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Monday, September 17, 2012 Two sections Volume 40, No. 38

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

AgriCulture studentsenrolled in record numbers at West-ern Illinois University in Macombthis year for the second consecutiveyear. .....................................................11

the number oF farm acci-dent deaths in Illinois last year wasthe lowest in 30-plus years. But theobject of this farm safety week is toreduce the number even more. ......8

50 DAYSREMAIN UNTIL THE NOV. 6 ELECTION

Call at the Capitol: ‘Farm bill now!’BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Last week, Farm Bureauand allied groups whipped upa Washington crowd to callfor a “farm bill now!”

On Thursday, Rep. BruceBraley (D-Iowa) filed a petitionaimed at forcing a Septembervote on a comprehensive five-year farm bill, arguing “gamesare being played in Washing-ton,” particularly among Houseleaders.

A majority of House mem-bers must sign the petition tocause an immediate vote. Farmstate lawmakers were taking an“any-which-way-you-can”approach to courting a needed218 votes, an aide to ColonaRepublican Rep. BobbySchilling last week told visitingIllinois Farm Bureau Leadersto Washington.

Meanwhile, the atmosphereat last Wednesday’s Farm BillNow! rally at the U.S. Capitolwas energized, eclectic (some80 groups support the effort),and, in American Farm BureauFederation President Bob Stall-man’s case, exasperated.

The rally, which also fea-tured bipartisan Senate/HouseAg Committee leaders, wasdesigned to “emphasize and re-emphasize the necessity ofpassing a farm bill,” Stallman

told FarmWeek prior to kick-ing off the event.

“Farmers deserve some cer-tainty,” Stallman insisted. “Thecurrent bill expires Sept. 30.Farmers don’t just wake up onemorning and decide what to do.We have to do a little bit ofplanning — a lot of people maynot realize that.

“Congress knows when thefarm bill expires, and it’s up tothem to tell us what happensnext. Tell us what the policy’sgoing to be, tell us what the bill’sgoing to be, and pass the bill.”

A Farm Bureau-supportedmeasure passed out of the HouseAg Committee in July, followingSenate passage of a similar planthat proposes far smaller cuts infood stamp spending. Represen-tative Schilling stressed theneed to recruit “some big hit-ters” in order to force a Housevote this week.

Illinois lawmakers fear thefarm bill could face an evengreater House challenge ifbrought up in a post-electionlame duck session already ded-icated to tax debate.

Schilling stressed farmers’needs and contributions —“Ifagriculture had been a weak partof the economy over the pastcouple of years, where would

we have been?” he asked IFBleaders.

If the 2008 farm bill expiresSept. 30 without the promise ofa new bill, the U.S. defaults toold, “permanent” ag legislationand “we turn back the clock inrural America to 1949,” SenateAg Committee Chairman DebStabenow (D-Mich.) warnedrally participants.

That means outdated “gov-ernment planting restrictions,”costly price supports, and annu-al ag disaster requests vs. cur-rent Senate-House proposalsthat would trim $23 billion to$35 billion in long-term agspending, she said.

“It’s absolutely crazy to geteven close to something likethis,” Stabenow noted. “Wehave, in the Senate, passed abipartisan farm bill that includesdisaster assistance fully paid forwithin the savings in our bill.”

She hailed similar biparti-san House Ag Committeeapproval of livestock disasterprovisions, and indictedHouse Speaker John Boehner(R-Ohio) for refusing to “backthe chairman of the commit-tee (Rep. Frank Lucas R-Okla.) to get that done.”

See Farm bill, page 4

BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

USDA last week trimmed its yield andproduction estimates for the drought-parched corn and soybean crops.

Corn production was lowered 52 millionbushels to10.7 billionbushels,with anaverage yield

nationwide of 122.6 bushels per acre (down0.6 of a bushel from the August estimate).

If realized, U.S. corn production would bethe lowest on record since 2006 while the aver-age corn yield would be the lowest since 1995.

U.S. soybean production was forecast tototal 2.63 billion bushels (down 2 percentfrom the August estimate and 14 percentfrom last year) with an average yield of 35.3bushels per acre (down 0.8 of a bushel

from the August estimate).The crop production estimates, while

tweaked to the downside, were above tradeexpectations. Crop prices, as a result, areexpected to trade sideways to lower, accord-ing to market analysts.

“What we’re seeing in the corn marketmakes the numbers bearish,” said Nick Klump,AgriVisor risk management specialist. “Theproduction level is higher than expected.”

