change the type of farming on the land, to add or change farm buildings, or to sell the property. What they or future owners cannot do now is subdivide the land into a residential development. (Photo provided by Boone County Farm Bureau manager Ann Marie Cain)

FarmWeek Page 4 Monday, September 14, 2009

GOVERNMENT

‘No way’ for Senate cap-and-trade passage?

BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek

Arguing “cap-and-trade” legislation is in a politically vulnerable position, Collinsville Republican and U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee member John Shimkus recommends shifting the debate toward use of cleaner, domestic energy to address environmental and economic concerns.

The Senate last week resumed debate over proposals to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and generate a prospective market for emissions reductions.

During a Senate Ag Committee hearing on the issue, Fred Yoder, National Corn Growers Association past president argued agriculture “must be a significant part of the broader solution as we evaluate ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Illinois Soybean Association Chairman Ron Moore sees some potential positives in House climate proposals, but is

concerned that cap-and-trade could “dramatically increase our costs of production with somewhat skeptical benefits through carbon sequestration offsets.”

Shimkus told FarmWeek some of his colleagues already see “no way they can pass a cap-and-trade-type bill in the Senate.” He said both House health care and cap-and-trade proposals are “examples of this administration trying to grab major portions of this economy,” and argued a major Democrat defeat on one issue likely would topple the other.

He envisions continued efforts toward emissions caps into 2010. However, Shimkus said he doubts moderate “Blue

Dog” Democrats would have any desire to push cap-andtrade in an election year.

Illinois Farm Bureau urges Congress to focus instead on comprehensive energy policy, including expansion of renewable energy and nuclear power to “wean the economy from carbon.”

“If they want to get off the cap-and-trade debate and talk about what we’d like to talk about — energy security and efficiency, an all-of-the-above strategy promoting renewable fuels, solar, wind, nuclear, coal, throwing in (offshore oil exploration), bringing on more supplies at lower costs to keep us competitive around the world — that’s a playing field we can play on,” Shimkus said.

“But if we’re wedded to this idea of carbon dioxide as a toxic emittant, and we’re going to have to raise the cost of carbon fuel use and move into noncarbon-based fuels, thus increasing the cost of energy to everybody and hurting our

economy, then it’s a no.”

The Senate passed a limited energy measure earlier this year.

In June, Shimkus and Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Peoria) unveiled a comprehensive American Energy Act reflecting Shimkus’ aforementioned “allof-the-above” approach, but the bill remains idled in the House.

The road to passing cap-andtrade legislation could prove rougher with Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Neb.) taking over as chair of the Senate Ag Committee.

She warned input costs would be “far more than any kind of credits they’re going to be able to get out of the program,” and said she would not back a climate package “if it’s anywhere close to what the House did.”

Lincoln’s predecessor as ag chair, Sen. Tom Harkin (DIowa), has been more favorable toward cap-and-trade, though while presiding at last week’s committee hearing, he stressed “we must get the trading part right.” Harkin was concerned

speculation in the carbon market could distort the value of agricultural emissions credits.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler told the committee a successful carbon market must include uniform standards, stringent recordkeeping, oversight of trades, and strong fraud prevention measures.

CFTC already has experience monitoring trading of sulfur dioxide (SO2) offsets under coal industry regulations designed to reduce potential acid rain, he testified.

According to Daryl Donjon, president of the Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, any attempt to base carbon trading prospects on the recognized success of SO2 cap-andtrade “couldn’t be more wrong.”

“Technology was available, proven, and affordable for SO2 (reduction and storage), while it is not for carbon,” Donjon argued during the recent Energy Citizens anti-cap-and-trade rally in Springfield.

Labor chief averse to ag guest worker reforms?

The Senate focus on health care and 2010 election concerns have cast doubt on nearterm immigration debate, while the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed changes in the federal H-2A ag guest worker program that would appear to be a step backward for farm employers.

DOL is accepting comments through Oct. 5 on proposals to reverse recent Bush administration H-2A revisions. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) supported Bush efforts to streamline the H-2A process for employers enacted in December, and warned pro-

posed rules published Sept. 4 “conceivably will undermine some of the improvements made to the program.”

DOL maintains wages for farm workers have been affected to a more significant extent than it had anticipated by 2008 rules, arguing Bush reforms reduced wages by an average $1.44 per hour. But AFBF policy analyst Ron Gaskill told FarmWeek new rules “send a very, very bad message to agriculture,” which shares many immigration reform goals with the Obama administration.

Bush changes allow employers to prove they’ve tried to find qual-

ified domestic workers before seeking foreign labor, bypassing what Gaskill terms a “rather cumbersome” two-stage DOL certification process necessary first to qualify for the H-2A program and then to secure worker visas.

Proposed DOL changes also would revert from existing regional “prevailing” wages for workers under H-2A back to “adverse effect” wages. That could mean an immediate $1.50to $2-per-hour wage hike for producers to absorb, he warned.

And the new proposal would reinstate the so-called “50 Percent Rule.” H-2A applicants must specify the period during

Unexpected allies, adversaries in immigration debate ahead?

Agriculture could see some unusual allies and unexpected opposition in the next round of “guest worker” debate.

With health care and cap-and-trade debate dominating the fall congressional agenda, American Farm Bureau Federation analyst Ron Gaskill sees immigration debate delayed until late 2009 or even early 2010.

However, Gaskill noted warnings that debate in 2010 would be necessary no later than Easter before congressional re-election campaigns kick into high gear.

The best hope for initiating reform appears to be U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who indicated he realizes “there needs to be some sort of a future (labor) flow fix for agriculture,” Gaskill told FarmWeek. Unfortunately, Schumer sees “AgJOBS” as “the fix,” he said.

That bipartisan measure would offer “earned legalization” for many undocumented workers currently in the U.S. But it seeks relatively minor changes in the H-2A ag guest worker program.

“What we need is comprehensive reform, and we need comprehensive reform on an

agricultural guest worker program that works,” Gaskill said. “While the only legislation out there right now is AgJobs, we’ve not jumped on the AgJobs bandwagon. We don’t oppose it, but we haven’t endorsed it because it doesn’t fix what’s already a bad program.

“The general public believes we do need foreign workers to come in and work agriculture. They’re not as convinced that other sectors such as hotels and construction necessarily need foreign workers.”

Organized labor, a key Democrat constituency, opposes guest worker liberalization, but Gaskill noted union support of amnesty for or “normalization” of the roughly 12 million undocumented workers now in the U.S. Those workers could be prime candidates for union membership, he suggested.

