farmweek october 26 2009

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Monday, October 26, 2009 Two sections Volume 37, No. 43

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

THE ADMINISTRATION isfocusing on the nation’s marinehighways, rail, and mass transit tomake U.S. transpor tat ion moregreen. ...............................................2

THE HOSPITAL communityis in favor of health care reform,but Congress must approach it “theright way,” a hospital associationofficial believes. ...............................5

RESTORATION of backwaterlakes, wetlands, and prairies in theEmiquon Preserve is progressingbut has posed more of a challengethan scientists had anticipated. .....3

Wet crop presents a number of harvest challengesBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

This year may be wetterthan most so far, but all themoisture apparently hasn’twashed away the risk of firesduring harvest.

The problem this year ismuch of the crops are comingout of the fields with suchhigh moisture content thatmany farmers and elevatoroperators are pushing graindryers to the limit.

Add in the fact that a wetcrop is more difficult to har-vest often resulting in moredebris in the grain, and it pre-sents a perfect scenario forgrain dryer fires, according toTom Bressner, general manag-er of Assumption CooperativeGrain Co.

“Some of the early corn, 10percent at most, that gotplanted in April came out(with moisture readings) in thelow 20s,” Bressner said lastweek. “But now that farmersare done (harvesting early vari-eties), it seems everythingcoming in is in the 24 to 30range.”

Corn that wet can reduce thecapacity on a standard 5,000-bushel-per-hour dryer by asmuch as 60 to 70 percent,according to John Lee, directorof safety, health, and environ-

bushels to 1.37 billionbushels (on farm), but dryercapacity during that timereportedly remained stagnantor even declined.

“Up until last year, a lotof the stuff coming out ofthe field you could runstraight out to the bins,”

Bressner added. “We saw enough of this (in

the grain industry) peoplestarted pulling dryers out oftheir budget because youcouldn’t pencil it out. Now Iwouldn’t be surprised if (dry-ers) are a pretty hot commodi-ty next year.”

mental service for the Grain andFeed Association of Illinois.

“They (elevator operators)have to slow everything downand heat (the grain) as much asthey can,” Lee said.

The situation has causeddelays and/or early shutdownsat elevators, and it hasincreased the chance of dryerfires substantially, Lee said.

Bressner knows the riskfirst hand: one of AssumptionCooperative’s five locations (atPana) experienced a dryer fireearlier this month. (See pictureon page 2.)

“It has structural damage,and by the time we fixedeverything harvest, would beover,” said Bressner, whoreported that the cooperativeinstead is getting a new dryerit hopes to have online withinthe next week or two.

“Most dryers are designedto run 24 hours a day, sevendays a week,” Bressner contin-ued.

“But I highly recommendshutting down the dryer onceor twice a week, cleaning itout, and starting over.

“Otherwise, if you leave allthe (grain debris) in there,we’re living proof what canhappen.”

Dryer fires also werereported last week in Iowa,

Michigan, and Minnesota.Elsewhere, a fire broke out lastweek at some private storagebins north of Rantoul.

Storage space in Illinoisfrom 2000 to 2007 increasedfrom 1.094 billion bushels to1.262 billion bushels (off-farm) and from 1.22 billion

Smoke rolls off some on-farm grain bins north of Rantoul after an apparent dryer fire broke out last week. Therisk of dryer fires is up considerably this year due to the extreme wetness of the crop and the strain it’s puttingon drying capacity in the state, according to John Lee, director of safety, health, and environmental service forthe Grain and Feed Association of Illinois. (Photo by Bob Dyer, Region 2 manager for Illinois Farm Bureau)

Farm Bureau last week hailed introduc-tion of bipartisan U.S. House-proposedestate tax reforms.

The American FarmBureau Federation (AFBF)supports The Estate TaxRelief Act of 2009, unveiledThursday by Reps. ShelleyBerkley (D-Nev.), KevinBrady (R-Texas), Artur Davis(D-Ala.) and Devin Nunes(R-Calif.).

The bill would boost theexisting $3.5 million individualestate tax exemption to $5 million per per-son and reduce the top estate tax rate to35 percent in equal increments over 10years.

Congress is under the gun to enact

some form of estate tax reform this ses-sion. Under current law, the tax will beeliminated in 2010 — raising largely

Democrat fears of lost federal revenues— potentially to return in 2011 at pre-2002 tax rates and a $1 million individualexemption.

Farm Bureau continues to support

estate tax repeal, but AFBF’s goal for thepresent is a permanent $10 million exemp-tion indexed for inflation and transferable

to a spouse.“We are pleased there is

bipartisan support to do betterthan current law in the Houseand commend the sponsors ofthe bill for working to increasethe exemption,” AFBF Presi-dent Bob Stallman said of themeasure.

“Extending the currentestate tax exemption of $3.5

million per person and the tax rate at 45percent is a non-starter for Farm Bureau,which supports an increase in theexemption to $10 million a person,” hesaid.

‘We are pleased there is bipartisan sup-port to do better.’

— Bob StallmanAmerican Farm Bureau Federation

Bipartisan bill attempt at estate tax compromise

AMMONIA SAFETY VIDEO ONLINE —Farmers can brush up on anhydrous ammonia safety bywatching a 12-minute video available online from theIllinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA).

IFCA and the Illinois Department of Agriculture(IDOA) produced the video outlining the proper safetyprocedures farmers should take everytime they handleanhydrous. The video highlights the most common safe-ty errors that can lead to an accident or ammoniarelease.

Other topics covered include proper handling, trans-por tat ion, appl icat ion, f i rst a id, and emergencyresponse. To watch the video, go to {www.ifca.com} andclick on the anhydrous tank.

The Fertilizer Research and Education Council paidfor the video with proceeds from a 12.5-cent fee on eachton of agricultural fertilizer sold in Illinois.

TWO HUNDRED E85 STATIONS IN STATE— Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Friday helped the IllinoisCorn Marketing Board (ICMB) celebrate the opening ofthe state’s 200th E85 station. A special ceremony washeld at the Green Mount Motomart in Shiloh.

Joining Quinn were state Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson (D-East St. Louis), Larry Hasheider, ICMB director; GregGeunther of the Mon-Clair County Corn Growers; andAngela Tin of the American Lung Association of theupper Midwest.

Flex-fuel vehicle owners received a discount on E85at the Shiloh station during the event.

NEW TEAM TO PLAY IN ‘CORN CRIB’ — TheIll inois Corn Marketing Board (ICMB) last weekunveiled a creative new promotion.

ICMB partnered with a new minor baseball team inCentral Illinois, the Normal CornBelters, and last weekannounced the new stadium for the team will be knownas “The Corn Crib.”

“The opportunity to partner with the Normal Corn-Belters couldn’t have come at a better time for Illinois

farmers,” said JimR a p p , I C M Bchairman. “Theg ap in under -s t a n d i n gb e t w e e n t h ef a r m a n d t h e

fork has rarelybeen problematic for farmers until recently.”

ICMB hopes the team and its stadium will showcaseinformation about corn and farmers in a casual andentertaining atmosphere.

The CornBelters, who will begin play in the FrontierLeague on May 21, plan to offer several corn-relatedconcession items including corn dogs, corn chips, cornnuts, corn fritters, and sweet corn.

Hal Lanier, 67, a former Major League infielder whomanaged the Houston Astros to a division champi-onship in 1986 and served as the third base coach forthe St. Louis Cardinals World Series champions in 1982,has been hired to manage the CornBelters in their inau-gural season.

FarmWeek Monday, October 26, 2009

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 37 No. 43 October 26, 2009

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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© 2009 Illinois Agricultural Association

STAFFEditor

Dave McClelland ([email protected])Legislative Affairs Editor

Kay Shipman ([email protected])Agricultural Affairs Editor

Martin Ross ([email protected])Senior Commodities Editor

Daniel Grant ([email protected])Editorial Assistant

Linda Goltz ([email protected])Business Production Manager

Bob StandardAdvertising Sales Manager

Richard VerderyClassified sales coordinator

Nan FanninDirector of News and Communications

Dennis VerclerAdvertising Sales RepresentativesHurst and Associates, Inc.P.O. Box 6011, Vernon Hills, IL 600611-800-397-8908 (advertising inquiries only)

Gary White - Northern IllinoisDoug McDaniel - Southern IllinoisEditorial phone number: 309-557-2239Classified advertising: 309-557-3155Display advertising: 1-800-676-2353

Quick TakesTRANSPORTATION

FarmWeekNow.comComments from team officials about theimportance of the Corn Crib to con-sumer understanding of farming are atFarmWeekNow.com.

LaHood: Marine highway part of green transportation BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHoodlast week celebrated improvements along theIllinois River and noted the nation in the futurewill depend more on its “marine highways.”

“Everything is moving toward cleaner,greener, and more efficient,”LaHood said during a keynoteaddress at the Illinois RiverConference in Peoria. “We willput more emphasis on marinehighways and get trucks off theroad.”

LaHood and Gov. Pat Quinnwere honored by the IllinoisRiver Coordinating Council fortheir leadership in protectingand enhancing the river basin.

In addition to emphasizing the nation’s waterhighways, the Obama administration also isfocusing on light and high-speed rail and masstransit systems, according to the secretary.

“The question is: How do we pay for it?” heasked, adding the president included $8 billionto help develop high-speed rail. LaHood would-

n’t speculate about Illinois’ chances of obtain-ing funding as part of a Midwestern high-speedrail project. “There are a lot of good propos-als,” he said.

LaHood also stressed the need for the nationto upgrade the locks and dams along the Missis-sippi and Illinois rivers.

“It will be up to Congress to make sure thefunding is there to fix up the potholes along theriver,” he told FarmWeek. “We know the locksand dams are vital to the Illinois River, and theyneed to be fixed up.”

LaHood called the Illinois River the state’sgreatest natural resource and “an economicengine for every town along the river.” He not-ed the river is valued for its aesthetic qualitiesand recreation opportunities as well as com-merce.

A long-time river enthusiast, LaHood men-tioned several conservation programs, wetlandand habitat restoration projects, wildlife refuges,and other efforts to improve the river basin. Hechallenged conference participants to build onthose successes.

“This area is an incubator for good ideas thathave been implemented,” LaHood said.

Barge supportersRiver transportation ‘greener way to go’

SecretaryRay LaHood

BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

As Congress and theadministration continue tomeasure carbon footprintsin the manufacturing, ener-gy, and transportation sec-tors, river interests are pre-senting the case that bargetransportation is “the green-er way to go.”

The National WaterwaysFoundation (NWF), whichsupports navigationalimprovements on the UpperMississippi River, arguesinland waterways transporta-tion generates fewer emis-sions of particulate matter(soot), hydrocarbons, car-bon monoxide, and nitrousoxide than do rail or truckson a per-ton-mile-movedbasis.

The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency estimates33 percent of annual U.S.CO2 emissions come from“transport-related activity.”

But, according to a TexasTransportation Institutestudy, barge tows generate19.3 tons of greenhousecarbon dioxide per millionton-miles of cargo movedvs. 26.9 tons of CO2 gener-ated by rail freight trans-portation and 71.6 tons pro-duced by trucks.

NWF suggests that if the274.4 billion ton-miles ofcommercial activity oninland waterways reportedin 2005 had shifted to rail ortruck, rail transport mighthave generated 2.1 millionadded tons of CO2 and

truck transportation wouldhave produced 14.2 millionadditional tons.

A study released by NWFindicates barges can move aton of cargo 576 miles witha single gallon of fuel, com-pared to trains at 413 andtrucks at 155.

Jerry Knapper, assistantvice president of majorUpper Mississippi grain car-rier Ingram Barge Co., noted

the recent rail industryadvertisements emphasizingits greenhouse footprint rel-ative to truck transportation.

“That’s absolutely true,but it’s also true that bargesemit a heck of a lot less thanthe railroads,” Knapper toldFarmWeek.

“We’re a little late to theparty on this, but I think itis a good story, and I thinkit’s good for the country.”

WET HARVEST VICTIM

Six local fire departments battled a recent grain dryer fire at theAssumption Cooperative Grain Co. facility in Pana. The fire brokeout as elevator employees attempted to dry high-moisture corn, acontinuing nemesis this harvest season. The fire occurred too highfor fire department ladder trucks to reach, so holes were puncturedin the lower level of the dryer to allow the burning corn to descendto a level firefighters could reach. The dryer was considered a loss.(Photo by Gene Reed Photography, Pana)

ILLINOIS RIVER


IFB raises several concernsabout EPA atrazine review

Illinois Farm Bureau joined the American Farm Bureau Fed-eration in seeking more time to comment on the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed atrazine study.

On Oct. 7, EPA announced a new year-long study of poten-tial health risks related to atrazine. A Nov. 3 meeting is sched-uled for EPA’s science advisory panel.