Higher-than-expected corn production,including an early start to harvest, com-bined with lower corn usage (2011/12feed and residual use was lowered by 150million bushels while 2012/13 cornexports were cut by 50 million bushels)led to an overall jump in corn supplies.

Those supplies for 2012/13 wereincreased by 108 million bushels. Endingstocks for 2012/13 were raised by 83 millionbushels to a total of 733 million bushels.

“That’s a pretty big bump in ending stocks,”Jonah Ford, senior analyst at Ceres Hedge, saidduring a conference call hosted by the Min-neapolis Grain Exchange. “(The report) wasmodestly bearish across the board.”

USDA lowered its season average farmprice forecasts by 30 cents for corn andwheat to a range of $7.20 to $8.60 per bushelfor corn and $7.50 to $8.70 for wheat.

“It appears the corn trading range thepast month and a half finally ran out ofsteam,” Klump said.

Ford advised livestock producers andother end-users to lock in feed purchaseson the price breaks. “I think we’re probablyin a sideways to possibly lower (price) rangefor awhile,” he said. “I’d be very wellhedged heading into next year.”

USDA left its season average price rangeestimate for soybeans unchanged at $15 to $17per bushel.

Flanked by leaders of farm, conservation, consumer, and other groups, Na-tional Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer of Auburnleads a chant of “farm bill now!” at a rally last week near the U.S. Capitol.Respective American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Unionpresidents Bob Stallman and Roger Johnson led the rally, demanding Sep-tember farm bill passage. “We continue to be more productive and innova-tive,” Niemeyer told rally participants. “But we need to have some certaintyabout how we plan our business.” (Photo by Martin Ross)

USDA trims its crop yield, price estimates

FarmWeekNow.comView comments about grainm a r k e t i n g t h i s f a l l a tFarmWeekNow.com.

LFTB MAKER SUES ABC NEWS — Beef Prod-ucts Inc. (BPI), the maker of lean finely textured beef(LFTB) has filed a defamation lawsuit against ABCNews.

The South Dakota-based company claims in its law-suit that ABC News misled consumers into believingLFTB, which was dubbed “pink slime” in news cover-age, is unhealthy and unsafe.

The company is seeking $1.2 billion in damages for“false and misleading and defamatory” statementsagainst LFTB.

BPI attorney Dan Webb said the news reports hadan enormous impact on the company. BPI reported itlost 80 percent of its business in 28 days. It was forcedto close three of its four U.S. plants and lay off morethan 650 workers.

Some of its customers have returned, but BPI said itstill hasn’t restored its customer base to the pointwhere it can rehire former employees.

MCDONALD’S CALORIE COUNT, FOODCHANGES — Consumers will learn the calories intheir McDonald’s burgers and fries this month, compa-ny executives announced last week.

At McDonald’s restaurants across the country, newmenu boards will provide calorie information.

Many customers may not realize they also have beeneating less salt at the Golden Arches. McDonald’s hasreduced sodium in its core menu items by more than11 percent since February 2011.

The company’s first nutritional report published lastweek noted McDonald’s is testing more seasonal fruitsand vegetables and offers fruit and vegetable choices inHappy Meals.

ILLINOIS NETS GRANT FOR CHP — Illinoisreceived a grant from the National Governors Associa-tion to increase use of combined heat and power(CHP) units in nine sectors, including food. Currentlythe state has 139 CHP units.

Among the newer CHP installations is a 3-megawattCHP system at the Illinois River Energy ethanol plantat Rochelle. The Illinois Department of Commerce andEconomic Opportunity also provided assistance tobuild CHP plants at a Stephenson County dairy farmand at wastewater treatment plants in Danvil le,Decatur, Downers Grove, and Fox Lake.

`Under conventional CHP, fuel is burned in a primemover, such as a gas turbine, and the waste heat is recy-cled to provide heating, cooling, and/or dehumidifica-tion.

Under Waste Energy Recovery, the fuel is burned ina furnace or boiler to provide heat to an industrialprocess, with excess heat “recycled” to generate elec-tricity on-site.

FarmWeek Monday, September 17, 2012

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 40 No. 38 September 17, 2012

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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FarmWeek is published by the Illinois AgriculturalAssociation for farm operator members. $3 from the individ-ual membership fee of each of those members go towardthe production of FarmWeek.