Gaskill said labor interests have “eased up” somewhat on H-2A but favor creation of a regulatory commission to limit the number of worker visas issued each year, based on economic circumstances. “We want the market to be able to determine how many (visas) we have or don’t have,” he said. — Martin Ross

which they need workers; the 50 Percent Rule requires employers to hire newly available qualified domestic workers for the first half of that period even if guest workers are en route to the U.S. “You’re paying transportation expenses for that worker to get here, and now he doesn’t have a job,” Gaskill said. “There’s no attempt to straighten out the H-

2A program here whatsoever.

It’s a clear intent to make it that much more difficult to use.

“We’ve got a secretary of labor (Hilda Solis) who absolutely detests the H-2A program. She’s the daughter of farm workers, and she detests anything that would make that program easy to use.” — Martin Ross

Biobased labeling rule key to biofuels revitalization?

Sept. 29 is the deadline for comments on the USDA BioPreferred program’s proposed voluntary label for biobased consumer products. The label could appear on more than 15,000 products.

The BioPreferred program was created under the 2002 farm bill to boost purchases and use of biobased products by federal agencies.

The 2008 farm bill expanded the program to promote private sector sale of products made using ag and ag-related materials.

The proposed label would inform consumers a product is “USDA Certified” and identify the percentage of biobased materials used to manufacture it.

Biobased market development could mean revitalization for the biofuels industry as well as new outlets for producers. Dennis Miller, Michigan State University researcher, is eyeing ethanol as a “building block” for making chemicals as well as fuel.

Chemical products typically command higher prices than fuel ethanol, and Miller sees “co-product” development helping the industry expand production while addressing the limitations of an existing 10 percent ethanol/gasoline “blend wall.”

“We’re looking at diversifying the product slate so these ethanol plants aren’t so dependent on fluctuations in the ethanol price,” he told FarmWeek. “We want to develop technologies so they’re available for plants to evaluate and then hopefully incorporate into their process.We get competitive as petroleum prices get higher. We do use petroleum to make chemicals. About 8 percent is used to make chemicals — the rest is used for fuel. So we could have an impact.”

Particularly promising are ethanol-derived esters — industrial solvents that can be used in inks, paints, and coatings. Ethyl lactate is a blend of ethanol and lactic acid — “both prototypical green ‘biomass products” — is used commonly in pharmaceuticals, food additives, and fragrances. — Martin Ross

FarmWeek Page 5 Monday, September 14, 2009

EDUCATION

Left photo: College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Gary Minish, right, welcomes new Southern Illinois University agriculture students and prospective ones to the college’s annual barbecue. The activity showcases the ag college and its student organizations.

Above: Sherri Wurtzel, right, a junior from Pecatonica and president of the Saluki Heritage Interpreters, discusses her club with Jessica Smith, a senior from Chicago, at the student barbecue. (Photos by Steve Buhman, university photocommunications)

SIU enrolls bumper crop of ag students College regrouping from storm damage

BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek

Southern Illinois University (SIU) experienced an increase in agricultural students for a third consecutive year, while the College of Agricultural Sciences rebuilds from a May 8 storm that caused more than $1 million damage, primarily to its farm.

“That 2,000-acre university farm is the hub of our teaching. We had 23 buildings damaged and seven totally destroyed, including the feed mill and the beef barn,” said

Dean Gary Minish.

“We’re doing well,” Minish added. “Our faculty, staff, and farm crew — everybody’s adjusted and pitched

FarmWeekNow.com To see what else is happening at the SIU College of Agriculture, go to FarmWeekNow.com.

in.”

With support from the university and possibly the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the

Ag Sciences College is rebuilding, Minish said.

However, the storm didn’t slow the Ag Sciences College’s momentum in student recruitment.

Fall enrollment increased 7.1 percent for a total of 880 undergraduates.

Nearly all the college’s areas of study, except for agricultural systems, attracted more students.

Among new students, a greater number are freshmen and those who transferred from community colleges, which ran counter to SIU’s overall decrease in transfer students, said Charlotte Gibson, assistant dean of academic affairs.

Minish attributed the

increases to his college’s “aggressive recruiting strate-

‘ O u r f a c u l t y, s t a f f, a n d fa r m crew — ever ybody’s adjusted and pitched in.’

— Gary Minish Dean College of Agricultural Sciences

gy” that locates high school and community college students through many sources.

For example, ag administrators gathered some 500 names of prospective stu-

dents at the recent Farm Progress Show and another 6,000 from college aptitude exams.

Each student will be contacted, Minish said.

The Ag Sciences College also is attracting more minority students, especially in the nutrition and hospitalitytourism programs, Gibson said.

The college also is keeping more of its current students.

The ag student retention rate is about 83 percent, which is the highest on campus, Minish said.

He pointed out his college has implemented a program for mentoring of undergraduates as one means of helping keep students in school.

Debut on RFD-TV, public television

America’s Heartland program on agriculture starting fifth season “America’s Heartland,” a nationally broadcast weekly program on agriculture, started its fifth season on RFD-TV last Wednesday.

It is to be shown on Public Broadcasting System stations throughout

Illinois this fall and winter.

Check local listings for details.

The series’ reporting staff travels the countr y to meet far mers, ranchers, and growers.

Each broadcast offers sto-

ries with personal insights on life in the rural heartland.

The series is produced by KVIE Public Television with support from the Monsanto Co. and the American Farm Bureau Federation.

GROWMARK helps

sponsor the program on Illinois public television stations, while the Madison and St. Clair County Farm Bureaus plan to sponsor the program on St. Louis public television.

“America’s Heartland” has

expanded its networking outreach with new online features at {www.americas heartland.org}, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

One recent story has been viewed more than a million times.

Telephone conference to deal with abandon horse issue The University of Illinois Extension will have an Oct. 6 telephone conference on the growing problem of abandoned horses.

The activity, available for participants to listen from home or their stables, will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

“Horses and other animals are suffering from the economic downturn right along with their owners. Across

the country, horses are being abandoned at boarding facilities, sale barns, and riding venues,” said Ellen Phillips, U of I Extension educator.

The telephone conference speakers include Dr. Yvonne Bellay, a Wisconsin state humane officer, who will talk about the prevalence of this problem, issues facing both animals and people, and what to do with an

‘Horses and other animals are suffering from the economic downturn.’

— Ellen Phillips U of I Extension educator

abandoned horse or other animal.

Yvonne Ocrant, an attorney specializing in equine issues, will walk through the legal aspects that arise for stable owners or others faced with this problem.

The issues include obtaining legal ownership, selling abandoned animals, and writing boarding contracts that include language to deal an abandoned animal.

Teleconfer-

ence registration is $5 per person.