A 15-day public comment period is too short for farmerswho are in the middle of harvest, wrote Nancy Erickson, IFBdirector of state and natural resources. She urged the agency toallow adequate time for agriculture to respond.

Erickson also questioned the timing of another extensivereview of atrazine. “One concern we have with the review isthat we do not want to see the scientific process the agency hasused through the years offset by non-scientific information andby groups with another agenda that would not support an unbi-ased scientific process,” she wrote.

Jason Beverlin, center, deputy director of The Nature Conservancy’s Illinois River program, describes therestoration at Emiquon, near Havana. The 7,100-acre preserve (in background right) includes wetlands, for-est, and prairie. Illinois River Conference participants visited several sites on a river basin conservation tourlast week. (Photo by Kay Shipman)

Learning on the river

Restoration project teaching nature is complexBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Water and wetland plantscover 4,300 acres of formercropland along the IllinoisRiver, but scientists arelearning it is not easy to turnback Mother Nature’s clock.

The Nature Conservancy(TNC) owns and is restoring7,100 acres in the EmiquonPreserve in Fulton County.The land, originally a wet-land, had been drained andfarmed for several decades.

The restoration is a workin progress with scientistslearning to cope with riversystems, invasive fishspecies, and other chal-lenges, according to JasonBeverlin, deputy director ofTNC’s Illinois River pro-gram.

Last week Beverlindescribed the extensive pro-ject from atop a NativeAmerican burial moundoverlooking a wide expanseof river and backwater lakes.The site was one of severalstops of the Illinois RiverConference conservationtour.

“The wetland (restora-tion) part was kind of easy.We just stopped pumping,”Beverlin said.

Hundreds of wetlandplant seeds that had beendormant sprouted. However,high river levels resulted intoo much water on the wet-

Decade marks successes in Illinois River BasinThe Illinois River Basin

has made environmentalimprovements over the past10 years, thanks to manylandowners, volunteers, gov-ernment agencies, and orga-nizations, according to areport released last week dur-ing the Illinois River Confer-ence in Peoria.

“A Decade of Changes inthe Illinois River Watershed”highlights projects, activities,and data from a vast conser-vation partnership, said JonHubbert with the NaturalResources Conservation Ser-vice (NRCS) and a drivingforce behind the report.

Hubbert, assistant state

lands for long periods thisyear.

For many years, wetlandand floodplain restorationwere recommendations ofseveral Illinois River plans.But that idea is proving to bea challenge.

“It’s turning out to bemore complex than wethought. We thought we couldbuy a levee district and openthem (levees) up, but it’s morecomplicated.

“It looks like (having) gatesin the levee and a managed

connection to the river wouldbe better,” said Richard “Rip”Sparks, research director atthe National Great RiversResearch and Education Sta-tion.

To date, TNC has planted310,000 trees, averaging 400-

some seedlings per acre; 600acres of prairie; and stocked1.5 million fish, includingsuch unusual species as spot-ted gar and bowfin.

It also is managing 14Native American burialmounds.

Prior to returning the landto a wetlands, TNC had toremove 10 farm buildings andhomes — some with asbestosinsulation — undergroundfuel tanks, and other struc-tures. That process took twoyears and was expensive.

“We have spent millions onrestoration to get where weare today,” Beverlin told thetour group.

TNC also pays between$60,000 and $70,000 a year inproperty taxes.

Removing the land fromlocal tax rolls would havebeen detrimental to localschool districts and other tax-ing bodies, Beverlinexplained.

Future plans include devel-opment of four public areas:a boat launch and trailerparking area, a bottomlandobservation area with board-walk, a two-story wetlandobservatory, and a trail-boardwalk.

Beverlin said TNC hasmoney to fund most of thepublic area projects andhopes to start construction inNovember, depending on theweather.

conservation in NortheasternIllinois, said the reportsprang from criticism thatnothing had happened alongwith river during 20 years ofriver conferences.

“We decided we needed toget the work out,” he toldFarmWeek.

The report examinesefforts involving workingfarmland and “reserved” landenrolled in long-term conser-vation programs and nolonger in agricultural produc-tion.

Hubbert stressed theimportance of conservationon both types of land. “Theefforts farmers made are pay-ing off,” he said.

“Things are happening tobenefit the river — not oneperson’s efforts — but thewhole collaboration is mak-ing a difference,” Hubbertadded.

About 11,480 acres in 18counties are enrolled in theWetland Reserve Programand more than 340 stream-bank projects were funded by

the state Conservation 2000program.

The Environmental Pro-tection Agency funded morethan 200 nonpoint sourcepollution control projectsthroughout the river water-shed.

Under the ConservationReserve Enhancement Pro-gram (CREP), Illinoislandowners have establishedconservation practices on126,951 acres in the riverwatershed.

Through CREP, the state

enrolled an additional 81,995watershed acres with perma-nent conservation easements.

“People are another partof the success. More peopleand groups have taken aninterest in the river,” Hubbertnoted.

Through his work on thereport, Hubbert said hegained a new perspective onthe broad scope of conserva-tion efforts along the river.

The report will be availableonline in the near future. —Kay Shipman

University of Illinois Chan-cellor Richard Hermanresigned last week, the secondadministrator to step downfollowing an admission scandalat the university. His resigna-tion takes effect today.

Herman, chancellor since2004, will remain on campusas an adviser to Interim Presi-dent Stanley Ikenberry, pend-ing approval by the U of I

Board of Trustees. After June,he will become a math profes-sor at the university.

In the interim, Ikenberryand Interim Provost RobertEaster will take on many ofthe chancellor’s duties.

The U of I and its recentlyappointed board of trusteeswill be searching for a perma-nent president, chancellor, andprovost.

U of I chancellor resigns

RISK MANAGEMENT


ACRE outlook: Too soon to tell?BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

As the USDA Farm ServiceAgency confirmed Illinois’lead in initial average crop rev-enue election (ACRE) enroll-ment, some analysts werebeginning last week to chal-lenge earlier prospects for pro-gram payments.

Based on USDA’s Augustand September crop reports,many forecasters saw Illinoiscorn, soybean, and wheatgrowers potentially “in themoney” for 2009 paymentsunder the ACRE coverage.

But rising corn and beanprices and October supply-and-demand projections havedampened some ACRE pro-jections.

However, an October run-up in corn and soybean pricestells only part of the story, Illi-nois Farm Bureau risk man-agement specialist DougYoder advised. In fact, the sto-ry has only begun, and theoutlook for prices — and thuspotential ACRE payments —“could all change with somesunshine,” he said.

Illinois led the nation in2009 ACRE signups, withnearly 26,000 farms (about

month’s price rally reducesprospects for 2009 payouts

under revenue policies, Yoderwarned.

one in six farms statewide)enrolling a total of 4.8 millionacres (23 percent of Illinois’total base acreage).

Those producers gave up 20percent of their annual directpayments and 30 percent oftheir marketing loan rate forthe remainder of the 2008farm bill by opting for ACRErather than price-triggeredcountercyclical payments.

Yoder stressed “we’re onlyin month two” of the 12-month marketing year. ACREpayments are based on anaverage national price for thecrop marketing year and indi-vidual state yield triggers:Final ACRE yields will bereleased in March, but thenational price won’t be avail-able until next Sept. 1.

“It’s awfully, awfully early totell,” Yoder argued. “The next(USDA) crop report isNovember’s (Nov. 10), andwe’ll have to wait until then tosee what USDA says in itsyearly price predictions.

“We can go up one monthand down the next, but I thinkthe better approach is to takeUSDA’s prediction for the sea-son-ending price — that’s themeasure ACRE will use.

“I agree that, this month,the price definitely will begoing up. But once we get intofull-fledged harvest, there’s agood chance corn (prices)could go back down. Rightnow, we’re just getting started— the market needs corn, andit’s just not getting it.”

The late harvest has takenits toll: Yoder noted many pro-ducers already have beenforced to forfeit a significantshare of their corn or beanbushels to pay for drying costsat their elevator. While lighttest weights or moisture-relat-ed shrinkage affect marketedbushels, mold problems wouldnot be covered under ACREyield coverage.

However, if ACRE pay-ments eventually are triggered,that could help offset qualitydiscounts or disease-relatedlosses incurred by growers,Yoder suggested.

A greater immediate con-cern for Illinois producers areprospects for crop revenueinsurance claims. Crop rev-enue coverage, revenue assur-ance, and county-based grouprisk income program policiestrigger payments based onOctober prices, and this

Crop insurance deadlinedelayed harvest concern?

Illinois growers struggling to beat the weather are racing asecond clock — a crop insurance deadline.

Dec. 10 is the official end of the 2009 insurance period forspring-planted crops.

Policyholders may harvest crops following that deadline, butany weather-related “peril” that occurs after Dec. 10 will not becovered unless it is determined to be merely a continuation of anexisting peril — i.e., wet conditions that have prevented harvest.

If those conditions persist in an area past Dec. 10, result-ing losses should be covered. However, once post-Dec. 10weather conditions clear sufficiently to allow harvest, lossesdue to subsequent perils would be ineligible.

As crop insurance deadlines approach, insurers will notifyUSDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) of any continuingperils in individual counties, with an estimate of the numberof growers affected. RMA will determine whether to continuearea coverage past Dec. 10.

Thus, if imminently harvestable corn or beans are still inthe field by late November, growers are advised to contacttheir insurance agent.

If a producer does not harvest crops after Dec. 10, whenconditions seemingly would have allowed harvest to progress,claims representatives must appraise fields prior to approvingany claim. If foul weather conditions persist, no appraisalwould be necessary until after the peril ends.

In late 2008, wet conditions in parts of Northern Illinois,Wisconsin, and the Dakotas prompted RMA to extend theend of the policy period. — Martin Ross

Eight-trait corn new to endorsementThe federal crop insurance

biotechnology endorsement(BE) has grown from a recogni-tion of GMO yield improve-ments to a crucial element inbiotech corn marketing, accord-ing to a University of Illinoisrisk management specialist.

For 2010, USDA’s Risk Man-agement Agency (RMA) isexpanding the pilot premiumdiscount endorsement to grow-ers who plant corn hybrids suchas Monsanto/Dow Agro-Sciences’ new eight-trait Smart-Stax technology. SmartStaxincludes GMO traits for weedand above- and below-groundinsect pests.

BE, launched in 2008, coversnon-irrigated corn acres plantedto qualified multiple-trait“stacked” varieties. Producersmust plant a minimum 75 per-cent qualifying stacked hybridson each insured unit.

The endorsement is basedon projected yield gains andthus potentially reduced croprisks associated with planting

GMO varieties. “I can’t see where (adding

SmartStax) would do anything,you would hope, but improvewhat the triple stacks accom-plished as far as reducing lowyields,” U of I’s Gary Schnitkeytold FarmWeek. “I don’t seethere being a concern withadding SmartStax to the biotechendorsement.

“We’ve actually seen that pro-gram grow quite a lot in 2009 vs.in 2008. In 2009, they expandedthe (GMO corn) traits thatcould be included in it. Thatmade it a lot easier for people tomake use of the program.

“If SmartStax wasn’t includ-ed, there would be an incentiveagainst planting it (relative toother BE-eligible products).”

When the original endorse-ment was unveiled for 2008 inIllinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Min-nesota, it was available to pro-ducers who planted Monsanto’sYieldGard Plus with RoundupReady Corn 2 or YieldGard VTTriple varieties.

The endorsement was expand-ed for 2009 to Herculex andAgrisure triple stacks marketedrespectively by Dow and Syngenta.

RMA must extend BE afterthe 2011 crop year.

Producers who fail to com-ply with BE requirements for-feit all corn coverage but remainliable for 20 percent of theirpremiums and are open to civilor criminal penalties.

Growers are subject to insur-er spot checks: Schnitkeystressed the need to preciselyidentify refuge areas to ensuremulti-stack samples are takenfrom appropriate areas.

One of the past challenges ofmeeting BE requirements has beenmaintaining both a 75 percentplanting and a required 20 percentnon-Bt insect refuge planting with-in a half-mile of Bt corn.

However, because SmartStaxoffers multiple modes of insectprotection, the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency hasapproved a 5 percent refuge forthe eight-stack. — Martin Ross

BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Dave Seibert, who has beena University of Illinois Exten-sion educator as long as somefarmers can remember andlonger than others have beenalive, recently discussed hislengthy career in an interviewwith FarmWeek.

Seibert, who began his pro-fessional career as an Exten-

sion educator in McDonoughCounty in 1968 (the yearRichard Nixon was electedpresident of the United States),plans to retire early next yearafter a 42-year career.

The animal systems educa-tor previously spent a few yearson the U of I main campus inUrbana where he managed theswine nutrition research farmbefore he settled into his cur-rent position in East Peoria in

January of 1974.“Some dramatic changes

have occurred over that time,”Seibert said. “Some good; oth-ers not so good.”

Seibert has focused a greatdeal of his career on livestockbreeding and genetics education.

