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Monday, September 6, 2010 Two sections Volume 38, No. 36

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

A NEW STATE LAW will reg-ulate not only large cemeteries butalso some small rural ones over-seen by volunteers. .........................3

THE WHEAT SEED supplyin the state is tight, and producersare being advised to place orders orget on waiting lists. .........................8

T H E O I L I N D U S T RY i sarguing nine requirements must bemet before the ethanol blend levelcan be raised to 15 percent. ..........4

Overall break preferred over conditional ‘carve-out’BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Amid growing awareness ofthe acute threat a revisedestate tax poses for farm fami-lies, Washington lawmakersappear more sympathetictoward ag “death tax” relief.

But Illinois Farm Bureaunational legislative directorAdam Nielsen argues compre-hensive estate tax relief ispreferable to a Senate-pro-posed farm family “carve-out”based on a number of specificeligibility criteria and removingproducer flexibility in manag-ing family assets.

If Congress fails to act, theestate tax will return Jan. 31 atpre-2002 levels, including a $1million individual exemptionand a high 55 percent tax rate.

tially would impose a “perma-nent easement” on heirs.

Among other things, themeasure would penalize farmheirs who sell selected hold-ings to recapitalize operations.

“It really reduces landownerflexibility,” Nielsen said.“These are the kinds of billsthat complicate things anddon’t solve the problem.

“This is a way for thosewho support continuation of

the estate tax in some form totry to address the concerns offarmers, but it doesn’t get atthe principle of the estate tax’sunfairness or achieve ourobjective of avoiding the taxaltogether.”

The Lincoln-Kyl bill wouldserve not only farmers butalso “the other small business-es that are so essential to ahealthy rural economy,” hesaid.

IFB next week will launch aphone campaign aimed at rally-ing support for a new $5 mil-lion individual/$10 million-per-couple exemption fromestate tax liability and a 35 per-cent upper rate.

Senate Ag ChairmanBlanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) andSen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) back themeasure; IFB’s campaign seekssupport from Democrat Sens.Dick Durbin of Springfieldand Roland Burris of Chicago.

At the same time, Sen.Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) issponsoring the Family FarmEstate Tax Deferral Act, whichwould defer family taxes aslong as a farm is passed on toan individual or relative whohas been “materially engaged”in its management and opera-tion for at least five years andthe heir or heirs continue touse land for farming purposes.

Further, under her proposal,a farm must have generatedmore than 50 percent of theowner’s income or accountedfor more than 50 percent ofthe estate at the time of death.

The decedent must haveowned the farm for at least fiveof the eight years prior to hisor her death, and the dece-dent’s farm-related income

over the three years prior todeath cannot have exceeded$750,000 annually.

A “recapture” tax would beowed if land subsequentlywere sold outside the family orno longer used for production.

Beyond setting stringent eli-gibility rules that could pre-clude relief for the producer-heirs of a retired or semi-retired farmer, Nielsen sug-gests the Feinstein bill essen-

HARVEST AT SUNSET

Dan McKinney of rural Fairfield in Wayne County was working on his first 20-acre field of corn asthe sun set last week. Corn in the field had an average moisture content of 18 percent, and McKin-ney estimated the field would yield 135 bushels per acre. He said that would be about average forthe ground he and his brother, Kelly, farm. An update on harvest activity is on page 7. (Photo by KenKashian)

Mexican truck ban deemed ag trade threatU.S. pork producers are

among the latest victims of aprolonged — and escalating— U.S.-Mexican dispute. Illi-nois corn growers and othersfear a continued standoffcould jeopardize their south-of-the-border markets, as well.

As Congress returns to theHill, the National Pork Produc-ers Council (NPPC) will lobbyfor a solution to a U.S. ban onincoming Mexican truck ship-ments that has sparked retalia-tion against a number of U.S.ag goods. In August, Mexicoimposed new import tariffs onpork, cheeses, pistachios, and arange of vegetables and fruits.

Under the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement (NAF-TA), Mexican carriers are

railed through Texas.“Twenty-five percent of the

corn Mexico uses comes fromthat State of Illinois,” IllinoisCorn Marketing Board value-enhanced project director PhilipThornton noted. “This could bevery important to us — it’s avery important market.”

While the trucking standoffis snarled in border securitypolitics, Illinois Farm Bureaunational legislative directorAdam Nielsen sees it feeding apotentially larger problem forU.S. exporters — continuedtrust in U.S. compliance withkey trade agreements. “Howcan we expect others to com-ply if we’re not complying?”Nielsen posed. — MartinRoss

allowed to bring cargo into theU.S. In 2007, the U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation(USDOT) announced a pilotproject allowing a limited num-ber of trucks to haul loadsmore than 25 miles into the U.S.

However, in March 2009, Con-gress failed to renew funding forthe program, sparking a NAFTAviolation ruling against the U.S.and limited retaliation againstsome U.S. products.

As the dispute neared itsfirst anniversary, Transporta-tion Secretary Ray LaHoodpledged to develop a plan toaddress the issue, but NPPCspokesman Dave Warner saidpork was added to the retalia-tion list “to make it a littlemore painful” after a plan

failed to materialize.While NPPC will seek con-

gressional pressure for admin-istration action, Warner toldFarmWeek “Congress hasbeen the holdup, too,” threat-ening to withhold funding forany project that would bringtruckers over the border.

Other commodity groupsare concerned U.S. inactioncould threaten their Mexicansales, as well.

NAFTA eliminated Mexicantariffs on U.S. ag goods, and in2009, the U.S. exported503,000-plus metric tons ofpork worth more than $762million to Mexico, making itU.S. pork producers’ No. 2 mar-ket. Mexico also is a key marketfor Midwest yellow corn, largely

SURPRISE! SUMMER WARM, WET — The clima-tological summer (June through August) was one of thewarmest and wettest on record in Illinois, based on prelimi-nary data.

The statewide average summer temperature (76.4degrees) was 2.7 degrees above normal, which made it theseventh warmest on record.

The average rainfall in Illinois for the summer (16.7inches) was 5.2 inches above normal, which ranked thissummer as the sixth wettest on record, the Illinois StateWater Survey reported.

August conditions were extremely warm (with an aver-age temperature of 76.8 degrees, 3.2 degrees above normal)but a touch on the dry side with average rainfall of 3.4inches. 0.3 of an inch below normal. Some areas of thestate were much drier.

The National Weather Service predicted an increasedchance of above-normal temperatures and a neutral out-look for precipitation this month.

SLOW WORK ON FAST TRAINS — High-speed railtrains won’t be spotted in downstate Illinois for anotherfour years, but the state and the Union Pacific Railroad arestarting to spend some of the billion dollars set aside tobring high-speed rail to the Midwest, according to the Illi-nois Statehouse News.

Crews soon will begin upgrading the tracks on the linebetween Alton to just south of Springfield. Last week, offi-c ia ls with the I l l inois Depar tment of Transpor ta-tion (IDOT) and Union Pacific explained the impact forcommunities along that line.

IDOT’s George Weber said most motorists will noticeonly some rail crossing closures.

Crews are expected to finish in the Springfield area bythe end of the year or early next spring, Weber said.

“The goal is that by 2012, we’ll likely have a segmentbetween Dwight and Pontiac in operation for trains at 110miles per hour,” Weber said.

Some local officials expressed concerns about crossingclosures causing problems for harvest traffic trying to reachelevators.

USDA CONSERVATION LOANS AVAILABLE —USDA has launched a conservation loan program that willprovide farm owners and farm-related businesses credit forpractices they implement to conserve natural resources.

The money can be used for practices approved by theNatural Resources Conservation Service. Examples includeinstallation of conservation structures and water conserva-tion measures, establishment of or improvement of per-manent pastures, and implementation of manure manage-ment.

Direct conservation loans may be obtained through localFarm Service Agency (FSA) offices with loan limits up to$300,000. Guaranteed conservation loans up to a maximumof $1.112 million are available from lenders working withFSA.

FarmWeek Monday, September 6, 2010

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 38 No. 36 September 6, 2010

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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© 2010 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 TakesPRODUCTION

FARM TALK CHAT

Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson, right, chats with Clay County Farm Bureau board membersKevin Logan, left, Edgewood, who also serves as the county supervisor of assessments, and Gerald Dennis,Louisville, following a Farm Talk meeting on the Joe Thoele farm in Effingham County. Last week concludedthe series of five Farm Talk meetings attended by Nelson and Vice President Rich Guebert Jr. Discussion top-ics included the need for congressional action on the estate tax, the state’s fiscal situation, the Illinois FarmBureau Farm Policy Task Force’s work, and the farmer image campaign. (Photo by Chris Magnuson)

BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA)introduced new Common Crop Insurance Poli-cies — popularly called “combo” coverages —this month for wheat producers, rolling existingyield and revenue policies into three basic newproducts.

Combined coverages will be available to Illi-nois corn, soybean, grain sorghum, and barleygrowers next spring.

Under policy restructuring, crop revenue cov-erage (CRC) and revenue assurance (RA) with afall harvest price option have been melded into anew revenue protection policy.

A second revenue protection policy with a har-vest price exclusion absorbs existing RA coveragewithout the fall harvest price option and incomeprotection (IP).

At the same time, actual production historycoverage — also known as multi-peril crop insur-ance (MPCI) — and basic catastrophic crop

insurance havebeen convertedinto a singleyield protectionproduct. Coun-ty-based grouprisk plan (GRP)

and group risk income protection policies (GRIP)policies also will remain available.

Country Financial crop marketing consultantJohn Fahl sees new offerings making risk man-agement much simpler. IP sales have been low inIllinois, but beyond consolidating policies, thenew program uses the same crop base price forboth yield and revenue protections (the APHguarantee price previously was released prior torevenue base price) and expands unit coverageoptions under yield policies.

“You’re always somewhat skeptical when youhear big changes are coming, but I think they(RMA) did make this simpler,” Fahl toldFarmWeek. “It’s simpler for everybody to under-stand, especially producers. There are feweroptions; it does limit choices. But I think (RMA)did a good thing here.”

Country financial representatives and cropspecialists have been fully trained in new policies,which are available for 2011 wheat growers.

Prospective wheat producers must purchase cov-erage by Sept. 30, and announcement of thewheat base price, the basis for revenue guaranteesand 2011 crop year premiums, is expected bySept. 14.

The impact of policy consolidation on premi-ums is not yet clear, but Fahl noted indicationsthat policy pricing under new revenue protectionlikely will track more closely with RA and thusmay run slightly higher than CRC premiums had

in most counties. Federal premium subsidies willremain the same.

Where previously producers who sought thechoice of a revenue price guarantee tied to baseor harvest price were required to take an RAharvest price election, those who do not nowmust actively select the harvest price exclusion.Policy harvest price is capped at 200 percent ofbase price.

The new revenue policy will use a single rev-enue harvest price for spring-planted crops. CRCused an October harvest price; RA a Novemberprice — “I’ve never seen any analysis in Marchable to tell you which price is better,” IllinoisFarm Bureau risk specialist Doug Yoder said.

Yoder recommends revenue coverage forfarmers “who are trying to do a better job ofmarketing their grain.” Growers who favor morebasic yield protection will see one key changeunder policy conversion: A new option to cover“enterprise” units, or all acres of an individualcrop within a county.

Fahl sees enterprise coverage as an increasingly“attractive” option vs. basic unit coverage, whichincludes all tracts an individual owns and/or cashrent within a county. The new insurance plan alsomakes it easier for revenue policyholders to quali-fy for enterprise unit coverage, he said.

Risk management simplerwith ‘combo’ coverages?

‘There are fewer options; itdoes limit choices. But I think( R M A ) d i d a g o o d t h i n ghere.’

— John FahlCountry Financial

FarmWeekNow.comLearn more about the new“combo” c rop insurancepolicies for 2010-2011 atFarmWeekNow.com.