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STAFFEditorDave McClelland ([email protected])Legislative Affairs EditorKay Shipman ([email protected])Agricultural Affairs EditorMartin Ross ([email protected])Senior Commodities EditorDaniel Grant ([email protected])Editorial AssistantLinda Goltz ([email protected])Business Production ManagerBob Standard ([email protected])Advertising Sales ManagerRichard Verdery ([email protected])Classified sales coordinatorNan Fannin ([email protected])Advertising Sales RepresentativesHurst and Associates, Inc.P.O. Box 6011, Vernon Hills, IL 600611-800-397-8908 (advertising inquiries only)

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Quick takesenvironment

Progress, practices focusof gulf hypoxia task forceBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

A national gulf hypoxia task force last weekhighlighted the progress being made to keepcrop nutrients on fields and out of the Missis-sippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, an Illinoisrepresentative told FarmWeek.

“In years past, we debatedscience or argued over goals... now we’re more focused onwhat we’ve accomplished andhow we can collaborate toaccomplish even more,” saidWarren Goetsch, head of Illi-nois Department of Agricul-ture’s (IDOA) environmentalprograms.

Hypoxia is a depletion ofoxygen in the water that canaffect aquatic life.

Goetsch, acting IllinoisAgriculture Director BobFlider, Marcia Willhite of theIllinois Environmental Protection Agency, andDennis McKenna, a retired IDOA employee,attended the task force meeting in Des Moines,Iowa.

The meeting included a technology demon-stration on an Iowa research farm. Goetsch saidthe conservation show-and-tell helped federalagency representatives and others better under-stand the tools available to keep nitrogen andother nutrients in place.

As anticipated, the size of the gulf hypoxiazone was smaller this year in part because of

the low flow rate of the Mississippi River andthe drought in the river basin.

However, the measurement was taken beforeHurricane Isaac stirred up the water and causedan increase in the oxygen in the zone.

During the meeting, researchers highlightedmore than 670,000 nutrient data records from

12 states, including Illinois.One goal will be to link thedata points “and betterdefine where we are” inkeeping nutrients on fields,Goetsch said.

Iowa proved a benefi-cial meeting locationbecause researchers therecould explain their study ofavailable conservation prac-tices and the impact theyhave on nutrients, accord-ing to Goetsch.

Illinois’ Keep it for theCrop (KIC) by 2025 cam-

paign to improve nutrient use was highlighted.Also mentioned was new state legislation thatcreated a nutrient research and education coun-cil.

Given the size of the Mississippi RiverBasin, more thought is being given to targetingconservation practices in locations that willachieve the greatest results, Goetsch noted.

“We’re trying to be smart with the limitedresources we have and with those we expect tohave,” Goetsch said. “We’re making progress,but this is not going to be solved overnight.”

‘We ’re t r y ing to besmart with the limitedresources we haveand w i t h t hose weexpect to have.’

—Warren GoetschIllinois Department

of Agriculture

RMA official: Claims auditprocess could be adjustedBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

The drought of 2012unfortunately has raised thebar on crop damages. USDA’sRisk Management Agency(RMA) will take that intoaccount, an agency officialtold Illinois farmers lastweek.

If a loss amount is equal toor greater than $200,000 percrop per county per claimtype (such as a productionloss claim), RMA normallyrequires a three-year ActualProduction History auditbefore the claim can be set-tled.

Given this season’sdrought conditions, a higher-than-usual number of suchclaims is possible or evenprobable.

Once an audit is ordered,farmers must submit a FarmService Agency 578 report ofacreage form for their opera-tion and hard-copy produc-tion evidence for insuredcrops, such as delivery sheets,sales records, and/or seedpurchase records.

However, Michael Alston,RMA deputy administrator

for insuranceservices, toldIllinois FarmBureau Lead-ers to Wash-ington hisagency mayre-evaluateaudit require-ments if anunusually

high volume of $200,000-plusclaims emerge this fall. Atthis point, fewer than 5 per-cent of claims submittednationwide trip the audit trig-ger, Alston said.

“We’re monitoring things,and if we see a huge spike,then we could make someadjustments,” he toldFarmWeek. “We’re looking atthis state-by-state. If folks inIllinois are experiencing amajor tick upwards, we canadjust that.”

As of last Tuesday, some$1.4 billion in spring cropclaims had been paid, includ-ing roughly $29 million in Illi-nois losses, though Alstonnoted “the claims are juststarting to roll in.”

Last year, under far lesssevere conditions, insurers

paid a total of $11 billion inlargely early-season claims —$2.3 billion in Illinois.

Audit paperwork require-ments will remain the sameregardless of whether RMAscales back on audits, Alstonsaid.