In 1991 he was named man-ager of the Illinois Perfor-mance Tested Bull Sale andsince that time the sale hasgenerated more than $4 millionin gross revenue.

Seibert also has conductedprogramming and studied beefproduction in Mexico, Aus-tralia, Brazil, Argentina,Uruguay, and the Ukraine.

Last year for his numerousefforts and contributions tothe livestock industry, Seibertwas presented the IllinoisFriend of Agriculture award atthe Illinois Commodity Con-ference.

“When I look back, I could-n’t have been more pleasedthan going into Extension andworking with people,” Seibertsaid. “It’s very rewarding towork with people who reallyappreciate your assistance.”

The change the past fourdecades that concerns Seibertthe most is the rapid consolida-tion of the livestock industry.

From 1997 to 2006 alone,the number of cattle farms inIllinois declined from 26,000 to

Animal systems educator reflects on lengthy career19,700, the number of dairyfarms fell from 2,400 to 1,300,the number of hog farmsplummeted from 7,500 to2,900, and the number offarms with sheep slipped from2,800 to 2,000, according to the

National Agricultural StatisticsService’s Illinois office.

“That consolidation hasbeen very dramatic, and I’mnot sure it’s all for good,” hesaid. “A lot of people left agri-culture because of that change

and consolidation.”Seibert, however, won’t

leave agriculture entirely whenhe retires early in 2010. Heplans to do some consultingand continue his work with thebull sale.

‘It’s very reward-ing to work withpeople who reallyappreciate yourassistance.’

— Dave SeibertU of I Extension educator

HEALTH AND SAFETY


Hospital advocate wary of government-run careMust addresshealth reforms‘the right way’BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

U.S. Senate health care pro-posals reportedly would putmore Americans in line forimproved health coverage,rural hospitals in a better posi-tion for survival, and Senateleadership potentially betweena rock and a hard place.

Congressional leaders con-tinued last week to projectpassage of comprehensivehealth care reform by year’send, though American FarmBureau Federation (AFBF)policy analyst Pat Wolff notedthere are mere weeks remain-ing in the 2009 legislative cal-endar.

Further, Senators are con-fronted with two major com-peting proposals: a Senate

program,” he said.“We’re not interested in

seeing large numbers of addi-tional people covered by agovernment-run program thatdoesn’t pay full costs of care.We want to see rates paid tohealth care providers beingnegotiated with non-govern-ment entities. We don’t wantto see the private carrierstotally crowded out of themarketplace.”

House Speaker NancyPelosi (D-Calif.) continues tosupport the public option. ButSenate Majority Leader HarryReid (D-Nev.) faces divisionseven within his party and,according to Wolff, likely willsupport whichever measureeventually can garner “60votes,” the number needed tomove the measure.

Under the Senate Financeproposal, co-ops would beestablished under the U.S. TaxCode essentially as “a new

kind of non-profit,” with anestimated $6 billion in pro-posed federal startup support,Wolff said. Health co-opswould function less like ag co-ops and more like creditunions, effectively brokeringservices for members, she sug-gested. AFBF seeks to ensureFarm Bureaus would be eligi-ble to establish co-ops.

Beyond provisions forextending coverage nation-wide, the Senate Health Com-mittee plan would requireemployers to provide insur-ance, while the Finance Com-mittee proposal eschewsemployer mandates. FarmBureau seeks exemptions fromany employer insurance man-dates for seasonal ag workers.

The Health Committeeproposal would requireemployers with at least fivefull-time, year-round workersto offer coverage, but wouldnot count temporary labor.

Health Committee plan thatincludes the hotly debated,government-run “privateoption” for the nation’s cur-rently uninsured, and the Sen-ate Finance Committee’s blue-print for a system that insteadwould extend pooled coveragethrough state or regionalcooperatives.

AFBF favors co-op cre-ation over government-man-aged health care “to fostercompetition,” Wolff said.

Illinois Hospital Associa-tion Senior Vice PresidentHoward Peters said nearly 2million Illinoisans are unin-sured and noted the cost of“uninsured care” provided byhospitals and emergencyrooms statewide. Peters toldFarmWeek “the hospitalcommunity is very much infavor of health care reform,”but stressed Congress mustapproach it “the right way.”

He is disappointed by esti-

mates that the Senate Financeplan would extend coverage toonly 91 percent of U.S. con-sumers (“That leaves about 25million people uninsured”).But Peters argues the plan isfundamentally workable andincludes “some good thingsfor small and rural hospitals.”

IHA harbors “a lot ofreservations” regarding a pub-lic option, he said. The associ-ation is concerned about reim-bursements to hospitals andphysicians being based strictlyon federal Medicare rates.

Peters reported Medicarepays Illinois hospitals an aver-age 90 percent of actual carecosts, shifting part of the bur-den to employers or individualswho pay for private coverage.

“We’re open to and sup-portive of the co-op ideaout of the Senate FinanceCommittee, as long as a non-governmental entity isresponsible for operating the

ISA supports approvalfor healthy bean trait

The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) has taken ahealthy interest in a new GMO trait that offers consumerdietary benefits, a healthier “profile” for soy oil, and poten-tial value-added opportunities for Midwest growers.

Pioneer is seeking USDA approval for “controlledrelease” of soybeans with Plenish, a high-oleic GMO traitaimed at reducing trans fats in processed soy cooking andfood oils.

The company is seeking a processor-partner to marketPlenish-based oils that, according to Pioneer’s Jerry Har-rington, would be “high in heart-healthy monounsaturatedfats.”

Pending USDA approval, Pioneer plans initially to mar-ket Plenish beans to Iowa and Ohio growers with access toregional soy crushing facilities.

While he could not offer specifics, Harrington anticipat-ed “a good number of acres” would be planted to the soy-bean within a few years following introduction. In Octobercomments to USDA, ISA President Ron Moore offered hisassociation’s “strong support” for approval of the high-ole-ic, value-added trait.

“The Illinois Soybean Association actively supportsstewardship programs which promote the use of all cropsin a manner which ensures the protection of public healthand the environment,” Moore stated.

“We also support products and technologies that offerour producers the tools needed to produce safe and abun-dant soybeans.”

Harrington noted his company also is exploring the pos-sibility of “environmentally friendly” alternatives to petro-leum-based products such as lubricants.

Varieties with the Plenish trait will include resistance tosoybean cyst nematode, phytophthora root rot, and suddendeath syndrome.

Canada approved the trait in May, and Pioneer antici-pates approval of Plenish beans by other “key” internation-al import markets by 2012. In the interim, the company willcontinue to limit marketing and production, Harringtonreported.

“We want to preserve the marketplace for our cus-tomers,” he told FarmWeek. “Since this will be controlledwithin an identity-preserved system, that keeps (Plenishbeans) out of the export market.” — Martin Ross

Ag practices, food safety workshopscheduled for specialty growers

The University of Illinois Extension inKankakee County, in partnership with CornellUniversity and Kankakee Community College,will offer a Nov. 5 workshop on agriculturalpractices and handling practices for specialtycrops.

The program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4p.m. at the Kankakee Community College, 100College Drive, Kankakee. The registration dead-line is Tuesday.

The guest speaker will be Elizabeth “Betsy”Bihn, the national good agricultural practicescoordinator for 10 years and an Extension asso-ciate in Cornell’s food science department.Speakers will include a USDA good ag practicesinspector and a grocery retailer who will discussfood safety practices.

Recent produce-associated, food-borne illnessoutbreaks have raised public awareness of pro-duce food safety and increased producer buyers’demands to have third-party auditors verify that

farms implement food safety practices.The workshop will cover produce safety

impacts, retailer food safety concerns, auditingfarms for food safety, and crisis-risk manage-ment.

The cost is $30 per person and includeslunch.

Online registration is available at{http://kankakee.extension.uiuc.edu}. Onlineregistrants may pay by credit card or by check,which will be a tentative registration until pay-ment is received at University of Illinois Exten-sion, 1650 Commerce Drive, Bourbonnais, Ill.,60914.

Registration also may be handled over thephone by calling 815-933-8337 to register bycredit card.

For more information, contact James Theuri,agriculture and natural resources educator withthe Kankakee County Extension, at 815-933-8337.

Evaluate fall nitrogen applications this yearIf fall anhydrous ammonia is applied when soil

temperatures are too warm and a nitrogen stabiliz-er isn’t used, a significant amount of nitrogen canbe lost in saturated soil through denitrification andleaching, according to Bob Frazee, University ofIllinois natural resources educator.

The recommended soil temperature for anhy-drous applications is less than 50 degreesFahrenheit (F).

To enhance nitrogen efficiency and avoid envi-ronmental problems, Frazee encouraged farmers toconsider the form of nitrogen being used, whenand how it is applied, and the use of nitrificationinhibitors. He also advised farmers to make certainto take credit for other nitrogen sources.

If producers still choose to fall apply theirnitrogen, he recommended they wait until thethird week of October or until the soil tempera-ture at four inches is less 50 degrees F to applyammonium nitrogen — unless a nitrificationinhibitor is used.

At 50 degrees F or less, most of the nitrogen

won’t convert to nitrate or be lost via leaching ordenitrification, Frazee noted. Fall applications withan inhibitor should be made when soil tempera-tures are no warmer than 60 degrees F, he added.

The Illinois State Water Survey and the Illi-nois Department of Agriculture offer a websitethat shows daily 4-inch bare soil temperaturesacross the state at selected sites. The site is{www.sws.uiuc.edu/warm/soiltemp.asp}.

These data are intended to help Illinois farm-ers with timing of post-harvest nitrogen fertiliz-er applications and are specifically representativeof the actual locations where soil temperatureobservations are made.

Applicators should monitor the soil temperatureof each field before fall fertilizer applications.

U of I research suggests ammonium fertilizersare the best form of nitrogen for fall applications.They give added protection against leaching fromheavy rains in the fall and winter, if they areapplied when temperatures are cool enough to pre-vent the ammonium from converting to nitrate.

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: The weekstarted out with good weatherfrom Sunday (Oct. 18) throughWednesday night. We wereable to combine soybeans allfour days, even though theywere from 15 to 17 percentmoisture and are in a dryingbin now. Late Wednesday night

the rain started and by Friday morning, wehad received 2 to 2.5 inches in WinnebagoCounty. The ground and the corn andbeans already were too wet, and all thisextra rain is going to be a big problem.Less than half of 1 percent of the corn hasbeen harvested and maybe 20 to 30 per-cent of the beans have been combined.The corn that has been harvested is from32 to 40 percent moisture with test weightsin the low 50s. On a positive note,Winnebago County passed a wind farmordinance Thursday night, so by this timenext year, there should be some wind tur-bines going up in the southwest part of thecounty.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: Another cool,wet week in Lake County. Gotmore than 2 inches of rain andit was still raining Friday morn-ing. Rain is forecast for four ofthe next seven days.Replanted beans in the lowspots froze prematurely twoweeks ago and are now under

water. Not many beans have been har-vested, but those that have been were at14 percent moisture or more. Not muchcorn has been picked. A neighbor checkedmy early corn the other day and it wasmore than 31 percent. Hopefully, theweathermen are wrong and we can getthose combines moving.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Harvest moved for-ward the first half of last week.Soybeans were coming out andso were the Asian beetles. Cornmoisture hasn’t changed much.We started Monday (Oct. 19) insome 23 percent moisture corn,and that was the driest wecould find. Rain Thursday and

Friday morning has totaled 2 inches so far.There won’t be much harvest for severaldays.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: This wholeyear has been one you havehad to do things beyond theusual way we operate.Harvesting this year’s cropswill push and exceed thecapabilities of men andmachine. A few people are try-ing to harvest corn, which is

32-42 percent moisture. Grain handlingequipment is not designed to handlecrops with that high of moisture. Onegrain dryer already has burned. It isbelieved corn stopped flowing and thatcaused it to catch fire. How to get thisyear’s crop harvested and dried to anacceptable level will be a huge challenge.Probably 20 percent of the soybeanswere harvested last week. Two farmerswere pushing the envelope. I haven’theard of anyone having beans at 13 per-cent. Beans came to the elevator from13.5 to more than 16 percent moistureand white mold and other soybean dis-eases badly hurt yields. We harvested agood 100-acre field and the beans pro-duced only 35 bushels per acre.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: How does thatjoke go? The corn was sowet, they had to use a potatofork to shovel it. That wouldbe funny if it weren’t true andI wasn’t on the working endof it. Or how about the cornthat was so wet the neigh-bor’s grain dryer caught on

fire? Once again, not funny. The wordfun will not be used to describe the 2009harvest, or should I call it the 2009-2010harvest? Last year at this time, soybeanharvest was virtually over and about 45percent of the corn was in the bin. Wepicked our last field of corn that seasonin January of this year. This year, about20 percent of the soybeans and lessthan 10 percent of the corn has seen acombine. Did I mention that it is rainingagain?

Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: This fall andthis harvest are proving to bequite temperamental. Theweather is not cooperatingsince it seems to rain almostevery other day. Not to men-tion the fact that many cropsdon’t want to dry down likenormal. Perhaps 30 percent of

the corn and soybeans have been har-vested in Western Illinois. Yields havebeen very good, but moisture levels havemade it difficult for growers and eleva-tors to dry down the crop. Most elevatorshave been able to keep up. I haven’theard of any closures in the area yet, butthey are sure to happen. There havebeen some quality issues, but none inmy immediate area. Let’s hope for a verydry November.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: We had afour-day window for soybeanharvest, although some of thelater Group III beans were stilltoo wet. I had close to an inchof rain Thursday. I think morethan half the crop is not cut.Moisture in soybeans hasbeen a problem for the eleva-

tors, too. My semis came home yesterdaywith fliers stating that producers need totest before we fill trucks. They don’t wantmore than 15 percent moisture beans,and 16 percent beans will be rejected. Myguess on corn harvest is less than 10 per-cent done. Much corn is still 30 percentplus. Most of the on-farm drying systemsaround here are useless at 30 percentmoisture.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We did getsome soybeans harvested lastweek before the rains cameagain on Thursday. We havehad another 1 inch and more isforecast for Friday. This fall willturn out to be one of the mostfrustrating I have beeninvolved with. The beans are

just barely dry enough to take to the ele-vators. Yields seem to be average at best.The low areas where water stood all sum-mer are really pulling the average yielddown. The corn is still very high in mois-ture and not drying down to normal levelsfor this time of year. Some fertilizer andNH3 are starting to be custom applied. Afew farmers have started fall tillage.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: Theweather finally gave us a cou-ple nice days to get startedharvesting soybeans. Mondayto Wednesday a lot of soy-beans were harvested at any-where from 13-17 percentmoisture. Our soybean yieldshave been nothing to brag

about — somewhere in the lower 40s.Rain on Thursday delayed harvest for along time. We traded combines this year,and we did not expect to take ourmachine into the shop late Wednesday forwhat I think will be serious repairs. So therain did not bother us too much, plus it’srained every week all year, why stopwhen we have soybeans ready? Cornmoisture is not coming down. It is 34-36percent with some reports close to 30.Hopefully, next week I will be able to getmore harvested.

Tim Green, Wyoming, Stark County: The week startedwith a little harvest activity. Afew beans got cut. Not verymany of them were dry, butwere cut anyway. A lot of peo-ple are putting them in dryingbins where they can put airand a little heat on them. Cornis still in that 30-plus range,

and some elevators are starting to balk atfarmers bringing it in too wet, which I canunderstand. Thirty-six, 37 percent mois-ture has been mentioned quite a bit; itdoesn’t seem to be drying down verymuch. People did harvest early-plantedcorn. Now the corn that is left is wetter, sowe are at a standstill. With rain at the endof the week, we will get a little time off tolet the dryers catch up. Pick one day anddry for three. We are plugging away hop-ing to get done some day before the firstof the year and the snow flies. Have asafe fall.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: I justdumped 3 inches of rain fromthe gauge. Looks like the rest ofthe fall will be muddy. We werelucky to get four days of cuttingsoybeans last week with windynights where we could start earlyand run late. Some got done withsoybeans, but we had two hours

left before rain came. Soybean yields havebeen good unless white mold was present.Hardly any corn has been started; it is toowet. We did dry one batch of corn in a bin. Ittook 400 gallons of propane to dry 26 percentcorn. Maybe it will dry down as we wait for theground conditions to get solid. Markets are inan up-trend.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: Soybean harvestresumed last week until therain came on Thursday. Ireceived 2.4 inches, but therain was still falling Friday. Thetiles are running and the ditch-es are starting to rise. Manysoybean fields were harvested,but there are still many soy-

bean fields left to go. We started harvest-ing some corn to open up some fields. Afew others were taking out some corn aswell. Hardly any corn has been harvestedas everyone was concentrating on soy-beans, and the moisture content remainshigh in corn. The corn I harvested rangedin moisture from 23.6 to 32.3 percent.From what I selected to harvest, the aver-age moisture was 27 percent. This camefrom fields that were planted before May12. The drying cost is more than $100 peracre. The discounts were 50 to 60 centsper dry bushel. Handling and harvestingthis high-moisture corn crop is going to bechallenging and expensive. The Asianladybugs also were a big nuisance lastweek. The local closing prices for Oct. 22were: $3.78 for nearby corn, $3.85 forDecember corn, and $9.95 for nearby soy-beans.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: After mak-ing significant harvest progress,we dumped 3.4 inches of rain onFriday. Depressing. Soybeansare 60 percent and corn 10 per-cent done in our area when com-pared to last year. Soybeanyields are from the mid-40s(white mold) to the 70s. Corn

takes a hit in the low ground, but it is averag-ing from 200 to 240 bushels per acre. Now,how do we get it out? Corn is $3.85 and$3.97, January; $3.95, fall 2010; soybeans,$9.85, fall and January, $9.48, fall 2010;wheat, $4.88.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Yippee,we got started with soybean har-vest last week. Considering thechallenging season, we werethrilled with beans in the 50s at12.4 percent moisture. The rainmoved in Thursday afternoonand as of 6 a.m. Friday, we had1.8 inches. My brother drove

home from the St. Louis airport at 11 p.m.Thursday and said the rain came down insheets the entire trip. We have rain in theforecast for nine of the next 10 days culmi-nating Nov. 1 with morning snow! Thinksafety!

Harry Schirding, Petersburg, Menard County: Rainfallthis week, 2.35 inches. Totalrainfall for October, 6.68 inch-es. Normal rainfall for October,2.6 inches. Fieldwork resumedthe weekend of Oct. 17-18 asproducers were able to returnto corn harvest. With only 10 to15 percent harvested, most

producers are reporting good yields, butmoisture levels remain at 21 to 26 percent.Lines at the elevator were long and someloads received large discounts for kerneldamage. Soybean harvest stands at near-ly 50 percent after three days of harvestlast week. Soybean yields are generallyabove expectations and the quality of thelarge beans is remarkably good.Producers were able to plant some wheatalthough not under the most ideal groundconditions. Corn nearby, $3.84, up 29cents; soybeans nearby, $9.92, up 22cents; corn for January, $3.81, up 27cents; soybeans for January, $10, up 17cents.

CROPWATCHERS


Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: Another 1 inchof rain and it was still comingdown Friday. A few more startedcutting soybeans last week untilthe rains hit. As the later-plantedand maturing beans are beingcut, the yields are going down.The frost last weekend (Oct. 17-18) fried some of the double-

crops and the later-planted singles. Seemsas if nobody wanted to buy our wheat thispast summer. We’ll see how they like it nextyear when there isn’t any to buy.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: There were sever-al days of harvesting this pastweek. The rain came Thursdayevening and it was supposed tostay through Friday. The corn isstanding well with good yields,but the moisture is not goingdown very quickly. Early soy-bean yields are good. The

ground is still too wet to sow wheat.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: Afterhaving Monday, Tuesday, andWednesday as good days forharvesting, along came therain on Thursday all day andon Friday morning, I had 1.8inches in the gauge. So weare wet again. It looks as if weare going to mud things out

for awhile. Harvest is progressing slowly.There is still a lot of corn and beans inthe field. Down here in Jackson County,we are behind like those in the rest of thestate. Yields seem to be pretty good forthe most part, except for, as reported ear-lier, the wet holes. Places like that bringthe yield down as a whole for the field.We are still harvesting when we can andthings have been going fairly decently formost folks. I haven’t heard of any bigtroubles. There is a little bit of disease inthe corn, and we have been having somequality problems with that. The beanshave been coming along pretty well. Wegot a little bit of wheat sowed. I don’tknow if we will get much more sowed untilit dries up a bit. Everyone have a safeharvest.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: It was still drizzlingFriday morning as I called in thisreport. We had a pretty decentopen week until Thursday morn-ing when the rain started. Wehad about 0.7 of an inchThursday and Thursday night. Itwas supposed to clear off for theweekend. It looks like it may be

this week before we get back in the field.Fields remain pretty saturated. We’ve beenfortunate — we’ve not rutted things up toomuch. But we definitely had to leave thetrucks on the road and buggy everything outto them. On our farm, we are about half donewith our corn harvest and about a third donewith our soybean harvest. We finally did shella little bit of corn that was drier than 20 per-cent. Seems like everything is going to haveto go through the dryer this fall for sure.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: We received astrong 1.5 inches of rain onThursday. That was the rain thatnobody around here wanted orneeded. Soybean harvesting gotstarted last week, but a lot of thebeans never got totally dry. Withthe beans barely mature andonly a couple of days of sun-

shine, the moisture just didn’t come out ofthem. Doesn’t look like there will be a lot ofwheat sowed in the area. We’re hoping forsunshine and dry weather. The markets haverallied a little bit with corn coming in at $3.84,soybeans at $10, and wheat at $4.68.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: Corn and soy-bean harvest and silage chop-ping were under way the firstpart of the week where crop andground conditions permitted. Alight frost on Sunday morning(Oct. 18) burned the top leavesof the soybeans and some of thecorn, but it was not a killing frost.

Rains began again on Thursday. Our gaugeshowed 1.5 inches of rain by Friday morning.Corn moisture is running very high. Goodyields are being reported on the early-har-vested crops. The yields on the late-plantedcrops in areas where it did not get rain duringAugust and September are questionable.Wheat planting is virtually over due to the wetsoil conditions and lateness of the season.Very little wheat was planted. More rains areexpected this week.

Bob Biehl, Belleville, St. Clair County: Another 2.3 inchesof rain kept the “rice patties” fulland saturated. We did have abonus week, though. We had twodays of corn shelling and twodays of bean combining. Cornplanted before Memorial Dayhad moistures of 21-23 percentand we did shell some 110-day

corn planted June 6 that was 27-28 percentmoisture. Bean combining went well lastTuesday, but Wednesday it was a littleraggedy with no sunshine all day. The nextday it was raining. Yields have been rightaround 50 on beans planted mid-June. Iguess we will have to switch to corn againafter the rain and mud it out for a couple ofdays. Oh, I forgot the biggest bonus of all —we had one day (Wednesday) to sow somewheat, and we got 75 acres out. We haven’tput on any fertilizer yet. We can put that on ata later date.

Ted Kuebrich, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Farmers inJersey County got with it in thegood weather at the first partof last week. It was Sunday(Oct. 18) before the grounddried out enough to be able torun the combine out in thefields. The beans that got frost-ed look like they were ripe but

moisture was running 18 to 20 percent. OnThursday it started to rain and it rained allday and night. Friday morning at 4:30 ithad rained 3 inches and it was still raining.Prices at Jersey County Grain, Hardin:October corn, $3.79; January corn, $3.95;June 2010 corn, $4.16; October beans,$10.07; January beans, $10.20; June 2010beans, $9.77.

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: The sump pumpsare at it again after an all-day rainevent Thursday yielded anotherone inch of rain in the gauge. Justwhen some fields were gettingpassable, the machines now willbe parked for awhile. A few havebeen working since last weekend(Oct. 17-18) in beans and a little

corn came out as well, but I doubt if 10 per-cent is in the bin around here. Virtually noother fieldwork is being accomplished, either.On the plus side, the temps did come up to amore seasonable level. We did have a goodcrop of the Asian lady beetles for a coupledays. What a nuisance they were. Have a safeweek wherever you are.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: Farmers had agood run on harvest earlier in theweek. Tremendous amount ofsoybeans were harvested in threeto three and a half days, but thatcame to an end at noon Thursdaywhen rain set in. I’m not optimisticon a lot of harvest with the fore-cast scheduling rain every other

day for several days. Farmers did, however,accomplish more in the three and a half dayslast week than they had in the three and a halfweeks proceeding. Still far less than 50 per-cent of the beans in the area have been har-vested and corn harvest remains well below25 percent. Moisture in corn still does notseem to be coming down, at least not at a veryrapid rate. The wet corn will create major prob-lems on the farm as well as at the elevator.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: As baseball leg-end Yogi Berra used to say, “It’sdeja vu all over again.” And itwas last week as rain showerscame into the area Thursdaystopping harvest progress.Producers started harvestingcornfields last weekend (Oct. 17-18). On Monday (Oct. 19), most

switched to beans and took out a very largepart of that crop ahead of the rain. Soybeanswere finally coming in at acceptable moisturelevels with yields all over the board. If wecould just get a handful of good days, farmerscould wrap up the bean harvest. Hopefully,those will come soon. Corn harvest has beenon and off again all season, yielding to thebean harvest whenever that has been possi-ble. Corn moistures were still in the 20 to 25percent range, forcing elevators to curtail wetcorn deliveries at times to catch up on drying.I’m afraid this will be an ongoing inconve-nience throughout corn harvesting as com-bine capacity has well outpaced dryingcapacity over the last few years.