STATE


BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

A new state law will regulate notonly large cemeteries but also smallrural ones overseen by volunteers — ifthe cemetery has money of anyamount in a care fund, according to theIllinois Cemetery and Funeral HomeAssociation (ICFHA).

The Cemetery Oversight Act wassigned into law in January by Gov. Pat

Quinn. The law sets up new licensingand insurance requirements and fees;however, the implementation rules,including those that would establishlicensing procedures and fee amounts,have not yet been adopted.

The law stipulates which cemeteriesare entirely or partially exempt fromthe regulations.

But any cemetery with a care fundmust comply with all the rules, and thatsituation is catching many rural ceme-teries, Vickie Hand of ICFHA toldFarmWeek last week.

“If they (cemeteries) hold a carefund of any size, they’re regulated, andthat’s scary,” Hand said. “There are alot of (cemetery) people who thinkthey’re exempted ... We’ve pushed toexplain (to legislators) all cemeteries

are not the same.”A chart outlining the law’s provi-

sions and full and partial exemptions isposted on {www.FarmWeekNow.com}and has been sent to county FarmBureau offices.

The new provisions include licens-ing of cemetery authorities and man-agers, establishment of an oversightdatabase, mandatory reports, andrequired maintenance and records.

Anyone who has a supervisory roleat a regulated cemetery or “significantlyinteracts” with consumers will have to

be licensed by the state, according toICFHA.

The law exempts cemeteries that aredefined as family burial grounds; inac-tive cemeteries — ones with no carefunds and no burials in the last 10years; and small cemeteries — thoseless than two acres in size and withoutcare funds.

“Right now the law is in effect,”Hand noted. But until the legislativeJoint Committee on AdministrativeRules (JCAR) approves the rules, ceme-tery authorities won’t know exactlywhat they will be expected to do orhow much they will have to pay in fees,Hand added.

She encouraged cemetery authoritiesto consider joining ICFHA, whichinforms members about new rules andany regulatory changes. The website is{www.icfha.org} and the telephonenumber is 866-758-7731.

Some rural cemeteries may fall under new state law

FarmWeekNow.comYou can download a chart of recentchanges to the state’s Cemetery Over-sight Act at FarmWeekNow.com.

East-Central Illinois selectedfor federal broadband funds

East-Central Illinois came up a big winner last week with$12 million in USDA broadband funding that will build high-speed infrastructure in the area.

Federal and state officials announced the combination offederal grants and loans, state funds, and private investmentduring a press conference in Danville.

Gov. Pat Quinn called the nearly $24 million public-privateproject “an information super highway.”

“We don’t want a (digital) divide with some people havingvery good Internet (services) . . . and some left way behind,”Quinn said.

Cellular Properties, based in Danville, received a $6 milliongrant and a $6 million loan from USDA to bring third genera-tion (3G) wireless network technology to Clay, Clark, Coles,Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Lawrence,Richland, and Vermilion counties.

In addition to the USDA Rural Development money, theproject funding includes $1million from the Illinois JobsNow public works program,which is administered by theIllinois Department ofCommerce and EconomicOpportunity, and about $11million from Cellular Prop-erties.

“These broadband pro-jects will give rural commu-nities access to the toolsthey need to create jobs,stimulate local economies,and build a foundation forfuture prosperity,” saidColleen Callahan, USDA

Rural Development state director. Seven Illinois projects havereceived awards in the last two months, Callahan noted.

Illinois broadband projects that recently received USDAfunding include:

• Delta Communications LLC, based in Harrisburg, wasawarded a $31.5 million grant. Through this project, Delta’sClearwave Communications will deploy a high-speed networkacross a 23-county region of Southern Illinois, and

• Utopian Wireless Corporation received $783,000 to pro-vide 4G portable/mobile broadband access to rural communi-ties in and around Bushnell in McDonough County and Florain Clay County.

The U.S. Department of Commerce also recentlyannounced nearly $62 million will be awarded to the IllinoisDepartment of Central Management Services to offer afford-able broadband service in Northeastern, Central, and SouthernIllinois. — Kay Shipman

Bob Hauser, who hasserved as interim dean of theCollege of Agricultural, Con-sumer, and Environmental Sci-ences (ACES), will become thepermanent dean, pendingapproval by the University ofIllinois Board of Trustees thismonth.

The U of I announcedHauser’s permanent appoint-ment last week. Hauser, anagricultural economist, hadserved as interim dean sinceJuly 2009 when Robert Eastermoved on to serve as the U ofI’s interim provost and thenlater as its interim chancellor.

Hauser had served as head

of ACES’ agricultural eco-nomics department before he

assumed the interim dean post.In a letter announcing

Hauser’s appointment,Richard Wheeler, interim vicechancellor for academicaffairs, noted Hauser’s perma-nent appointment was sup-ported by ACES departmentheads, associate deans, andfaculty.

“I, too, have beenimpressed by, and grateful for,his forceful advocacy for thecollege of ACES and his dedi-cated service to the campus,”Wheeler wrote.

Hauser joined the U of Ifaculty in 1982. He earned abachelor’s degree and a doc-torate from Iowa State Univer-sity.

Interim ACES dean to fill job permanently

Chicago-based Exelon Corp. announcedlast week it will buy Deere & Co.’s wind ener-gy business, John Deere Renewables, forabout $900 million.

Exelon will acquire Deere’s 36 completedwind energy projects with a total capacity of735 megawatts of wind energy (enough topower 160,000 to 200,000 homes) in eightstates. The deal is expected to be completedby the end of the year.

As part of the sale, Exelon also may con-tinue to develop 1,468 megawatts of newDeere wind energy projects that are in differ-ent stages of development.

Before this sale, Exelon already was thelargest wholesale marketer of wind energyeast of the Mississippi River with 352megawatts of wind power capacity from fivewind projects in Illinois, Pennsylvania, andWest Virginia.

Exelon Power also owns and operates a10-megawatt solar plant in Chicago, thelargest urban solar plant in the country, andis the nation’s largest U.S. nuclear power gen-erator.

Deere said the sale will allow it to pursuewhat it does best, manufacturing farm equip-ment.

Exelon buys Deere’s wind energy business

Gov. Pat Quinn recentlyannounced a now-closed hos-pital in White County wouldreceive $3 million in capitalfunding to restore and openthe facility by August 2012.

The refurbished hospital inCarmi is expected to employabout 160 medical personneland support staff.

The project will be admin-istered by the Phoenix Foun-

dation of Southern Illinoisand is funded through theIllinois Jobs Now capital con-struction program.

After the hospital closed inDecember 2005, area resi-dents have had to drive 32miles to the nearest hospitalin McLeansboro.

An area study revealed theaverage time between a 9-1-1call and transportation to the

nearest medical facilityranged from 32 to 116 min-utes.

In addition to new electri-cal wiring and repairs, thefacility will be equipped withnew environmental controlsystems, a security system, analarm system, and backupsystems to maintain hospitalutilities during power out-ages.

Southern Illinois hospital receives $3 million

‘If they (cemeteries) hold a care fund of any size,they’re regulated, and that’s scary.’

— Vickie HandIllinois Cemertery and Funeral Home Association

‘We don’ t want a(digital) divide withsome people hav-ing very good In-ternet (services). . . and some le f tway behind.’

— Gov. Pat Quinn

GOVERNMENT


Oil industry report ‘slick’ effort to delay E15?BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

A “disingenuous” petro-leum industry report ig-nores the extensive ground-work already being laid inpreparation of federalapproval for higher ethanolblends.

A new American Petrole-um Industry (API) study con-cludes “multiple regulatoryand legal requirements remainand must be met before high-er ethanol blends can be legal-ly marketed.”

The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) isconsidering an industryrequest to boost maximum

because EPA has yet toapprove the waiver,’” Din-neen said.

RFA has been working withoil companies, fuel detergentmanufacturers, state fire mar-shals charged with assuringretail fuel equipment safety,and ASTM International, as itdevelops industry E15 fuelspecifications.

“Expanding beyond E10”is crucial to growing newethanol feedstocks and tech-nologies, along with extendinga federal 45-cent-per-gallonethanol blenders tax credit setto expire Dec. 31, Dinneensaid.

Hopes had been fading

for a major 2010 energypackage that could serve asa vehicle for congressionalrenewal of the tax break.But Thursday’s explosion atan oil-and-gas rig in theGulf revived calls for ener-gy reforms.

“Absent an energy bill thatmay be on the rise dependingon people’s view of this latestincident in the Gulf, I thinkvehicles to move a tax exten-sion are going to be difficultto find,” Dinneen advised. “Ido believe, however, thatsomething with a tax title willhave to get to the president’sdesk.”

conventional ethanol gasolineblend levels beyond a current10 percent.

Amid reports EPA is eyeinga two-tiered blend waiverallowing 15 percent blend(E15) use only in later-modelvehicles, key ethanol produc-ers support interim E12approval until all data neededto affirm E15 safety and per-formance are in.

API’s report argues ninerequirements must be metbefore the blend level can beraised to 15 percent, includingfederal E15 fuel registrationand changes to EPA reformu-lated gasoline and gasolinedetergent additive regulations.

“Well, none of that’snew: We’ve known about allthose things for quite sometime, and we’ve been work-ing on them, as well,”national Renewable FuelsAssociation (RFA) CEOBob Dinneen told Farm-Week. “But the fact thatnot all those things are doneyet is no reason for EPAnot to move forward.

“API is really being slick,to be kind, in suggestingEPA should wait until someof these other things aredone. In some forumswhere we’re working to getthings done, they’re saying,‘You shouldn’t do this,

Could egg recalls spur renewed food safety debate?Livestock producers fear

concerns over the recent eggrecall could prove bad for theindustry as a whole.

In the wake of a 22-statesalmonella outbreak, the U.S.House Energy and CommerceCommittee has asked Iowa’sWright County Egg and Hil-landale Farms — the eggcompanies linked to the out-break — to submit documentson their safety practices datingback more than five years.

Wright County Egg hasannounced recalls of 380million-plus eggs since Aug.13, while Hillandale Farmsissued a 170-million-egg

The House proposes a two-tiered recall system. FDAcould order voluntary recall ofa suspect product subject to aninformal hearing within fivedays, or could issue an emer-gency recall if it has “credibleevidence” the product posesan imminent threat of seriousillness or death, with a hearingscheduled within five daysafter the product is withdrawn.

Both Senate and Housebills would allow FDA toassess recall fees — the Senateagainst companies that refuseto comply with a mandatoryorder; the House against all

companies subject to a recall.Warner argued food com-

panies are in a better positionto assess health or safety risksin plants and thus could morereliably issue a product recall.

Warner noted the estimated$100 million in economic dam-age incurred by Southeast pro-ducers as a result of FDA’s 2008advisory warning raw tomatoescould be unsafe — a conclusionlater found to be erroneous.

Farm Bureau supports anindemnification program tocompensate producers forlosses resulting from erro-neous federal advisories orrecalls. — Martin Ross

recall on Aug. 19. The egg controversy

reportedly could move foodsafety legislation ahead on thefall Senate agenda, with SenateMajority Leader Harry Reid(D-Nev.) under increased pres-sure to bring it to the floor fora September vote.

The House recently passedits FDA Food Safety Modern-ization Act, but Rep. RosaDeLauro (D-Conn.), whochairs the House Food andDrug Administration(FDA)/USDA appropriationssubcommittee and supports asingle federal food safetyagency, is now seeking infor-

mation about the outbreakfrom the agencies.

The Energy/Commerceoversight subcommittee hasscheduled a Sept. 14 hearingfocusing on the egg incident.

American Farm BureauFederation (AFBF) policy callsfor immediate action byUSDA and FDA to raise thepriority of and resources forfederal safety/inspection ser-vices, but AFBF has not yettaken a position on the Senatebill.

While House and Senatebills focus on FDA jurisdic-tion, livestock groups includ-ing the National Pork Produc-ers Council (NPPC) are con-cerned largely about thedebate’s impact on futureUSDA Food Safety InspectionService (FSIS) legislation.