Online registration is available at {http://webextension. uiuc.edu/lake/}.

Upon registering, dial-in information and reference materials will be e-mailed to participants on Oct. 1.

For a brochure or more information, contact Phillips at 708-352-0109 or e-mail her at ephillps@illinois.edu.

FarmWeek Page 6 Monday, September 14, 2009

CROPWATCHERS Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Warm weather and no rain, just what the doctor ordered for our corn and beans this time of year. The early-planted corn and beans are both starting to turn color, and there is a hint of fall in the air. Final haymaking for the year is wrapping up with the drier weather of the last two weeks. There also is plenty of work being done to get ready for harvest — sweeping bins out and getting combines tuned up.

The corn crop still looks good with almost all of it denting, and some of the fields are reaching black layer. The soybeans still have to get through some problems such as white mold, sudden death syndrome, and brown stem rot.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Fifteen days with no rain and still counting. Wet areas are drying on top, but don’t be fooled, there may still be mud below. Corn is maturing nicely, and I have found the milk line half way down on some 108-day varieties. This puts moisture level at 35 to 40 percent. Beans vary anywhere from golden yellow to grass green. Lawns still need to be mowed weekly.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: The warm weather of the last two weeks has helped crops mature. Most corn is in the dent stage. A good friend of mine has some 108-day corn firing up, and he is going to chop some silage this week. Soybeans also are maturing.

Several early fields are now yellow, and many are starting to turn. The big problem with beans is disease. Most fields have large areas of white mold and sudden death. Fields that looked beautiful one week, look terrible the next. I have never seen so much disease damage. Aphids are thriving in the warmth.

Populations have literally exploded, and these pests are hurting the beans.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: Soybean aphid populations took a dramatic jump higher this past week, surpassing economic threshold levels. Luckily last week’s warm weather helped push the crop close enough to maturity that we are going to leave them alone. I was fairly optimistic about our yield potential after pollination was over, but this summer’s cool, wet weather has not been conductive to seed fill.

Kernels are shorter than normal, and ear tips haven’t filled out like I expected.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: No rain again, well maybe a couple of drops on Wednesday. It was the most days in a row without precipitation since 2006. Seed corn harvest is just starting. Late-May-planted corn is at the early dent stage.

Early Group II soybeans planted the first of May are turning; a few others are just on the verge of turning. The harvest of a couple of early corn hybrids at a plot dinner had extremely good yields, but the corn was extremely wet. With fog about every morning, leaf diseases are doing well even in corn treated with fungicide.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We did not receive any rain last week. Just lots of fog in the morning. That is more moisture for the sudden death syndrome and white mold to continue to grow and rob yield from our soybeans. I have seen only one field of beans that turned all yellow and started to drop leaves. Most fields are still green or showing signs of disease. We started chopping corn silage on Wednesday. It was a little too wet for an upright silo, so we will wait until this week to really work at it. This fall’s harvest appears to be a later start than last year.

Let’s hope that the yields turn out as good as last year.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: It is hard to believe that it is almost the middle of September and the corn is still very green and has a long way to go around here. Soybeans were changing last week.

Unfortunately, it was caused by sudden death and white mold.

The worry of frost is getting closer as the corn and beans both stand a great chance for good yields.

Tim Green, Wyoming, Stark County: A dry week — very foggy, with disease prone mornings. Fog didn’t burn off until mid- to late-morning. People are wondering how bad the white mold really is. Drive by different fields, and it is obvious. Different varieties are doing better than others. Some fields have 50 percent affected badly. It didn’t look good.

Otherwise, people are getting ready for the late fall.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Foggy mornings last week. Some soybeans were starting to turn.

There has been some spraying for aphids which are very thick in some areas, mostly in the later soybeans. Corn has a way to go before the milk lines get down to black layer. Farmers are working on combines, augers, trucks, bins, and figuring out how to handle a wet crop during Thanksgiving. Fall corn is under $3 and soybeans are close to $9.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: There was a variable shower on Tuesday evening.

We received anywhere from 0.1 to 0.25 of an inch of rain. Most of the cornfields in the area are in the dent stage (R5) while some remain in the dough stage (R4).

The milk line is about 50 percent of the way down the kernel on the most mature corn. In that situation, the kernel is close to 88 percent of the final dry matter accumulation while the corn in dough stage has not reached 60 percent yet. Some fields are showing death of the upper part of the plant due to anthracnose. Most soybean fields are in the full seed growth stage (R6) with some areas or a few fields entering into the beginning maturity growth stage (R7).

Some are turning naturally, while diseases are causing premature maturity to others. A few soybean fields in the area were sprayed for soybean aphids this past week. The local closing prices for Sept. 10 were: $2.97 for nearby corn, $2.89 for new-crop corn, $10.15 for nearby soybeans, and $9.10 for new-crop soybeans.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Hand samples from our first plantings are 31 percent moisture with surprisingly good test weight. Stalk quality is compromised as the plant starts to cannibalize itself to put all its energy into the ear.

Anthracnose and diplodia are present. Several soybean fields have been sprayed for aphids as populations increased dramatically. Corn, $2.99; fall, $2.90; soybeans, $10.26; fall, $9.01; wheat, $3.41.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Another week of good crop development.

Premier Co-op hosted a crop tour that averaged a whopping 194.4 bushels per acre with a range of 169 near Galesville to 212 at Dewey and Thomasboro. North of I-74, the average was 199.4 and south was 190.4. Last year, the tour averaged 180.3. Seed corn harvest started last week. This week looks to have temperatures ranging from 55 to 80 with a 40 percent rain chance late Wednesday. Some beans and corn are yellowing. I’m hearing limited reports of ear rot, ear worm, white mold, and soybean aphids north and south of us. I monitor Grand Forks, N.D., weather as my nephew attends the University of North Dakota. Forecast for there indicates a 32-degree low on Sept. 23, so stay tuned!

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Another ideal fall Friday morning with temps at 60 degrees and clear except for scattered fog. Hardly any rain in the gauge either since last week other than a couple tenths last Sunday morning (Sept. 6).

Crops have come a long way in the last week, especially the early corn to the south of here. A lot of it is really brown. In fact, I saw one fellow actually picking some the first of the week with a pull-type picker. Soybeans still have a ways to go. Some fields have yellow spots appearing but the beans are still green. It will still be a while before much machinery gets moving.

