farmweek august 29 2011

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Monday, August 29, 2011 Three sections Volume 39, No. 35

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

stink bugs are expected tobe more of a problem for Illinoisfarmers in the future, University ofIllinois experts told those at therecent Agronomy Day. ...................8

Corn yielD potential

in many parts of the Midwest isshrinking by the day, based onrecent findings of two separatecrop tours. .......................................3

urban moms learned theirfarm counterparts weren’t that dif-ferent, especially when it came tofashion, during a recent mom’smeeting in Chicago. ........................2

U of I to use adjustable-rate leases with farm operators10 farms set

for bid in ’12BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

The University of Illinoisis changing how it rents farm-land, starting with 10 CentralIllinois endowment farms upfor bid in 2012.

The idea to initiate an annu-al adjustable farm lease camefrom university administrationand followed board policy “to

make a more equitable processin which we share the risk withthe farm operators more thanwe have in the past,” KevinNoland, the university’s seniordirector of treasury operations,told FarmWeek.

The competitive biddingprocess will be announced inadvertisements in newspapersthat are local to each farm.

Three farms are located inPiatt County, and one straddlesDouglas and Moultrie counties.A single farm is located in eachof the following counties: Cham-

more time to work on man-agement issues, such as soilfertility and drainage systems,Noland explained.

Currently, the universityowns 30 endowment farmswith a total of about 11,000acres. Endowment farms weregifts to the university to gener-

ate income for scholarships,fellowships, research activities,loan funds, and 4-H programs.

“We hope this (change) willbe positive and a big success,”Noland said. “Two years fromnow if we find things are notworking as we expected, wewill tweak the process.”

paign, DeWitt, McLean, Menard,Moultrie, and Sangamon.

Through a right of firstrefusal, current tenants will beallowed to match the highestbid based on the cash bid andother criteria, Noland explain -ed. Those criteria include afarmer’s experience, farmingpractices, location, and financialviability.

Under the new leasearrangement, the farm operatorwill pay the dollar amount forthe first year of the lease andthen a flexible formula will beapplied, effective March 1,2013, for the 2013 crop yearand through the end of thelease, according to Noland.

The formula is linked to theUSDA Risk Management Agencyestimate of gross farm revenue bycounty. That formula is explainedin a University of Illinois Exten-sion article, “Flexible Cash LeasesBased on Crop Insurance Parame-ters.” It can be found online at{www.farmdoc.illinois.edu/man-age/newsletters/fefo07_13/fefo07_13.html}.

In addition to using a newtype of lease, the U of I also ischanging the length of the leas-es from three years to five withannual adjustments and anoption for five additional annu-al renewals.

The length of a lease agree-ment may be extended to asmany as 10 years before a farmwould be rebid, Noland noted.

The U of I determined thethree-year lease arrangementswere too short. The longer-term leases and less frequentbidding will give the staff

AND SO IT BEGINS

Corn harvest was in full swing last week as three combines rolled through a field on the John Dowsonfarm near Divernon in Sangamon County. Early yield reports in the state so far have been quite variablebut generally have been average to below average. Corn moisture reports last week ranged from 16percent to 28 percent. More reports on crop prospects on page 3. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

FarmWeekNow.comWe have comments from the Uof I’s Gary Schnitkey on then e w r e n t a l f o r m u l a a tFarmWeekNow.com.

IFB task force finalizing recommendationsAg budget dilemma raises chicken/egg concerns

BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

With a “super Congress”commission gearing up forlong-term budget cuts and agprograms seemingly in thecrosshairs, a Farm Bureaueconomist questions whetherag lawmakers should play theircards or wait to see the com-mission’s hand.

A 12-member select House-Senate panel by Thanksgiving isto arrive at $1.5 trillion in over-all cuts to be made over thenext decade. That’s on top of$1 trillion in recently prescribedcongressional reductions.

That’s hastened concerns

going to participate in thisprocess,” arguing they wouldhave to consider whether sub-mitting a figure would merelygive the commission a baseupon which to add further cuts.

“In this environment, we’re allgoing to be trying to take moneyfrom someone else,” he said.

Last year’s presidentialdeficit reduction commissionrecommended $10 billion to$11 billion in total ag cuts,while a recent House budgetproposed $35 billion in long-term cuts, focusing on com-modity programs.

See Dilemma, page 4

about cuts in future direct pay-ments or other farm programs.“We’re the first on the choppingblock, it seems,” suggested Illi-nois Farm Bureau Farm PolicyTask Force (FPTF) ChairmanDarryl Brinkmann, whose panellast week finalized 2012 farm billrecommendations for the IFBBoard of Directors and eventu-ally member consideration.

American Farm Bureau Fed-eration economist Bob Youngpegs the likely 2012 farm billbudget hit at $10 billion-$35 bil-lion, noting speculation abouthow specifically the commis-sion might direct ag cuts.

Members could propose

general spending caps as aguide for individual committeesin slicing their piece of thebudget pie, or issue specificprogram directives for up-or-down congressional approval,Young told FPTF members.

Or ag committee leaderscould opt essentially to “write anew farm bill in the next two orthree months,” in an effort tomaintain control over programpriorities, he said.

By mid-October, House andSenate committees are to sub-mit recommendations for cutsin programs under their juris-diction. Young was unsure“how the ag committees are

POLICY PROJECTIONS — Some Illinois producerswith poor yield prospects could see some safety net reliefthis season, according to University of Illinois Extensionfarm management specialist Gary Schnitkey.

Schnitkey suggested “low-yielding farms could get cropinsurance payments,” especially those under a revenue pro-tection policy (RP) or county-level Group Risk Income Pro-tection coverage with a harvest price option (GRIP-HR).Harvest prices are primed to exceed spring projected prices.

And for the first time this year, revenue policies automat-ically include a harvest price bump in guarantees, unless thegrower takes a harvest price exclusion. Producers must electfor the harvest price option under GRIP.

“Higher coverage levels will l ikely pay off more,”Schnitkey said.

The Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program isfar less likely to make a payment for 2011, because corn andsoybean prices are running higher than ACRE’s benchmarknational price, Schnitkey said.

SAFETY FUNDS ROLLING IN — A recent memori-al fundraiser has generated nearly $3,800 for the cause ofgrain safety, according to Carroll County Farm Bureau man-ager Chas Welch. The fundraising effort, spearheaded by theIllinois Farm Bureau-supported Grain Handling SafetyCoalition, was launched in conjunction with a late-Julyanniversary memorial for Alex Pacas in Mt. Carroll.

The 19-year-old Haasbach LLC elevator employee diedwhile working unsuccessfully to free 14-year-old WyattWhitebread once he became entrapped in stored corn in July2010.

The coalition is dedicated to raising awareness of grainsafety issues and fostering community-based safety efforts.

To help the group develop safety materials and programs,send further donations to Dr. Robert Aherin, University ofIllinois, 1304 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana, IL 61801. Makechecks payable to the University of Illinois Foundation, withthe Grain Handling Safety Coalition listed on the memo line.

Welch reported contributions are continuing to come in.

QUINN SIGNS WATER-RELATED BILLS — Gov.Pat Quinn last week signed legislation related to the state’swater resources.

Two bills will improve and enhance programs to collectand properly dispose of unwanted prescription drugs andkeep them out of the water system. HB 2056 creates a col-laborative public-private collection and disposal programand was an initiative of the Pontiac and Antioch high schoolstudents who have promoted collection programs, common-ly known as P2D2 (prescription pill drug disposal).

HB 3090 allows communities to authorize city halls orpolice departments to host drug collection containers. Bothlaws take effect Jan. 1.

P2D2 programs reduce the amount of drugs entering Illi-nois waste water systems.

HB 248 allows recycled and treated wastewater to be usedfor irrigation and other non-consumption uses in the NorthShore Sanitary District. The bill took effect immediately. Useof recycled wastewater is expected to save large volumes oftreated drinking water.

FarmWeek Monday, August 29, 2011

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 39 No. 35 August 29 2011

Dedicated to improving the profitability of farm-ing, and a higher quality of life for Illinois farmers.FarmWeek is produced by the Illinois FarmBureau.

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Quick TakesEmErging iSSuES

Technology leaps may be key to ubiquitous broadband access

Southern Illinois co-op receiving$21 million USDA broadband loan

USDA recently awarded a Southern Illinois telephone coop-erative a $21 million low-interest loan to install fiber-opticcable for high-speed Internet services. It was the only Illinoisproject awarded funding in last week’s broadband announce-ment.

Wabash Telephone Cooperative, based in Louisville, plansto install 777 miles of fiber-optic cable and hopes to completethe project within five to seven years, according to JefferyWilliams, the co-op’s general manager.

The loan will allow the co-op to keep its costs lower andmay speed the process of connecting all its customers to thefiber-optic network, Williams said.

“Fiber is what’s going to let small-town residents have moresay over what services they want, giving them choices of thelatest services and technology,” Williams said.

Wabash Telephone services subscribers in parts of eightcounties: Clay, Edwards, Effingham, Jasper, Marion, Richland,Wabash, and Wayne counties. — Kay Shipman

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Rapid technology advance-ment may offer solutions forproviding universal access tohigh-speed Internet, accord-ing to an industry panel at aCentral Illinois broadbandforum last week.

The Illinois TechnologyPartnership (ITP), a nonprof-it organization interested intechnology and broadbandissues, hosted a panel discus-sion that covered broadbandaccess and other issues.

“The FCC (Federal Com-munications Commission)estimated the cost for every-one (in the U.S.) to accessbroadband is $350 billion,”said Lindsay Mosher, ITPexecutive director. “Thequestion today is — how dowe achieve ubiquitous broad-band access?”

A mix of technology mayoffer a solution for expensivelast-mile connections tohomes, according JamieMathy, chief technology offi-cer with the Mavidea Tech-nology Group.

“We’re going to have ourown fiber and a wireless ringaround our area,” Mathy saidof a project involvingMcLean County and sur-rounding counties.

Mathy described “meshnetworks” that have an abilityto find “hot-spot paths” towireless high-speed Internetpoints within in a community.However, no definitive solu-

tion has been determined “onhow we will roll this out toevery house,” he noted.

The chief technology offi-cers of the state universitiesare working together onpotential solutions to meetcampuses’ Internet needs,said Mark Walbert, IllinoisState University’s (ISU) chieftechnology officer.

ISU is working towardwireless Internet accessacross its Normal campus andis collaborating on technolo-gy advancements with otheruniversities, Walbert added.

To Dr. Wesley Valdes,medical director of the Uni-versity of Illinois Center forTelehealth, the issue is lessabout how broadband access

is provided than how broad-band can change health care.

With wireless technology,“the doctors are no longerchained to their desks; theyalso can be mobile. It’s a con-venience we’re bringing tothe health care market,”Valdes said. “My goal is tomake it so the person doesn’tknow how it (broadband)gets there.”

Mobile devices allow doc-tors to take diagnostic imagesto patients’ bedside for con-sultations instead of requir-ing patients to be moved,Valdes noted. Such devicesalso would allow a doctor tosend an image of a patient’swound or skin condition to aspecialist far away, he added.

Illinois farm moms fashion new imageof modern farmers and agriculture

Common interests and shared concerns helpbridge gaps and break down stereotypes,according to two Illinois farm women who par-ticipated in a recent Illinois Farm Familiesevent.

Emily Webel of Farmington, Holly Spanglerof Marietta, Donna Jeschke of Mazon, and DebMoore of Roseville answered questions aboutfarmers and farming from nearly40 Chicago-area moms at aMoms Meet-Up event in Chica-go.

“Once you’re a mom, you’repart of a club. The commonalityis good,” Webel reflected lastweek. “We sat down on their turfand said, ‘What questions do youhave to ask me?’”

Some questions were serious:“Is my food safe?” Others, light-hearted: “Doyou wear bibs (overalls)?”

Much to their surprise, the urban momsquickly recognized their farm counterpartsweren’t that different, especially when it cameto fashion.

One urban mom admitted she thought thefarm moms would be wearing jeans and boots,but then she laughed at her own incorrect

assumption, Spangler said.But the conversations provided food for

thought for the farm moms, as well as theurban ones.

The contrast between farm and urbanlifestyles presented each woman a differenttake on meal planning and grocery shopping,Spangler noted.

She remembered one womanexplained she had her groceriesdelivered weekly to her apart-ment because she couldn’t carrythe groceries — and her chil-dren — simultaneously up threeflights of stairs.

Meanwhile, Spanglerexplained she tries to make asfew trips to town as possibleand plans ahead to do her shop-

ping. Spangler and Webel enthusiastically support-

ed the mom-to-mom outreach and said theyhope it will continue.