“If, in fact, the salmonellawere the result of chicken feedcontamination, that would bea concern,” NPPC spokesmanDave Warner told FarmWeek.“FDA does get to regulatefeed, so if you grind your ownfeed on your farm, FDA couldbe able to regulate that a littlemore.

“And while (current legisla-tion) doesn’t affect us directly,if (lawmakers) do FSISreform ... one of the thingsthat would be likely to carryover into FSIS reform ismandatory recall. We’ve had avoluntary recall system; it hasworked. I think it’s worked inthis case.”

Under Springfield Democ-rat Sen. Dick Durbin’s foodsafety proposal, FDA wouldhave mandatory recall authori-ty if a company refused to vol-untarily recall a product forwhich “there is a reasonableprobability” of contaminationor an undeclared food allergenand the product’s consump-tion could cause “seriousadverse health consequencesor death.”

FDA probe casts doubtabout activist claims

As federal inspectors noted a prevalence of manure, rodentdroppings, and maggots spread by uncaged hens at two Iowaegg farms last week, Farm Bureau argued for the relative safetybenefits of modern poultry production methods.

In light of a recent salmonella outbreak traced to Iowa’sWright County Eggs and Hillandale Farms, Humane Society ofthe U.S. President Wayne Pacelle urged consumers to “shunbattery cage eggs in favor of cage-free eggs instead.”

However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)cited as a cause of the problem “uncaged hens trackingmanure” at the Iowa operations.

Michael Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for food, said hisagency does not believe hens tracking manure is “indicative ofpractices throughout the industry.”

Veterinarian-approved cage systems have been shown toimprove hen health, reduce diseases, and improve overall foodsafety, according to American Farm Bureau Federation’s(AFBF) Kelli Ludlum. In a cage system, she noted:

• Birds are off the ground and separated from waste. • Producers control the birds’ food, water, and air. • Sick birds can be identified easily and isolated to control

the spread of disease. • Access to hen houses is controlled, reducing or eliminating

the threat from predators. • Trucks and equipment can be sanitized before coming into

contact with the birds. AFBF noted salmonella “can occur and has occurred,” as

recently as two years ago on free-range chicken farms. Thissummer’s recall of roughly a half-billion eggs affects a mere 1percent of the total 70 billion U.S. eggs produced annually, theorganization stressed.

Your Time…Your Talent…Make the Most of It!Join the ACTION TEAMS! See what you can do with your talent… while making the most of your time! The ACTION TEAMs are made up of volunteers who – in only two days – turn their unique ideas and experiences into a year of activities and amazing results. Whether you’re an experienced leader or new to Farm Bureau, we want you to bring it!

Choose It!

Teams meet twice a year to brainstorm and develop a plan for one or two statewide projects.

See It!Your proposal is presented to the IFB Board and, if approved, is set into action.

Do It! Get an application from your county Farm Bureau. Must be returned by December 10.

MT270T0

MARKETS


Are variable storage rates the answer to crop basis issues? BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

At first glance, it appears apolicy change recently enactedby the Chicago-based CMEGroup was a great success inimproving convergence per-formance in the wheat market.

CME Group in Julyswitched from a fixed storagerate to a variable storage ratefor wheat. The change wasapproved last November.

And cash wheat prices dur-ing harvest, which rangedfrom $4.73 to $4.96 perbushel in Southern Illinois thefirst week of July, were near orabove the futures price of

change in storage ratesappears to have improved theperformance of the wheatcontract.

“The variable storage ratebegan with the July contractand convergence performancethat month was muchimproved,” he said.

However, it’s too early todeclare the problems solvedwhen it comes to issues withbasis levels, Yoder noted.

The CFTC subcommitteecurrently is monitoring the per-formance of the wheat con-tract before it recommends anyother changes, such as imple-menting variable storage rates

in corn or soybean contracts. “Analysis needs to be done

to see if it worked,” Yodersaid. “It could take months.”

Meanwhile, the subcommit-tee down the road may consid-er promoting more drasticactions, recommended bysome in the industry, such asswitching the delivery mecha-nism from the Illinois River tothe lower Mississippi River,which is closer to export mar-kets, or using a cash settlementindex.

The IFB Profitability Advi-sory Team will re-examine theissue this week during a meet-ing in Bloomington.

$4.87, according to DarrelGood, University of IllinoisExtension ag economist.

This convergence of pricesis a sharp contrast to recentyears. Cash wheat prices in Illi-nois last year slipped to morethan $1 below the futures priceand as much as $2 below thefutures price in 2008.

“It (the wheat basis in Illi-nois) has improved dramatical-ly,” said Jeff Hainline, chair-man of Advance Trading, whoalso is a member of theNational Grain and FeedAssociation’s risk managementcommittee and the Commodi-ty Futures Trading Commis-

sion (CFTC) subcommittee onconvergence. “I’m very satis-fied the contract change CMEGroup implemented is respon-sible and has allowed all play-ers access.”

The Kansas City Board ofTrade reportedly is consider-ing a similar change in storagerates. Basis levels out westduring wheat harvest were 50to 80 cents below traditionallevels in early July, accordingto Hainline.

Doug Yoder, Illinois FarmBureau senior director of mar-keting and risk managementwho also serves on the CFTCsubcommittee, agreed the

Proposed GIPSA rulekey source of concernfor livestock producers

The comments were lively when USDA and the Depart-ment of Justice (DOJ) held the fourth of five public hear-ings recently to discuss competition issues and explore therole for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in the ag indus-try.

The hearing, held in Fort Collins, Colo., was designed tofocus on concentration in the meat industry.

But many of the estimated 1,300 livestock producers inattendance took the opportunity to voice their concernsabout a federal rule on livestock marketing proposed by theUSDA Grain, Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Adminis-tration (GIPSA).

The new rule, ostensibly designed to improve market fair-ness, proposes limiting exclusive arrangements betweenpackers and dealers, improving market transparency by mak-ing sample contracts available to the public, and prohibitingpackers from purchasing, acquiring, or receiving livestockfrom other packers.

“Given the consolidation that has taken place in the live-stock industry over the past decades, it is critical to ensure afair market still exists to give all players an honest chance atsuccess,” said Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack at the hearing.

However, members of the livestock industry are con-cerned the new GIPSA rules could cause buyers to withdrawmarketing arrangements that are advantageous to producers,create confidentiality issues, and actually encourage increasedconsolidation in the industry rather than create more oppor-tunities for producers.

Sam Carney, president of the National Pork ProducersCouncil, believes the GIPSA rule would limit his ability tosell hogs.

“It’s a solution in search of a problem,” he said. “Themarkets work, and we don’t need the government trying tofix it.”

Tara Smith, policy specialist with the American FarmBureau Federation, also questioned the need for increasedregulations when there seems to be a lack of evidence of anywidespread abuse in the marketplace.

Proposed new federal livestock rules should not pre-emptpotential marketing innovation and efficiencies, she said.

“We’re not sure what kind of bad behavior (USDA) is try-ing to stop with this rule,” the policy specialist toldFarmWeek.

“In the meantime, our fear is they’re doing damage to a lotof the marketing arrangements and marketing opportunitiesour farmers have.”

The comment period on the GIPSA rule ends Nov. 22.USDA and DOJ will hold the fifth and final workshop of

the series Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C. The focus there will be margins and specifically the dis-

crepancies between prices received by farmers and the pricespaid by consumers. — Daniel Grant

Crop acres projected to increase in 2011U.S. farmers are poised to boost plantings of

corn, soybeans, and wheat in 2011, according to asurvey released last week at the Farm ProgressShow in Boone, Iowa.

Farm Futures’ first survey of new-crop acreageintentions for next year found farmers were ratheroptimistic because of prospects for improvedprices.

The survey found corn acres next year couldincrease 2 percent to 89.5 million. If realized, it bethe second-largest corn crop planted since WorldWar II.

Soybean acreage in 2011 was projected to reacha record-high 79.6 million acres. That would be thethird consecutive record acreage total for soybeans.

And winter wheat seedings are expected torebound by more than 10 percent to 41.7 millionacres after plummeting 13 percent last year due torow-crop harvest delays and wet fall conditions.

Arlan Suderman, market analyst with FarmFutures, noted the acreage survey conducted inlate-July and early-August coincided with a big rallyin the futures market triggered by the Russiandrought.

“Producers were very mesmerized by the run infutures, which provided them incentive to plant asmuch winter wheat as possible this fall,” Sudermansaid.

Farm Futures surveyed more than 550 farmersnationwide for the acreage estimates.

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: We had agenerally mild week with hot,muggy days mixed in withsome cooler days. We didhave two brief rain showerslast Tuesday (Aug. 31) andThursday, but only about 0.1of an inch each time. The beanleaves are starting to turn

color with only the earliest starting todrop leaves. The corn also is turning colorfaster each week and starting to drydown. We are starting to hear about lowtest weights in the early-maturing corn.Apparently the hot summer nights weredetrimental to the natural grain fillprocess. Time will tell about the results ofthis concern.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: Got 1.8 inch-es of rain last Thursday. It wasneeded for the late corn andbeans. The early corn is turn-ing fast and so are the earlybeans. We probably will beable to combine beans in threeweeks. That’s very early for us.A lot of second- and third-cut-

ting hay was baled this past week. It was60 degrees Friday morning, but tempera-tures are expected to be in the mid-80sfor much of this week. That should movethe crops even faster.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Rain lastWednesday and Thursdaytotaled 0.5 of an inch.Chopping corn silage is com-plete in this area. Some hay-making continues. Corn har-vest may start this week. Allvarieties I have checked haveblack layered. Field drying has

been good. Soybeans vary from green tobrown where sudden death syndrome ispresent. Growing degree units totaled2,707, which is about 400 above average.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: After threeweeks of hot and dry weather,a storm last Thursday eveningleft 1 inch of rain. Lots of har-vest talk and preparations areunder way. Some early cornwill be harvested soon.Soybeans are maturing. A fewfields are completely yellow;

however, most fields are just starting toturn. If you can get away for a nice after-noon, the Sandwich Fair opensWednesday. Lots to see and do with goodfood and beautiful fairgrounds.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: Seed corn is theonly thing being harvestedhere. With it being this earlyin the season and the largeamount of money that wasspent drying last year’s crop,it looks like everyone is con-tent to let Mother Nature dothe drying. Some hand-

shelled corn was testing in the mid- tolow 20s with test weights between 52and 53 pounds. Some late-season dis-eases have moved into the cornfields. Idon’t see them making much of animpact on yields, but they could effectstalk strength as harvest continues.Soybeans are probably close to twoweeks away from harvest. Patches ofsudden death started showing up in soy-bean fields three weeks ago and havebeen growing in size since then. The firstfield of soybeans I planted are on someground that has been in corn almost aslong as I can remember. They just start-ed to yellow up naturally last week (nosudden death). I’m sure the three weekswill make a huge impact when it comestime to tally up the yields.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: I had closeto 3 inches of rain for theweek. I heard of some cornharvest in the Bay Islanddrainage district. There wouldhave been more if it hadn’trained. Everyone is hopingfor a fast harvest this year.One of my employees sug-

gested that we get done before it snowsthis year. We could have done a goodHistory Channel show, icy roads, snowyfields, harvest with all of last winter’sescapades.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We received 1.8inches of rain last week. We fin-ished chopping silage. The cornwas disappointing. I estimate theyield at about 16 tons per acreinstead of the normal 20 tons peracre. Lots of short corn due towet conditions in May and June.Some corn has been harvested

in my county. I have heard the moisture wasin the upper teens. No one is saying whatthe yield was. That leads me to suspect itwas less than anticipated. My goal is to startcorn harvest after Labor Day. It doesn’t looklike many soybeans leaves have started toturn yellow yet. It will be late September orearly October before we harvest any soy-beans.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: Anotherweek that started off hot and dry,but finished with a little rain tosettle the dust. So far, I havereceived a little more than aninch, but more is expected. Therain came too late to help thecorn, but should help the soy-beans, especially my July soy-

beans. A few combines have rolled out of theshed this past week. I have not heard anyreliable yield data. We harvested a few acresof corn (because of road work) and it was39.6 percent. I had to pay enough for dryinglast year; I hope this year it is a little drier.