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: As of Fridaymorning, we had received 2.3inches of rain. Around the area, itranged from 2 inches to 3.25inches. The creeks are runningfull. A lot of guys went to the fieldlast week for the first time. We gotabout 30 percent of our beansout and still haven’t started on

corn. Got one field down to 20 percent mois-ture that we would probably start on if we getthe opportunity. We still have some prettyhigh moistures in corn. A reminder: Cleanyour combines off. A leaf blower works realwell and takes a lot of dust and dirt off in ahurry. The elevators are up against their dri-ers. They keep filling up with wet corn. Itseems like they can’t hardly keep up and yetthe next morning they are usually open andready to go for another round. Many of ushave put up bins to handle the storage prob-lems, but now we are ending up with dryersbeing our bottleneck. Looking forward tosome colder temperatures.

Doug Uphoff, Shelbyville, Shelby County: It’s officially wet,soggy, soaked up — whateveryou want to call it — wet. We didmanage to get 70 percent of ourbeans cut. All of the beans thatwere ready were cut. I would saymost in the area were cut. Cornpicking is coming along.Moisture levels have fallen three

or four points in the last week. We are proba-bly 20 to 30 percent done with corn. We couldstand to miss a rain event. We have waterstanding in all the ponds now, so hopefully itwill dry out this week and we won’t have toworry about freezing weather to get the restof this crop put away. Be careful out there.

CROPWATCHERS


Reports received Friday morning.

The planting season reportedly is off to agood start in South America and early indica-tions suggest crop production there couldbounce back in a big way after poor yields thisyear.

The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange last weekprojected Argentine farmers will surpass the pre-vious record for soybean plantings by 7 percent.

Meanwhile, corn and soy crops in SouthAmerica are expected to get a boost from favor-able weather conditions produced from a mild ElNino.

“It’s going to be a much, much bigger crop” ifthe weather continues to be good, said MichaelCordonnier, president of Corn and SoybeanAdvisor Inc., during a webinar hosted by theCME Group in Chicago.

Cordonnier said corn and soybean productionin South America took a big hit this year due to a

credit crunch, which forced farmers to use lessfertilizer. The situation was compounded by dryconditions that sapped crop potential.

However, 2009/10 soybean production inSouth America could grow by more than 30 per-cent, according to Cordonnier.

Robert Wisner, ag economist at Iowa StateUniversity, recently projected South Americancrop production in 2009/10 compared to2008/09 could increase by 848 million bushelsfor soybeans and 94 million bushels for corn.

Wisner and Cordonnier predicted SouthAmerica, as a result, in the coming year could re-emerge as a major competitor of U.S. cropexports in the world market.

A large soybean crop in South America incoming months also could put downward pres-sure on prices and possibly affect the spring2010 planting mix in the U.S.

South American crop production projected to rise

PRODUCTION


Harvest delays may linger as weather remains ‘unsettled’BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Illinois farmers early lastweek finally received astretch of warm, breezy con-ditions, albeit a short one, todry the crops and brieflyshift harvest activity intohigh gear.

Yield reports generallywere good, although testweights were lower than nor-mal, as many farmers thefirst half of last weekworked “real late into thenight,” according to Bryce

Anderson, DTN meteorolo-gist.

The majority of the cropsin the state as of the first oflast week were mature (79 per-cent of the corn crop wasmature and 93 percent of soy-beans were shedding leaves)but farmers had harvested just11 percent of corn and 13percent of soybeans com-pared to the averages of 68percent and 79 percent,respectively.

“Farmers should takeadvantage of each minute pos-

sible because conditions aregoing to turn unfavorableagain,” Anderson said prior tothe rainfall late in the week.Rainfall totals ranged fromless than an inch to more than3 inches.

Anderson predicted the“unsettled” weather patternlikely would last at leastthrough the rest of thismonth, which means cool con-ditions and periods of rain areexpected to continue.

“This is not going to be areal favorable scenario,”

Anderson said. “Obviously,harvest is going to run prettylate.”

Harvest conditions couldimprove next month, althoughtemperatures likely will geteven colder, Anderson said.

Meanwhile, farmers whocontinue to struggle withpatches of moldy cornshould take extra precau-tions when harvesting andstoring the damaged grain,according to RichardStroshine, a professor in thedepartment of agricultural

and biological engineering atPurdue University.

“Farmers are going to haveto take extra precaution instoring and drying down theirgrain this year,” Stroshine said.

He recommended farmerswho have moldy corn adjusttheir combines to remove asmany of the fine particles aspossible; dry the grain downto 14 to 15 percent moisture;and try to segregate the dam-aged grain from the good cornfor handling, storage, and mar-keting purposes.

Input prices could be influenced by what happens this fallDavid Asbridge, president

and senior economist forNPK Fertilizer Advisory Ser-vice in Chesterfield, Mo.,believes operating costs toplant corn in 2010 will declineby about 3 percent.

His projection is based onan estimated 11.7 percentdecline in fertilizer costs and a5.7 percent drop in chemicalcosts.

However, Asbridge toldFarmWeek at the American

Farm Bureau Federation Com-modity Outlook Conference inAlbuquerque, N.M., the situa-tion could change based onwhat happens this fall.

Another poor fall fertiliza-tion season could put pressureon fertilizer supplies andprices next spring, accordingto the economist.

“Right now, it looks like it

will be a bad fall like last year,”Asbridge said. “I don’t thinkfarmers will have a lot ofchances to put down muchammonia (due to wet condi-tions and an extended harvestseason).”

Asbridge projected nitrogenprices could increase prior tonext spring, although not any-where near the record-highlevels experienced in the pastyear. A poor fall fertilizationseason also could wreak havocon supplies next spring andput more pressure on pricesfor urea and urea ammoniumnitrate (UAN), he said.

Asbridge suggested farmerswho have the opportunity maywant to start pricing nitrogenfor next spring. Those looking

to purchase potash may wantto wait, though, because hebelieves potash prices willcontinue a downward trend.

On the flipside, seed priceswere projected to continue anupward trend. Asbridge esti-mated seed costs for 2010 willincrease by 9.6 percent forcorn and 11.9 percent for soy-beans.

“With the growth ofbiotechnology, we’ve seen apretty good increase in seedcosts,” he said. “I think it willcontinue.” (See graph)

Farmers in some regionsof the country may plantmore corn and beans nextyear because of reducedwinter wheat plantings. Just13 percent of the winterwheat crop was planted inIllinois as of last week com-

pared to the average of 67percent.

Fuel costs also were pro-jected to increase next yearby 4.7 percent for corn and

8.5 percent for beans. But energy-related prices in

coming months shouldn’t bemuch higher than current lev-els. Asbridge predicted oilprices would remain around$75 per barrel or lower (oilprices last week climbed intothe low-$80 range for the firsttime in a year).

Natural gas prices alsocould creep up in comingmonths, but Asbridge sees noindication of a major jump inthat market. — Daniel Grant

FarmWeekNow.comListen to David Asbridge’s com-ments about the prospect forlower input costs in 2010 atFarmWeekNow.com.

AYRSHIRE EDUCATION

At right: Ernie Birchmeier, livestock and dairy specialist with the Michigan Farm Bureau, looks on as JanetJarratt of Albuquerque, N.M., owner of the nation’s largest Ayrshire dairy herd, explains her operation tothose attending a tour held during last week’s American Farm Bureau Federation Commodity Conference inAlbuquerque. The Jarratts milk 300 cows on their 350-acre farm. One innovation at the farm is a smallmethane digester, the effluent from which is diverted from the dry lot and treated in a large steel tank. Thetreated effluent supplies a man-made wetland constructed mainly with bulrushes. Methane from the di-gester eventually may be used to produce electricity for the operation. (Photos by Jim Fraley)

‘I don’t think farmers will have a lot of chancesto put down much (fall) ammonia.’

— David AsbridgeNPK Fertilizer Advisory Service

TRANSPORTATION


Remember: Fall back, stay alertSunday’s time change means it will get dark about 5:30 p.m. in the most

of state. That is another reason for farmers to becareful when moving equipment on rural roads andhighways during this long-delayed harvest season.

“A lot of farmwork is going to be done in the dark thisyear,” said Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson,who said he has yet to harvest the first acre of corn onhis LaSalle County farm.

Farmers should be sure equipment has propersafety markings and working lights to aler t otherdrivers.

The time change officially takes effect at 2 a.m. Sunday, when clocks areturned back one hour.

Shippers take rail fuel concerns to courts, CongressBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Rail customers are askingthe courts and Congress toaddress concerns aboutpotentially inflated rail-road fuel charges thatadd to the costs oftransporting crops.

A new Soy Trans-portation Coalitionreport estimated soyproduct shippersincurred $120 millionin “potentially exces-sive rail rates” in 2007alone.

Consumers Unitedfor Rail Equity Execu-tive Director Bob Szabo cit-ed concerns that majorfreight carriers in recentyears have recalculated fuel

there’s evidence to suggest— that the railroads quitcompeting for rail businessin 2003.

“They were said at that timeto have market power overtheir customers, and they

started a number of things tocrank up rates.”

In mid-2006, the SenateCommerce Committee con-ducted a hearing on theissue. Presiding Sen. TrentLott (R-Miss.) pledged con-gressional repercussions “ifI find out railroads are usingfuel surcharges to makemoney off shippers.”

In January 2007, the STBconcluded carriers had com-puted fuel surcharges as apercentage of base freightrates, in some cases “doubledipping” — applying bothsurcharges and rate increasesthat also included a “fuelcost component.”

It imposed surchargereporting requirements forClass I carriers but pre-scribed no index for measur-

ing fuel cost increases.Since then, Szabo said, the

STB has “done nothing” toensure repayment of over-charges to non-contractshippers. And while the STBoversees non-contracted

“tariff ” traffic, it has nojurisdiction over contractshipments.

Because STB-regulatedtraffic is exempt from fed-eral antitrust review, classaction attorneys havesought damages relatedsolely to contract-relatedovercharges between 2003and 2008, under antitruststatutes.

The U.S. House JudiciaryCommittee, meanwhile, pro-poses eliminating railantitrust exemptions — aSenate measure is on holdfor inclusion in a compre-hensive rail reform bill. Car-riers have unsuccessfullysought inclusion of provi-sions that would protectthem in ongoing lawsuits,Szabo reported.

surcharges, thus overcharg-ing for energy costs.

Surcharges are at the heartof a pending class action suit

against top carriers currentlyin the Washington federaldistrict court. Rail userscharge carriers with over-

charging for fuel in contractshipments that movedbetween 2003 and 2008, tothe purported tune of $6.5

billion to $7 billion. Shippers brought

their concerns beforethe regulatory U.S. Sur-face TransportationBoard (STB) in 2004-2005 to little avail.

“Fuel surchargeshave been a problemfor a long time, for allcustomers,” Szabo toldFarmWeek. “Shippersby and large have noproblem with payingfor actual increases in

the price of fuel. They havea lot of problem with payingmore.

“Shippers believe — and

‘Shippers by and large have no prob-lem with paying for actual increasesin the price of fuel. They have a lot ofproblem with paying more.’

— Bob SzaboConsumers United for Rail Equity

New STB chairman‘committed’ to change?

The new head of the federal SurfaceTransportation Board (STB) appears tohave the will to improve the rail regulator’s

image and “transparency”— with some potentialdirection from Congress.

Bob Szabo, executivedirector with Washington-based Consumers United forRail Equity, noted complaintsespecially among shippersthat the STB has been “toopassive, and, when it doesroll into action, too pro-rail-

road.” But new STB Chairman Daniel Elliott III has

announced the board would begin to hold pub-lic oral arguments to enable parties in rail dis-putes to provide input before STB commission-ers make a decision.

The “public forum” process, similar tooral arguments in federal appellate courts,should help “demystify the process,”Elliott said.

After discussions with the new chair-man, Szabo concluded Elliott is “commit-ted to making (the STB) more proactive.”Anticipated STB reforms spearheaded bySenate Commerce Chairman Jay Rocke-

feller (D-W.Va.), whose committee con-firmed Elliott, would provide “the meansand the powers by which the STB wouldbecome more proactive,” Szabo toldFarmWeek.

Rockefeller charges many shippers have littleability to negotiate with carriers over termsbecause freight is “captive” to a single rail line.He favors the STB giving more weight to ship-per rate and service complaints and expandingthe agency’s staff.

“Rockefeller’s been angry about the cap-tive rail issue the entire 25 years he’s beenin the Senate,” Szabo said. “(Rockefeller’s)committed to fixing the problem.

The STB’s first oral arguments, scheduledthis week, involve Entergy ArkansasInc./Entergy Services Inc. vs. Union PacificRailroad and Missouri and Northern ArkansasRailroad Co. — a dispute surrounding Westerncoal shipped to Entergy’s Northeast Arkansaspower plant.