“In social media, moms are a powerfulforce,” Webel said. “This is absolutely the wayto go to get (farmers’) image changed with thepeople who buy the groceries ... We’re goingalong the right track.” — Kay Shipman

productioN

Monday, August 29, 2011 FarmWeek

USDA downgrades condition of corn crop

Early harvest report confirms yield lossesBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Pat Webster, who farms

with his brother, Mark, and

their father, Jerry, in Pike

County, last week after shelling

about 500 acres of corn con-

firmed concerns about lower

yields on their farm.

“We’re definitely seeing a

yield loss from the heat in

July,” he told FarmWeek. “We

think we probably lost about

25 bushels per acre.”

Test weights from the early

harvest also were low, about 52

to 53 pounds per bushel. But

moisture readings, which were

19 percent on Aug. 22,

improved quickly and were

down to 16 to 17 percent by

Aug. 25, Webster said.

Four neighbors in Pike

County also started corn har-

vest last week, said Webster,

who believes this harvest will

and 13 percent poor to very

poor.

USDA earlier this month

predicted Illinois’ corn yield

will average 170 bushel per

acre, with a national average of

153 bushels.

Darrel Good, University of

Illinois Extension economist,

predicted both those numbers

will come down as harvest

progresses.

USDA last year started in

August with a corn yield esti-

mate of 180 bushels in Illinois

only to see that average

decline to 157 bushels by the

end of harvest.

“I look for a similar decline

this year in Illinois,” Good

said last week. “My guess is

(the national corn yield aver-

age) will be substantially lower

than 153, maybe by four to

five bushels, based on weather

patterns.”

The state’s topsoil moisture

last week was rated 66 percent

short over very short and 34

percent adequate.

be a quick one if the weather

remains warm and dry.

Corn yields on the Websters’

lighter soil so far have averaged

about 135 bushels per acre.

Webster is hoping for an aver-

age yield of 180 bushels on the

family’s best ground.

“There have been so many

weather issues” around the

country, he said. “We still feel

pretty fortunate. A lot of

farmers are worse off than we

are this year.”

Elsewhere, Randy DeSutter

of Knox County last week said

his yield potential is below

average for corn but “the jury

is still out” on soybeans.

Jerry Watson of Cham-

paign County, reported a

large number of tipping

and zipper-like corn ears

will hurt his yield, but scat-

tered showers last week

“should help pod fill” of

his soybean crop.

Dale Hadden, IFB District

10 director from Morgan

County, predicted a lot of

corn in his area could average

between 120 and 150 bushels

per acre, well below trend-line

yields.

USDA’s National Agricul-

tural Statistics Service Illinois

field office last week down-

graded the condition of the

corn and soybean crops for

the sixth time in the past sev-

en weeks due to the challeng-

ing conditions.

Less than half the corn

crop in the state (42 percent)

last week was rated good to

excellent, 38 percent was rated

fair, and 20 percent was poor

to very poor.

The condition of the soy-

bean crop was rated slightly

better at 53 percent good to

excellent, 34 percent fair,

Crop tour estimatespoint to short crop

Corn yield potential in many parts of the Midwest is shrink-ing by the day, based on recent findings of two separate croptours.

The Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour last week took about2,000 samples of corn and soybeans in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota.

And the corn yield estimates compared to last year weredown in all seven states by a range of 1.7 percent in SouthDakota to as much as 14.3 percent in Indiana.

Pro Farmer estimated corn in Illinois will yield an average of 156bushels per acre, 11 bushels below the tour’s three-year average anddown 14 bushels from USDA’s estimate earlier this month.

In Iowa, Pro Farmer projected an average yield of 164.6bushels per acre, down 2.6 percent from a year ago.

“Iowa, we hoped, would be the area we’d see increased pro-duction (potential) to offset what was lost in the eastern CornBelt,” Brian Grete, Pro Farmer senior market analyst, told JulieRoot of the RFD Radio Net-work. Root participated in theeastern leg of the Pro Farmertour. “Obviously, that didn’thappen, based on what wefound in the tour data.

“Now the question is howmuch downside potential is therefor the corn crop estimate from USDA as we move throughSeptember, October, and November,” Grete noted.

The Pro Farmer Crop Tour counted soybean pods insteadof estimating yields. And pod counts were highly variable.

In Illinois, soy pod counts were slightly below the three-yearaverage.

Meanwhile, Soy Capital Ag Services, which manages nearly aquarter of a million acres in Central Illinois and the Midwest,last week unveiled similar yield estimates from its crop tour inMcLean County, which consistently is one of the top corn-pro-ducing counties in the nation.

Participants of Soy Capital’s crop tour pulled about 1,600corn samples in McLean County and estimated a county-wideyield average of 167.1 bushels per acre, down almost 22bushels from Soy Capital’s five-year average for the county andits lowest projection since 2005, when there was as regionaldrought during the growing season.

“With the combination of late planting and heat stress, itjust does not look good out there,” Kevin Meiss of Soy Capitalsaid last week at a field day near Bloomington. “There is a lotof variability.”

Corn yield estimates on the Soy Capital tour ranged from alow of 23.5 to a high of 224.3 bushels per acre.

Soy Capital’s tour results also showed about a 15-bushelyield bump from fungicide applications but a severe yieldpenalty on continuous corn.

“It looks like corn-on-corn is going to get hurt for a secondyear in a row,” Meiss said.

The average yield on continuous corn was estimated at128.5 bushels per acre compared to 177.7 bushels for corn fol-lowing soybeans. — Daniel Grant

These corn ear samples taken last week during the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour were consistent with whattour participants found all over the Midwest. Some ears are excellent, but many suffered from tip-back due tohot, dry conditions during pollination. The reduction in kernels obviously will cut into final yields. (Photo byJulie Root, RFD Radio Network)

Before you start to dig or build, you canlearn whether the soil is suitable for your proj-ect online. A digital soils application has beencreated by professional soil scientists nation-wide at {websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov}.

“The Web Soil Survey, or WSS, is a modernapplication that pulls together site-specific soildata characteristics to ensure individuals, pro-fessions, and industries find success,” said GaryStruben, state soil scientist for the Illinois Natu-ral Resources and Conservation Service(NRCS).

Website users may access data about physicaland chemical soil properties. They then can cor-relate those properties with map data to deter-mine if a site is suited for a particular use orproject.

The WSS data is a product of the NationalCooperative Soil Survey, a joint effort ofUSDA’s NRCS and other federal and state agen-cies and other partners.

NRCS is promoting use of the WSS toolbecause it is fast and easy. “You define the siteor location in question, access soil data to selectproperties to investigate, run a report of thefindings, and then print or download thereport,” said Struben.

“Think about it — soil properties, strengthsand weaknesses — are key to the success or thefailure of nearly every project,” says Bill Gradle,state conservationist for NRCS.

“Whether it’s a new house with a basement, atree planting project, or the development of anew strip mall, soil on the site can make it orbreak it.”

Current WSS soil data are available for everyIllinois county and for more than 90 percent ofcounties nationwide.

“Because WSS is a technical aid from theU.S. Department of Agriculture, it is availablefree of charge and without commercials oradvertisements,” said Gradle.

Need soil site info? There’s an ‘app’ for that

FarmWeekNow.comListen to an interview with ProFarmer’s Brian Grete aboutharvest prospects at Farm-WeekNow.com.

the farm bill


Continued from page 1House Ag Committee Ranking Democrat Collin Peterson

recently suggested a “sequester trigger” plan that would consider$5 billion to $6 billion in cuts but exempt nutrition programs(which constituted 84 percent of January baseline spending) andthe Conservation Reserve Program.

Direct payments account for 86 percent of commodity programoutlays, and Young said ag lawmakers may view bumping paymenteligibility from 85 percent to possibly 65 percent of base acres as“the cleanest way to do a reduction.”

Meanwhile, he noted a “big increase in crop insurance” in recentyears: Spending had reached 7 percent of January’s baseline. Premi-um subsidies account for 69 percent of federal crop insurancespending, and “that’s where the money is if you’re going to go aftercrop insurance,” Young said.

Noting current crop conditions and variability, FPTF membersemphasized crop insurance as a top priority for their constituentsstatewide.

“The safety net is still their first concern,” Champaign Countyproducer Jerry Watson said. Mercer County FPTF member JeffKirwan deemed crop insurance “our No. 1 safety net value for thedollars,” and suggested Congress consider expansion of a “live-stock-type safety net,” as well.

Dilemma

ICGA floats ACRE improvementplan amid federal budget concernsBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Amid ag budget pressures, the Illinois CornGrowers Association (ICGA) is floatingchanges reportedly aimed at melding the bestattributes of Average Crop Revenue Election(ACRE) and Supplemental Revenue (SURE)programs into a more broadly effective risk toolthat complements crop insurance.

In cooperation with University of IllinoisExtension ag economist Gary Schnitkey andOhio State University, ICGA has developed arevenue safety net plan that attempts to simplifyfarm programs. ICGA’s proposal is based onmember feedback on current program complex-ity, and aims to fall within the narrowing con-fines of Washington budget concerns.

ACRE, created in the 2008 farm bill, pro-vides producer loss payments when a nationalprice, statewide yields, and individual farmyields fall below set thresholds.

ICGA’s proposal would set new yield triggersat the crop reporting district level. Accordingto ICGA President Jim Reed that should makefor more “geographically compact” protection.

Noting concerns about duplication amongexisting risk management/crop insurance pro-grams, Reed suggested the plan would helpsmooth year-to-year revenue variability, whileinsurance would continue to cover the “big one-year loss.”

The new plan, up for National Corn Grow-ers Association review this week, was designedto capture a part of potential farm direct pay-

ment cuts, “knowing that the (farm bill budget)baseline is going to be reduced,” Reed told theIllinois Farm Bureau Farm Policy Task Force(FPTF).

Reed echoed IFB’s call that Congress consid-er ag cuts “proportionate to what the rest ofthe economy takes.”

While direct payments appear a key target forlawmakers, economist Robert Thompson toldFarmWeek lawmakers will eye “any redundan-cy or overlap” in programs, including duplica-tive risk protections under crop insurance,ACRE, loan deficiency payments, and SUREstanding disaster aid.

“We tried to capture some of the problemsACRE had from the inception — to try to sim-plify it, to try to make it more of a disaster pay-ment program that covered some of the ration-ale for having a SURE program,” Reed elabo-rated.

“We tried to make it trigger more often butwith fewer large payments than ACRE currentlyprovides, in an attempt to try to get money topeople in stress, when it’s most needed.

“We tried to structure a program that wouldbe meaningful as a safety net but yet still be ableto provide some level of savings to the budget.”

Reed said ICGA’s plan can be adapted “toany (budget) number Congress gives us.”

The FPTF has considered ICGA’s proposalas well as ideas from other groups in developing2012 farm bill policy for delegate approval inDecember. The IFB board will review specificFPTF recommendations this fall.

Latest EPA reportunderlines farmprogram importance

Farmers likely will continue to face a potentially rising “moun-tain of regulation that’s going to have a detrimental impact onproductivity,” American Farm Bureau Federation regulatory spe-cialist Don Parrish warns.

At the same time, Congress appears poised to cut ag pro-grams that help farmers stay on top of environmental chal-lenges.

U.S. House Ag Committee member Bobby Schilling, aColona Republican, noted that amid “a lot of (federal) regulato-ry overreach,” farm programs remain especially crucial in driv-ing voluntary ag conservation compliance.

A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ScienceAdvisory Board analysis links excess environmentally “reactive”nitrogen with surface water damage, toxic algae “blooms,”hypoxia (marine oxygen deficiency), acid rain, global warming,human health, and drinking water safety.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association fears the report“could signal renewed scrutiny of nitrogen emissions by theEPA,” which has pushed greenhouse gas and stringent live-stock/nutrient standards.

Parrish sees the study as one more possible step towardMississippi River Basin nutrient regulations similar to easternChesapeake Bay standards.

Just as critics of the Chesapeake plan charge EPA hasignored the positive contributions of ag conservation practiceson that region, Parrish argues the report is “kind of behind thecurve” regarding improvements to date in farm nitrogen use andmanagement “efficiencies.”

Parrish nonetheless noted the board’s recognition that nitro-gen fertilizer will be crucial to feeding a growing world popula-tion.

Further, the environmentalist Union of Concerned Scientists(USC) sees the report as evidence in favor of preserving farmbill conservation programs “which will provide opportunities tocut nitrogen pollution.”

The Conservation Stewardship Program alone could “signifi-cantly” reduce nitrogen emissions and runoff, UCS senior sci-entist Noel Gurwick stated. “Supporting programs like that oneshould be Congress’ highest priority, but unfortunately, many ofthese initiatives are threatened by budget cuts,” Gurwick said.