Tim Green, Wyoming, Stark County: Woke up Fridaymorning to a nice 1.5 inches ofrain through the night. That kindof helps finish off our later-plant-ed beans. Corn harvest seemsto be picking up just a little bit. Ithink it will pick up quite a bitafter the Labor Day holiday.Yields so far are a little disap-

pointing overall. The moisture seems to becoming down. I’ve heard guys picking corn inthe 17 to 19 percent range and speeding theprocess up a little bit. No beans have beenharvested yet. Beans still look pretty greenaround here. I think we’ll probably get intothem in a week or two, but corn harvest willreally pick up after the holiday and things willget cooking. Have a safe fall.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Now thatwe are completely ready to startharvest, a rain event hasdelayed us. We received 1.5inches of rain. That will help thegreen soybeans and settle thedust. Also, fall tillage shouldwork much better. Those whostarted in the corn are witness-

ing much lower yields than last year. Yieldreports range from a 100 to 190. Most yieldsprobably will fall into the 140-170 range. Itotaled up summer’s rains: June had about7.5 inches, and July was less than 1 inch.Not a good scenario for raising bumpercrops. We needed the rain amounts turnedaround. Cropwatchers meet a lot of goodpeople around the State of Illinois in a year’stime. I would like to say hello to GeorgeNadoski in Southern Illinois. With loweryields and strong demand, markets are ris-ing. Maybe the lows are in and basis levelswill absorb harvest pressure. We’ll see.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: On Thursday, wereceived a range of 1.3 to 1.7inches of rain on our farms.There were a few farmers whostarted harvesting corn lastweek. The local elevator receivedsome corn on Aug. 31 — the ear-liest it had received corn inrecent history. The previous

record was Sept. 10, 2007. Our corn rangesfrom 25 to 40 percent moisture. I heard thatcornfields that were harvested varied from16 to 21 percent moisture. Yields on the cornthat has been harvested have been quite abit lower than last year. Most soybean fieldsare in the R7 growth stage with a few gettingclose to R8 or full maturity. The late-planted,replanted, and full-season varieties are inthe R6 growth stage. The beginning of soy-bean harvest is close to 10 days off. Thelocal closing prices for Sept. 2 were $4.04 fornearby corn, $4.31 for January corn, $10.07for nearby soybeans, and $9.80 for new-cropsoybeans. This past week we enjoyed host-ing two tour groups from Brazil for a farmvisit and explanation about Farm Bureau.They came to attend the Farm ProgressShow and tour U.S. agriculture.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: One to 3inches of rain fell late last weekrelieving fears of field fires andhelping late beans fill pods. Cornharvest started with disappoint-ing corn yields, especially oncontinuous corn. The yield moni-tor ranged from 80 to 220, butfield averages will hopefully be

140-180. Not too optimistic about finalresults. Stalk quality is fair, kernel size issmall, but test weight is good, so far. Corn,$4.07, $4.22; soybeans, $10.09, $9.64, fall,$9.74, January; wheat, $6.15.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Discounteddrying last week resulted in areaelevators looking like a semiconvention! Yields are coming inhighly variable (120 to 215bushels per acre) with moisturein the 20s, but ranging from 15-30 plus. Early bean yields are60-plus, but many beans are still

green. Our corn is still hand shelling at 22, sowe are letting Mother Nature dry it for now.Rain began last early Thursday morning andcontinued through mid-morning for a total of1.53 inches. The front moved throughThursday evening, dropping another half inchof rain along with quite a light show. Lightninghit our pole light with a pop that sounded likea gun shot. Temperatures in the 40s areexpected for a couple nights and then thingswarm back up to mid- to upper 80s. Let’s becareful out there!

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: A cool and clearFriday morning here with thethermometer reading 56 with atouch of fall. I think a lot of farm-ers are ready to “Start YourCombines” — if they haven’talready done so. I have heard ofonly a few in our immediate areawho have started in corn and no

soybeans yet. Rainfall for August was 1.5inches and the total to date for the year is 25inches. Do be careful if you are ready to headto the fields. Maybe it will be a “normal” har-vest for all.

Carrie Winkelmann, Menard County: It was a less-than-perfect drying week with 5 inchesof rain, 4.1 inches of it coming allat once on Thursday evening.Corn is still standing well despiteweather conditions. Soybeansare in various stages of turning.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: The rains last weekslowed harvest immensely. Wehad two rains totaling 2.5 to 3inches and leaving some ponding.We were able to avoid the highwinds that were forecast. The cornis still standing at a time when itcould be very vulnerable. Harvestis no more than 10 percent com-

pleted and will be a day or two before farmersare back in the field. The record yields are justnot there. A lot of farmers are estimating yieldwill average less than 80 to 190 bushels. Thebest corn is on rolling higher ground with theyields dropping off on some lower, flat areas.That’s where either crops were drowned out oryields were reduced due to saturated roots foran extended period of time, mostly in June.Soybean harvest is still two to three weeks off.Farmers are regrouping and getting ready tohit it again either late in the Labor Day week-end or early this week.

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: This pastweek was fairly dry until Thursdayand Friday. We received between2.5 to 5 inches of rain. A recordrainfall for Springfield. Smallcreeks and streams flooded. Cornharvest has been rolling along ata slow pace, but quite a few oper-ations have started. Many were

waiting until after Labor Day. Yields are a bitdisappointing. Field averages are hurting themost — in the pockets that were drowned out.Yields range from 40 to 250. There is stillsome good corn in the area, with some fieldaverages at 180-plus. Some beans are start-ing to turn, but the bulk are still green andprobably will be helped a little bit by the lastrains. It’s been pretty dry, so some of the rainwas soaked up, but much of what fell ran off.Continue to think safety while you are workingyour way through harvest.


CROPWATCHERS

Ted Kuebrich, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Jersey Countyreceived a little over one inch ofrain this past week. It put a stopto the early corn shelling.Farmers who were in the fieldshelling reported moisture wasrunning from 22 percent down to17 percent. The grain qualityshowed some damage caused

by moldy kernels. The test weight is runninga little low. Prices at Jersey County Grain,Hardin: October corn, $4.04; January 2011corn, $4.45; October 2010 beans, $9.82;January 2011 beans, $10.25.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Corn harvest con-tinued here in Wabash County. Istarted Aug. 30. My first fieldswere white corn. The yields arearound 170 bushels an acre,with moistures of 17 percent.Quality and test weight weregood. I had estimated higheryields, but the heat and dryness

at the end must have hurt the crop. The dryweather has to be hurting the soybeans. Idon’t have any beans close to harvest, butI’ve seen some fields that are almost ready.By my next report, I might have heard somebean yields.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: Another dry weekhere in deep Southern Illinois.At least, the weather has beengood for corn harvest, which isin full swing. Yields continue torun below normal. Our yieldsseem to be about 20 to 25 per-cent below our average.Alfatoxins are an ongoing con-

cern. They are testing every load at theelevator, and lines are terrible. Thursdaywas the first day that we had hauled cornto the elevator — we’ve been putting it inthe bin. We had one load rejected yester-day for high alfatoxin. Our earlier soy-beans are turning yellow. Some peoplehave earlier beans that they will be har-vesting probably within the next week.Please take time to be careful during thisbusy season.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: Had showersmove in last Wednesday after-noon and evening and also onThursday morning. Theyamounted to about 1 inch ofrain. On Tuesday morning(Aug. 31), Fayette County per-formed its annual crop survey.The corn yield was 158.7

bushels per acre, with the range of 94 to200 bushels per acre. The soybeansranged from 31 to 65 with an average of41.48 bushels per acre. I also have aThursday morning crop survey report fromBond County. Yields there were 163.46 oncorn and 41.96 on soybeans. Ranges were74 to 210 on corn and 28.5 to 63 on soy-beans. Half the producers in our area havebegun corn harvest. A couple of our touryields came from farmers who had shelledwhole fields or reported combine monitoryields. I’ve heard yields of 120 to 180 withsome a little better and some a little worse.The rains we received will help our beancrop. Very few beans are starting to turn.Everyone have a safe harvest.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: It was a morepleasant week. Showers were inthe area off and on.Accumulatively, the areareceived about an inch of rain. Itgave a boost to the beans andlate corn. Silage chopping ispretty well wrapped up. Very littlecorn has been shelled. The

excessively wet spring and the hot, dry sum-mer have taken their toll on the corn yieldsand quality of the grain. Short kernels, lighttest weight; and mold are being reported.There is a limited supply of seed wheat. Mostdealers are sold out. Many farmers arepreparing for harvest by repairing equip-ment, cleaning out grain bins, mowing water-ways and road ditches, and going to fielddays. A warming trend is in the forecast forthis week.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: We had anoth-er 1.5 inches of bean-blazingrain Thursday. It should reallyhelp fill the pods. Corn pickingstarted this past week. Yields arevery average with moisturesfrom 15 to 20 plus.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: More and morecombines came out through theweek only to be stopped by,believe it or not, precipitationthat began last Wednesdayafternoon. Corn moisture is run-ning in a wide range but mostproducers are finding fields toharvest in the 17- to 20-percent

range. Grain quality is pretty decent. Yieldreports are highly varied and for the mostpart not very exciting. It sounds like this is awide-spread phenomenon; recent marketaction supports that theory. Soybeans are aweek or more away from any possible har-vest. Yield guesses for the crop are all overthe place and probably are just guesses untilthe combines get into the fields. As I am writ-ing this, thunderstorms are occurring outsideand may stop any further harvesting until atleast mid-weekend. Just goes to show thatwhen you think you have the weather figuredout, along comes a change in the pattern.

Doug Uphoff, Shelbyville, Shelby County: Harvest startedearly (Aug. 26) here, and it’s agood thing because we received5.2 inches of rain on Wednesdayand Thursday. We have harvest-ed 225 acres so far with moisturelevels ranging from 16.2 to 19percent. Yields on corn followingcorn are 18 to 20 percent less

than corn following soybeans. We have fieldaverages ranging from 133 to 180. The latteron corn following soybeans. What made themost difference was whether any water stoodon the field or if the ground had some roll sothe 14 inches of June rain got away. Heat inJuly and early August caused rapid maturityin the corn so the kernels are shallower thanlast year. There are a few less kernels causedby tip back on the ear. Those who had downcorn are really struggling to get it harvested.Some are using rolling cones on the cornhead plus a reel. I know some still have a wayto go and I’m sure they were not wanting rain.No. 2 diesel, $2.54; No. 2 truck fuel, $3.01;gas off truck, $2.67; gas in town, $2.59; cashcorn, $4.10; Decatur corn (no trucking off,$4.33; January Corn, $4.32; Decatur (notrucking off), $4.53; fall 2011, $4.15; cashbeans, $10.07; Decatur beans, $10.34; fall2010 Beans, $9.79; Decatur beans fall 2010,$10.09; January beans, $10.07; JanuaryDecatur beans (no trucking off), $10.38; fall2011 beans, $9.66.

Monday, September 6, 2010 FarmWeek

CROPWATCHERS

Reports received Friday morning.Expanded crop information available at FarmWeekNow.com

Rain slows harvest; big push expected this weekBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Scattered rain showers —and in some instances heavydownpours — last weekslowed an otherwise earlystart to corn harvest forsome farmers.

A severe storm passed

through Central Iowa andreportedly dumped fourinches of rain and inflictedsome wind damage at theFarm Progress Show inBoone. Opening of the sec-ond day of the show report-edly was delayed two hours.

In Illinois, farmers as ofthe first of last week hadharvested 2 percent of thecorn crop compared to thefive-year average of 1 per-cent.