Harry Schirding, Petersburg, Menard County: Rainfall last week, 1.7 inches. Total rainfall for September, 1.7 inches. Normal rainfall for September, 3.3 inches. Rain Saturday night and Sunday (Sept. 5-6) totaled 1.7 to 3 inches. Historically, Labor Day has been the target harvest starting date. Immature crops and the economics of harvesting wet corn will keep most out of the field for a couple more weeks this year. Early-morning fog and high humidity are creating a perfect environment for the continued development of leaf diseases in both corn and soybeans. Aphids still are easily found in many soybean fields, but levels have not reached the threshold for treatment. Most input prices are significantly lower than last year as are grain prices.

Producers will be trying to spend dollars in areas that produce the greatest benefit. Corn nearby, $3.04, up 1 cent; soybeans nearby, $10.17, down 28 cents; corn January, $2.97, unchanged; soybeans January, $9.23, down 29 cents.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: Another pleasant week of working conditions, but still a little cooler than we need to bring this late-planted corn along. Earliest we will probably see corn picked will be sometime in the next couple weeks, but very limited. Most corn will be another four to five weeks before it’s far enough along to be harvested, especially if it is going to the local elevators with the higher drying rates. A couple fields of beans are turning pretty dramatically, but they still are possibly two weeks off. The majority of the beans are still very green or just starting to dull down. Overall, farmers seem optimistic that corn yields will be good even with the late planting and the stunted spots caused by heavy rainfall last spring.

Soybeans are really too early to determine at this point.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: Finally some warmth last week bringing us another 150 growing degree days, putting the total at 2,350 for late-May-planted corn, but we are still 150 units behind normal. The few acres of lateApril-planted corn looks like it could be harvested, but I’m sure those growers will let some natural drying occur before they start picking. The rest of our corn is showing quite a bit of visual improvement, but it is still more than two weeks from physiological maturity. The early third of area soybeans is finally starting to turn yellow, which should mean a couple more weeks before cutting begins.

The later beans are still very green and really need an extended growing season.

All but the earliest beans could use a rain very soon to ensure good pod fill, but nothing seems to be in the forecast so we are hoping for a surprise.

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: We had 3 inches of rain this past week.

Crops are beginning to show signs of maturing. A few have stuck the corn head into their cornfields and finding corn at about 25 percent moisture.

There have been some changes in the drying schedules at the some of the elevators. You may want to check around before you take off.

The Young Farmers in Sangamon County put together a yield check. The overall average for the county was 181.6 bushels per acre. That came from a low of 148.5 to a high of 214.1. Twenty-five different townships were checked in. They did an excellent job of giving us a snapshot of our county.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: On Saturday (Sept. 5) we had light rain most of the day. We ended up with 0.75 of an inch. It was not enough to wash the aphids away, but greatly appreciated.

Producers continue to spray beans for these pests. Some plants are covered with heavy infestations. Corn has done all it is going to do with some of the early-planted corn starting to dry down. Soybeans, on the other hand, could use more water to help fill the pods.

FarmWeek Page 7 Monday, September 14, 2009

CROPWATCHERS Ted Kuebrich, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Corn harvest is just around the corner in Jersey County. A couple of farmers have shelled a couple of loads just to get their drying equipment ready.

The driest corn sample that Jersey County Grain had tested was in the low 20s. If the rain holds off, by the middle of this week they will start to shell corn. The early-planted beans are still a couple of week away from harvest.

Soybean aphids are in many of the bean fields.

The crop specialist said the early-planted beans are mature enough and that no spraying is necessary. In the later beans, it might be worth the cost to spray, he said. Cash corn, $3.09, basis 0; new corn $2.97, basis minus 18 cents; January 2010 corn, $3.09, basis minus 20 cents; June 2010 corn, $3.30, basis 16 cents; cash beans, $9.72, basis a penny; new beans, $9.15, basis minus 11 cents; January 2010 beans, $9.34, basis a penny; June 2010 beans, $9.18, basis minus 24 cents.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: Aphids are prevalent in the area. Pesticides were applied to bean fields by land and by air. Beans are still blooming and setting pods. Some pods are starting to fill. Showers were in the area on Saturday (Sept. 5). Some received up to 0.4 of an inch while most received little or no rain. A large area is in desperate need of rain, having received only 0.5 of an inch or less in the last six weeks. The temperature high was in the lower 80s this past week while the lows were in the lower 60s. More of the same is expected this week with no rain in the forecast.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Rainfall for the week was from 0.75 of an inch to 1.25 inches. Some places got more, and some a lot less. The moisture was welcome for the beans and late corn. Some corn was shelled and a lot of hand samples were taken last week.

The harvested corn I’ve heard about has been from 23 to 27 percent moisture. The hand samples have been from 25 percent on up. There are few fields of beans with yellow leaves, so soybean harvest is a long way off.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: We received a little rain in Jackson County, but the counties to the east of us received heavy rain. I heard as much as 4 inches in some areas. My area had 0.2 to 0.3 of an inch. Crops are still growing and looking good. We still have cooler-than-normal weather. All the corn, beans, and milo are coming along and maturing. The big question is how they will yield. There is mold in some of the corn. We have been spraying for aphids. That is the first time Jackson County has had much of an aphid problem. When you drive around, everyone keeps asking where all the pigweed and water hemp have come from. We have them popping through the beans now and thought we had them taken care of. We will try again next year.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: I had 0.4 of an inch of rain during the Labor Day weekend. A few miles in some directions had up to 3 inches. Oh well. A few fields of very early beans are starting to get some yellow leaves, but most around this area are still blooming.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: We had some light showers this past week. We ended up with about 0.8 of an inch total. Nearly everybody in the area received something. It was sure good for the late-planted soybeans. A few farmers are starting to harvest.

I’ve heard of moistures ranging from 17 to 25 percent. I have not heard any yields yet. We planned to open up a few fields Friday. I’ve heard quite a few reports of poor stalk quality. It will be interesting to see what our corn looks like. Early soybeans are starting to drop leaves in the thin spots. There are a lot of yellow fields. A few people are spraying for aphids in some late-planted soybeans. Again, please take time to be careful during this busy harvest season.

Reports received Friday morning.

Rural Development urges farmers to apply for value-added grants Illinois State Rural Development Director Colleen Callahan is urging agricultural producers to apply for about $18 million available nationwide in value-added producer grants.

Rural Development will award planning grants up to a maximum $100,000 and working capital grants up to maximum $300,000. Applicants are encouraged to propose projects that use existing ag products in non-traditional ways or that creatively merge ag products with technology.

Businesses of all sizes may apply, but priority will be given to operators of small to medium-sized farms operated as a family farm (those with average annual gross sales of less than $700,000).

“These grants can help producers and farm organizations test the viability of their concept with a feasibility study before a lot of money is invested,” Callahan said. “It can help them fund the planning and start-up costs that improve the likelihood of success.”