The EPA report acknowledges “conversion of marginal cropland to (the Conservation Reserve Program) stores (carbon)and reduces erosion and nitrate leaching.” Parrish noted therole of ag programs in “maintaining soil productivity” whileaddressing environmental concerns in an economical manner.

“(Farmers) are great stewards,” Schilling told FarmWeek.“With the technology out there today, they can tell exactly howmuch (fertilizer) they need to put down. When they’re puttinganything on the ground, it costs them money. There’s no waythey’re just going to saturate a field.

“We want to drink clean water; we want to breathe clean air.But at the same time, we want to keep our companies in busi-ness. We don’t have to be forced to do things by the federalgovernment — that’s why (House greenhouse) cap-and-trade(legislation) went down,” said Schilling.

A three-pronged U.S. Housedairy program reform proposalcontains some potential creamas well as elements Illinois pro-ducers and processors mightfind curdling.

As ag groups — includingFarm Bureau — continue toformulate proposals for thenext farm bill, former HouseAg Chairman Collin Peterson(D-Minn.) and Rep. MikeSimpson (R-Idaho) are spear-heading legislation that reflectsthe National Milk Producer’s“Foundation for the Future”dairy plan.

House Ag Chairman FrankLucas (R-Okla.) reportedly isunwilling to move the Peter-son/Simpson dairy proposal asa standalone measure unless hesees strong producer/processorsupport for the entire package.

Illinois Farm Bureau live-stock specialist Jim Fraleyreported he currently is “notseeing a lot of consensus” onthe bill.

At a time when “we’re try-ing to grow our herds” in Illi-nois, Fraley sees concernsabout the plan’s support formandatory supply manage-ment, a concept IFB opposes.

But he noted many produc-ers see merit in a proposedDairy Producer Margin Protec-

tion Program, which would pro-tect a farmer’s margin (the dif-ference between feed costs andmilk price) and provide a pricefloor for low-price periods.

That program, which wouldreplace the Milk Income LossContract program, would insure75 percent of individual basemilk production when marginsfall below a prescribed trigger.Dairymen could “buy up” to ahigher level of margin “insur-ance” for an additional premium.

Gary Lee, Prairie FarmsDairy vice president for pro-curement, suggests marginprotection “could be a verygood tool for dairy producers.”Prairie Farms’ board has takenno stance on supply manage-ment proposals, but Lee cited“real misgivings” about pricingof existing Class II (manufac-turing) milk under the Peter-son plan’s revision of federalmilk market orders.

In a move reportedly aimedat improving price discovery,the plan would restructuremarketing orders to cover twobasic classes: I (fluid milk) andII. Illinois is a state with highClass I use, and that part ofthe plan likely would cut intomore costly Class I pool sup-plies, according to Fraley.

That could force “a great

deal of reinvestment” in dairyplants that wish to retain pro-duction of products such ascottage cheese, he warned.

Otherwise, he said, proces-sors “may be faced with simplygetting out of this end of thebusiness,” and one potentialoutcome could be significantredistribution of the dairy pro-cessing industry.

“My worst fear is it willmake it very cost-prohibitiveto produce what currently areClass II products in areas thathave a deficit of milk produc-tion — areas that don’t pro-duce enough milk to covertheir local needs,” Lee toldFarmWeek.

“Even though there is a lotof milk in Clinton and Wash-ington and Bond counties,Southern Illinois is a deficitmilk production area virtuallyall year. As you get into Ken-tucky, Tennessee, Alabama,Mississippi, it becomes muchmore of a deficit area.

“If Class II milk productionhad to be discontinued inthose areas and moved to areasof abundant milk production,there’s no provision in the(Peterson) bill to cover theexpense that would beincurred making that move,”said Lee. — Martin Ross

Dairy reform plan mixed bagfor producers and processors

challenges


Economists may have cracked non-convergence ‘riddle’Basis levels remainsusceptible to swingsBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Economists at the Univer-sity of Illinois believe theyhave pinpointed the cause ofwild fluctuations in basis lev-els and a lack of convergence,particularly in the wheat mar-ket, in recent years.

And it doesn’t evolvearound speculators or marketmanipulation as some havetheorized in previous attemptsto explain how wheat futurespeaked at $2 per bushel abovecash prices in 2008 and howsimilar issues hounded thecorn and soybean markets,although not at the level ofthe wheat market.

“The dramatic problem wehad (with a lack of conver-gence) throughout 2008

This is what had to happen toequalize storage returns inphysical and futures markets,”Irwin said. “We can’t find anylink between convergenceproblems and index funds.”

The CME Group in Chica-go recently implemented a vari-able storage rate for its wheatcontracts that have improvedconvergence in that market.

But Irwin is concerned themarkets still could experienceissues with a lack of convergence.

“We’re still playing with firein the corn and soybean mar-kets, even though they’reworking now,” Irwin said.“Convergence failures may re-emerge.”

Irwin proposed the CMEGroup implement a fixed stor-age rate system and raise stor-age rates for corn and soybeanfutures contracts by 2 to 3cents per bushel to accountfor the rising value of storagespace.

poked its head up a bit lastfall,” said Scott Irwin, econo-mist at the U of I. “It wasunprecedented and it was a bigriddle” as to why the futuresand cash market were so farout of sync.

The root of the issue actu-ally can be traced all the wayback to the implementation of“Freedom to Farm” in 1997,when the U.S. governmentstopped managing marketvolatility through storage pro-grams, according to Irwin,who last week discussed the Uof I’s findings with the IllinoisFarm Bureau ProfitabilityAdvisory Team.

“Storage is an importantshock absorber in the market,”Irwin said. When the U.S. gov-ernment stopped managingvolatility through storage pro-grams, “the value of storagestarted going up,” said Irwin.

But while the value of physi-cal grain storage has been on asteady uptrend since the late1990s, storage rates in thefutures market have been cappedat about 4 cents per bushel.

The cap on futures storagerates meant the carry in thefutures market also wascapped, and it created a wedgebetween the futures marketand grain in physical storage.

“The wedge develops whenthe price of physical storagegoes above the capped rate inthe futures market,” Irwinsaid. “The adjustment came inthe basis — the futures pricesgot bid up so the hedgers gotthe same return as those whostore physical grain.”

U of I researchers foundno evidence of market manip-ulation.

“No one is manipulatingthe market or playing games.

Syngenta-Bunge disputeraises choice/market issuesBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

A prospective legal skirmishbetween a key biotech corpo-ration and a major grain com-pany poses a dual dilemma forgrowers seeking new croptools and export marketgrowth.

Syngenta filed suit in anIowa U.S. district court againstgrain handler Bunge for refus-ing to acceptcorn from itsnew AgrisureViptera insect-resistant vari-eties mereweeks beforeharvest com-mences.

The GMO product, whichcontrols 14 above- and below-ground corn insect pests, wasmarketed this season afterreceiving full federal approval.

The Viptera corn prohibi-tion has been posted at Bungefacilities; Syngenta spokesmanQuinn Showalter said his com-pany filed suit following failedtalks with Bunge. Syngentaseeks an injunction forcingBunge to remove postings aswell as a court ruling on “anissue that needs resolution,” hesaid in an RFD Radio-FarmWeek interview.

Showalter called Bunge’sactions “unfair, unreasonable,and frankly illegal.” Bunge’s11th-hour notification violatesfederal and state statutes thatrequire buyers to treat growers“in a fair and reasonable man-ner,” he argued.

In turn, Bunge NorthAmerica stated it was “sur-prised and disappointed that

Syngenta has taken an actionwhich could put at risk a majorexport market for U.S. cornproducers.”

“Bunge looks forward toaccepting Agrisure Vipteraonce approval from China issecured,” it stated.

AgriSure Viptera is clearedfor key global markets identi-fied under a Biotech IndustryOrganization-National Corn

GrowersAssociationGMO prod-uct “BIO pol-icy.”

But thatpolicy doesnot address

China’s approval: Illinois FarmBureau Senior CommoditiesDirector Tamara Nelsen noted itwas drafted before China beganbuying U.S. corn.

Syngenta expects China toapprove Agrisure Viptera cornimports by March. The Chinesemarket today consumes lessthan 1 percent of U.S. cornproduction, and Vipteraaccounts for less than 2 percentof corn acres this year, Showal-ter said.

Given grain segregationcapabilities, he sees “otheroptions to manage this situa-tion” beyond refusal to acceptthe grain.

“Having planted a trait that’sfully approved within the Unit-ed States and that growersclearly see a lot of value in, tofind out a few weeks prior toharvest that their grain compa-ny’s not going to accept it isnot a risk we feel growersshould have to accept,”Showalter said.

“Since (Bunge) posted itssigns, we’ve been in communi-cations with the vast majorityof major grain exporters. All ofthem have indicated they’rewilling to accept (Viptera)corn.”

Chinese approval reportedlyis held up amid concerns aboutpossible Viptera protein inethanol-derived distillers driedgrains (DDGs). ConsolidatedGrain & Barge also has indicat-ed it would not accept Vipteracorn this fall.

Syngenta has set up a callcenter for growers concernedabout marketing AgrisureViptera corn. Call 1-800-319-1360 to find outlets that willaccept that grain.

Whether China will prove a“consistent” market for U.S.corn is yet to be determined,Showalter said. But IFB’sNelsen notes China is a chal-lenging and sensitive customer,citing past Chinese actionsaffecting U.S. soybeans, poultry,and DDGs.

U.S. Grains Council ChairmanWendell Shauman, a Kirkwoodproducer, told FarmWeek, “Wedon’t want someone else dictat-ing what we can and cannotgrow,” especially as new agro-nomic traits emerge. However,China has “every legal right” toreject grain from varieties it hasnot yet cleared, he said.

“China suddenly and rapidly isbecoming a potentially very signifi-cant market,” Shauman said.“That’s the horns of the dilemmawe’re on with this current situa-tion. We have to find a solution tothis — we don’t want to lose amarket, and we don’t want to losethe right to use new traits.”

President proposes rural RX;federal ‘co-pay’ available?

In some communities, local health care not only is crucial topublic welfare, it is the economy, or close to it.

That may be why the White House’s new strategy for revi-talizing rural America includes physician recruitment and tech-nology development measures aimed particularly at keepingsmaller, more remote “critical access” hospitals (CAHs) open.

In addition to proposed small business/job creation initia-tives, the recently formed White House Rural Council recom-mended efforts to bolster the professional workforce forCAHs — facilities with 25 or fewer beds.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) will issue guidance to expand National Health ServiceCorps (NHSC) loan program eligibility to enable CAHs torecruit doctors through loan incentives.

NHSC participants receive up to $170,000 in medical loanrepayment in exchange for a five-year service commitment in amedically needy area. Pat Schou, Illinois Critical Access Hospi-tal Network executive director, said the plan is “a good step”in addressing needs within underserved rural areas.

Rural physician recruitment “is very tough these days,” and,indeed, is a top concern for Illinois CAHs, she toldFarmWeek. The White House suggests more than 1,300CAHs nationwide could recruit new staff through the NHSCprogram — Schou was hopeful that with new loan repaymentoptions, “we can attract them and keep them.”

Addition of one primary care physician in a rural communi-ty generates some $1.5 million in revenue and creates 23 jobsannually, while the average CAH generates $4.8 million inannual payroll, according to the Rural Council.

“The critical access hospital is the small businesses in thecommunity — the No. 1, 2, or 3,” Schou said. “Many times, itprovides the only payroll dollars flowing through a small com-munity.”

Currently, most CAHs employ physicians through ruralhealth clinics, area medical practices, or programs in whichdoctors may work both in the hospital emergency departmentand with inpatients.

The Rural Council also recommended expanding high-techhealth information technology (IT) through a USDA/HHS agree-ment linking rural hospitals and clinics to existing capital loan pro-grams that allow them to buy needed software and hardware.

The White House noted rural hospitals tend to have lowerfinancial operating margins and limited capital to make invest-ments needed to purchase high-tech equipment.

Schou reported a number of rural hospitals currently arefinancing new IT equipment and systems. “Telemedicine” —technology that links rural and urban providers — is beingtapped in Illinois to speed diagnoses, aid stroke patients, anddeliver psychiatric services to rural communities.

But technology investments frequently must be madeupfront, and securing conventional loans can be difficult if ahospital has low cash reserves, Schou said.

She is concerned about the impact a newly charted $2.5 tril-lion, 10-year federal budget cut could have on hospitals thattoday may operate on a mere 1 to 2 percent revenue margin.