“Most farmers were justgetting started, but the rainslowed things down,” said TomRitter, a FarmWeek Crop-watcher from Macon County.

that died prematurely is atrisk of lower yields and testweights.”

Ritter said the corn cropin his area likely won’t meetexpectations farmers hadbefore the hot, dry stretch inAugust.

“The corn crop that waspredicted earlier just isn’tthere,” Ritter said. “Butfarmers are very optimisticabout soybeans in this area”after recent rains.

National crop yield pro-jections issued last week byAllendale Inc. reflected somecrop deterioration issuesexperienced after USDA inAugust estimated averageyields at 165 bushels per acrefor corn and 44 bushels peracre for beans. Allendaleprojected national averageyields of 162.3 bushels peracre for corn and 43.2bushels for beans.

John Brink, a farmer fromWashington County, saidmany of the farmers whogot an early start on cornharvest were those who haveon-farm storage and dryingunits.

“After Labor Day is when(harvest) really will start inearnest in my area,” Brinksaid.

Moisture levels reportedlyhave declined to the pointwhere more combines areexpected to roll. As of lastweek corn moisture readingswere 20 percent or below inBrink’s area and ranged from18 to 22 percent in Ritter’sarea.

“As far as moisture, thecrop is considerably drierthan it was in mid-Octoberor the first of November lastyear,” Ritter said.

The corn crop is dryingdown quicker this year dueto early planting in someareas while other fields sim-ply died early due to a com-bination of too much earlymoisture, compaction issues,shallow root systems, andthen a lack of moisture andhigh heat and humidity last

month, according to KevinBlack, GROWMARKinsect/plant disease technical

manager.“We’ve got everything

from corn that will finishnormally to corn that justdied,” Black said. “Anything

FarmWeekNow.comTo listen to an audio interviewwith Cropwatcher Tom Ritter onearly harvest, go to FarmWeek-Now.com.

‘The corn crop that was predicted ear-lier just isn’t there.’

— Tom RitterMacon County farmer and FarmWeek Cropwatcher

WHEAT


Will tight seed supply limit wheat acres in Illinois?BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The fact that wheat grow-ers had such a difficult timeplanting their crop a year agocould create more headachesfor producers this fall.

The supply of wheat seedin the state currently is tight,and producers interested inplanting wheat this year buthave not secured their seedsupply have been advised tocontact seed suppliers as soonas possible to place orders orget on waiting lists.

“There’s no doubt there isa limited amount of high-quality seed,” said Ken Mar-tin, GROWMARK soy-bean/wheat product manager.“Seed supplies probably are

stands this fall to spread outtheir seed supply. Steve Ebel-har, agronomist at the Univer-sity of Illinois Dixon SpringsAgricultural Center, said aslight adjustment to seedingrates can help, but he advisedfarmers against slashing seed-ing rates too low.

“I’d recommend 35 seedsper square foot, but you cango down to 30 without hurtingyourself too much,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t go anythingless than 25 seeds per squarefoot, and that’s into very goodseedbed conditions.”

Overall, Brink predictedwheat plantings in Illinois thisfall will bounce back closer tothe 850,000-acre markachieved two years ago butlikely will fall short of plant -ings in the fall of 2007 whenIllinois farmers planted 1.2million acres of wheat.

very tight across the soft (red)wheat belt” in Illinois, Indiana,Missouri, and Ohio.

Illinois farmers last fall man-aged to plant just 350,000 acresof wheat, one of the state’slowest wheat acreage totals onrecord. Farmers the previousyear planted a half-millionmore acres of wheat statewide.

John Brink, a wheat growerfrom Washington County andpresident of the Illinois WheatAssociation, grows seed wheatand thus has an ample supplyto plant this year’s crop.

He said the tight seed sup-ply could challenge somefarmers but believes the situa-tion won’t be a huge issue.

“Some of the more promi-nent varieties are unavailable,”

Brink said. “So I think there isa shortage now, but there pos-sibly could be some seedreleased in-season from guyswho over-bought.”

Martin advised wheat grow-ers looking for seed to contactsuppliers as soon as possible.

“Try to at least get yourname on the list of suppliers,”he said.

Otherwise, farmers mayconsider planting thinner

Scientists crack wheat’s genetic sequenceBritish scientists last

month announced theydecoded the genetic sequenceof wheat, which they hopewill lead to the breeding ofbetter strains.

However, wheat growersshouldn’t expect immediateresults from the scientificbreakthrough.

Fred Kolb, a wheat breederat the University of Illinois,

told FarmWeek it could takeyears before researchers areable to use the new geneticinformation to improve wheatcrops and boost yields.

“It’s fair to say there is atremendous amount of infor-mation made available (withthe genetic sequencing ofwheat),” Kolb said. “But therealso is quite a lot of work tobe done to organize (thesequencing information) andfigure out what it all means.It’ll take some time to reallyimpact breeding.”

Kolb, who described him-self as “more of a hands-on,whole plant breeder” saidthere is a movement to genet-ically enhance wheat toimprove production.

But traits beneficial to cornand soybeans might not pro-duce the same results with thecereal crop. There also hasbeen less money andresources put into wheatresearch overall compared tocorn and soybeans, Kolb not-ed.

“I’m not against that(genetically enhanced wheat),but the question is whattraits should we move intowheat,” he said. “Droughttolerance would be a goodtarget trait worldwide, but inthe Eastern U.S., I doubt itwould improve yields a wholelot.”

Kolb currently helpswheat growers in Illinoisimprove yields by identifyingand rating wheat varietieswith resistance to Fusariumhead blight, or head scab.

Farmers who plan to plantwheat this fall may visit thewebsite {http://vt.cropsci.-illinois.edu/wheat.html} fora head scab evaluation fromwheat variety testing.

Overall, Kolb is optimisticIllinois farmers will plantmore wheat this year com-pared to last year.

“I’m optimistic there willbe good acres planted thisyear (due in part to an earliercorn harvest),” he said. “Ithink there are more oppor-tunities for farmers to makemoney with wheat this year.”— Daniel Grant

PRODUCTION


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Farmland prices inch higher; cash rents projected to riseBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Farmland values in Illinoishave increased so far this year,according to two separate sur-veys.

The Illinois Society of Pro-fessional Farm Managers andRural Appraisers (ISPFMRA)last week at the Farm ProgressShow in Boone, Iowa, releaseda mid-year survey of its mem-bers that showed farmlandprices for the first half of theyear increased by an average of$131 per acre, or 1.7 percent.

Elsewhere, the FederalReserve Bank of Chicagoreported ag land values in thesecond quarter shot up 6 per-cent from a year ago in theSeventh Federal Reserve Dis-trict, which is made up of Illi-nois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin,and Michigan.

The Federal Reserve Bank’sestimate is based on a survey

of 198 ag bankers.“Farmland has been a star

as far as returns,” said GarySchnitkey, University of Illi-nois Extension farm manage-ment specialist, who serves assecretary/treasurer for ISPFM-RA. “It’s been a good invest-ment.”

Farmland prices in Illinoisas of July 1 averaged $7,665per acre for excellent qualityland, $6,639 per acre for goodquality ground, $5,724 foraverage quality land, and$4,646 for fair quality farm-land, according to the ISPFM-RA mid-year survey.

Schnitkey believes farmlandprices are based on returns andhe sees no signs of a bubble inthe market.

In fact, a lower volume offarmland sales in Illinois sofar this year indicates toSchnitkey that landownersare clinging to their ground

as a solid investment.“What I think is happening

on the volume side is therealways are estate sales, butthere have been fewer discre-tionary sales,” he said.

“The feeling I get is peoplewho own farmland don’t havemany alternatives (in which tomake a better investment) ifthey sell it.

“I think people are sayingfarmland is a safe investmentrelative to the stock market.”

Meanwhile, the financialcondition of the farmlandmarket is much different thanthe overinflated housing mar-ket prior to its collapse.

The Chicago Fed reportedthe portion of ag loans per-ceived as having “major” or“severe” repayment problemswas less than 4 percent in2010. This compares to 10 per-cent of home mortgages thatare past due while 23 percent

of home mortgages have nega-tive equity.

A downside of the strongfarmland market for farmerswho rent the ground they farmis the fact that ISPFMRAmembers projected cash rentsin 2011 will increase by anaverage of $7 per acre forexcellent and good qualityfarmland, $6 per acre for aver-age land, and $5 per acre forfair ground (see graphicbelow).

“If we hadn’t seen the

(crop) price increase (in recentmonths), we probably would’vebeen looking at stable todeclining cash rents,” Schnitkeysaid.

“But increased commodityprices kept those cash rentsgoing up.”

Schnitkey noted the cashrent projections are averagesand could vary by $75 per acreor more either way dependingon the productivity of eachfield along with the relationshipbetween landlords and tenants.

The cash rent estimates shown here are averages. Rates vary greatlyaround the state due to differences in soil productivity and land-lord/tenant relationships. The quality of farmland in the graphic is de-fined by corn yield potential; 190 bushels-plus per acre (excellent), 170to 190 bushels per acre (good), 150 to 170 bushels per acre (average),and below 150 bushels per acre (fair).

Time to evaluate your 2010 weed controlBY BARRY NASH

We now have an excellentopportunity to evaluate thisyear’s weed control system— from the combine. Besure to note any weeds yousee. By the first of Septem-ber, most weeds are at the

reproductivestage andeasy to iden-tify.

Properweed identi-fication iscritical dur-ing this time,as it assistsin evaluating

this year’s weed control sys-tem.

Key weeds to look forinclude small-seededbroadleaves such as water-hemp, lambsquarter, andmarestail (horseweed), aswell as a few large seededbroadleaves such as com-mon ragweed, giant rag-weed, and morningglory.

Be sure to check thefields closely — as theseweeds can produce seed atvery short heights.

An additional area ofconcern is identifyingperennial weeds such asscouring rush. For exam-ple, if an area of a field isidentified now as having aheavy population ofscouring rush, fall andspring til lage would berecommended, whereas,

simple spring til lage isgenerally adequate forsmall-seeded broadleaves.

Correct identification andlocation of these weeds willhelp you plan for a betterweed control system in2011.

In addition to accurateidentification, recognizingthe stage of weed growthalso is important. Forexample, if a waterhemp orgiant ragweed plant is 2 to 3feet in height, chances arethat the postemergenceapplication failed. Weedsthat are 4 or more feet inheight suggest that BOTHthe soil AND postemer-gence applications failed.

The key question now iswhy did these herbicideapplications fail? If thepostemergence applicationfailed, did we not apply ahigh enough rate of the her-bicide; did we have enoughcoverage; did we use thecorrect surfactant system?

On the other hand, if thesoil application failed, was itdue to incorporation (ormaybe the product performsbetter when not incorporat-ed); did we receive too muchrainfall; was the weed spec-trum not adequate for thisweed control system?

Finally, keep a runninglist of the issues you noticeon each field during yourfall inspection. This shouldhelp you develop the best

weed management systemfor 2011.

B a r r y N a s h i s G R O W -MARK’s weed science technicalmanager. His e-mail address [email protected].

Barry Nash

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William “Ed” Roy with the University of Illinois’ agricultural and biologi-cal engineering department demonstrates an experimental cart during therecent Agronomy Day. Using lasers and a camera, the engineers cancount cornstalks, modeled by PVC pipe above, and analyze stalks’ diam-eters and spacing between plants for field data. (Photo by Kay Shipman)

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

A three-wheeled cartequipped with a laptop com-puter, lasers, and a camera maynot resemble field equipment,but University of Illinoisresearchers said the informa-tion collected by the cart couldhelp estimate corn yields andbiomass production.

Tony Grift and William“Ed” Roy, both with the U ofI agricultural and biologicalengineering department,recently demonstrated the cartat the U of I Crop SciencesResearch farm.

The researchers’ goal is toobtain a field count of corn-stalks and to assess cornstalkdiameters.

“Our goal is to be able tohitch it on a farm implement,”Roy said.