Examples of eligible activities include changing a commodity physically, such as making fish fillets, diced tomatoes, ethanol, biodiesel, and wool rugs. Other eligible examples include uniquely producing or harvesting products, physical segregation, using a commodity or product to generate renewable energy on a farm, and locally produced ag food marketed within 400 miles of the farm.

U of I forecasting negative crop returns Net operator returns in Illinois for 2009 last week were projected to average minus $8 per acre for corn and minus $15 per acre for soybeans.

The projections, released last week by the University of Illinois at {www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu}, were the lowest estimates during either of the past two decades.

The low returns were attributed to high costs and declining commodity prices. Non-land costs for corn this year were projected at $517 per acre, compared to $428 last year, while the average corn price this year was projected at $3.25 per bushel, compared to $4.05 a year ago.

After the losses this year, net returns were projected to return near levels experienced from 2003 to 2005. Net operator returns for 2010 were projected at $94 per acre for corn and $84 per acre for beans.

The rebound next year was based on the expectations of a slight improvement in commodity prices and a modest decline in non-land costs.

Since the program’s inception, Illinois producers, farm cooperatives, and ag producer groups have been awarded $4 million in value-added producer grants.

The grant project included handling of identity-preserved products, agritourism, marketing, processing of raw commodities into finished products, organic composting, and

anaerobic digesters.

Applicants must provide matching funds equal to the grant amount requested. Ten percent of funding nationwide is reserved for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers.

An additional 10 percent is reserved for projects involving local and regional supply networks that link independent producers with businesses and

cooperatives that market value-added products.

The application period closes Nov. 30. Paper applications must be submitted to the Rural Development state office. Electronic applications must be submitted through {www.Grants.gov}.

For additional help, e-mail Matthew.Harris@il.usda.gov or call 217-403-6211.

FarmWeek Page 8 Monday, September 14, 2009

FROM THE COUNTIES

D

E W I T T — Get ready for a safe harvest by having your fire extinguisher checked from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Sept. 21, at the Farm Bureau office. Call the Farm Bureau office for more information.

• The Prime Timers will sponsor a trip Friday, Sept.

25, to Rockome Gardens, Arcola. The group will carpool from the Far m Bureau office at 9 a.m.

Cost is $6. Call the Far m Bureau office for more infor mation.

E E — The District 4 Young Leaders picnic will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at Lake Mendota.

Games will be played. Call the Farm Bureau office by Monday (today) for reservations or more information.

• Lee County Farm Bureau Foundation has its cookbook “Country Kitchen Delights” available for $15 at the Farm Bureau office. Proceeds will benefit the Foundation to fund ag literacy programs.

O N T G O M E RY — The Prime Timers will meet at noon Wednesday at the Farm Bureau office. A barbeque pork loin dinner will be served. Cost is $8. Darlene Spears will provide the entertainment. Call the Farm Bureau office at 217532-6171 for more information.

• The Prime Timers will sponsor a bus trip Sunday to Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre, Goodfield. The group will see “Rumors” by Neil Simon. Cost is $50.

The bus will leave at 8:50 a.m. from the former Kroger parking lot, Litchfield; at 9:05 a.m. from the Farm Bureau office; and at 9:30 a.m. from the Nokomis park. Call the Farm Bureau office at 217532-6171 for more information.

OCK ISLAND — Gary Wilhelmi, DTN, and Rick Lohman, a market expert, will be the speakers at a market outlook meeting at 6:15 p.m.

Thursday at the Moline Viking Club. An update from a local industry panel — Mike Schaver, GoldStar FS, and Ray Wolf, National

L

M

R

Auction Calendar Wed., Sept. 16. 251 Acres McLean County. Soy Capital Ag Services.

Tues., Sept. 22. 80 Acres Edgar County. Soy Capital Ag Services Sat., Oct. 3. 10 a.m. Land Auction. Kenneth and Sam Gehant, MENDOTA, IL. Espe Auctioneering.

Weather Service, will be given. Dinner will be served.

Cost is $18. Call the Rock Island County Extension office at 756-9978 for reservations or more information.

• The annual AgXPerience for first and second grade students will be Thursday at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds. A trip to the John Deere Pavilion and a presentation from KWQC’s Gary Metivier from his book, “A Hog Ate My Homework” also will be included.

“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.

APPRECIATION DAY ATTENDEES

From left, Kenton Thomas of Thebes, president of the Pulaski-Alexander County Farm Bureau; Ken Taake, Ullin; Robert Inman, Grand Chain; and state Sen. Gary Forby, a Democrat from Benton, chat during the recent legislator appreciation day sponsored by several Southern Illinois county Farm Bureaus. In all, 131 persons attended, including 11 state legislators and a representative from U.S. Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Collinsville) office. Also attending was Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson. This was the first time in five years the county Farm Bureaus held the appreciation day, but plans are to conduct such an event every other year in the future. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

FarmWeek Page 9 Monday, September 14, 2009

GROWMARK

GROWMARK announces Illinois scholarship winners Twenty-two college students from Illinois will continue their education with help from GROWMARK. They are recipients of GROWMARK-sponsored scholarships aimed at promoting higher education in agriculture and business.

“GROWMARK invests more than $47,500 annually on scholarships. We’re investing today for a return tomorrow,” said Steve German, GROWMARK university relations and member employment manager. “There’s a need for agriculture businesses to support formal education to strengthen agriculture.”

GROWMARK has been supporting college students with scholarships since the early 1960s.

Each educational institution is responsible for the selection process and awarding scholarships. University scholarship recipients are honored each year at the GROWMARK annual meeting in Chicago.

Students receiving scholarships are: Illinois College Heather Miller, daughter of Robert and Kathi Miller of Bloomington, is majoring in communications and political science.

Illinois State University Tyler Lyons, son of Steve and Sandy Lyons of Sidell, is majoring in agribusiness and animal science.

Calahan Mallaney, son of James and Rosemary Mallaney of Kankakee, is majoring in agribusiness.

Katie Miller, daughter of Tim and Becky Miller of Morton, is majoring in finance and accounting.

Heather Pierson, daughter of Dale and Tina Pierson of Elburn, is majoring in agribusiness.

Sarah Siefker, daughter of Darrell and Susan Siefker of Monee, is majoring in agribusiness and animal industry management.

Illinois Wesleyan University Sarah Micale, daughter of Col. Peter and Diane Micale of Minot Air Force Base, N.D., is majoring in accounting.

Murray State University Jordan Timberlake, daughter of Ed and Dolores Timberlake of Mt. Carmel, is majoring in agribusiness.

Southern Illinois University Leslie Frost, daughter of Terry and Sandy Frost of Louisville, is majoring in plant and soil science.