Elliott said he plans to review other STBpolicies, as well, to ensure they’re as “inclusiveand open” as possible. The STB has created anew Rail Customer and Public Assistance Pro-gram page on its website to enable customers toquickly report problems with rail service. —Martin Ross

Daniel Elliott III

EMERGING ISSUES


Notice of Annual Meeting

Illinois Agricultural Association

Notice is hereby given that the annualmeeting of the members of theIllinois Agricultural Association willbe held in the Hyatt Regency Hotel,151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago,Illinois 60601, on Saturday, December5, Sunday, December 6, Monday,December 7, and Tuesday, December8, 2009 with the official meeting ofvoting delegates convening at 8:00a.m. on Monday, December 7, for thefollowing purposes:To receive, consider and, if approved,ratify and confirm the reports of theofficers and the acts and proceedingsof the Board of Directors and officersin furtherance of the matters thereinset forth since the last annual meetingof the Association.To elect nine (9) members of theBoard of Directors to serve for a termof two years.To elect a President and a VicePresident, who shall also serve asdirectors, for a term of two years.To consider and act upon such pro-posed amendments to the Articles ofIncorporation or to the Bylaws of theIllinois Agricultural Associationand upon such policy resolutions asmay be properly submitted.For the transaction of such other busi-ness as may properly come beforethe meeting.

James M. JacobsSecretary

BEFORE THE RAIN

Prior to late-week rains, combines were in fields in many parts of Illinois last week. This one, east ofBloomington with wind turbines in the background, actually was combining soybeans. The telephotolens creates an optical illusion that makes it appear the machine is in the cornfield in the foreground.Rain throughout the state brought a halt to the first continuous string of days farmers had to get intothe fields this season. Harvest of corn statewide was at 11 percent completed and soybeans at 13percent completed as last week began, well behind the average of last year. Some farmers, particu-larly those in the northern half of the state, had yet to harvest their first acre of corn. (Photo by KenKashian)

Community colleges see record enrollment boom BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

John Wood Community College saw a record 14 percentincrease in full-time equivalency (FTE) students on its Quincycampus this fall.

Statewide, community colleges reported an all-time recordnumber of 223,353 FTE students, a statewide increase of 9.5percent, according to recently released data from the IllinoisCommunity College Board.

To calculate FTE students, a community college divides thetotal number of students’ credit hours by 15, the number ofsemester hours considered a full-time class load. That datahave been reported since 1965.

Not only are community college students taking more class-es this year, but there are more students overall. Enrollment ofall students, both full-time and part-time, reached 380,000 — a27-year record high and a 6.4 percent increase over the fall2008 enrollment.

“As long as the economy stays flat or worse and jobs are influx, the (enrollment) trend may not be as dramatic, but it willcontinue,” said Steve Morse with the Illinois Community Col-lege Board.

John Letts, vice president for student services at JohnWood, speculated the economy is driving enrollment increas-es at his college.

Many unemployed workers are taking classes to beretrained for another career, Letts said.

In addition, the poor economy also is increasing the num-ber of traditional students earning their first college credits.“Community colleges offer a reasonably priced alternative”for a college education, Letts said.

Letts noted the number of student veterans also hasincreased as those students take advantage of the new GIbill.

Nearly all of the 48 community colleges in the statereported increases in FTE students. Of those, 25 saw dou-ble-digit increases this fall compared with last year. Thoseincreases range from 29.4 percent at McHenry County Col-lege, Crystal Lake, to 11.3 percent at College of Lake County,Grayslake.

Nineteen community colleges experienced double-digitenrollment increases in full- and part-time students.

John Wood has handled the influx of students because theadministration planned ahead and hired additional part-time fac-ulty after fall enrollment numbers started climbing in late Marchand early April, Letts explained.

Colleges are doing their best to meet students’ needs, butincreased numbers of students are straining the institutions’budgets during difficult financial times, Morse noted.

“It’s ironic when demand is the greatest, the funding tends tonot be there,” Morse said.

The full fall enrollment report is available online at{www.iccb.org}.

Show pig tests positive for H1N1

Vilsack: ‘U.S. pork is safe to eat’advised to visit the website{www.pork.org}.

Elsewhere, the CanadianFood Inspection Agency lastweek confirmed a flock ofturkeys in a single barn inOntario had the H1N1 virus.

The only symptom in theinfected Canadian flock was adecrease in egg production.There was no illness or mor-tality of the turkeys associat-ed with the virus.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsacklast week again stressed that“pork is safe to eat” afterUSDA confirmed the presenceof the H1N1 flu in a samplefrom a show pig.

The sample that tested posi-tive for H1N1 was collectedduring the Minnesota StateFair and submitted to USDAby the University of Minneso-ta.

Officials speculated the pig,which showed no sign of ill-ness, contracted the virus fromsome of the nearly 1.8 millionpeople who attended the fair.

It is the first finding of thenovel H1N1 virus in a U.S. pig.The virus previously was con-firmed in swine samples inArgentina and Canada.

The infection of the fair pigdoes not suggest infection ofthe commercial herd becauseshow pigs and commerciallyraised pigs are in separate seg-ments of the swine industrythat typically do not inter-change personnel or animalstock, according to USDA.

Vilsack said he hopes the

finding doesn’t diminish U.S.pork exports, which are vitalto the struggling industry.

“We have fully engaged ourtrading partners to remindthem that several internationalorganizations, including theWorld Organization for Ani-mal Health, have advised thatthere is no scientific basis torestrict trade in pork and porkproducts,” Vilsack said. “Peo-ple cannot get this flu fromeating pork or pork products.”

A number of countries,including China and Russia,banned imports of U.S. porkthis spring when H1N1 wasconfirmed in the U.S. Most ofthe trade restrictions were lift-ed prior to the recent finding.

Meanwhile, the NationalPork Producers Councilurged pork producers totighten existing biosecurityprotocols, such as restrictingpublic access to barns, toprotect their pigs from thevirus.

Pork producers who wantmore information aboutdealing with H1N1 flu were

Equestrian Lifestyle Expo names speakerMary Midkiff, an award-winning author and international

trainer from Louisville, Ky., will be among the industry leadersto speak at the Equestrian Lifestyle Expo and Holiday Market,Nov. 21-22, at the Lake County Fairgrounds, Grayslake. Theevent is coordinated by the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois.

In addition to speakers, the expo will offer equestrian equip-ment, feed, and services for current horse owners and thosewho want to own or ride a horse.

One-day tickets are $8; two-day, $14. They may be purchasedonline with a credit card or at the door with cash only.

More information is available online at{www.HorsemensCouncil.org} or by calling toll free 1-866-384-9161.

Marcy Heepke, Edwards-ville; Lori Nelson, Mechanics-burg; and Peter Veit,Naperville, were named direc-tors for the Illinois EquineIndustry Research and Promo-tion Board, according toKaren Freese, boardchairman.

Heepke will represent thepleasure horse industry in thesouthern region. She owns Tri-angle H Farm, a riding, train-ing, boarding, and educa-tion facility.

Nelson will represent theshow horse industry in thecentral region. She owns andoperates Lori Nelson Trainingat Stoney Creek Farm andoffers training, clinics, lessons,and boarding.

Veit will represent the trail

and pleasure industry in thenorthern region. He has beeninvolved in the horse industryfor more than 30 years as anowner and participant in foxhunting, trail riding, horsecamping, and showing.

Retiring from the boardare Penny Boyer, Southern Illi-nois, working horses; LoisGuyon, Northern Illinois,pleasure horses; and SteveHollewell, Northern Illinois,show horses.

Applications are beingaccepted for director seats thatexpire in 2010. Applicationforms are available online at{www.HorsemensCouncil.org}or by requesting them fromthe Equine Promotion Board,3085 Stevenson Drive, Suite305, Springfield, Ill., 62703.

Equine board names directors

CARBON TRADING


Delta Institute, state climate initiative finding niches BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

The Delta Institute and theIllinois Conservation and Cli-mate Initiative (ICCI) are find-ing markets for stored carboncredits in spite of future mar-ket uncertainties.

“We’re going to stay outthere and keep innovating,because we think it’s best foreverybody,” Ryan Anderson ofthe Delta Institute toldFarmWeek.

Anderson said Delta con-tinues to enroll landowners inthe carbon sequestration pro-gram and to field inquiriesfrom others who are interest-ed in the program.

Meanwhile, AgraGate Cli-mate Credits Corp., a sub-sidiary of the Iowa FarmBureau Federation, has sus-pended enrollments (seeaccompanying article).

Under ICCI, farmers arepaid for storing carbon in soil,trees, and grass, thus reducingthe level of carbon dioxidegoing into the atmosphere.Illinois launched its programin 2006.

The sixth trading pool ofcredits is small and hasremained open as a courtesyto farmers who are busy withharvest, Anderson said.

Anderson acknowledgedthe carbon credit market ischanging and prices haveplummeted from $7 per ton18 months ago down to 10cents a ton recently.

Buyer interest is shifting tocarbon stored in managed for-est land, according to Ander-son. Likewise, Delta Institute

has seen increased interest incarbon credit trading bylandowners who have existingwoodlands, he added.

Delta Institute envisionswoodland carbon trading as aneconomic development toolfor rural areas and providinglandowners with conservationincentives, Andersonexplained.

Another change in the car-bon market has been growinginterest in what farmers wouldcall an identity-preservedproduct. Aggregators aregoing through brokers seekingspecific types of carbon cred-its or carbon stored in specificlocations, according to Ander-son.

“We’re able to sell credits

Iowa-based AgraGate Climate CreditsCorp., an aggregator of carbon credits, is notsigning new contracts but continues to serve4,000 active ones, including some in Illinois,the chief science officer told FarmWeek.

“It makes no sense to ask farmers to signnew commitments,” said Miller, a farmer whoorganized the program for the Iowa FarmBureau Federation (IFBF). AgraGate is a sub-sidiary of IFBF.

Prices for carbon credits traded on the

Chicago Climate Exchange have collapsedbecause buyers are uncertain about pendingcongressional legislation that may affect themarket. AgraGate stopped signing new con-tracts in June, Miller said.

“Our focus is on serving the 4,000 activecontracts,” Miller said. “We’re still around anddoing everything we’ve been doing.”

There will be no new contracts “until we getmore clarity from the federal government,” headded. — Kay Shipman

Iowa carbon program not signing new contracts

because we can differentiateourselves. We segregate creditsout,” Anderson said.

Delta is able to identify notonly the types of carbonstored, such as in trees orsoil, and the locations, butalso the year, known in the

market as “vintage.” For example, a call may

come for 100,000 tons of vin-tage 2006-2008 credits and allthe credits would sell at once,Anderson explained.

“Soil (credits) range from 20cents a ton, and we got some

out at $2 a ton,” he said.Delta Institute plans to con-

tinue adapting to a changingcarbon credit market. “It’spositioning us well going for-ward,” Anderson said. “We canmove quickly depending onwhere the market goes.”

New Holland launches bale ID

New Holland Agriculturehas launched a new productsystem, CropID, that identifiesindividual large, square haybales via microchips.

Using radio frequency tech-nology, CropID collectsdetailed information about abale and stores it in amicrochip attached to thetwine.

The system works by encas-ing a microchip and its antennain a tag that’s wrapped aroundthe twine when a bale is tied.

A precision informationprocessor stores informationabout a bale, including an iden-tification number, a field num-ber or name, the date and timeof baling, the bale weight, thehigh and average moisture con-tent, and the amount of preser-vative applied, if any.

A hand-held scanner readsbale tag information, while aloader-mounted scanner iscapable of reading three baletags at a time from up to 10feet away.

AROUND THE STATE


LOTS OF PUMPKIN PIES HERE

Harry Stuenkel, left, and Don Zeldenrust admire the 626-pound pumpkin grown by Roger Freemanthat took first place in this year’s Cook County Farm Bureau Giant Pumpkin Contest. Perhaps indica-tive of the weather this year, the winning pumpkin in 2009 was considerably smaller than the previouswinners in 2007 and 2008. Those topped the scales at 661 pounds and 820.5 pounds, respectively.(Photo courtesy of Cook County Farm Bureau)

Illinois’ green economy strong in finance, industry BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Illinois has green economic muscles in the finance and indus-trial sectors, according to a recent green economic profile by theNational Governors Association (NGA).

However, the report’s economic data did not include feed-stock-based biofuels or sustainable agriculture production.

“It’s (green economy) a complex topic. There is no one defin-ition of green, and states are grappling with that,” Sue Ganderwith NGA’s Center for Best Practices told FarmWeek.

Gander, director of the energy, environment, and naturalresources division, emphasized the center developed state greeneconomy profiles as a starting point for discussions and strategicplanning.

Each profile divides a state’s green economy into 15 seg-ments, such as finance and transportation, and focuses on busi-nesses that provide alternatives to carbon-based energy sources,conserve energy and natural resources, and reduce pollution andrecycle waste.