Four lasers are mounted onone side of the cart. When thelasers beams are intercepted bya cornstalk, the information isrecorded on the computer.

Roy demonstrated the cartby pushing it over short sec-tions of PVC pipe that servedas substitutes for cornstalks.

The opposite side of thecart includes lasers and a cam-era whose images are used to

estimate stalk diameters.Roy noted the stalk diame-

ters can be used to estimateyields.

“There is a correlationbetween stalk diameter and earsize. The larger the stalk, thelarger the ear,” he said.

Currently, Roy and Grifthave tested the cart in the lab-oratory, where it has workedwell.

It has yet to be fully testedin the field, Roy added.

In addition to collectinginformation for corn yields,the cart’s information one daymay be used to estimate cornstover yields for biomass pro-duction, according to theresearcher.

Out for the count: U of I researchers harnessing lasers

Farmers have used aerationfor decades to maintain thequality of bin-stored grain bykeeping it cool, as well as tomanage insect pests.

Recently, USDA Agricultur-al Research Service (ARS)studies have examined whetherit’s better to direct the air fromabove or below as a way to usetemperatures of 60 degreesFahrenheit or lower to controlinsects.

USDA entomologist FrankArthur and agricultural engi-neer Mark Casada, both basedin Manhattan, Kan., experi-mented with bins that werecooled with either pressureaeration or suction aeration.

Pressure aeration uses fans

to push ambient air from thebottom of the bin upward,while suction aeration involvesreversing the fans to pull airfrom the top downward.

The researchers conductedtwo eight-month trials usingsix metal bins with perforatedfloors and storage capacitiesfor 1,250 bushels of wheat.

The insects examined in thestudy were rusty grain beetles,foreign grain beetles, hairyfungus beetles, red flour bee-tles, saw-toothed grain beetles,rice weevils, and lesser grainborers.

The study showed that dur-ing the summer suction aera-tion cooled the upper portionof wheat, or the surface zone,

more quickly than pressureaeration. That difference alsocorrelated to fewer insectpests.

For example, in pressureaeration-cooled bins, 3,290rusty grain beetles and 8,210red flour beetles were found insurface-zone traps comparedto 662 and 722 beetles, respec-tively, in suction aeration-treat-ed bins.

Suction aeration’s rapidcooling of the grain’s surfacezone is advantageous becausethat’s where insects initiallyinfest the grain after flying infrom outside, according toArthur.

The researchers said larger-scale studies are needed.

Pulling air down through bins gives better insect controlIllustration by Chip Beuchert, USDA-ARS

YOUNG LEADERS


AuctionCalendar

Wed., Sept. 8. 10 a.m.288.57 Ac. Real

Estate. Elbea (Ed)Malone, ABINGDON,

IL. Van AdkissonAuction Service, LLC.

www.biddersandbuyers.com

Wed., Sept. 8. 116.3Ac. McLean Co. SoyCapital Ag Services.

www.soycapitalag.comThurs., Sept. 9. 7 p.m.Farmland Auction. Late

Norma and AlbertStocke Farm, CARMI,IL. Dosher’s Auction

Service. Thurs., Sept.9. 10 a.m. Land

Auction. Fuenning andShoemaker Farm,HOOPESTON, IL.

Wallace LandCompany.

www.wal laceland.com

Thurs., Sept. 9. 1:30p.m. Real Estate

Auction. Eunice LoisSemon Estate,

LOSTANT, IL. Bradleys’and Immke Auction

Service.Thurs., Sept. 9. 10

a.m. Farmland Auction.Grandpa Doc L.P.,

ALEXIS, IL. GregoryReal Estate and

Auction, LLC. bidder-sandbuyers.com

Fri., Sept. 10. 10 a.m.

314 Ac. Lee Co.Dennis and Sharon

Nickels. Bearrows RealEstate and Auction Co.

Sat., Sept. 11. 8:30a.m. Hazelhurst

Consignment Auction.POLO, IL. Public

Auction Service. Sat.,Sept. 11. 9:30 a.m.

Consignment Auction.GREENFIELD, IL.Jerry Joyce, LarryDerricks and Mark

Pennell, Auctioneers.Sat., Sept. 11. 10 a.m.

Antique TractorAuction. Doug

Boughton Estate,LELAND, IL. Espe

Auctioneering.www.espeauctions.

comSat., Sept. 11. 10:30a.m. Farm machinery.

Mike and PatFredrickson, ALEDO,

IL. Steve RelanderAuctioneer/Farm

Broker.www.relanderauctions.

comThurs. Sept. 16. 7

p.m. Cass Co. LandAuction. Mary L.Lockhart Estate.Sanert Auction

Service.www.sanertauctions

.comThurs., Sept. 16. 10

a.m. Farmland Auction.Donald Hougas, NOR-

WAY, IL. Dick

McConville and MartyMcConville,Auctioneers.

www.mcconvillerealty.com

Sat., Sept. 18. 9:30a.m. Real Estate

Auction. Shirley M.Miller Trust, DIXON, IL.

Lenny Bryson andMark Ebert,

Auctioneers. topauc-tions24-7.com/paspoloWed., Sept. 22. 11:30

a.m. Whiteside Co.Land Auction. FultonLand Development,LLC, FULTON, IL.

Lenny Bryson,Auctioneer.

www.lennybrysonauctioneer.com

Wed., Sept. 22. 7 p.m.Land Auction. LottaMoore Heirs, CLIN-TON, IL. HaycraftAuction Co. Inc.

www.haycraftauctions.com

Fri., Sept. 24. 10 a.m.277 Ac. Macoupin Co.

Farmland. Estate ofCatherine Klaus, WAG-

GONER, IL. MikeCrabtree, Auctioneer.www.mikecrabtreeau

ctions.comWed., Sept. 29. 6:30

p.m. Northern IL LandAuction. PRINCETON,IL. Capital AgriculturalProperty Services, Inc.www.capitalag.com

Young Leaders donate nearly $15,000 to Harvest for AllBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Illinois Farm Bureau YoungLeaders from around thestate recently donatednearly $15,000 to foodpantries statewidethrough the Harvest forAll program.

Young Leaders madethe mid-year contribu-tion from funds raisedthrough sales of col-lectible, scale-modelsemi-trucks featuringthe IFB and Harvestfor All logos and from prizemoney awarded to IFBYoung Leaders from theAmerican Farm Bureau Fed-eration.

Illinois last year was firstnationwide in total dollarsdonated to Harvest for All($92,112) and placed second in

volunteer hours (1,854). IFBYoung Leaders, FFA members,and other volunteers in Illinois

last year collected a total of359,702 pounds of food thatwas donated to Harvest forAll.

“The overall goal is forthis money to stay in Illi-nois,” Jennifer Smith, IFBYoung Leader manager, saidof the recent donations that

were distributed by YL rep-resentatives in all 18 districtsof the state. “It’s helping

local communities.”Some YL represen-

tatives used the moneyto buy food for theirlocal pantries whileothers donated themoney directly to foodpantries.

Hunger isn’t aconcern limited toother countries orlarge metropolitanareas of the U.S.

About 11 percent of Illinoishouseholds reportedly facefood insecurity.

Meanwhile, food pantriesin the state also are keyresources for families duringnatural disasters, such as inthe aftermath from the out-break of tornadoes thatwreaked havoc in Central Illi-nois and during flooding thatinundated parts of NorthernIllinois earlier this summer,Smith noted.

IFB Young Leaders lastyear sold out all the col-lectible trucks (350) that fea-tured a grain trailer. Young

Leaders this year reserved 250trucks that will be sold as thesecond line in the series. Thisyear’s truck features an anhy-drous ammonia tank with theIFB and Harvest for Alllogos.

Each truck sells for $60,with all proceeds going toHarvest for All. Contact Jen-nifer Smith by e-mail [email protected] or by phone at309-557-2536 for more detailsor to order one of the newestcollectible trucks.

Smith also noted the dead-line for counties to submitHarvest for All numbers forthe year is the end of thismonth.

Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leaders will “Help Drive Out Hunger” fromIllinois by selling 250 of these scale-model semi trucks that feature thelogos of IFB and Harvest for All on an anhydrous ammonia tank. YoungLeaders in the state last year sold out of the first series of collectibletrucks (350), each of which featured a grain trailer with the same lo-gos. Each truck in the second series will sell for $60 with all proceedsgoing to Harvest for All. Contact Jennifer Smith, Young Leader manag-er, at [email protected] or 309-557-2536 for more details.

‘The overall goal is for thismoney to stay in Illinois (tofeed the hungry)’

— Jennifer SmithIFB Young Leader manager

Managing pasture weeds workshop Wednesday in DuPage County

A workshop on managing weeds in pastures will befrom 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Forest Preserve Districtof DuPage County and Danada Equestrian Center,Wheaton.

“Weeds can rob you of potential forage for your horsesand livestock,” said Ellen Phillips, University of IllinoisExtension educator.

Phillips will discuss weed identification, weed controloptions, safe herbicide use, and general management princi-ples.

Registration is $20 per adult. The fee is $5 for childrenyounger than 18.

For more information, contact Phillips at 708-352-0109 ordownload a brochure and registration form at{http://web.extension.illinois.edu/countrysidecenter/downloads/24983.pdf}.

FB IN ACTION


State Rep. Camille Lilly (D-Chicago), far right, describes the garden near her Chicago district office toMenard County Farm Bureau’s Secretary Bill Montgomery, left, and President Terry Entwistle. Looking on areWillie Ferba, center, who started the neighborhood garden, and Chicago Alderwoman Deborah Graham,who formerly served as the district’s state representative and had been “adopted” by the county Farm Bu-reau. (Photo by Dee Dee Gellerman, Menard County Farm Bureau manager)

Health care, candy, gardens highlightsof Menard County FB leaders tour

Menard County Farm Bureau leaders, joinedby Cook County Farm Bureau members,recently learned about health care, candy man-ufacturing, and urban gardening when theytoured the district of their “adopted” legisla-tor, state Rep. Camille Lilly (D-Chicago).

Lilly was appointed to the seat formerlyheld by now Chicago Alderwoman DeborahGraham, who also had been “adopted” by theMenard County Farm Bureau as a legislatorand met with the group that included membersof Lilly’s staff.

The group learned about the state-of-the-art medical care available at the Shriners Hos-pitals for Children, Oak Park. Participantswere told patients come from throughoutNorth America for care and services that areprovided regardless of the patients’ ability topay.

A taste of metro Chicago’s candy industry

was part of the visitors’ tour of the Mars Can-dy Factory.

The staff discussed Mars’ role in the commu-nity as well as its plans to expand a product lineand add 20 new jobs.

The group toured three urban gardens,including one near the representative’s districtoffice. Third grade students at Oak Park’sHatch Elementary described their work withflowers and vegetables.

Then the group toured a former vacant lot inChicago’s Austin neighborhood that now ishome to Harambee vegetable garden, whoseplots are rented by local residents.

A third urban garden, located near Lilly’soffice, was established by a neighborhood cou-ple, who continue to tend the plants.

Cook County Farm Bureau presented Lillywith a Friend of Ag Award, and she plans tovisit Menard County with her staff in the fall.

Saline County honorsits ‘Membership Man’BY DAVE MEEKER

With harvest in full swing, Joe Bramlet, Saline County FarmBureau board member, is working diligently to bring in hiscrop. Bramlet also has harvested several new voting members,which has earned him the title of “Membership Man.”

Over the past four years, Bramlet has signed 21, seven, 23,and five new voting members, respectively.

In addition, in each of those years he helped to reinstate anannual minimum of three voting members to help the county

Farm Bureau reach its votingmember quotas.

His record of signing 56new voting members overfour years and reinstating aminimum of 12 voting mem-bers is a first for a SalineCounty FB board member.

In addition to recruit-ment, Bramlet also is activein other programs, especiallyin seeking donations for theSaline-Gallatin Agriculture inthe Classroom (AITC) pro-gram.