Even a 2 percent cut in overall Medicare/Medicaid fundingcould “devastate services” for small hospitals, Schou warned.“If you’re the No. 1, 2, or 3 employer, and you have to close,what’s that going to do to that rural community?” she posed.— Martin Ross

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: More rain lastweek and more hail along with it.Last Saturday (Aug 20) a quickstorm brought about 1 inch ofrain and a narrow path of haildamage across northernWinnebago County. It shreddedthe corn leaves, but the damagemay be minimal because the

corn was pretty well dented. It did knocksome bean pods off, and we are still waitingfor the hail adjuster to estimate the damage.More rain on Tuesday brought another1.25 inches, so we have enough rain for thisyear now. We have had lots of unusual stormsthis year, with either high winds or excessiverain and hail, but most of the farmers in thisarea are pretty happy with their crops so far. Iknow we are the exception compared to otherparts of the state this year.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: Another greatweek in Lake County. We got 0.8of an inch of rain over the week-end, Aug. 20-21, and then anoth-er 0.5 on Tuesday. Corn andbeans are doing well and keepinga dark green color. The main jobis cutting the grass twice a week.This doesn’t happen very often in

August. Temperatures are cooling down atnight and making life more bearable, but weare still getting sunlight in the daytime. Agreat week is expected this week for theFarm Progress Show. See you there.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Rain on Saturday(Aug. 20) and again on Tuesdaytotaled 1.6 inches, giving anAugust total of 2.8 inches. My four-county crop drive last week ratedsoybeans excellent to very highyield potential. More sudden deathsyndrome is showing up. Cornyields will vary and the storm-dam-

aged areas have less than 100-bushel-per-acre potential. There are some very good fieldsthat could give a producer bragging rights insome areas. More leaf blights are showing. Themilk line is about 60 percent down the kernel.Some corn silage chopping has started.Growing degree units now total 2,344.

Ryan Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: Another beau-tiful week of weather in DeKalbCounty. Nighttime temperatureshave been cool, with days in themid-80s. We received 1.8 inchesof rain last week. The precipitationshould help fill the pods of soy-beans and help with ear fill oncorn. There is sudden death show-

ing up in the soybeans. The corn also is dyingprematurely from disease in some areas.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: Signs of the upcomingharvest are becoming more pro-nounced. Corn husks are startingto turn brown, several seed corn-fields look like they are just daysaway from harvest, and early-plant-ed soybeans have leaves startingto turn yellow in the lower half of thecanopy. Time to put the finishing

touches to the summer projects and prepare forharvest. Goss’s Wilt has been the talk of thecoffee shop. It’s not hard to find. As a matter offact, you can scout for it at 55 mph. The bigquestion is how much of an impact will it haveon yields? My feelings are it will be negligible inmost fields, but I have seen a few fields whereit will have a significant impact on final yields.

Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: Same old story contin-ues around Western Illinois.Extremely dry conditions have takena severe toll on the corn and nowsoybeans. My last measurable rain-fall was more than eight weeks ago.Crops, pastures, roadsides, live-stock, and yes, I believe even thewater hemp are showing drought

stress. Corn harvest has begun just to the south,with yields reported in the 120s. I think it’s going tobe an early and quick fall. Let’s keep it a safe one.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: There was a nice rainto the north of here Tuesday. I hada couple of inches in Rock IslandCounty. The rain tapered off to nextto nothing toward Aledo in centralMercer County. 1 inch of rain in Julyand nothing in August do not makefor a good soybean yield. I saw onespot in corn that already was flat

where Goss’s Wilt had struck.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: Rainshowers totals were all over theboard, ranging from just a fewtenths to more than 2 inches insome areas. The rain shouldhelp both crops, but it was a littlelate for corn. It is my guess thatthere will be some corn shelledin the area around Labor Day.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Septemberis almost here. Kids are back inschool and crops are maturing.Harvest is around the corner. Wereceived more than 1 inch of rainlast week, so we are hoping thiswill give us an average crop ofsoybeans as they are still greenenough to fill out pods. Corn milk

line is about half-way down on the kernelsbefore black layer. Ears are small and kerneldepth is shallow. Federal crop adjusters willbe busy. Every new corn trait that is devel-oped seems to have a problem with timelyapproval in some country. This time, theAgrisure Viptera trait won’t be approved byChina until early 2012, whereas every othercountry in the world has given approval. Thistrait was approved for all major markets asrecommended by the National Corn GrowersAssociation and the Biotechnology IndustryOrganization. Seed production will be downthis year, so order early. Have you bookednext year’s nitrogen and priced it? Marketsare making new highs.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: Last week it rainedon Aug. 21 and 23 with majority ofit falling on Tuesday. We receiveda range of 1 to 1.4 inches on ourfarms. Local corn developmentranges from the R4 or doughstage up to the R5 or dent stage.The most mature corn has themilkline half way down the kernel.

At that point, kernel dry matter is close to88 percent of final kernel dry matter accumu-lation. Soybean development is in the R5 orbeginning seed growth stage, up to the R6 orfull seed growth stage. Local closing pricesfor Aug. 25: nearby corn, $7.43; new-cropcorn, $7.22; nearby soybeans, $13.82; new-crop soybeans, $13.64.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Both cropsand farmers issued a collectivesigh of relief and prayers ofthanks were offered last Tuesdayas 1 to 3 inches of rain fell onparched ground in our area. Themoisture should add fivebushels to bean yields and helpcorn to mature evenly with better

kernel depth. Annual co-op meetings and plotdays are in full swing. Harvest will begin soonafter Labor Day. Corn, $7.39; $7.18 fall; soy-beans, $13.83; $13.63 fall; wheat, $7.12;$7.28 new.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: As one ofmy friends put it, the beautifulcrescent moon last week “tipped”Tuesday and spilled a generalrain over Champaign County witha range of 0.7 of an inch inIvesdale to 2.3 inches inSadorous. Throughout the areathere still are dry pockets that

have had only 0.5 of an inch in both July andAugust. I liked the quote from the Pro Farmereastern tour director, Brian Grete “It’s just nota typical Illinois corn crop.” The Premier Co-opcrop tour Wednesday found a 164.6 bushel-per-acre average with a low of 136 at Dillsburgto a high of 186 at Rising, Broadlands, andBondville. It was a busy weekend with the HalfCentury of Progress in Rantoul and theUrbana Sweet Corn Festival. Now the FarmProgress Show is this week in Decatur.

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: I know it soundslike a broken record but ourgauge still is recording emptywith 0 received in the past week.Ithink we may as well start count-ing the bushels that are being lostevery day rather than trying toguess how many the reportedacres are going to produce

because around our area, prospects aredwindling pretty fast. Some of the cornfieldsare looking like October already is here.There may be some beans if it could rainsooner rather than later. At least the guyswith hay have been able to put away a lot withno rain to interfere. Have a safe week.

Carrie Winkelmann, Tallula, Menard County: We received0.3 of an inch of rain Wednesday,which was more rain than we haveseen in a long while. It perked thebeans up for a morning, but now itis dry again. The pessimist in mesays that it will start raining whenwe start to harvest, which will besooner than later with this dry

weather. We dug potatoes out of the gardenlast weekend and had a good crop. It washard digging in the dry dirt, though. Wecanned 28 quarts and planned to can asmany or more during the weekend.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: Harvest is here inColes County and much earlierthan most would have likedbecause the corn crop had toprematurely die off to achievethis. A small handful of producersis getting started on April-plantedcorn and finding it in the low 20sfor moisture and yielding in the

160s. Those at the elevator said grain qualitywas surprisingly good but test weights werelow, as expected. Hand sampling of someMay-planted cornfields has been findingmoisture in the low 30s, which means theycould be harvested this week if farmers wantto burn some propane to dry it out. Most of thecorn crop could be out of the fields beforesoybeans ripen enough for harvesting.Currently, bean fields are still dark green andhanging in there as one chance of rain afteranother misses them. A good shower on thebean crop probably would improve the finalyield at this point, but that may not be thecase much longer. As we start in on the har-vest, please remember to keep the safety ofyourself and everyone else your No. 1 priority.

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: We didn’thave any rain last week. Earlier,we had some storms roll throughthat left 0.3 of an inch of rain with4-inch hail. Southern SangamonCounty got pounded pretty goodin some small spots. It wasn’tanything widespread, but 2.5 to 4-inch hail is uncommon. Some in

the area have been shelling corn for a littlemore than two weeks. Corn has been yielding123, 136, 145, and 148, and some of the cornhad moisture coming out of the field as low as18 percent. The majority is 21-26. Beans arereally needing a rain. There are lots of pods.They have held up real well until this lastweek. Now we’ve got some showing signs ofstress and wilting during the heat of the day. Anice shower would be welcome though thecorn probably is not going to be helped. Becareful out there.

Doug Uphoff, Shelbyville, Shelby County: Still dry andmore corn down from wind onMonday (Aug. 22). A lot of farm-ers are putting corn reels on. Wesowed 7 acres of alfalfa on the22nd. Thought we were going toget a rain shortly after that, butall we had was just a big coldwind. I was fortunate enough to

see a 16-row chopper corn head on thenew John Deere 690S combine. They weregetting it ready for Farm Progress Showstarting Tuesday in Decatur. The combineoperator station has changed (includes amini fridge) and the combine operator caneven drive the auger cart when it pullsunder the unloading auger. On top of that,the auger cart operator can monitor thegrain level of combine hopper, so he knowswhen it’s getting close to being full orempty. And to think I was sowing alfalfa witha Farmall M and a 10-foot drill. April cornwill be a lot better than May. April corn hasbeen testing in the low 20s. May corn is 30or more. Heard some yields of April corn of160-170, but May was 120 to 130.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: Back in April andMay when a rain cloud came overand dumped 1 to 3 inches, wealways said later on in the grow-ing season we would be wishingfor one of these rains, and guesswhat — the time has come.Soybeans could use a gooddrink. It was hot here most of last

week and it’s really changing the looks of thecorn. Corn harvest will come up on us soonerthan we think. Lawnmowers are getting abreak. Cash corn, $7.38; new, $7.28; cashsoybeans, $13.70; new, $13.49; wheat, $7.60.Have a good week.


CROPWATCHERS

Randy Anderson, Galatia, Saline County: It has started:The good, the bad, and the ugly,and it’s not the movie, it’s the2011 harvest! A few farmers havestarted, and stalk quality is fair topoor. Standability could becomea real issue as the crop keepsmaturing. Corn yields are running10 to 20 percent off of the farm

average. Soybeans really turned around withthe recent rain, but there is still some yielddamage from the high temperatures we hadearlier. We’re looking forward to making thetrip up to the Farm Progress Show and tak-ing a break from the farm. Plan on gettingstarted with harvest after Labor Day. Goodluck to our county Farm Bureau managerDavid Meeker (who has been hired as aCountry Financial agent). Thank you for thework you’ve done for Saline and Gallatincounties.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: Dry. That pretty muchsums it up in a word. Wemissed the rains the past weekand the crops are really startingto show the effects of dryweather again. At least temper-atures have moderated a littlebit with highs in the upper 80sinstead of the upper 90s.

Harvest is approaching pretty rapidly con-sidering how late planting was. I would saywe are maybe two weeks away from start-ing harvest. I’ve heard some farmers in thearea may start within the next few days. Idon’t think we have any corn quite that faralong. Please remember to take time andbe careful during this upcoming busy sea-son.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: Twenty, 30,40, 50, even 60 percentchances of rain at differenttimes the last three weeks andwe got 0, nil, nada, zippo. Cornis pretty well toast. I’ve heardof a few yield checks around,and they are not nice. Beans?Well I went to St. Louis Friday

and with the low humidity and the windblowing a gale, I saw fields that if we don’tget rain soon — and I mean soon as inimmediately — they won’t see a combinethis fall.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: No rainto amount to anything inJackson County last week. It isstarting to get a little dry in afew places, but as a whole, thebean and corn crop are com-ing along pretty well. The cornis starting to dry down, andsome is being picked by some

of the larger farmers. Beans are wellabove the wheat stubble now, and youcan’t even tell it was a wheat field any-more. A little bean spraying has beengoing on, but mostly everybody is in themode of getting equipment ready ormaybe taking a trip. The days are gettingshorter, so we know what’s coming.Everything is coming along pretty well inJackson County, and we’re getting readyfor the fall.

Dave Hankammer, Millstadt, St. Clair County: The pastweek proved to be another warmand dry one. We did receive somescattered rain showers in the areaon Aug. 20. The rainfall amountsvaried from 0.3 of an inch to almost1 inch. Unfortunately, the showersdidn’t extend very far to the east. Iwas at an equipment auction in a

nearby county and there were only a fewdrops in the dust. The daytime temperatureswere in the low 90s for most of the week, butit did climb to a high of 100 degrees onWednesday. The corn crop is continuing tomature with several fields in the dry-downphase. In my recent travels, I observed a fieldalready chopped for silage. There is discus-sion of some corn being harvested in theColumbia River bottoms. This is the exceptionas most farmers are planning to start harvestin early September. Soybean crop develop-ment seems to have slowed down. There arefewer pods per plant compared to last year,and what is there is thin. Late-planted beansare blooming, but have yet to set some pods.Rain and a late frost are needed to benefit thiscrop. Peach harvest is being wrapped up bythe local orchards and apple picking is start-ing. Local grain bids: corn, $7.29; soybeans,$13.72; wheat $7.07. Have a safe week.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Pleasant weather thispast week here in SoutheasternIllinois. The early corn is drying rapid-ly. I’ve heard reports of corn harveststarting in a couple of weeks.Soybeans are looking good, but wewill need rain in September to have agood bean crop. The Wabash Countyyield tour is in a couple of weeks.