Collaborative Economics, the California-based consultingfirm that prepared the profiles, didn’t include data related tofeedstock-based biofuels because of the food vs. fuel controver-sy, explained Tracey Grose, the firm’s vice president of researchand strategic development.

Illinois’ green economy is populated with diverse businesses,according to the profile. One of the state’s strongest green sec-tors is finance and investment, which includes emission trading,venture capital, and project financing.

The profile also noted the state has a competitive advantagein its green manufacturing and industrial and transportation sec-tors, the latter of which includes motor vehicles and equipment.

The report suggested deeper analysis of the state’s leadinggreen sectors could highlight areas of specialization and indicatepromising areas for development and growth.

For example, much of California’s solar industry came fromits semiconductor industry because the technologies are closelyrelated, the report noted.

Illinois also has notable venture capital investment in cleantechnology. In 2008, Illinois had nearly $87 million invested inclean technology, ranking eighth in the nation. In addition, near-ly 85 green technology patents were registered in Illinoisbetween 2006 and 2008.

“We’re trying to emphasize that green economies are com-plex, and there are multiple players. It’s not just industry ordevelopment,” Gander said.

“We’re working to connect workforce and economic develop-ment with the environmental sector and encouraging them towork with the universities.”

“The challenge is to tie it together,” Gander summarized.

Saline/Gallatin AITC raises$3,000 in golf scrambleBY DAVE MEEKER

The Saline/Gallatin Farm Bureau Foundation and Ag in theClassroom (AITC) program raised $3,000 in a recent golf scram-ble at the Saline County Golf and Country Club in Eldorado.

Twelve teams took part in the scramble, which was won by theCountry Financial team ofKevin Sherwood, Eric Bran-nock, Joe Tison, and MarkGoldman. The winners received$75 per person plus a plaque.

Members of the second-place team, Gallatin County YoungLeaders Joe Raben, Kyle Drone, Matt Duffy, and John Neuman,each received $40 plus a plaque.

Funds for the program stay in the Saline and Gallatin Countyareas. The money is used for scholarships, teacher training, con-ferences for teachers, and funding for in-class AITC programs inall schools in the two counties.

“The Saline/Gallatin Foundation would like to thank all thesponsors and volunteers who made the event possible. Officialthank yous will be published in local publications,” said DaveMeeker, manager of the county Farm Bureaus in both counties.

Dave Meeker is manager of Saline and Gallatin County FarmBureaus. He can be reached at 618-272-3531 (Gallatin) or 618-252-6992 (Saline).

FROM THE COUNTIES


COOK — The annualmember appreciation

banquet will begin at 5:30 p.m.Wednesday, Nov. 4, at theCotillion, Palatine, with asilent auction and appetizers.Proceeds from the silent auc-tion will benefit scholarships,internships, and Ag in theClassroom program. Dinnerchoices are pork, chicken, orpasta. Frank Pisani will pro-vide the entertainment. Costis $12. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 708-354-3276 forreservations or more informa-tion.

CUMBERLAND —Seats are available for

the Nov. 11 bus trip to Chica-go. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 849-3031 by Tuesdayfor reservations or more infor-mation.

HENRY — Bureau,Henry, Knox, and

Stark County Farm Bureaus,the University of IllinoisExtension, and Black HawkEast (BHE) will sponsor aseries of three equine semi-nars from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.Thursdays, Nov. 5, 12, and 19,in the Black Hawk East ag are-na. There is no charge for 4-H and FFA members. Costfor others is $9 per session or$20 for all three sessions. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 309-937-2411 for reservations ormore information.

KANE — Farmers canbring their crop to five

grain elevators in and aroundKane County to be able todonate to Kane County FarmBureau’s Harvest for ALL pro-gram. Pledge forms to donatea portion of the proceeds to aKane County food pantry oftheir choice will be available atparticipating elevators. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 630-584-8660 or visit the website{www.kanecfb.com} for eleva-tor locations.

LASALLE — WendySanders, optometrist,

has joined the LaSalle CountyFarm Bureau discount pro-gram. She will offer a 15 per-cent discount on goods andvision-related services. It can-not be combined with healthinsurance. Dr. Sanders islocated at 641 First St.,LaSalle. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 433-0371 for moreinformation.

LIVINGSTON —Farm Bureau, Bank of

Pontiac, and Pontiac FirstUnited Methodist Church willcollect international phonecards to send to military per-sonnel. Monetary contribu-tions may be mailed to PhoneCards for Troops, LivingstonCounty Farm Bureau, PO Box410, Pontiac, Ill. 61764. Carepackages also will be sent totroops for Christmas. Call theFarm Bureau office at 815-842-1103 for items needed.

Deadline to send or bring con-tributions is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

PEORIA — A healthclinic will be Wednes-

day at the Farm Bureau audi-torium. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 686-7070 for anappointment for tetanus andpneumonia vaccines. Flu vac-cine reservations are full.

• Dr. Donald Crane willgive a presentation on healthcare reform at 1 p.m., Wednes-day, Nov. 4, at the FarmBureau auditorium. Call theFarm Bureau office for moreinformation.

• The annual meeting will beat 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, atthe Dunlap High School. Tick-ets are $10 and must be pur-chased by Wednesday, Nov. 4.

ROCK ISLAND —The Rock Island Coun-

ty Farm Bureau Foundation

will sponsor its Harvest Galafundraiser at 6 p.m. Friday,Nov. 6, at the iWireless Center,Moline. Darryl and KarenAnderson will present the pro-gram on their experience withAgriculture in the Classroom.Silent and live auctions will beheld. Donated items for theauctions will be accepted.Tickets are $50 per person,which includes reserved park-ing, and must be purchased byThursday. Call the FarmBureau office at 309-736-7432for reservations or more infor-mation.

SCHUYLER — TheSchuyler County Exten-

sion will sponsor a wildlifenuisance control seminar at 3p.m. Thursday at its office,Rushville. Call the office at217-322-3381 for reservationsor more information.

STEPHENSON — Flushots will be available

from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and from 3to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4,at the Farm Bureau office.Cost is $20 for members and$25 for non-members.

• A hearing screening willbe from 7 to 9:30 a.m. andfrom 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday,Nov. 4, at the Farm Bureauoffice. Advanced HearingHealthcare will offer membersa free ear exam, hearingscreening, and consultation.No appointments are neces-sary.

• A defensive driving coursewill be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov.17-18, at the Farm Bureauoffice. Doug Sommer will bethe instructor. Cost is $15 formembers and $20 for non-members. Lunch will be pro-

vided. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 815-232-3186 forreservations or more informa-tion.

VERMILION — TheVermilion County

Farm Bureau Foundation willsponsor its annual silent auc-tion during the annual meetingon Nov. 23. Current itemsinclude an Illini basketballsigned by Coach Bruce Weber,an Americana comforter set,and a set of desserts preparedby Sheila Lane. If you have anitem to donate, call the FarmBureau office at 217-442-8713so items may be publicizedprior to the auction.

“From the counties” items aresubmitted by county Farm Bureaumanagers. If you have an event oractivity open to all members, contactyour county manager.

PROFITABILITY


Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*

Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $24.00-$34.23 $29.2840 lbs. $30.00-$36.50 $33.5050 lbs. n/a n/aReceipts This Week Last Week

24,200 21,529*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

MARKET FACTS

Confirmed lamb and sheep salesThis week 895 Last week 989 Last year 693Wooled Slaughter Lambs: Choice and Prime 2-3: 90-110 lbs, $98; 110-130 lbs.,$91.50-$92.75. Good and Choice 1-2: 60-90 lbs., $105. Slaughter Ewes: Utilityand Good 1-3: $28-$30. Cull and Utility 1-2: $28.

Lamb prices

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

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $49.58 $48.26 1.32Live $36.69 $35.71 0.98

Export inspections

(Million bushels)Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn10-15-09 39.1 18.6 24.610-08-09 25.3 18.9 23.3Last year 45.0 19.0 31.7Season total 104.2 332.6 238.8Previous season total 97.9 502.6 229.8USDA projected total 1305 900 2150Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

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

Steers 85.83 81.90 3.93Heifers 85.85 81.24 4.61

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 Change93.29 93.59 -0.30

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs.

World will produce another China by 2030BY ROD WELLS

At the beginning of Octo-ber, I had an opportunity tohear someone speak on thegrowing world population and

the continuedneed forincreasedfood produc-tivity.

It wasn’tthe first timeI had seen apresentationon this topic,

but it held my interest like noother time before.

I don’t know why; maybe itwas out of some hidden desire

to turn the page on the verychallenging season we’ve facedin agriculture, maybe thespeaker presented the infor-mation in a better format, orperhaps it was another reasonthat I don’t recognize.

Updated growth rates indi-cate the world population willgrow from today’s 6.8 billionto almost 8.2 billion by 2030.This is the equivalent ofadding another China to theworld’s population in 20years.

By 2050, the populationnumber is expected to reachalmost 9.3 billion. Thismeans that by 2040, the pro-

duction of crops worldwidewill need to double. Putanother way, by some esti-mates, we will need to pro-duce more food in the next50 years than has been grownin the last 10,000 years!

That is almost an incompre-hensible number. The U.S.farmer will need to produce 55percent of the world’s cornand 45 percent of the world’ssoybeans to meet these futureneeds, according to the speak-er. What an awesome respon-sibility all of us in agriculturehave to meet these productionneeds.

Today, the expanding world

population has cut the grainland area per person to aboutl/4 acre — the size of a typi-cal suburban yard.

It is interesting to note thehigher productivity per unit ofland has been achieved byusing 30 percent less energythan just a decade ago. As hasbeen stated many times, U.S.farmers are truly environmen-talists.

At the end of the day, per-haps the reason the talk res-onated with me so much thistime is that it is easy to getcaught up in the day-to-dayactivities we all face.

We worry about fertilizer

costs, late harvest, ear rots,high crop protection prices,falling grain prices, and on andon.

These things must certainlybe managed, but from time totime it does us good to refo-cus on the longer-term out-look. And while that outlookprovides challenges for all ofus involved in this crazy busi-ness, it looks pretty darn posi-tive for our industry fromwhere I sit.

Rod Wells is GROWMARK’sdirector of agronomy sales andoperations. His e-mail address [email protected].

Outlook for food needs

Rod Wells

FAS economist: Export market vital to farm economyBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The export market was akey to record farm income in2008 and it will be an equallyimportant component of eco-nomic recovery in the ag sec-tor in 2009 and beyond.

That’s according to MichaelDwyer, director and chiefeconomist of USDA’s ForeignAgricultural Service (FAS).

Exports each of the lasttwo years accounted for asmuch as 33 percent of cashreceipts in the farm sectorcompared to about 25 percentin prior years, Dwyer toldFarmWeek during the Ameri-

can Farm Bureau Federationcommodity outlook confer-ence in Albuquerque, N.M.

“The economic health ofAmerican producers isabsolutely tied to foreign sup-ply and demand factors,”Dwyer said.

U.S. ag exports are project-ed to slip from a record-high$115.5 billion in 2008 to $97.5billion this year and $97 billionin 2010.

The current export fore-casts for 2009 and 2010 stillare the second and third high-est on record despite the slidefrom last year.

“The global economic crisis

plus increased competition haveclearly hurt exports in 2009,”Dwyer said. “But exports stillare up 100 percent since the lastglobal slowdown (which wastied to the Asian financial crisis)in the mid- to late-’90s.”

Meanwhile, U.S. ag trade isprojected to remain at surpluslevels of $21.5 billion this yearand $15 billion in 2010 becauseU.S. imports of ag productsfor the first time are projectedto experience a year-over-yeardecline from $81 billion in2008 to $76 billion this year.

“Agriculture and aircraft arethe only two net export indus-tries left in the U.S.,” Dwyernoted.

U.S. ag imports in comingyears are projected to increase.But Dwyer noted the bulk ofag products imported into theU.S. — such as coffee, cocoa,

bananas, rubber, andprocessed food and beverages— do not compete withAmerican farm products.

Overall, the FSA econo-mist predicted U.S. ag willremain a net exporter as theeconomy and demandrebounds around the world.

“Most of the growth in agexports the last 10 years hastaken place in emerging mar-kets,” he said. “Once the glob-al recession ends, risingincomes and population willlead to rapid growth of themiddle class and boost foreignag demand.”

U.S. farm expenses this year are expected todrop $11 billion from the record high set a yearago, according to Joe Glauber, USDA chiefeconomist.

But the savings from lower fertilizer andchemical costs likely won’tincrease overall profitability.

In fact, farm income isexpected to decline significant-ly from last year’s record ascash receipts are projected toplummet due to a sharp drop incommodity prices.

“Expenses are down (thisyear compared to last year), butnot nearly enough to make up

for the decline in cash receipts of $40 billion,”Glauber told FarmWeek recently during theAmerican Farm Bureau Federation commodityoutlook conference in Albuquerque, N.M.