For the past two years,Bramlet has been the firstand second place recruiterfor donations and sponsor-ships for the AITC golf out-ing.

Bramlet also serves on theSouthern FS board, fre-

quently contacts legislators about important issues, and isactive in the local FFA Alumni and Soil and Water Conserva-tion District.

Dave Meeker is the Saline County Farm Bureau manager. He can bereached at 618-252-6992.

Joe Bramlet is a Saline County FarmBureau board director and “Mem-bersh ip Man.” (Pho to by DaveMeeker, Saline County Farm Bureaumanager)

Champaign County FB graduates 13 leaders

Thirteen members of the2010 Champaign CountyFarm Bureau LeadershipAcademy, the first of itskind, have graduated after a

five-week seminar.The graduates are J.C.

Reitmeier, St. Joseph; DanGrieser, Rantoul; Marie Tan,Sidney; Marguerite Zahnd,Champaign; and Todd Weit-ekamp, Fisher.

Also, Brad Zwilling, Fish-er; Scott Kesler, Ogden;Mark Pflugmacher, Thomas-boro; Aaron Esry, St. Joseph;Eric Suits, Penfield; AdamWatson, Villa Grove; Dick

Miller, Philo; and Jerry Wat-son, Villa Grove.

Sessions were conductedon Mondays during themonth of August and includ-ed 23 speakers on topics suchas effective communicationwith the media, motivatingvolunteers, leading produc-tive meetings, Farm Bureauhistory, and proper etiquettewhen conducting a businesslunch.

Champaign County FarmBureau manager Brad Ukensaid plans are under way tomake the leadership academyan annual event.

Brad Uken is manager ofChampaign County Farm Bureau.He can be reached at 217-824-2940.

POPPING IN FOR A TOUR

State Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) and McHenry County Farm Bureau President Bruce Meier check outa popcorn popper made at Cretor’s Manufacturing, a family-owned business located in Mell’s district.Cretor’s focuses on technology for the popcorn industry. Mell, who was presented a Friend of AgAward and is one of the newest “adopted” legislators, having been adopted by McHenry County, re-cently hosted members of the McHenry and Cook County Farm Bureaus. The group also toured a vol-unteer-run neighborhood garden whose produce is donated to a local food pantry. They discussedpublic safety concerns at the 17th District Police Station. The representative and some of her staff planto visit McHenry County this fall. (Photo by Christina Nourie, Illinois Farm Bureau northeast legisla-tive coordinator)

FROM THE COUNTIES


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Keeping up with the changes

GRUNDY — FarmBureau and WILL

AM580 Radio will sponsor a fallmarketing outlook meeting at6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, atthe American Legion, Mazon.Pizza will be served. The panelwill feature Bill Gentry, RiskManagement Commodities,Lafayette, Ind.; Curt Kimmel,Bates Commodities, Normal;and Jacquie Voeks, StewartPeterson Group, Champaign.Call the Farm Bureau office at815-942-6400 for dinner reser-vations or more information.

HANCOCK — Theannual conservation

tillage field day will be from 4 to7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, northof Carthage on Highway 94.There will be an education sem-inar and pork chop dinnerserved after the field demon-strations. Mike Rogge, Univer-sity of Illinois Extension cropspecialist; Dick Burling, Han-cock County Farm ServiceAgency county executive direc-tor; and Lori Bollin, HancockCounty Natural Resources andConservation Service (HCSW-CD) district conservationist, willbe the speakers. Continuingeducation credits have beenapplied. Call Betty Buckert atthe HCSWCD office at 217-357-2188, ext. 3, for more infor-mation.

HENRY — A marketoutlook meeting will be

at 6:15 p.m. Thursday at theMoline Viking Club, 1450 41stSt., Moline. A buffet dinner willbe served. Mark Gold, TopThird Ag Marketing, will be thespeaker. There will be updatesfrom Mike Schaver, Gold StarFS grain merchandiser, and aWQAD meteorologist. Cost forthe series is $60 or a single ses-sion for $18. Call the HenryCounty Farm Bureau office at309-937-2411 or the RockIsland County Farm Bureauoffice at 309-736-7432 for reser-vations or more information.

LASALLE — The Mar-keting Committee will

sponsor a seed corn plot day at5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, at aplot west of Ottawa. Call theFarm Bureau office at 815-433-0371 for a meal ticket or moreinformation.

• Farm Bureau has slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblemsfor sale. Cost is $2. There is alimited number of SMV kitsavailable for $6. Call the FarmBureau office for more infor-mation.

LIVINGSTON — TheLivingston County Farm

Bureau Foundation will sponsora “Pull for Ag Students”fundraiser at 8:30 a.m. Sundayat the Livingston County FarmBureau Gun Club, 4-H Park,Pontiac. Cost is $15, whichincludes lunch, targets, andprize money. Proceeds will ben-efit the Roger Naylor Scholar-ship Fund. Call the Farm

ets are $70 for members and$75 for non-members, the latterof whom must be accompaniedby members. There is a limit oftwo non-member guests. Callthe Farm Bureau office formore information.

STARK — Farm Bureauwill sponsor an informa-

tion meeting about U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency’sspill prevention, control, andcountermeasure rule at 3 p.m.Thursday at the Farm Bureauoffice. Kevin Runkle, IllinoisFertilizer and Chemical Associa-tion, will be the speaker. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 309-286-7481 by Tuesday for reser-vations or more information.

WINNEBAGO — FarmBureau will sponsor an

informational meeting on the2011 Alaska trip at 7 p.m. Mon-day, Sept. 13, at the Farm

Bureau office. The trip is sched-uled from July 25 to Aug. 7. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 962-0653 for reservations for themeeting or more information.

• The Winnebago and BoonePrime Timers will sponsor a“Treat your Senses” tour Thurs-day, Sept. 30. The group willtour the Wind Ridge HerbFarm at 9:30 a.m. Followingthe tour, participants will go tothe McEachran Homestead at11:30 a.m. for wine tasting,lunch, and a presentation of thehistory of the homestead. Costis $22. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 962-9653 for reserva-tions or more information.

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

Bureau office for more infor-mation.

MERCER — The Mar-keting Committee will

sponsor a fall market outlookmeeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdayat the Farm Bureau office. BryceStremming, MID-CO Com-modities, will be the speaker.Call the Farm Bureau office at582-5116 for more information.

ROCK ISLAND — Themarket outlook series

will begin at 6:15 p.m. Thursdayat the Moline Viking Club. Abuffet dinner will be served.Mark Gold, Top Third Ag Mar-keting, will be the speaker. Callthe Farm Bureau office byWednesday for reservations ormore information.

• A Property Tax Assessment101 session will be presentedfrom 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. andfrom 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday,

Sept. 14, at the Farm Bureauoffice. Brenda Matherly, IllinoisFarm Bureau, will discuss theFarmland Assessment Act,property classification and valu-ation, and important timelineinformation. Call the FarmBureau office at 309-736-7432by Monday, Sept. 13, for reser-vations or more information.

ST. CLAIR — The YoungFarmers will sponsor a

“shred day” for Farm Bureaumembers from 9 to 11 a.m. Sat-urday at the Farm Bureau office.Cintas Document ManagementCorp. will provide the service.Call the Farm Bureau office at618-233-6800 for more infor-mation.

SANGAMON — FarmBureau will sponsor a bus

trip Tuesday, Sept. 14, to theChicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Car-dinals game in St. Louis. Tick-

PROFITABILITY


Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $35.10-$42.50 $38.3540 lbs. $47.00-$61.00 $55.8150 lbs. n/a n/aReceipts This Week Last Week

26,527 22,331*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

MARKET FACTS

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

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $75.73 $79.00 -3.27Live $56.04 $58.46 -2.42

Export inspections

(Million bushels)Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn08-26-10 7.2 25.5 45.308-19-10 11.9 24.6 43.8Last year 17.7 16.8 37.0Season total 1448.5 238.2 1856.0Previous season total 1235.3 184.3 1764.5USDA projected total 1470 1200 1975Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

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

Steers $95.45 n/a Heifers $96.00 $99.00 -3.00

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 Change113.85 114.69 -0.84

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs.

Slaughter Prices - Negotiated, Live, wooled and shorn 125-160 lbs. for 122-140 $/cwt., dressed, no sales reported.

Lamb prices

Make election season one of your best harvestsBY CHUCK SPENCER

Ears on the cornstalks arebeginning to drop, tempera-tures are doing the same, andthe fall campaigns are in fullswing.

If we focussolely on har-vesting ourcrops and noton harvestingideas, we missan opportuni-ty.

Labor Daymarks the

beginning of the final push ofa very active election seasonand now is the time to tune into campaign messages. I hearmany people say they want totune out. If we tune out, will

we advance agriculture’s issues? Listen to what candidates

are saying about the issues andhow they would vote. Theypay attention to the reactionof voters at town hall meet-ings, on the radio, or at a localcampaign event.

Are we evaluating theirmessages and positions andproviding our responses to thecandidates? Have you provid-ed a position paper on an issueof importance to your localcampaigns?

We cannot afford to waituntil after the election to beginshaping future political deci-sions.

Are you advising candidatesfor public office that agricul-ture is one of the most impor-

tant economic engines in ourstate? Do they know we play amajor role in our nationaleconomy, too? Our accom-plishments and challenges

deserve priority attention and,if addressed, can help lead oureconomic recovery.

An example would be infra-structure improvements to ourtransportation systems. Newconstruction or repairs meanjobs, and we use all modes of

transportation as an economicadvantage in Illinois.

New 1,200-foot locks notonly would improve ourworldwide competitiveness forshipping grain, but they alsowould improve the efficiencyof moving materials back upthe river. The river system is amajor inland port system thatserves our entire country.

Pick your favorite issue and,most importantly, communi-cate it to candidates runningfor office.

Do proposed regulationshave you concerned, and arethey efficient for agriculture?Are the regulations science-based?

Will programs be developedthat encourage compliance

before penalties are assessedfor non-compliance?

Express your support forbusiness climate issues includ-ing tax rates that spur invest-ment, growth, and job creation.An example may be a biofuelsrefinery located in a rural areausing renewable agriculturalproducts to create energy, live-stock feed, and jobs.

Most importantly, talkissues with candidates.

Harvest is one of the besttimes of the year for agricul-ture. Make this election seasonone of your best harvests.

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

Chuck Spencer

FAPRI: Export growth boosts grain price projectionsBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The crop-damagingdrought in Russia (estimated at$1.1 billion in losses) and sur-rounding nations could sup-port U.S. grain prices into nextyear.

Mid-year projectionsreleased last month by the Uni-versity of Missouri Food andAgricultural Policy ResearchInstitute (FAPRI) forecastincreased exports and higherprices for corn and wheat.

Exports between 2009/10and 2010/11 were projected togrow from 1.98 billion bushelsto 2.11 billion bushels for cornand from 881 million bushelsto 1.2 billion bushels for wheat.

The average price of eachcrop during the same time wasprojected to rise from $3.55 to$3.68 per bushel for corn andfrom $4.87 to $5.10 per bushelfor wheat.

“Russia and neighboringcountries have lowered pro-duction estimates and banned(grain) exports,” said ScottGerlt, FAPRI crop analyst.“There’s going to be a void inthe wheat export market.”

And that void should con-tinue to be filled by U.S. wheatand corn, which are key ingre-dients for livestock feed.

The increased demand forgrain is expected to boost U.S.plantings next year by 2.5 mil-lion acres for wheat and 1.2million acres for corn, accord-ing to FAPRI. If realized, larg-er plantings next year or recordcorn production this year couldput downward pressure on thecrop markets, Gerlt noted.

The soybean market appar-ently could feel the burden ofrecord-large plantings this year(78.9 million) combined with aslight drop in exports from arecord 1.47 billion in 2009/10to 1.43 billion in 2010/11.

FAPRI projected the aver-

age soybean price from2009/10 to 2010/11 will slipfrom $9.60 to $9.35 per bushel.