CROPWATCHERS

Reports received Friday morning. Expanded crop and weather infor-mation available at {www.farmweeknow.com}.

Nitrogen management can provide numerous benefitsBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Farmers don’t sell theirentire crop in a single transac-tion.

Most spread out their salesthroughout the year to helpmanage risk and enhance sell-ing opportunities.

That approach is similar towhat Howard Brown, managerof agronomy services atGROWMARK, hopes morefarmers will adopt when itcomes to nitrogen applications.

Brown believes multiplefertilizer applications of

is cited as a contributing factorin the hypoxia zone in the Gulfof Mexico.

“I’m talking about a systemof multiple applications whereyou put N on over time, notput more on,” Brown said.“We’ll use less N per unit ofoutput.”

Obviously, a systemsapproach of multiple N appli-cations will cost farmers moremoney on the input side.Brown estimated the N sys-tems approach may cost anextra $20 to $25 per acre.

However, he believes maxi-

mizing N use by crops willpay for itself throughincreased bushels. He believesfarmers who use the systemon high-quality ground canproduce 240- to 260-bushelcorn.

Reducing N loss also even-tually could reduce regulatorypressure on farmers, Brownsuggested.

“I think we’ve got the secretto the future,” he said.“Through nitrogen managementwe can maximize yield, optimizeN utilization, and minimize theenvironmental impact.”

smaller rates, instead of oneapplication per year, will bene-fit farmers and the environ-ment.

“We have to manage nitro-gen as a system, not an applica-tion,” Brown said last week at afield day near Bloomingtonhosted by Soy Capital Ag Serv-ices.

Nitrogen uptake by crops isdependent on water availability.

But as farmers know everyyear, rainfall typically is spotty.

So rather than put all theireggs in one basket with a sin-gle application of N, Brown

recommended farmers switchto a system approach. For example, farmers onhigh-quality ground may apply100 pounds of nitrogen (withN-Serve) per acre in the fallfollowed by a 50-pounds-per-acre broadcast prior to plant-ing in the spring and toppedoff with a post-emergenceapplication of 50 pounds.

The multiple applicationsspread the risk and give thecrop more chances for Nuptake, Brown said. A systemapproach also can reduce therate of N loss, which currently

Howard Brown, manager of agronomy services at GROWMARK, ex-amines a corn leaf that exhibits signs of nitrogen deficiency in a fieldnear Bloomington. (Photo by Daniel Grant)

Portion of corn crop showing signs of N deficiencyBY HOWARD BROWN

Many farmers are taking acloser look at their cornfieldsand finding a variety of chal-lenges as the crop approachesphysiological maturity. One common visual symp-tom is the firing of the cornplant or expression of a nitro-gen deficiency. To identify Ndeficiency, look for a V-shapedarea moving down the midribof the corn leaf, first appearingon the lower part of the stalk.

If the supply of nitrogenentering the plant with soilwater is inadequate to meet thedeveloping ear’s demand, theplant will remobilize nitrogenfrom the older tissues of thelower leaves and stalk andmove it to the developing ear.

Significantly affected plantsexhibit leaf necrosis (tissuedeath) up to and including theear leaf. Other plants may showonly deficiency symptoms onthe lower leaves, if at all.

plant. Unfortunately, duringperiods of extended hot, dryweather similar to what manyIllinois farmers experiencedin July and much of August,an inadequate supply of Nmay result in a significant

loss in harvest yield. Corn plants that have lost

yield potential but haveregained a late-season N sup-ply to sustain growth mayexhibit a reddish coloration.

Although yield has beenlimited, sugar productionthrough photosynthesis con-tinues, producing sugars thathave no place to go. As sim-ple sugars accumulate in leaftissue, the pigment antho-cyanin overcomes the greencolor produced by chlorophyll,resulting in the reddish (pur-ple) color development.

What is the best way tominimize a lack of N availabili-ty caused by dry soils? Visitwith your local FS crop spe-cialist for his solution. Itworks.

Howard Brown is manager ofagronomy services for GROW-MARK. His e-mail address [email protected].

The expression of nitrogendeficiency is well documentedand easy to identify, but thecause of the deficiency can bemuch more elusive. It is worththe time to determine con-tributing factors to each field’slack of plant-available nitrogenas we make plans for the 2012crop.

One common cause ofnitrogen deficiency in areasmissing all the rain events is drysoil. Since most of the plant-available N is in the nitrate Nform and moves in the soil bymass flow (with water), theamount of N getting into theplant is closely related to theamount of plant-available soilwater and the concentration ofnitrate N in the soil water. If soil water is limited, so isthe avenue for nitrate N to getinto the plant. Although theremay be an adequate amount ofN applied to sustain good plantgrowth, if it is not in the nitrate

N form or in soil solution, itwill be positionally unavailableto the plant, resulting inexpression of an N deficiency.

The return of soil moisturethrough rainfall will helptransport the nitrate N to the

You may have heard farmers talkingabout how they care for their animals inradio spots that aired this summer.

Farmers in the heavy livestock countiesof Clinton, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, andStephenson provided listeners with insightson how they cared for their animals.

The exercise was part of a radio cam-paign that was the brainchild of the IllinoisFarm Bureau Public Relations Action Team.

That is one of the most recent examplesof an Action Team achievement, accordingto Peggy Romba, who manages the ActionTeam program for Illinois Farm Bureau.

Applications for the 2012 teams areavailable now and are due Dec. 10.

The teams are Public Relations, Educa-tion, Membership, and Quality of Life.Each is comprised of 10 to 15 men andwomen.

The teams meet twice a year to turn theirideas into specific Farm Bureau projects.

Brochure applications are available onthe website {www.ilfb.org}. Click on the“Get Involved” tab and then the “GrowCommittee Success.”

Further information is available by con-tacting your county Farm Bureau manager.

RESEARCH


U of I study shows refuge in bag best in battling rootwormsConcerns raisedabout resistanceBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Western corn rootwormsbehave differently in Bt cornrefuges planted in strips com-pared to seed-blend refuges,known as refuge in a bag, Uni-versity of Illinois and IllinoisNatural History Survey(INHS) researchers report.

“The seedbag refuge seemsto be better in mixing (Bt-sus-ceptible and non-susceptible)insects,” Joe Spencer, an INHSinsect behaviorist, said at therecent U of I Agronomy Day.

Spencer emphasized the

importance for different root-worm populations to mate anddisperse throughout a field.Rootworms that can survive Bttoxins may pass those genes

along to their offspring. However, if susceptible

rootworms mate with poten-tially resistant ones, thatshould reduce the potential forresistant offspring to be pro-duced, he explained.

“Block refuges (plantedwithin or adjacent to Bt fields)

produce many beetles, but theinsects don’t disperse in thefield,” Spencer noted.

To slow development ofpest resistance, the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency(EPA) requires all growers ofBt crops to set aside a portionof each field for a nontrans-genic refuge.

The seed-blend refuges“assure refuge compliancewith no possibility that you’llforget or have problems,”Spencer told farmers.

Spencer referred to arecent Iowa State Universityreport in which rootwormadults resistant to Cry3Bb1protein were collected in con-tinuous cornfields with severe

root damage in northeastIowa.

The fields had been plant-ed with Bt corn with theCry3Bb1 protein.

Some parts of Illinois,especially Southern andWestern Illinois, are seeinglow rootworm populations,according to Nick Tinsley, avisiting agriculture researchspecialist at the U of I.

Tinsley reported the earlyresults from a 47-countystudy conducted from mid-July through early August.

“Through Southern Illi-nois and Western Illinois,western corn rootwormswere not a problem,” hesaid.

East-Central and North-west Illinois had more bee-tles, Tinsley added.

Last week, severe root-worm damage was reportedin Northwestern Illinois,particularly in continuouscornfields in Henry andWhiteside counties.

“It is incredibly importantfor farmers to scout theirfields. You can’t make a gen-eralization about whetheryou will have rootwormpressure,” Tinsley said.

“If you don’t have root-worm beetles, you won’thave rootworm eggs anddamage, but you can’t make ageneralization — you’ll needto scout,” he emphasized.

FarmWeekNow.com

To listen to Todd Gleason’s radioreport on Bt rootworm resist-a n c e , g o t o F a r mWe e kNow.com.

The brown marmorated stink bug is one of several stink bug speciesraising concerns among University of Illinois entomologists. (Photo byMichael Jeffords, Illinois Natural History Survey)

Stink bugs may become nextproblem insect in Illinois

Stink bugs figured prominently as pests of the future at therecent University of Illinois Agronomy Day on the university’sSouth Farms.

“I think stink bugs will be more of a problem in the future,”warned Mike Gray, U of I crop sciences professor. “Several newinsects are moving into the state, and unfortunately in time, theywill occupy more of your attention.”

The new insects invading Illi-nois include the brown mar-morated stink bug (BMSB), anexotic invasive species, and theredshouldered stink bug, whichwas found in Champaign Coun-ty. To date, BMSB populationshave been confirmed in Cham-paign, Cook, Kane, and McLeancounties.

Soybean growers wereadvised to be watchful for bothredshouldered stink bugs as wellas BMSB.

However, the BMSB maypose the larger threat because it feeds on a variety of plants andcrops — everything from vegetables and fruit trees to corn andsoybeans. Recently, a McLean County farmer sent Gray a photoof an adult BMSB on an ear of corn.

This season, U of I entomologists are surveying soybeanfields for stink bugs across the state and will report their findingsin fall and winter Extension meetings.

In addition, a national expert on BMSB will speak at the AgMasters Conference Dec. 5-6 in Urbana. — Kay Shipman

‘I think stink bugswill be more of ap rob lem i n t hefuture.’

— Mike GrayUniversity of Illinois

crop sciences professor

U of I Extension offers new online CNMP courseThe University of Illinois

Extension and the Depart-ment of Agricultural andBiological Engineering (ABE)will offer a comprehensivenutrient management plan(CNMP) development courseon Thursdays from 4 to 6:30p.m. from Sept. 8 throughNov. 17.

The 11-week online web -inar will include discussionson conservation planning,nutrient management, landtreatment practices, andmanure waste handling andstorage.

The course will concludewith information on thenational and state regulationspertinent to CNMPs, therecords farmers need to keepto include in a CNMP, anddevelopment of a CNMP. Itwill include a question-and-answer session featuring

experienced plan writers.For participants interested

in being certified as technicalservice providers, attendanceat three field days also isrequired.

Field days will be Sept. 16,Oct. 7, and Oct. 28.

The field days will providehands-on experience usingtechnical resources, such asthe Websoil Survey, andimplementing the three phas-es of CNMPs — gatheringsite information, evaluatingalternative conservation prac-tices, and implementingplans.

This course has beenapproved for 24 certifiedcrop adviser continuing edu-cation units, 14.5 in the nutri-ent management area and 9.5in the soil and water area.

For students wanting Con-servation Activity Plan (CAP)

CNMP certification, thiscourse is one of two neededto meet the certificationtraining and educationrequirements. The secondpart will be offered in spring2012 by U of I and ABE.

The registration fee for theonline course only is $375.

The fee for technical serv-ice provider certification is$750, which includes allcourse materials and addi-tional resources, and will beprovided electronically on aU of I Extension USB drive.

The course fee includesrefreshments and lunchesduring each field day.

For more information or toregister, go online to{http://web.extension.illi-nois.edu/tsp/} or contact theU of I’s Laura Pepple by e-mail at [email protected] by phone at 217-244-0083.

Energy crop field day to focus on tropical maizeTropical maize, an annual

crop that provides high-qualitylivestock feed and high-yield-ing biomass, will be the focusof a Sept. 9 field day and plottour on the Schetter farmsouth of Brighton in JerseyCounty.

The program will start at 10a.m., and walking tours will

continue until early afternoon.Participants will learn aboutagronomic research on tropi-cal maize, which is a dual-pur-pose crop being grown in Illi-nois.

Field day attendees also willhear about opportunities forbiochar, a co-product of bio-mass production and a poten-

tial soil amendment.The program is free and

open to the public.It is sponsored by the Uni-

versity of Illinois Extensionand Omni Ventures Inc.