Mary Kate Huebener, daughter of William and Gayle Huebener of Brighton, is majoring in agribusiness economics accounting.

Sarah Jo Timmons, daugh-

ter of Randall and Rhonda Timmons of Seneca, is majoring in agricultural systems.

Kristen Woods, daughter of Paul and Laura Woods of Newton, is majoring in agribusiness economics.

University of Illinois Mitch Heisler, son of Mike and Diane Heisler of Warsaw, is majoring in agricultural and consumer economics. He is the recipient of the Herndon Scholarship, established to honor Fred E. Herndon, president of a GROWMARK predecessor company from 1931-1959.

Chelsi Rhodes, daughter of Lonnie and Kristy Rhodes of Thomasboro, is majoring

in agri-accounting.

Mark Smith, son of Roger and Carol Smith of Earlville, is majoring in crop sciences.

Dorothy Spencer, daughter of Brad and Prudence Spencer of Yale, is majoring in agricultural communications.

Adam Tallcott, son of Wayne and Deb Tallcott of Mendon, is majoring in agribusiness markets and management. He is the recipient of the Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholarship. GROWMARK sponsors the scholarship to honor Melvin E. Sims, president of GROWMARK Inc. from 1959-1980.

University of Wisconsin – Platteville Carlee Bocker, daughter

of Terry and Vicki Bocker of Lanark, is majoring in agribusiness.

Cur tis Goeke, son of David and Valerie Goeke of Dakota, is majoring in agricultural business.

Drew Nesemeier, son of John and Jan Nesemeier of Milledgeville, is majoring in soil and crop science.

Wester n Illinois University Jake Bonnell, son of Jan and the late Jeff Bonnell of Amboy, is majoring in agricultural business.

Br yan Schullian, son of Dan and Beth Schullian of Quincy, is majoring in agriculture education.

FarmWeek Page 10 Monday, September 14, 2009

PROFITABILITY

Managing diesel fuel in cold temperatures

BY MARK DEHNER

Cooler months are coming and now is the time to think about a fuel management plan to avoid the unexpected surprise of diesel fuel gelling when temperatures drop.

Heavy, straight chain Mark Dehner hydrocarbons (n-paraffins) prevalent in today’s diesel fuel have low solubility and precipitate out in the form of wax crystals as fuels cool during the colder months. These wax crystals can plug diesel fuel filters and restrict the

fuel flow to an engine, resulting in loss of power, engine stalling, or the inability to start.

The traditional fix for wax precipitation was to blend conventional No. 2 diesel fuel with a less dense No. 1 diesel fuel to diffuse the wax and lower the operability range.

With recent changes in regulations and the introduction of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD) (≤15ppm sulfur), the blended No. 1 diesel fuel must conform to ULSD sulfur requirements.

Not only does overall reduced supply put limitations on using No. 1, but dilution of No. 2 diesel fuel with No. 1 diesel fuel results

in lower energy content causing decreased fuel economy.

Also, the cost differential between No. 2 diesel fuel and No. 1 diesel fuel increases substantially during the winter demand period.

A solution to reducing or eliminating the use of No. 1 diesel fuel blending during cold temperatures is to treat diesel fuel with Cold Flow Improver (CFI) additive chemistry.

CFI additives can be very effective at improving low temperature operability without reducing the fuel’s energy content and decreasing fuel economy.

CFIs are designed to modify the size and shape of wax crystals in order to allow the treated fuel to flow through a vehicle’s fuel system, including the fuel filter, allowing vehicles to operate at temperatures well below the diesel fuel’s cloud point.

The FS System strives to provide effective solutions.

To address this issue, FS introduced SURE-FLO ULS. SURE-FLO ULS is specially formulated with unique wax modifying chemistry to provide outstanding low temperature performance over a wide range of fuels.

In addition to providing excellent wax modifying

performance, it is also formulated to prevent wax crystals from settling to the bottom of the tank.

In addition to outstanding wax modifying and wax antisettling performance, SUREFLO’s deicing and lubricity chemistry make it an excellent overall solution for winterizing diesel fuel.

Your FS energ y salesperson is an excellent source of additional infor mation and can assist you in developing a plan for operating your diesel equipment during cold temperatures.

Mark Dehner is GROWMARK’s marketing manager of refined and renewable fuels.

His e-mail address is mdehner@growmark.com.

Economic downturn blamed for equipment sales drop

BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek

Many farmers at the Farm Progress Show were eager to test drive new equipment, but fewer apparently are willing to buy machinery this year compared to a year ago.

Sales of all farm tractors for the first seven months of the year declined 21 percent compared to the same time last year, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

Exports of U.S. farm equipment didn’t fare much

better as sales for the first half of 2009 dropped 20 percent compared to the same time a year ago.

Markets in which U.S. sales of farm equipment took the greater dive so far this year are Europe (down 35 percent) and South America (down 22 percent), according to AEM (see graph).

Representatives of the ag equipment industry discussed the situation with Far mWeek during the Farm Progress Show.

“Overall, sales this year

M A R K Feeder E T pigFA CTS prices reported to USDA* Weight 10 lbs.

40 lbs.

50 lbs.

Receipts

Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price $11.00-$32.64 $23.83 $15.00-$18.00 $15.10 n/a n/a This Week Last Week 19,948 19,091 *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 $47.76 $45.09 $35.34 $33.37

Change 2.67 1.98

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

This week 84.17 84.48

Prv. week 83.52 84.00

Change 0.65 0.48

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 98.63 98.95 -0.32

Lamb prices

Export inspections (Million bushels)

AEM reported sales through July of four-wheeldrive tractors were up 10 percent while combine sales increased 30 percent in the U.S. compared to the same time last year.

“Equipment purchases have always been tied to the farm economy, and the ag economy is still pretty positive” compared to other sectors, Bohnker noted.

However, U.S. farm income for the current year is projected to decline by 38 percent

compared to last year.

Equipment manufacturers at the Farm Progress Show responded by rolling out new products and updates to existing equipment lines that provide increased efficiency and in some cases more horsepower while creating a “little lighter footprint,” Bohnker added.

Many of the new tractors displayed at the show, for instance, feature improved fuel economy.

Harvest safety includes equipment fire extinguishers

Confirmed lamb and sheep sales This week 768 Last week 814 Last year 695 Wooled Slaughter Lambs: Choice and Prime 1-2: 90-110 lbs, $100. Choice and Prime 2-3: 110-130 lbs., $93.50-$93.75. Good and Choice 1-2: 60-90 lbs., $110.Slaughter Ewes: Utility and Good 1-3: $27-$30. Cull and Utility 1-2: $27.