The good news for live-stock producers is feed pricesdeclined from 2008 peaks andexports have improved thisyear. Meanwhile, pork produc-tion this year is down 2.5 per-cent and cow numbers havefollowed a similar trend.

“Both supply and demandare moving in the right direc-tion,” said Scott Brown,FAPRI livestock economist.“Reduced supply helps the

improved price outlook.”FAPRI projected the average

hog price from 2010 to 2011would increase from $54.59 to$56.39 per hundredweight andfed cattle prices during thesame time would jump from anaverage of $93.50 to $98.50 perhundredweight.

A growing dairy herd wasprojected to keep a lid on milkprices, however. The all-milkprice average was projected at$16.56 per hundredweight in2010 with a slight jump to $17in 2011.

August milk up significantlyThe Class III price for milk adjusted to 3.5 percent butterfat

for the month of August was $15.18 per hundredweight, a $1.14increase from the previous month.

A much-needed shot in the arm came last week as the ClassIII price rose to a level not seen in nearly two years.

This increase will help offset rising feed prices. The higher prices are a direct result of the hot, humid, sum-

mer which took off a few pounds of production and reducedmilk supplies.

PROFITABILITY


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309-557-2274

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CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

�2009 crop: Wrap-up old-crop sales now.

�2010 crop: The Decem-ber contract penetrated the$4.52 resistance, exploding tothe next level at $4.70 in whatis looking like a “panic blow-off.” Going forward, the tradewill have to contend with sea-sonal pressure with harvestquickly approaching. Use thissurge for catch-up sales.

�Fundamentals: Thecorn market has been drawingstrength from the wheat mar-ket, but yield uncertainty hasbeen allowing it to have someindependent strength. Yieldreports from early harvesthave been disappointing, lead-ing traders to expect USDA tolower its estimate. Demandfor U.S. corn remains strongwith weekly export sales,1,658,200 (62.4 millionbushels) metric tons last week,again topping expectations.The increase in demand iscoming mostly from buyersbeing forced to shift feedgraindemand to the U.S. because ofthe drought in Black Seacountries. Soybean Strategy

�2009 crop: Interior basislevels gave up premium morewillingly last week. In someplaces they may give up anoth-er 30 to 40 cents by the timeharvest hits full stride. If thenew crop is good, there’s littleincentive to hold old crop intonext year.

�2010 crop: Recent trad-ing is typical for a marketshifting its short-term trend.Use these prices for catch-upsales.

�Fundamentals: Recentrains across the Corn Beltshould boost pod fill andimprove yield prospects slight-ly more than what might haveoccurred without them. Acouple of private firms haveforecast a yield near 43.5bushels per acre, down slightlyfrom USDA’s August forecast,but still large enough to lift thecarryout to 300 millionbushels. Demand for soybeansand products remains robust.Still, it’s apparent that Chinesebuying has slowed. Crush mar-gins on imported soybeans arenegative, and buyers may be

waiting for the “harvest low.”Wheat Strategy

�2010 crop: The declinein wheat prices has temporari-ly stopped, with prices tradingsideways the last two weeks.Prices could shift higher ifChicago December wouldclear $7.25 resistance, but itmay take a move above $7.50to turn the short-term trendup. Use current prices forcatch-up sales. Storage hedges,or hedge-to-arrive (HTA) con-tracts, for winter delivery arestill the best tool.

�2011 crop: Use rallies to$7.10 on Chicago July 2011

futures for catch-up sales. Ifbasis is wide compared to thispast summer, consider an HTAcontract.

�Fundamentals: Globaldemand for wheat has shiftedfrom the former Soviet Unioncountries to the U.S. Persistentstrong weekly export sales con-firm this, coming in aboveexpectations the last fourweeks. They topped 1 millionmetric tons (36.7 millionbushels) again this past week.The pace should be sustainedinto next year, especially afterRussia’s prime minister indicat-ed he would not lift the exportban until next year’s harvest.

Long-term investors whoput money in commoditiesmostly through index fundshave steadily liquidated long

Basis charts

positions in the wheat marketthe past three to four weeks.The Commodity Futures Trad-ing Commission (CFTC) liststhem as the “swaps” category.

It suggests investors maysee more downside risk thanupside opportunity at this time.

They started liquidating soy-bean positions two weeks ago,and corn last week. While a one-to two-week change does notmake a trend, it does indicatethings need to be watched closely.

The big speculative tradingfunds, designated “managedmoney” by the CFTC, haveslowed their accumulation,too, hinting they may not havemuch more capital to invest ingrains. In essence, grain mar-kets may be exhausting upsidepotential for now.

These graphics are posted at{www.twitter.com/agrivisor}each week.

Cents per bu.

Smart money leaving grain?

PERSPECTIVES


When most people think ofstinging insects, bees, wasps,and ants come to mind. At onetime or another, one or moreof these Hymenoptera hasstung most people.

Such an event produces avery memorable moment. Andthat is good for the insect!After such an encounter, mostanimals, including humans, tryto avoid stinging insects.

Bees, ants,and wasps stingby injecting poi-son through astinger. Theinsect’s stingingstructure is amodifiedovipositor, theegg-layingapparatus of

female insects. This meansonly female insects can sting.

However, another group ofinsects — caterpillars — alsosting. The sting of caterpillars

is entirely different, althoughsometimes no less painful,than the sting of bees.

A caterpillar’s sting is deliv-ered by a hair or spine on itsbody, not through a modifiedegg-laying structure. The sting-ing devices of caterpillars arecalled urticating hairs.

Urticating hairs are hollow,spine-like structures that con-nect to poison sacs under thecaterpillar’s skin. These hairscan puncture and embed in asoft material, such as humanskin. When that happens, thehair breaks off from the cater-pillar, and a dose of poison istransferred through the hollowhair.

Some plants also possessthese defensive stinging hairs.The most widely recognized ofthese plants are appropriatelycalled stinging nettles.

Most people are familiarwith the burning sensation thatoccurs when one touches the

leaves of a stinging nettle plantand consequently understandhow the plant’s system worksfor protection.

Caterpillars with stinginghairs occur in at least 11 insectfamilies within the order Lepi-doptera — the butterflies andmoths. Most caterpillars withstinging hairs turn into moths,including those called tigermoths, tussock moths, and thegiant silkworm moths.

In general, human andcaterpillar encounters of thestinging sort increase in thelate summer and early fallwhen caterpillars have com-pleted feeding and begin leav-ing food plants to search for aplace to pupate.

But the insects are not itch-ing for trouble. That is whymost stinging caterpillars arestrikingly marked in bright col-ors and patterns. Such mark-ings are known as “warningcolors” by scientists and are

intended to send the messagethat the insect is dangerous totouch.

One of the more commonof the stinging caterpillars isknown as the saddleback cater-pillar. This caterpillar is aboutan inch long with prominenthorns and numerous bristles.

It is brown at the ends witha green middle marked withwhite so that the insectappears to have a saddle andblanket on it. This bright-col-ored caterpillar turns into arather dull-colored brownmoth.

Another stinging caterpillarbelongs to the group of mothsthat are called giant silkwormmoths. The io moth, one ofthe smaller moths in thisgroup, has a caterpillar withstinging hairs. As one widelyused entomology textbookstates, “This larva should behandled with care, for thespines sting.”

A caterpillar sting might notbe as painful as a bee or waspsting, but it does cause burningand itching followed byswelling, redness, and a rash.

What should you do if youare stung by a caterpillar? First,remove as many stinging hairsfrom your skin as possible bysticking and removing withtape or washing the affectedarea thoroughly. Apply a coldpack to reduce swelling.

In rare cases exposure toinsect stinging hairs mightresult in an allergic reactionwith extensive swelling andrash. In such cases, a doctorshould be consulted. In mostcases, though, encounters withstinging caterpillars result in ashort period of discomfortand a lesson learned.

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

In 1983, the General Assemblypassed the Illinois Forestry Develop-ment Act, which created a program tocollect a 4 percent fee on harvested tim-ber in Illinois and established the IllinoisForestry Development Fund.

The 4 percent fee is based on thedollar amount paid to Illinois forestlandowners for the sale of their timber.Money collected from the fee is placedin the Forestry Fund.

State-licensed timber buyers collectthe fee and send the money to the Illi-nois Department of Natural Resources(IDNR) for deposit into the fund, whichis used to reimburse forest landownersfor recommended cost-share practicesthey have implemented under an IDNR-approved forest management plan.

In the past, landowner cost-shareprograms have paid for such practices asthe development of a forest manage-ment plan, tree planting, and timber

stand improve-ment.

Money fromthe fund also isto be used by the

Illinois Forestry Development Councilfor operation expenses.

The council is charged with studyingand evaluating Illinois’ forest resourcesand forest industry and determining themagnitude of those forest resources, thebenefits forests provide, the economicdevelopment and employment opportu-nities related to the forest industry,funding needs for forestry programs,and the soil, water, and wildlife habitatbenefits of forestry practices.

The council consists of 28 memberswho represent the General Assembly,the governor, state agencies, organiza-tions that have an interest in the state’sforests, universities, the forest productsindustry, urban interests, privatelandowners who are timber producers,

farmers, and environmental interests.In 2004, the administration at that

time began a practice of transferringbalances from the Forestry Fund to thestate General Revenue Fund (GRF) fornon-forestry government programssuch as Medicare and education.

These transfers are commonlyreferred to as fund sweeps.

The administration argued it tookonly surplus funds from the accountsthat were not needed to sustain pro-grams. However, groups such as theIllinois Forestry Association (IFA)argue it is improper to take feesassessed for one purpose, such asforestry, and use the money to pay gen-eral state expenses.

These sweeps are based partly onthe mistaken perception that theForestry Fund has a surplus at the endof the fiscal year. Frequently, forestry

practices need up to 12 months tocomplete, thus extending obligationsover multiple fiscal years.

According to state policy, funds areconsidered obligated only if theamount is more than $10,000 and theobligation has been filed by the state

comptroller. However, most reim-bursements to forest landowners forcost-share practices are less than$10,000 and thus not filed with thecomptroller’s office.

Therefore, at the end of each fiscalyear, the Forestry Fund appears tocontain a surplus of unobligated mon-ey, but this money has been commit-ted by IDNR to forest landowners forcost-share reimbursement.

Because the accumulated requestsof less than $10,000 have not beenfiled with the comptroller, the admin-istration considers the money surplus

and has transferred it from the fund tothe GRF.

The IDNR routinely seeks spendingauthority for these funds that is lessthan the revenues that support it. Thisexacerbates perception that the fundsare surplus.

Landowners are detrimentallyimpacted by these sweeps. Either theirpayments are delayed or they receive nopayments. Many landowners becomeaggravated at paying the 4 percent tim-ber harvest fee, then not being able toimplement forest programs because theForestry Fund lacks money.

The fund sweeps have been exten-sive. From 2004 through 2009, about$2.7 million was swept from the fund.

IFA initiated a Freedom of Infor-mation Act (FOIA) request for anaccounting of the revenues and expen-ditures related to the fund.

Not only did the FOIA informationshow the sweeps, it also showed thestate accounting process is very com-plex. This, in turn, has raised additionalquestions about the use of these funds.

Over the last several years with statebudget problems, “creative accounting”has come into play. Many suspect thatcreative accounting has become gener-ally accepted accounting practice forsome state agencies.

In the interest of public opennessand accountability, Illinois needs tohold all state programs to the higheststandard of transparency. IFA encour-ages IDNR to adopt this standard.

The IFA’s mission is “to act onissues that impact rural and communityforests and to promote forestry in Illi-nois.” To learn more about IFA, goonline to {www.ilforestry.org}.

John Gunter is a Region 4 director of the Illi-nois Forestry Association. His e-mailaddress is [email protected].

JOHN GUNTER

guest columnist

TOM TURPIN

Stinging advice about handling colorful caterpillars

Questions raised on timber harvest tax fee, fund

farmweek sept. 6 2010

Documents

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