For more information, con-tact the U of I ExtensionChristian County office at 217-287-7246.

Applications available for IFB Action Teams

Growmark


GROWMARK directors elected Five farmers, including three from Illinois, were elected orre-elected to three-year terms on GROWMARK’s Board ofDirectors during the cooperative’s annual meeting Friday inChicago.

The Illinois farmers are: • Jack McCormick, Ellis Grove, elected to his first term onthe GROWMARK board. He and his wife, Stacy, operate a1,750-acre grain farm and cow herd and cattle feedlot in part-nership with his parents. He currently serves on the GatewayFS Inc. board.

• Bob Phelps, Rockton, has served on the GROWMARKboard since 1997. He and his wife, Amy, operate a 2,200-acrecash grain farm and beef cattle feedlot. He served on theboard of Conserv FS Inc.

• David Watt, Murrayville, has served on the GROW-MARK board since 2002. He and his wife, Fonda, operate a1,100 acre corn and soybean farm. Watt serves as president ofLincoln Land FS Inc.

The other directors are Matt Heitz of Farley, Iowa, whohas served on the GROWMARK board since 2004, and KimFysh of Thamesville, Ont., who was elected to his first termon the GROWMARK board.

GROWMARK reports ‘great year’ with record salesIt was a milestone year for

GROWMARK, based on salesand income posted during thefiscal year that will endWednesday.

Jeff Solberg, chief executiveofficer, last week at theGROWMARK annual meetingannounced record-high salesof $8.4 billion for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

“2011 was a great year forthe GROWMARK system,”Solberg said. “The companygenerated the highest level ofsales and second-highest levelof pre-tax income in companyhistory.”

GROWMARK net incomewas estimated at $182 million.

“These results are attrib-uted to a very strong group ofmember companies commit-ted to a highly successfulcooperative system, supported

and served by a great team ofvery knowledgeable and dedi-cated employees,” Solbergsaid.

An estimated $80 million inpatronage refunds will bereturned to GROWMARK

member cooperatives andfarmer-owners.

GROWMARK is a regionalcooperative that provides

agriculture-related productsand services, as well as grainmarketing, in 31 states andOntario, Canada. GROW-MARK owns the FS trade-mark, which is used by affili-ated member cooperatives.The FS brand representsknowledgeable, experiencedprofessionals acting withintegrity and dedication toserve more than 250,000 cus-tomers.

More information is avail-able at {www.growmark.com}.

‘The company generated the highest level ofsales in history.’

— Jeff SolbergGROWMARK chief executive officer

Five co-ops receive performance awardsFive Illinois FS member cooperatives last

week were recognized during the GROW-MARK annual meeting in Chicago for businessperformanceimprovement.

Over a five-year timeframe, eachcooperative’sreturn oninvested capital improvement is measured incomparison to other cooperatives in the sys-tem. From this measurement, the PerformanceImprovement Award was developed.

The cooperative with the highest degree ofimprovement was Ag View FS Inc., Princeton.Mark Orr is president and Ron Pierson is presi-dent.

Other Illinois cooperatives receiving theaward were:

• Lincoln Land FS Inc., Jacksonville. KeithHufendick wasthe generalmanager for thetime periodmeasured, andJoe Pickrell ispresident.

• Christian County Farmers Supply Co., Tay-lorville. Mike Builta is manager and MikeCreamer is president.

• Evergreen FS Inc., Bloomington. KendallMiller is manager and Rick Dickinson is president.

• West Central FS Inc., Macomb. BarrySchmidt is manager and Duane Deitrich is pres-ident.

Wayne Nattress, retiredexecutive director of the IowaFFA Foundation, was honoredlast week with the “Friend ofGROWMARK” award at theGROWMARK annual meeting.

Nattress played an impor-tant role establishing and main-taining a close relationshipbetween GROWMARK andIowa FFA chapters and mem-bers. He also created awarenessof GROWMARK awards andsponsorship programs availableto Iowa FFA members.

The Friend of GROW-MARK award was established

Grain co-ops receive Ceres awardThree grain cooperatives

were recognized by GROW-MARK Inc. with the Ceresaward during the GROW-MARK annual meeting lastweek in Chicago.

The award, named for theRoman goddess of grain, isawarded to grain cooperatives

that achieve excellence by meet-ing at least three out of the fourfollowing criteria: EBITDA(earnings before interest, taxes,depreciation, and amortiza-tion)/per storage capacity,return on invested capital,bushel retention, and GROW-MARK’s capital guideline ratio.

The three co-ops thatqualified for the Ceres awardwere:

• East Lincoln FarmersGrain Co., Lincoln. Paul Sea-man is manager and JohnAdams is president.

• Jersey County Grain Co.,Jerseyville. Michael Welbourneis manager and William Kue-brich is president.

• Route 16 Grain Coopera-tive, Nokomis. Mike Jackson ismanager and Ted DeWerff ispresident.

GROWMARK honors ag leaderin 1989 to recognize outstand-ing leadership/commitment toagriculture and friendship tothe GROWMARK system.

EMERgINg ISSUES


FAIR TIME DISCUSSION

State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, second from left, (D-Calumet City) chats with McLean County Farm Bureauboard member Mark Hines, left, and county Farm Bureau manager Mike Swartz, right, as Billy Siems,a Calumet City police officer, looks on during a stop in the McLean County Fair poultry barn. The coun-ty Farm Bureau hosted Jones, its “adopted” legislator, and a busload of children and adults from hissuburban Chicago district at the recent county fair. The group toured livestock barns and 4-H exhibithalls and participated in hands-on learning activities at a farm educational exhibit. This was the firstup-close experience with agriculture for most of the suburban guests. “This program was an excellentopportunity to continue to build a relationship with a new adopted legislator and to educate a greaterurban audience about how their food is grown,” said Christina Nourie, Illinois Farm Bureau northeastlegislative coordinator. (Photo by Christina Nourie)

New state recreational accessprogram enrolling landownersBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

A new state program willprovide incentive payments toprivate landowners who volun-tarily enroll their property forcertain types of public recre-ation.

The Illinois RecreationalAccess Program (IRAP) is oneof 29 such programs nation-wide. IRAP is using USDAfunding to compensatelandowners for allowing publicaccess for certain types ofrecreation, including fishing,youth turkey hunting, birdwatching, outdoor photogra-phy, and canoe and kayak

access on public waterways.Now through Oct. 15, the

Illinois Department of NaturalResources (IDNR) is acceptingenrollment forms from inter-ested landowners in 68 countiesin the Conservation ReserveEnhancement Program areas ofthe Illinois River and KaskaskiaRiver watersheds.

Tammy Miller, IDNR’sIRAP manager, encouraged eli-gible landowners to submit the

simple enrollment form thatincludes a description of theproperty and available features,such as a pond or turkey habi-tat.

“If you submit a form,you’re not committed (to par-ticipate). That’s your foot in thedoor; it’s on a first-come, first-served basis,” Miller explained.

After an enrollment formhas been submitted, IDNRstaff will contact the landownerto obtain additional informa-tion and to schedule a site visit.If a site is accepted, thelandowner and IDNR will signa lease for up to three yearswith an opt-out clause.

Before public participantshave access to enrolled proper-ty, they must complete an appli-cation and sign a liability waiv-er.

For some activities, such asyouth turkey hunting, acceptedparticipants will be matchedwith a location, while for otheractivities, such as fishing, par-ticipants with a permit will beallowed to reserve a site.

For more information or toobtain an enrollment form, goonline to {www.dnr.illinois. -gov/conservation/IRAP/}, or e-mail Miller at [email protected], or call her at 217-524-1266. Information also is avail-able from county Soil and WaterConservation Districts.

LIVESTOCK LESSON FOR LAWMAKER

Whiteside County farmer Ryan Camps, left, explains livestock care tostate Rep. Karen Yarbrough, in the brown shirt, (D-Maywood), andJackie Williams, one of Yarbrough’s constituents, during a recentcounty tour by the “adopted” legislator. The county Farm Bureau re-cently sponsored a farm tour for Yarbrough and a busload of her sub-urban constituents. They saw the Sterling farmers’ market, Dale Pfund-stein’s beef farm in Sterling, Mark and Sheryl Von Holten’s hog farm inLyndon, and the Gerken family farm in Sterling. They discussed thebeef and swine industries and walked through a swine building. Theyalso learned about new farm equipment technology and precisionagriculture. Each visitor family received a bag of sweet corn. Many ofthe participants said they received information that debunked severalmyths and answered questions they had about farming. The event wasmodeled after similar tours Stephenson County Farm Bureau hasarranged for its adopted legislator. (Photo by Christina Nourie, IllinoisFarm Bureau northeast legislative coordinator)

fb in action


Edwards County Farm Bureau hosts ‘adopted’ Chicago teacherBY REBECCA PERRY

When Gina Salinas, a sec-ond grade teacher at PortagePark School in the ChicagoPublic School system, signedup for the Illinois FarmBureau Adopted Classroomprogram two years ago, shedid not know that it wouldlead her more than 300 milessouth to Edwards County for

plex, rode in a sprayer andlearned about GPS technolo-gy, visited Wabash Valley Serv-ice Co.’s Browns Plant, andsaw a meat packing plant. Shealso watched livestock showsand a livestock auction, visitedthe county historical society,toured a dairy farm, participat-ed in a milk mustache contest,and ate meals with severalFarm Bureau families.

Salinas said she enjoyed hervisit so much, she plans to vis-it again next summer.

The Edwards County Farm

Bureau would like to thankeveryone who made time tohost and meet Salinas. Specialthanks to the Shelby Lynchfamily, Lynch Farms, MikeWilson, David Seifert, LoisGoodson, Eric Strine, theToby Beadles family, theEdwards County Fair Board,and the Edwards County FarmBureau Board of Directors.

Rebecca Perry is the manager ofthe Edwards County Farm Bureau.She can be reached at 618-445-2113.

quite an educational experi-ence. But that is exactly whathappened.

The Edwards County FarmBureau adopted Salinas andher second grade students toteach them about agricultureand rural America. After sev-eral county Farm Bureaumembers visited the school inthe spring, Salinas decided she

wanted to visit the county.County Farm Bureau staff

and members worked toarrange various agriculturaltours and visits for her.Because she visited during thecounty fair, she also got toexperience that highlight ofsummer in rural America.

While in Edwards Countyover three days, Salinas visiteda farmer’s grain storage com-

Chicago elementary teacher Gina Salinas feeds Jacob Beadles’ horseduring her visit to the Toby Beadles farm in Edwards County. The countyFarm Bureau recently hosted its “adopted” teacher for three days offarm tours and rural experiences. (Photo courtesy Edwards County FarmBureau)

First-time visitors get first hand look at farmBY DANELLE DESMITH

With most of the popula-tion two or even three genera-tions removed from the farm,there are many people whodon’t consider themselvesdirectly affected by what hap-pens in agriculture.

The reality is that each andevery person is a consumer ofagricultural products every day,whether it’s through the foodthat we eat, the fuel in our vehi-cles, or the clothes that we wear.

However, many Americanshave never had an opportunityto visit a farm to see who isproducing these products.

On a recent Saturday, morethan 320 visitors turned out totour the beef and grain farmof Randy and Kathy Faberoutside of Sublette. The eventwas the Lee County FarmBureau’s 17th annual FarmVisit Day.

Visitors from all over Illi-nois, the U.S., and even a fewfrom other nations enjoyed aguided tour of the Faber’s 4thgeneration family farm.

While on the farm, visitorswere able to see the Faber’sbeef cattle operation up close,and several even took theopportunity to pet a baby calf.

Many visitors had never beento a farm, let alone seen beefcattle up close, so for many, thiswas a new experience.

Also, while on the farm, vis-itors were able to see the largepieces of equipment used to

grow and harvest grain. “Our goal in hosting this

event is to educate the publicabout agriculture,” said LeeCounty Farm Bureau managerDanelle DeSmith.

“There are a lot of miscon-ceptions and misleading infor-mation out there about agricul-ture, and this is a great oppor-tunity for attendees to experi-ence farm life first hand, havefun, and learn about agricul-ture.” DeSmith added, “Wehope through events like thiswe can show the public thatfamilies, like the Fabers, carefor their animals and are work-ing to produce a safe food sup-ply for not just their family butfor the world.”

Those wanting more infor-mation about Farm Visit Dayor the Lee County FarmBureau may contact the FarmBureau office at 857-3531 orvisit the organization’s website,{www.leecfb.org}.

Danelle DeSmith is the managerof the Lee County Farm Bureau.She can be reached at 815-857-3531.

Visitors to Lee County Farm Bureau’s Farm Visit Day chat with Ben Kiner,Mendota, right, while petting a calf. (Photo courtesy of Lee County FarmBureau)

from the counties


BOND — Farm Bureauwill sponsor a crop sur-

vey at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6,beginning at the Farm Bureauoffice. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 618-664-3100 if youwould like to be on a team.