USDA projected cash receipts this year willdecline by a staggering $22 billion in the live-stock sector and $18 billion in the crop sector.

The livestock sector in particular has strug-gled with higher feed prices on top of lower

meat prices and reduced demand, the chiefeconomist noted.

“Both sectors have been hit very hard, butcertain sectors are doing better than other sec-tors,” he said.

Cash receipts this year are expected todecline by $12 billion in the dairy sector, $5 bil-lion in the beef sector, $3 billion in the poultrysector, and $2 billion in the hog sector.

“The implication of all that is total farmequity is down 4 percent in 2009 compared to2008,” Glauber said.

Fortunately, farmers’ current debt-to-assetratios are much healthier than in the farm crisis ofthe 1980s. But Glauber noted, “There are farmerslooking at extremely tight credit situations.”

He predicted the livestock markets willbegin to recover by year’s end or sometimeduring 2010 as demand slowly recovers fromthe ongoing recession. He also predicteddemand for grain and oilseeds will remainstrong.

“Farm income should improve in 2010 ifinput prices don’t spike as they did in 2008,” headded. — Daniel Grant

Glauber: Lower costs won’t offset drop in cash receipts on U.S. farms

Joe Glauber

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CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

�2009 crop: We are start-ing to sense that “lagging har-vest emotion” could peaksoon. Other than a fewinstances, good harvest rallieslike this one have tended to begood selling opportunities. Ifweather emotion would carryDecember futures to $4.40,boost your sales to 50 per-cent. We could adjust thattarget at any time on the CashStrategist Hotline. Be sure tocheck it frequently. Becauseof the large futures carry, ahedge-to-arrive contract for aApril/May/June delivery maybe the best pricing strategy. Ifyou are a cash seller, be sureto check forward bids, too.

�Fundamentals: Weatheris the primary variable carry-ing prices higher. The slowerharvest progresses, the higherfield losses might be. Theoutside markets are still psy-chologically supportive, butthey have indirect fundamen-tal influences as well. Soybean Strategy

�2009 crop: If weatherand outside market influencesdrive prices higher yet, con-sider adding to sales. Leaveorders to price another 20percent if November soy-beans hit $10.90. Like corn,it’s rarely a mistake to sell aharvest rally. Because of that,we could change the recom-mendation at any time. Checkthe Cash Strategist Hotline fre-quently. Unlike corn, there’sno “carry” in futures, makingnearby sales more attractivethan distant ones.

�Fundamentals: The slowharvest pace is the primary fun-damental carrying prices higherat this time. Still, if the pacepicks up, the market will easilyabsorb inventories coming intothe pipeline because of thelarge commitments on thebooks. If the harvest were toremain slow, the risk will start toincrease that soybean and prod-uct exports might not reachcurrent expectations. We hearthat Brazilian farmers are plant-ing more early-maturity soy-beans to take advantage of thepremiums in their cash market.Wheat Strategy

�2009 crop: Wheat con-

tinued its upward trend onsupport from the weaker dol-lar and ongoing liquidation ofold short futures positions.Use current strength to makecatch-up sales. Now thatDecember futures have pene-trated $5.70, we may recom-mend additional sales. Checkthe Cash Strategist Hotline daily,we could pull the trigger atanytime.

�2010 crop: If ChicagoJuly futures approach $6.50,we might recommend an ini-tial sale.

�Fundamentals: Export

sales are showing signs ofpicking up. Continue to keepan eye on soft red wheat plant-ing.

For the second year in a row,acreage could decline sharply.Rains are keeping producersfrom harvesting row crops, pre-venting wheat from beingplanted. It may be more diffi-cult to get a good stand if thecrop is planted in saturatedsoils.

Even then, the later it’splanted, the less growth itmight have before going dor-mant, making it more suscepti-ble to winter kill.

Just like planting, harvest hasbecome a “tale of two cities” —maybe even three. The pace ofcorn and soybean harvest is theslowest since USDA begankeeping national data in 1974.

Producers in the heart ofthe Corn Belt are feeling thebrunt of the difficulties, justlike they did at planting. Thebest progress has been in thewestern Corn Belt. Easternproducers are faring less well,but are still doing better thanthose in the center.

Last year’s corn harvestclosely followed 1979’s record

Basis charts

slow pace. This year’s earlypace is well off the pace ofboth of those years.

Unlike corn, last year’s soy-bean harvest was close to thefive-year average because thewarm, dry pattern sped thecrop to maturity. This year’sharvest so far has closely fol-lowed 1977’s record slow pace.But given the weather of thelast week, it’s likely to fall offthat pace in subsequent weeks.

This slow beginning to har-vest is causing problems forgrain merchandisers, those deal-ing with soybeans in particular.

The U.S. has huge soybeanand product export commit-ments to fill this year, mostlyin the next few months. Theslow soybean harvest has keptproducts from entering thepipeline, subduing the crushand export pace, while keepingbasis levels firm.

The situation is a littleworse in the middle of theCorn Belt, where competitionbetween exporters and proces-sors is greatest. Unless theweather changes, that’s unlike-ly to change soon.

For corn, it isn’t just wetweather but the lagging matu-rity and high moisture contentthat is slowing harvest. Theability to harvest the croprapidly isn’t a problem; theability to process it is. Thatshould limit harvest all fall.

Cents per bu.

Slowest harvest on record

PERSPECTIVES


Thirty years ago in 1979, the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations issued a proclama-tion declaring World Food Day to heighten publicawareness of the world problem of hunger and malnu-

trition.The problem was real then and it still is. One billion people — one in six — in

the world today don’t get enough food tobe healthy. Each year, 11 million childrendie before reaching the age of 5. A hun-gry mind cannot concentrate. Hungrybodies don’t have the energy to work.

We all know that you can’t fix a prob-lem unless you know what causes it.Natural disasters, such as floods,droughts, and tsunamis, and wars all

contribute to hunger.There is war in the eastern Congo now with nearly a

million killed and 900,000 displaced. The misery inZimbabwe was forced upon a nation that had been a

food exporter until President Mugabe confiscated thefarms and gave them to his friends and the landlesspoor. Not a surprise, they don’t know how to run afarm.

We are not going to be able to put an end to naturaldisasters or even nation conflicts, but there are twothings we can do. We can deliver food to the needywhen disaster strikes. We do that now through theWorld Food Program.

I serve on the board of the Friends of the WorldFood Program, and I can tell you the World Food Pro-gram does a terrific job.

The other thing that must be done, or we will nevermake any progress in combating world hunger, is help-ing poor, backward countries improve their agriculturalproduction.

I have been in Africa several times. Their tiny gar-den-type farms hardly produce enough to feed thefamily that tends the crop. In comparison, one farm inthe U.S. produces enough food for 150 people.

Those countries’ farms desperately need the scienceand technology that has made ours great. In most cas-es, they don’t have hybrid seeds; they don’t use com-mercial fertilizer; they don’t control weeds and pestswith chemicals. They need genetically engineeredseeds.

Commercial science-based agriculture has beenunder assault recently by some high-profile elites thatpretend to know something. They don’t seem to havemuch compassion for the world’s hungry.

World Food Day reminds us that if you “give a mana fish, you feed him for a day; teach him to fish andyou feed him for a lifetime.”

John Block of Gilson, a former U.S. agriculture secretary in theReagan administration, is a senior policy adviser with the Wash-ington, D.C., firm of Olsson, Frank, Weeda, and Terman,which specializes in ag issues. His e-mail address [email protected].

Is environmental legislationdriven by a socialist agenda?Editor:

Farmland preservationsounds wise. But, it’s actually ahighly restrictive zoning pro-gram that’s sweeping an unsus-pecting country.

It strips you of your right todevelop your property for anypurpose other than farming asit’s zoned strictly tillable. Thisis far from wise because youget nothing in return.

Worse-case scenario:Landowners are being set up

for the socialist reformation.Imagine the near future

when all this ground is zonedtillable. With a stroke of thealmighty government’s pen,farming becomes unprof-itable.

Your land values plummet,and the government steps inand buys it up, nationalizingthe new farming collectivefor the good of the people.

Cap-and-trade legislationand greenhouse gas regula-tions also are an immediatecause for concern. There are

huge numbers of scientistswho disagree with the viabili-ty of the science.

What little carbon isreleased is negligible com-pared to the devastating gov-ernment taxing structure,totally unrealistic, given thefacts. It defies the farmer’sbest friends, logic and com-mon sense.

Follow the money: Carbontrading is the business ofglobal warming, a socialistmechanism to redistributewealth with virtually no envi-

ronmental effect on the plan-et.

Everyone should Google“The Report from IronMountain.” This is a leakedreport from a U.S. govern-ment think tank (published in1967) charged with comingup with a way to keep every-one subject to government ina socialist/communist “oneworld order.”

The solution, “create acredible environmental threatto the planet.” Not necessar-ily true, just believable. The

plan from 1967 is beingimplemented today!

Americans should organizeand fight this egregious legis-lation. It’s a hoax! It’s a signof the socialist times!

Rise up freedom-lovingAmericans; unite against abipartisan government thathas sold us out and is nolonger working for theRepublic.

The corruption and lies areevident at every turn.MARK THOMPSON,Dewey

Letter to the editor

Oscar Wilde once said thatambition is the last refuge offailure.

Next month, the Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO)of the United Nations will meetin Rome to announce the goalof eradicating hunger by 2025.

That’s an ambitious goal. Soambitious that it sounds suspi-ciously like a prelude to failure.

It brings to mindthe thought thatsometimes thebest way to keepa promise is notto make it in thefirst place.

Are we reallygoing to wipeout hunger inthe next 16

years? Don’t bet your farm onit.

Yet we must give this under-taking our best effort. I believe— along with many others —that feeding the hungry is amoral imperative.

The FAO is an institutionthat can help advance a worthyobjective. If it’s truly seriousabout eliminating hunger, it willdo more than provide an occa-sion for today’s political leadersto make grand statements thattheir unfortunate successorscan’t hope to live up to.

Instead, it will embrace twospecific strategies in the fight

against hunger: free trade andbiotechnology.

Neither one is a panacea.Ensuring food security for allthe people of the world willrequire success on any numberof fronts, from improved irriga-tion in developing countries to aready and affordable supply offertilizer everywhere. Politicalstability is indispensable, too.Civil unrest is the handmaidenof malnourishment and famine.

Trade and technology alsoare essential ingredients. We willnot enjoy much forwardprogress without both of them.

Trade makes it possible tomove food around our planet,from places of plenty to placesof scarcity, without interferencefrom the artificial barriers ofimport tariffs or export levies.

Technology makes it possibleto increase yields on existingfarmland, keep food prices incheck, and deliver consumerbenefits.

Some world leaders have tak-en the current financial climateas an opportunity to turn theirbacks on trade. The UnitedStates may not be the worstoffender, but in recent monthsit has avoided taking on its tra-ditional leadership role.

The current administrationand Congress refuse to ratifysensible trade agreements withColombia, Panama, and South

Korea. Their new “Buy Ameri-can” rules have confoundedlongtime business partners inCanada.

If we’re to feed the wholeplanet, it must become easierfor American food producers tosell their beef in Korea andtheir corn in Europe.

We also must figure out away to revive the Doha roundof world trade talks. The exist-ing deadlock hurts our ability tomove food from country tocountry, especially betweenadvanced nations and the devel-oping world.

If we don’t make substantialprogress in this area, the FAOwill not meet its hunger goal for2025.

Biotechnology is no lessimportant. Thankfully, manyAmerican officials seem to

understand how much it mat-ters.

The key is to make othernations share this sense ofurgency. Farmers in the West-ern Hemisphere have embracedbiotechnology to marvelouseffect. Growers in Asia andAustralia also are adoptingbiotechnology because they seehow it helps to produce morewith less.

Yet resistance in Europeremains a significant roadblock.Until we get past it, biotechnol-ogy won’t begin to realize itsfull potential.

Most of the unnecessary suf-fering that results will take placein sub-Saharan Africa, whichkeeps the genetically modifiedcrops at a nervous arm’s lengthbecause of Europe’s destructiveattitude.

President Obama won theNobel Peace Prize “for hisextraordinary efforts tostrengthen ... cooperationbetween peoples.” Reasonablepeople may disagree on themerits of his diplomacy.

Yet there can be little doubtthat his diplomacy will succeedif he can help wipe out hungerby strengthening economic andscientific cooperation betweencountries through free tradeand biotechnology.

And if the FAO can per-suade him to adopt these caus-es, maybe it will deserve tobecome a Nobel laureate aswell.

Dean Kleckner, an Iowa farmer,chairs Truth About Trade & Tech-nology. He may be contacted at{www.truthabouttrade.org}.

Trade, technology essential to alleviate hunger

DEANKLECKNER

JOHNBLOCK

World Food Day reminds us many are still hungry around the globe

farmweek october 26 2009

Documents

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