Week ending Soybeans Wheat 09-03-09 9.5 17.0 08-27-09 17.7 16.7 Last year 3.0 25.0 Season total 4.6 199.7 Previous season total 1.2 351.7 USDA projected total 1210 980 Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

look to be less than last year,” said Ben Craker of AGCO. “Agriculture was going strong, but I think we’re getting a delayed reaction” to the current economic recession.

John Deere recently reported worldwide sales the first nine months of this year were down 15 percent compared to last year.

Eric Hodson, senior public relations writer for John Deere’s ag and turf division, said John Deere’s sales are “not as good” this year but noted the company is coming off record sales from a year ago.

The equipment operations for John Deere reported an operations profit of $1.38 billion the past nine months compared to $2.37 billion during the first three quarters last year.

John Bohnker, marketing manager for Magnum/Steiger tractors at Case IH, said tractor orders this year have remained strong but “farmers have been cautious the last few months” due to lower commodity prices.

“But they also are looking at a big crop,” he noted.

Corn 43.1 36.4 22.2 22.7 12.6 1700

Amid the stress of harvest, farmers need to be aware of fire safety when it comes to combines and tractors, according to Matt Montgomery, University of Illinois Extension Mason County director.

Stalks, husks, straw, and grain are susceptible to combustion. Add gas and oil to the list of possible combustibles, and a stray spark, hot belt, or other source of heat can start a fire without warning.

Equipment fires probably will happen out in the middle of a field away from an immediate source of water, so producers need to be pre-

pared, Montgomery said.

Multi-purpose extinguishers, which offer protection from oil and gas fires and give some type of moderate help with fires from straw and other materials, need to be readily available to equipment operators, he noted.

Producers need to show each equipment operator where extinguishers are located and how to use them properly by aiming at the base of the fire.

Before harvest begins, all fire extinguishers need to be checked and charged as recommended by the manufacturer, he said.

FarmWeek Page 11 Monday, September 14, 2009

PROFITABILITY Corn Strategy

C A S H S T R AT E G I S T Key test for USDA crop ratings It seems all but a handful of analysts expect this year’s corn and soybean yields to be record or near record. In some cases, a large part of that opinion appears based on the relatively high USDA crop condition ratings, as well as this year’s relatively mild summer.

Therein lies a potential pitfall that could trip up traders.

While the weekly USDA crop ratings provide a guideline for what is happening with the crops, by their very nature they cannot fully explain what is going on in the field.

They are a subjective look at the crop by trained observers but do not include any “hard” data. Maybe more important is that this year, just like last, there’s no way to easily adjust these ratings for the extreme lag in maturity of the crops.

While the generally mild summer weather pattern is beneficial, when combined with this year’s extremely late planting, it potentially shortens the window for the plants to accumulate dry matter in the seeds.

Even if the growing season is extended like it was last year, the later days of the season have dwindling daylight hours, reducing the time plants devote to converting sunlight into yield.

A number of analysts point

Basis charts

to years with mild summers and record yields such as 1994 and 2004 as reason to think there’s exceptional yield potential this year. But in those two years, planting was normal to earlier than normal, allowing for a longer growing season does than this year’s extraordinary late planting.

A Chicago-based consultant, Lanworth, is bucking the wisdom of expecting higher yields. It uses a combination of satellite images, analytical software, and on-ground reports to project crop sizes.

This past week, Lanworth issued yield forecasts for this year’s corn and soybean crops of 153.8 bushels and 39.9 bushels, respectively, well below popular trade wisdom. The company’s track record the past two years has been very good.

The major feature Lanworth sees limiting yield potential, along with the ramifications of late development, is the shortage of sunshine this summer.

So far this growing season, solar radiation in most Corn Belt states has been 10 to 15 percent below last year. Even Iowa solar radiation has been 5 to 10 percent lower.

That reminds us of a year in the early 1990s when corn yields in Iowa were universally disappointing, yet the crop looked consistently good through the growing season. In the end, a lack of sunshine that summer was deemed the reason for the disappointing performance.

Still, the use of satellite imagery is a relatively modern technology and one that may have its own pitfalls. But we’d deem them no more of a problem than the subjective nature of USDA’s weekly condition reports.

Still, the weekly condition report does tell us something about the crops and their potential. We simply think many analysts aren’t using them wisely, leading them to erroneous conclusions about production potential.

If that’s the case this year, it may end up as an important “teaching moment” for many analysts.

AgriVisor endorses crop insurance by

AgriVisor LLC 1701 N. Towanda Avenue PO Box 2500 Bloomington IL 61702-2901 309-557-3147 AgriVisor LLC is not liable for any damages which anyone may sustain by reason of inaccuracy or inadequacy of information provided herein, any error of judgment involving any projections, recommendations, or advice or any other act of omission.

Policies issued by COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company®, Bloomington, Illinois AgriVisor Hotline Number

309-557-2274

✓2008 crop: We still are inclined to hold inventories until after harvest, or use a marketing strategy that would keep pricing open until later this year on existing inventories. ✓2009 crop: Corn prices once again dipped to the downside, but we see limited risk past $3. Action may remain choppy until the 20 and 40-week cycle lows can be confirmed. We see no reason to make additional new-crop sales until later this year. ❖Fundamentals: Corn continues to feel the repercussions of generally non-threatening weather throughout the Midwest — especially with the absence of any frost or freeze threat. The implications of the USDA report will be the most important short-term market feature.

Cents per bu.

8/18/08

11/20/08

3/2/09

6/5/09

9/10/09

12/15/09

Soybean Strategy ✓2008 crop: The oldcrop premium continues to disappear. If you chose to hold inventories, you understood the risk of losing that premium. If the premium has disappeared and you still have soybeans, plan to hold them into post-harvest. ✓2009 crop: The recent low traced out on the November could be the 8- to 9-week cycle bottom, but we’ll have to wait for confirmation.

However, unless the USDA report is a huge negative shock, we’d expect to see at least a short-term rebound.

The current supply/demand sheet leaves little room for error. Hold off on making additional sales until this fall or during the early winter months. ❖Fundamentals: Soybeans remain the most affected by short-term weather conditions, as the lag in maturity has left a significant portion of the crop vulnerable to some damage even from a normal frost.

At the same time, the cash trade soon will start to gear up for an aggressive fall and winter export campaign.

8/18/08

8/18/08

11/20/08

11/20/08

3/2/09

3/2/09

Wheat Strategy ✓2009 crop: Wheat prices remain in a steady decline, with fresh contract lows once again traced out in the charts.

We still advise holding off additional sales; better pricing opportunities should come later this fall or winter.