CHAMPAIGN — FarmBureau will sponsor a

legislative reception from 4:30 to6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the FarmBureau office. Local electedofficials will discuss issues. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 217-352-5235 for more information.

FAYETTE — FarmBureau will begin a crop

survey with breakfast at 8:30a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at Robbi’sRestaurant, Vandalia. The groupwill have a steak cook out at 6:30p.m. at the Farm Bureau officeto conclude the tour. Cost is $5,

and tickets are available at theFarm Bureau office or any FarmBureau board of director. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 283-3276 if you would like to be on ateam.

KNOX — A grain qualitymanagement and safety

program will be at 7 p.m. Thurs-day, Sept. 8, at the Knox AgriCenter. Randy Holthaus,GROWMARK grain systemsoperations manager, will be thespeaker. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 342-2036 or [email protected] for reser-vations or more information.

LEE — Deadline forteachers to apply for the

Lee County Farm Bureau Foun-dation Ag in the Classroomgrant is Sept. 15. To qualify,teachers must be actively teach-

ing in Lee County and be a grad-uate of one of Illinois FarmBureau’s Summer Ag Institutes.Download an application fromthe website {www.leecfb.org}.

MADISON — A Tropi-cal Maize and Energy

Crop Field Day will be at 10 a.m.Friday, Sept. 9, a the SchetterFarm, Rt. 267 and 111, south ofBrighton. Walking tours willcontinue until early afternoon.Call the University of IllinoisExtension Christian Countyoffice at 217-287-7246 for moreinformation.

MONROE — The Mon-Clair Corn Growers test

plot tour will be at 6 p.m. Tues-day, Sept. 6, at Greg Guenther’sfarm. The program and dinnerwill follow at the St. Clair CountyFarm Bureau office. RobertBellm, University of IllinoisExtension educator; Rich Clem-mons, GovPlus Capitol Consult-ing; and Jeff Watson, IntelliAir,will be the speakers. Call theFarm Bureau office at 939-6197by Wednesday for reservations ormore information.

STARK — Farm Bureauwill sponsor a river cruise

Thursday, Sept. 15, from St.Louis to Kimmswick, Mo. Lunchwill be at the Blue Owl with

shopping to follow. Cost is$130, which includes bus, cruise,and lunch. The bus will leave theFarm Bureau office at 6:30 a.m.Call the Farm Bureau office at286-7481 for more information.

ST. CLAIR — The Mon-Clair Corn Growers test

plot tour will be at 6 p.m. Tues-day, Sept. 6, at Greg Guenther’sfarm. The program and dinnerwill follow at the Farm Bureauoffice. Robert Bellm, Universityof Illinois Extension educator;Rich Clemmons, GovPlus Capi-tol Consulting; and Jeff Watson,IntelliAir, will be the speakers.Call the Farm Bureau office at233-6800 by Wednesday forreservations or more informa-tion.

VERMILION — Ag inthe Classroom open

houses will be from 4 to 7 p.m.today (Monday) and from 4 to 5p.m. Tuesday in the Farm Bureauauditorium. Staci Walker, ag lit-eracy coordinator, will have aglearning kits and materials avail-able. Classroom presentationsalso may be scheduled with theteachers.

• The Vermilion County FarmBureau Foundation is askingfarmers to consider donatingsome of their fall harvest to the

Acres for Agriculture Educationfundraising drive. Producersmay pledge any amount of grainand work with their local eleva-tor so that the donation getsapplied to the foundation. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 217-442-8713 for more information.

WAYNE — The thirdannual Wayne County

Tractor Drive will be on LaborDay, Sept. 5. The event willbegin and end at the WayneCounty Fairgrounds, Fairfield.Tractors will travel to WhiteFarms, Geff. Forty antique trac-tors of the Carroll White Collec-tion will be on display. Down-load an application at{www.waynecfb.com.}.

WHITE — The annualWhite County crop tour

will begin with breakfast at 7a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at theFarm Bureau office. Teams willreturn at 11 a.m. for lunch andaccumulation of data. Call theFarm Bureau office at 618-382-8512 for reservations or moreinformation.

“From the counties” items are sub-mitted by county Farm Bureau man-agers. If you have an event or activityopen to all members, contact your coun-ty Farm Bureau manager.

‘Adopted’ legislator visits Fulton County farmersBY ELAINE STONE

State Rep. Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) recently visited FultonCounty farmers with her family as part of the Illinois Farm BureauAdopt a Legislator program.

Burke, her husband, Terry, and their children, Emily, Jack, andCaroline were guests of the Fulton County Farm Bureau over twodays in early August. Terry is an options trader in the corn pit at theChicago Board of Trade

Over dinner at the Bernadotte Café, Burke and her family visitedwith Fulton County Farm Bureau members and their families amidthe setting of the historic Spoon River. Following the meal, they vis-ited the farm of Fulton County Farm Bureau President Randy Farrand his wife, Sue.

Although the Farrs’ red Angus weren’t cooperative and didn’tcome in from the pasture, learning to drive a utility cart was just asexciting for the Burke children.

After an early breakfast the next day, the group headed out for avery hot — the heat index was 117 — and busy day of tours. Theystarted by touring Western Grain Marketing Cooperative’s rail shuttlenear Adair.

Then the group traveled to the hog farm of the Greg and RandallLeigh families. The two recently built a hog finishing building ontheir existing hog farm at Avon.

They also toured the John and Holly Spangler farm and discusseda variety of issues over lunch. The topics included the cost of healthinsurance for farm families, environmental issues, why farmers dosome of the things they do, and the high cost of inputs.

Next was a stop at the Bill and Ellie Carlberg’s dairy near Canton.The Carlbergs milk about 50 Holsteins in partnership with their son,Lars, and his wife, Laurie.

The Fulton County Farm Bureau appreciated RepresentativeBurke bringing her husband and children to Fulton County. We hopethey have a better understanding of Illinois agriculture and this is thebeginning of a long friendship between Fulton County farmers andthe Burkes.

Elaine Stone is the manager of the Fulton County Farm Bureau. Here-mail address is [email protected].

Fulton County farmer Greg Leigh of Avon discusses pork production is-sues with state Rep. Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park), her son, Jack, andhusband, Terry, during the family’s recent visit to Fulton County. (Photoby Elaine Stone, Fulton County Farm Bureau manager)

profitability


Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $16.00-$45.50 $34.1440 lbs. $34.00-$35.50 $35.1250 lbs. n/a n/aReceipts This Week Last Week 22,899 18,722*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

MARKET FACTS

Eastern Corn Belt direct hogs (plant delivered)(Prices $ per hundredweight)

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $94.88 $99.99 -5.11Live $70.21 $73.99 -3.78

Export inspections(Million bushels)

Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn8-18-11 10.9 17.4 29.58-11-11 6.6 21.5 37.1Last year 12.4 24.7 44.0Season total 1472.3 251.0 1733.8Previous season total 1441.9 212.6 1811.5USDA projected total 1540 1295 1900Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

(Thursday’s price)This week Prev. week Change

Steers n/a 113.84 Heifers n/a 113.71

USDA five-state area slaughter cattle price

This is a composite price of feeder cattle transactions in 27 states.(Prices $ per hundredweight)

This week Prev. week Change 133.60 134.39 -0.79

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs.

Lamb prices

Slaughter Prices - Negotiated, Live, wooled and shorn 115-185 lbs. for 170-206$/cwt. (wtd. ave. 184.15); dressed, no sales reported.

Now’s time to plant seeds of priority issues in D.C.BY CHUCK SPENCER

Planting in the fall and har-vesting in the winter does notwork on our Midwest farms, but

we can usethis techniquefor our legisla-tive priorities.

From Sept.5, when Con-gress goesback into ses-sion, to Dec.31 will be a

good time to be active withour congressional leaders.

We should be plantingthe seeds of priority issueideas now while they areback in their districts, ask-

ing to hear our opinions.Agriculture has several pri-

orities this fall, and coopera-tives have identified issuesimportant to all farmers. Con-gress will be working on issuesin addition to the work of theDebt Super Committee.

There is legislation the Sen-ate could vote on as soon assenators choose. HR 872, “TheRegulatory Burdens ReductionAct,” would clarify that agricul-ture would not have to applyfor a National Pollution Dis-charge Elimination System(NPDES) permit to spray cropprotectants on fields.

HR 872 passed the Houseby a veto-proof majority, sailed

through the U.S. Senate Agri-culture Committee, and waitsfor floor time in the Senate.

While we discuss the financialfuture of the country, the Senateshould take up this legislation assoon as the senators return andpass HR 872 by the same veto-proof majority to send a strongsignal that proposed permit reg-ulations are not needed.

Legislation that wouldextend the Chemical FacilitiesAnti-Terriorism Security(CFATS) authorization provi-sion is needed. HR 901 is thebill number for legislation thatwill keep CFATS from expiringthis October and extend thelaw until 2018.

We implemented many ofthe provisions in 2008 and arebecoming comfortable withhow the program should work.Consistency is needed for bestimplementation, and extensionwill provide safety and certainty.

GPS has become a standardfor agriculture operations andcooperatives when applyingcrop nutrients and protectantsto fields. The Federal Com-munications Commission(FCC) is considering a propos-al by a company, Lightsquared,to develop a broadband net-work that would reach acrossmany rural areas.

While this sounds promis-ing, the signal frequency Light-

squared will be using is soclose to the current satellite-based GPS network that it willinterfere with our GPS units.

Interference with GPS unitsmeans that this very importanttool will be rendered useless.GROWMARK and many oth-ers have submitted comments,and legislators should step intothis discussion, too.

These three issues areimportant to all of us andshould be a focus of our legis-lators this fall.

Chuck Spencer is GROW-MARK’s director of governmentaffairs. His e-mail address [email protected].

Chuck Spencer

Farm input costs expected to follow commodity price trendsBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Input costs the rest of thisyear and into 2012 are project-ed to remain strong, barringany major financial meltdownsin the world.

“Input prices are up, butprofitability in farming is there,”

Joe Kilgus, GROWMARK direc-tor of plant food sales, told theIllinois Farm Bureau ProfitabilityAdvisory Team last week.

USDA projected total pro-duction expenses this yearwould increase by about $20billion and, for the first timeever, surpass $300 billion.

If realized, productionexpenses in 2011 would be up 7percent from last year.

Fertilizer prices in Illinois sofar in 2011 are up 3 percent foranhydrous ammonia, 13 percentfor liquid nitrogen/28 percent,4 percent for diammoniumphosphate (DAP), and 9 per-cent for potash.

Prices in the state as of Aug.18 ranged from $790 to $860per ton for anhydrous, $670 to$750 for DAP, and $600 to$665 for potash, according tothe Illinois Production CostReport produced by the IllinoisDepartment of Agriculture.

Kilgus noted fertilizer sup-plies currently are tight for manyproducts, demand is strong dueto increasing food demandaround the world, and prices arepressured by subsidies in Indiaand export restrictions in China.

“As long as commodity prices

hold up, and the economydoesn’t collapse, (fertilizer) pricesshould remain firm,” Kilgus said.

USDA forecast U.S. netfarm income this year couldtotal $94.7 billion, whichwould be a 19.8 percentincrease from last year.

But farm income and com-modity prices could be threat-ened by uncertainty ineconomies around the world.

“The economy right nowhas everyone scared,” Kilgussaid. “The biggest risk factorwe see now is the impact afinancial crisis could have onthe commodity markets.”

Meanwhile, farm incomethis year likely will varytremendously according towhat areas received timelyrainfall compared to otherswhere heat and drought evapo-rated much of the crops’ yieldpotential, according to Dale

Hadden, IFB District 10 direc-tor and chairman of the IFBProfitability Advisory Team.

Crop yields and farm returnsthis year “will depend a lot onwhere you’re located in thestate,” said Hadden, whoexpects below-average yields onhis farm where he has receivedlittle to no rainfall since July 1.

“A lot of people are enjoy-ing the benefits of higherprices, but that’s not to say wearen’t concerned about inputprices,” Hadden said. “We’vealready seen an increase in for-ward contracting. I think thatmeans producers are looking atthe cost of production and try-ing to manage the risk.”

Kilgus last week reportedabout 80 percent of fall anhy-drous ammonia has been pur-chased by retailers and farmers,which is higher than normalfor this time of year.

Economist sees increased risk of another financial meltdownThe chance of another financial meltdown is

on the rise, according to Scott Irwin, Universityof Illinois economist.

And if another economic collapse occurs, itcould have a greater impact on agriculture thanin 2008-09 when strong commodity prices andhigh land values helped insulate the ag sectorfrom the recession.

“The risk of a 2008-style financial meltdownclearly is on the rise,” Irwin told FarmWeek lastweek. “That increases the chance of a recession,particularly in Europe and the U.S.”

The U.S. economy absorbed a potential big blowearly this month when Standard and Poor’s down-graded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA.

The action eventually could raise borrowingcosts for the U.S. government, companies, andconsumers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate thismonth remained historically high at 9.1 percent,although the rate was a slight improvement froma year ago when it was at 9.5 percent.

“The data is not encouraging,” Irwin said.“But it doesn’t show we’re entering a recessionyet. The risks, however, are on the rise.”

The ag economy, meanwhile, seems to keepchugging along at a brisk pace.

USDA this month projected record-high cropprice averages for 2011/12 of $6.70 per bushel forcorn, $13.50 for soybeans, and $7.60 for wheat.

Reports in Illinois and other Corn Belt statescontinue to show farmland values at all-time highs.

But the ag economy could be susceptible to afinancial meltdown, Irwin noted. Strong com-modity prices, which have been fueled in part bybooming biofuels production around the world,could be threatened if oil and fuel demanddecreases due to economic troubles or anotherrecession.

“Recessionary conditions could feed into the(ag) sector faster through that (connection to oiland energy prices),” Irwin said.

DTN/The Progressive Farmer’s agribusinessconfidence index last week was much more opti-mistic about present conditions with a score of110.4 — the baseline is 100 — compared toexpectations for 12 months from now, whichhad a score of just 89.5.

Darrel Good, another U of I economist, not-ed higher commodity prices likely will erodedemand for feed, fuel, and meat.

“If we continue to see consumer incomesunder pressure, it suggests a demand reductionfor meat,” he said.

Good predicted crop prices likely will peakthis fall, with futures possibly as high as $8 perbushel for corn and above the recent high of$14.10 for soybeans, due to a smaller-than-expected harvest. He then looks for some possi-ble price regression this winter.

“I think we’re setting up for a year in whichwe see the high price early in the season and thenpossibly some price weakness this winter (ifdemand erodes),” Good added. — Daniel Grant

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CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

ü2010 crop: Wrap up old-crop sales on strength. End-ing stocks could grow fromthe latest USDA forecast.

ü2011 crop: The corn mar-ket once again was able to posta fresh contract high on con-tinued concern about thecrop’s yield potential. Howev-er, a close above $7.50 is need-ed to open the door for higherlevels. Outside markets andeconomic uncertainty continueto be the wild card and leavethe market vulnerable to sharpbreaks. If you are comfortablewith production prospects,boost sales to 60 percent,preferably with a hedge-to-arrive (HTA) contract for win-ter/spring delivery.

ü2012 crop: Use currentprice levels to make an initial10 percent sale.

vFundamentals: Initialreports from the Pro FarmerMidwest crop tour tend tosuggest yields could come inbelow expectations, especiallyin the eastern region of theMidwest. Export interest isbeing subdued by high pricesand the availability of feedwheat in the world.

ûFail-safe: If Decemberfalls through $6.60, make suresales are at recommended levels.

Soybean Strategyü2010 crop: We see little

reason to hold old-crop inven-tory.

ü2011 crop: With Novem-ber futures trading near $14,we recommend you get salescaught up to recommendedlevels, using comfortable yieldexpectations.

ü2012 crop: Use currentprice levels to make an initial10 percent sale.

vFundamentals: TheNovember contract recentlybroke the $14 resistance, buthas been unable to close aboveit. We need to see a close abovethis region to solidify the recentdip was the 16- to 18-weekcycle low. With economicuncertainty and dwindlingexport demand, it may be diffi-cult for soybeans to gain muchadditional upside potential.The U.S. will fight the availabili-ty of South American suppliesdeeper into the fall than usual.

ûFail-safe: Make sure salesare at recommended levels if

November drops below $13.70.

Wheat Strategyü2011 crop: The short-term

trend in wheat remains strongwith Chicago December futuresremaining above $7.50. Use cur-rent strength to make catch upsales. We may recommendanother 20 percent sale ifDecember moves up near $8.Check the Hotline daily. If youneed to move wheat out of stor-age before fall harvest, either getit priced or arrange for commer-cial storage. The carry in futuresmore than pays for commercial

storage. Because of the carry, weprefer HTA contracts for winteror spring delivery for sales.

vFundamentals: Therecent market strength wasbased in part on concern aboutspring wheat yields. Early har-vest reports in the NorthernPlains suggest the summer’swarm, dry conditions may havecapped yield potential. At thesame time, the approach ofplanting in the Southern Plainsand the persistent droughtalready are triggering concernabout the 2012 wheat crop.

Corn export shipments con-tinue to run below USDA pro-jections. It appears strong U.S.prices are starting to limitexport business.

However, the drop indemand to a certain degree istypical seasonal weakening.With harvest quickly approach-ing, end users could be sitting onthe sidelines waiting for fresh

Cents per bu.

High prices easing demand


supplies to enter the pipelines. Despite weaker demand, the

most recent weekly export salesdata included a sale of 58,600metric tons (2.29 millionbushels) to China.

Wheat export shipments start-ed out strong, as they were out-pacing projections, but they havesince backed off. It appears themajority of the internationalbusiness continues to be sourcedfrom the Black Sea region.

Since late May, soybeanexport shipments have slippedbelow projections, which is fur-ther evidence the extremevolatility in the market hassome sitting on the sidelines.

People catch insects for allkinds of reasons. Some wantto make an insect collectionfor a 4-H project or a schoolassignment.

Others have an economicincentive for catching insects.That’s because there is a mar-ket for some insects, especial-ly brightly colored beetles andbutterflies that are used in artand design.

Sometimes we try to cap-ture pest insects to keep themfrom doing damage — forinstance, Japanese beetles thatfeed on our plants or waspsand yellow jackets that inflictstings.

Because of the humandesire to capture insects, allkinds of contraptions have

been devel-oped for thatpurpose. Mostinsect-collect-ing devicesfall into oneof two basiccategories.

The firstcategorycould be

called insect passive. That’sbecause the insect doesn’thave to do anything to be cap-tured. The other type ofinsect capture device requiressome action on the part ofthe insect to be successful.

The most common insect-passive devices are the appro-priately named capture nets.In popular language, capturenets are often called insectnets, bug nets, or butterflynets.

Most cartoonists makesure that they depict an ento-mologist with insect net inhand.

The success of using a netto capture an insect dependson the ability of the personwith the net. Swinging the netin the vicinity of the flyinginsect sometimes works.

Another approach with thenet is to drop it over the loca-tion where the insect — say abee or butterfly on a flower— is perched. The net alsomay be swung back and forthin vegetation in an activityknown as sweeping. Suchaction results in insects in thevegetation being swept intothe net.

The second type of insect-capture device depends onthe behavior of the insect tomake it work. Examplesinclude sticky traps, glueboards, fly strips, and flypa-per.

Because flies like to landon vertical surfaces, especiallysuspended strips of material,a dangling fly strip is an

attractive resting site. Oncethe fly or other insect lands, itbecomes entangled in thesticky material on the strip.

Some sticky traps use abait to attract the insect. Onesuch trap is sold by BlackFlag and called the RoachMotel.

This was one of the firstcommercial sticky traps forinsect control and utilizedfood, and later a cockroachpheromone, as bait to attractthe roaches.

Pheromones are chemicalsproduced by animals. Thesechemicals elicit a responsefrom individuals of the samespecies.

Some pheromones func-tion to attract mates. Theseso-called sex-attractant chem-icals are frequently used tolure insects into traps. TheBag-a-Bug traps for Japanesebeetles use both a sex-attrac-tant and a floral odor toentice the beetles.

In this case, the flyingbeetles that are attracted bythe odor crash into the wingsof the trap and then fall intoa collection bag suspendedfrom the wings.

Traps also are available tocapture stinging insects,including wasps and yellowjackets.

Most of these traps usechemicals associated withfood items, such as meat or

sugar for bait. Once luredinto the trap, the wasps, likethe cockroaches in the RoachMotel, can’t check out.

In general, insect trapshave not proven effective incontrolling undesirable pestinsect populations.

To be sure, insects end upin the traps, but research hasshown that the number cap-tured is insignificant relativeto the numbers causing theproblems.

However, sticky traps areeffective for use in detectingthe presence of insects or inestimating population levels.In this case the traps areimportant tools in insect man-agement programs.

Sticky material used intraps of this kind is commer-cially available and is appropri-ately called tangle foot.

If you want to make yourown sticky traps for catchinginsects, you can do it.

But a word of warningfrom someone who has doneit, tangle foot sticks on morethan insects!

Tom Turpin is a professor of ento-mology at Purdue University, WestLafayette, Ind. His e-mail address is [email protected].

perspectives


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FarmWeek Letters1701 Towanda Ave.

Bloomington, Ill., 61701

One of my favoritemeals from child-hood was a sand-

wich served on white breadwith leaf lettuce, an onion, atomato fresh from the garden— and Spam fresh from a can.Each can produced six slices ofmeat and my father always gotthe thickest one. Today, mygrandkids continue our familytradition: They love theirSpamwiches.

In Guatemala, families areforging their own traditions —and delivering a millionhealthy meals to malnour-ished children with a newproduct called Spammy.

Spammy is a fortifiedturkey spread whose specificpurpose is to fight malnutrition.Not only is it inexpensive to manu-facture and distribute, but Spammy also packsa lot of sustenance into each of its 3-ouncerecyclable cans.

The meat contains high-quality protein aswell as zinc, iron, and vitamin B — the verythings that malnourished people desperatelyneed in their diets. Spammy is also shelf-sta-ble, which means that it doesn’t require refrig-eration.

This year, Hormel promises to provide over1.5 million cans of Spammy toimpoverished people inGuatemala. It choseGuatemala for this projectbecause this Central Americannation of 13 million has such ahigh rate of poverty. A pair ofnonprofit organizations, Foodfor the Poor and CaritasArquidiocesana, work withfamily centers and orphanages

to put Spammy into the hands and bellies ofthe people who need it most.

The problem in Guatemala isn’t that peopledon’t have enough to eat, but that they don’teat enough of the right things. Poor dietsresult in stunted growth and diminished cog-nitive development. The victims are also moresusceptible to disease.

According to some estimates, almost halfthe children of Guatemala show signs of mal-nutrition. The rate is 80 percent in someremote Mayan villages. The long-term ramifi-cations for national health are troubling.

A recent report by Christiane Amanpourof ABC News highlighted the problem. Herteam drew a blue chalk line on a wall, mark-ing the World Health Organization’s estimatefor the proper height of 9-year-old children.Then they compared Guatemalan children inGuatemala with Guatemalan-American chil-dren in Florida. The kids in Central Americawere uniformly shorter.

This is a problem of nurture, not nature.It’s about access to healthy food.

In newspapers and on television, we’realways reading about natural catastrophes.Global malnutrition is a slow-motion natural

disaster that doesn’t make headines everydaybut still demands our sustained attention.

Spammy is perfectly situated to confrontthis challenge. It’s not just a tool of relief,but possibly an instrument of economicempowerment if it improves the intellectualdevelopment of the boys and girls who willcreate the jobs and run the businesses thatrepresent Guatemala’s future.

The children of Guatemala eat Spammy forthe taste. They may not fully appreciate whatthe food’s biofortification does for them whilethey’re enjoying their meals, but their parentsand teachers surely have noticed.

“According to our local partners,” Hormelreported, “the children have more energy andtheir grades have improved.”

Spammy fits right in to Guatemala’s nativecuisine. The locals mix it with beans or serveit with tortillas. Other popular dishes involvepasta, pizza, and stew.

This comes as no surprise. Spam has a remarkable history of cultural

adaptation. Many Pacific Islanders, introducedto Spam by American GIs, consider meat-in-a-can something of a delicacy.

When Barack Obama visited Hawaii shortlyafter his presidential election in 2008, themedia reported on the meal he sought out:“Spam musabi,” a Hawaiian dish that featuresgrilled Spam and rice wrapped by seaweed.

As a food producer and animal scientist,I’m always searching for new technologies andinnovative approaches to feed our domesticand global consumers.

Spammy provides a perfect example.It re-engineers an old manufacturing

process and fits it to a modern need thatmeets all the environmental, economic, andsocial criteria for product sustainability.

How long before Guatemalans and othersdiscover the wonders of the Spammywich?

Carol Keiser owns and operates cattle feeding operationsin Western Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska. She is aTruth About Trade & Technology board member andmay be contacted at {www.truthabouttrade.org}.

CAROLKEISER

Malnutrition: Slow-motion natural disaster

Illustration by Sharon Newton

TOMTURPIN

Catching insects for fun or profit

farmweek august 29 2011

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