Before advising even catchup sales, we’re going to give the market an opportunity to attempt for Chicago December futures to rally back above $5. ❖Fundamentals: Spring

6/5/09

6/5/09

9/10/09

9/10/09

12/15/09

12/15/09

wheat harvest is finally starting to progress in North Dakota, a key state for that crop. Early reports hint a record crop still could be realized despite the significant reduction in planted acres there caused by the wet April and May that kept farmers from getting the crop planted on time. Some expect the crop has potential to come in above last year’s 246 million bushels.

USDA will release its next production report on Sept.

30 .

FarmWeek Page 12 Monday, September 14, 2009

PERSPECTIVES

Use care in treading on carbon footprints

At least that is what I heard. So I went to two local businesses to check on COOL and pork.

A small tip: If you wish to check packaged meat for the country of origin labeling, take your glasses along.

The information is not easy either to find or to see.

At one regional food retailer, the majority of the pork was labeled as being exclusively from the U.S. I also went to the local super-store, which has its headquarters in Arkansas. The pork there was labeled as a “Product of the U.S. and Canada.” And one expensive pork cut at that location did not appear to have its country of origin identified. At least a helpful meat department employee and I were not able to locate it, even with glasses.

For a long time, some businesses have viewed where their particular product was made as an important part of their marketing strategy. These food geographical indicators, as they are called, include Roquefort cheese, Florida oranges, Vidalia onions, and Idaho potatoes.

Not all exporters want to link together the product and its origin. In 2008, China exported half a billion dollars of meat products to the U.S. One would be hard pressed to know where those products ended up — apparently the country of origin was not seen as a positive piece of information.

While it is not completely clear that consumers avoid Canadian pork, it does seem the “Made in Canada” label for hogs is not a significant food geographical indicator. Not like Good Hope tomatoes or Southern Illinois peaches.

In his beautiful poem “A Psalm of Life,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote that we should leave behind “footprints on the sands of time” as we depart this world. If Longfellow were writing today, he might admonish us not to leave any carbon footprints behind.

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly or indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Carbon dioxide emissions are linked to global climate change, and unless you lived before the discovery of fire, theoretically you are responsible along with the rest of humanity for global warming.

The bigger your carbon footprint, the greater your contribution to carbon emissions and climate change.

The idea in a nutshell is to make people feel guilty about energy use and personally responsible. If you want to do your part to stop global warming, you should constantly calculate and monitor your personal carbon footprint — or so the theory STEWART goes.

TRUELSEN We can all agree on reducing energy use, using clean, renewable fuels, conserving scarce resources, and being good stewards of the environment. No one wants to be stomping all over Mother Earth with big carbon feet, but the whole idea of monitoring carbon footprints can be taken to troubling extremes.

An Oregon State University study concluded that a hypothetical American woman who drives a fuel-efficient car and saves energy in her home would still leave behind a big carbon footprint by giving birth to two children. Does this mean a carbon tax should be imposed on parents, or that they should be limited to a certain number of offspring?

There already are warnings of a massive increase in the federal bureaucracy and regulations if the Housepassed climate change bill is enacted, but there is no telling where carbon foot-printing will ultimately lead us.

One extension of it is Life-Cycle Assessment which has already been embraced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The assessment goes beyond the carbon footprint to determine the full-range of social and environmental consequences in the things we buy, including food and other agricultural products.

Whether it’s administered by government or in the hands of activist groups, the whole notion that we should live our lives according to what our carbon footprints tell us is deeply concerning.

The calculations necessary to do that are exceedingly complex and subject to much interpretation. Carbon footprints could prove to be a foot in the door for hidden agendas.

William Bailey is director of the Western Illinois University school of agriculture. His email address is WC-Bailey@wiu.edu.

Stewart Truelsen is a regular contributor to the Focus on Agriculture column series and an author about Farm Bureau history.

His e-mail address is stut@fb.org.

Newton y Sharon Graphic b

READ IT AND EAT COOL, hogs, and the pork industry’s challenges The U.S. pork industry is facing some real challenges — a stronger dollar and broadly weaker global demand have combined to create a difficult economic environment.

Pork exports have declined nearly 40 percent over the past 12 months.

The Canadian pork industry also is in serious difficulty.

A major problem facing the Canadians is a sharp drop in their exports to the U.S. — a key market. Canadian hog exports to the U.S. have fallWILLIAM en almost 50 percent from their BAILEY highs of the past year.

It is believed one of the reasons for the export decline is recently implemented U.S. labeling regulations. The regulations are known as Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).

COOL requirements basically mandate that where certain products were grown, or born, in the case of hogs, must be identified and labeled for the products to be sold at the retail level.

If a hog was born in Canada and then shipped to the U.S. for finishing and eventual sale, the label on the product would indicate “Product of Canada and the U.S.” If the hog’s entire life cycle was in the U.S., the label would indicate “Product of the U.S.” The meat processing industry’s initial response to COOL was to label most pork as being a “Product of Canada and the U.S.” That was easy, and the industry did not need to keep track of which pigs were natives and which were not.

Over the past several months, that pork label has been mostly replaced by “Product of the U.S.” as Canadian hogs were removed from processing and, eventually, from the retail supermarket shelf.

Letter to the editor Government spending brings many benefits Editor: As a Farm Bureau member owning farmland, I am concerned about former Agriculture Secretary John Block’s article in the Aug. 31 FarmWeek.

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.”

Both Illinois agriculture and our nation benefit from government investments in alternative energy, university research, soil conservation, food security programs, lock and dam improvements, township and county upgrades of roads and bridges to carry our heavy grain trucks ... and on and on.

That’s true historically, too. The precursor of the Farm Credit System was a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) formed in the early 1900s when banks wouldn’t lend to farmers. Farm families were deprived of electricity until the Rural Electric Administration fostered outreach into rural areas.

The Commodity Credit Corp. rescued a Depression generation of youth who built lasting soil conservation and transportation infrastructure. I enjoyed an easy drive to the Farm Progress Show on interstate highways built by government funds.

And it’s not just conservatives who sustain fiscal responsibility. In the affluent suburban area in which I live (which voted “liberal” in 2008), not one of the four banks with which my family deals

has needed any “bailout” money.

I endorse personal responsibility and selfreliance, and share such values with my children and grandchildren.

However, it’s easy for those of us who have had good parents, a great tax-financed education, and consistent farm support programs to point the finger at those who have missed these advantages.

Government should serve them, too.

And North Dakota has low unemployment partly because its weather, sparse population, and lack of community services deter people from moving there. I prefer Illinois.

ELDON C. MCKIE, St. Louis, Mo.