At the same time, RMA’sSpringfield regional officeplans to focus on quality lossclaim eligibility requirementsfor Illinois corn growerswhose crop is susceptible tomycotoxin.

Alston warned farmerswho suspect fungal contami-nation in their grain to sendsamples to an approved test-ing facility rather than placingthe suspect corn in storageand invalidating a prospectiveclaim.

A list of regional test facil-ities is available at{www.rma.usda.gov} (clickon the Springfield office).Beyond claims eligibility,Alston noted the tendency foraflatoxin to “take over” graininventories in storage.

“We don’t want anyoneto get caught off guarddealing with aflatoxin,” hesaid.

Michael Alston

government

Monday, September 17, 2012 FarmWeek

IFB sees post-election push to prevent ‘big hit’BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Farm groups fearing apotentially “big hit” in 2012hope crucial tax legislation canfly in a lame duck session.

American Farm BureauFederation’s Pat Wolff seesCongress moving afterNovember elections to extendsoon-to-expire tax provisions,including the $5 million indi-vidual estate tax exemption.

Both Democrats andRepublicans agree to the needto extend tax relief measures,“but they disagree over whoshould get those cuts,” Wolfftold Illinois Farm BureauLeaders to Washington lastweek.

If the estate tax exemptionand an accompanying 35 per-cent tax rate expire Dec. 31,farm families will face new taxliability for estates valued atmore than $1 million, at a 55percent tax rate.

Further, capital gains andincome tax rates would jumpand Section 179 expensing ofdepreciable assets would dropback to a $25,000 deductionlimit.

That’s a “big hit” for Illinoisfarm families, IFB Govern-ment Affairs Director MarkGebhards warned.

“There’ll be a huge taxincrease on the first of theyear” unless Congress acts,

Wolff told FarmWeek.“Farmers have a huge amountat stake in whether or notCongress gets the job donebefore the end of the year. Weneed this tax bill done inDecember — no excuses, nofinger-pointing.”

Lawmakers could wait forthe new Congress to vote aretroactive extension of reliefmeasures, but Wolff arguedthat approach is “very riskyand not very good policy.”

The Senate Finance Com-mittee cleared a tax “exten-ders” package that did notaddress the estate tax but didinclude a retroactive two-yearextension of the $1-per-gallonbiodiesel tax credit.

The estate tax as well asalternative minimum tax meas-ures designed to relieve tax lia-bility for middle income earn-ers are expected to make it intoa lame duck bill.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling, aColona Republican and formerestate tax planning consultant,agreed to the need to quicklyaddress the “death tax,” callinga return to pre-2002 estate taxlevels under today’s economics“unbelievable.”

Meeting with Schilling,Henry County Leaders DeveDetloff Jr. and James Ufkinstressed the “social implica-tions” of estate tax liability, asfamilies debate the cost of

keeping farmland. Estate salesreverse conservation gains if“that land doesn’t stay in agri-culture,” American FarmlandTrust President Jon Scholl toldthe congressman.

“We lose an acre a minute,anyway,” Scholl said.

The biodiesel credit expiredlast Dec. 31. NationalBiodiesel Board spokesmanBen Evans told FarmWeek hisindustry has not yet seen the“calamity” that occurred whenthe credit disappeared in 2010,thanks to demand generated bythe Renewable Fuel Standard(RFS2) (see page 7).

But individual operationsare “really struggling to keepthings going” amid uncertaintyover credit continuation andRFS2 biodiesel goals for 2013,Evans said.

“Another year of this isreally going to be hard on ourmembers,” he said. “We built alot of growth in momentumlast year. Plants were hiringpeople, buying new equipment,buying loads of feedstock. Itwas clear the policies wereworking. But things startedgoing flat this year.

“There are things Congressreally has to do, needs to dobefore the end of the year toavoid real economic damage ina number of sectors. Webelieve the biodiesel tax incen-tive is one of those things.”

$10 million awardedfor career learning BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Illinois is investing morethan $10 million of public-private money to prepare stu-dents for careers in science,technology, engineering, andmath, Gov. Pat Quinn saidFriday.

“We want all our studentsin every dis-trict ... to bestrong inthose sub-jects. A lot ofbusinesses,and thatincludes agri-culture, arereallyinvolved in

this” initiative, Quinn said inan RFD/FarmWeek inter-view.

The governor then joinedstate education officials andindustry representatives at anews conference in Chicago’sMerchandise Mart.

The state is launchinglearning exchanges in manu-facturing, health sciences,information technology, andresearch and development. Afifth will focus on ag, food,and natural resources.

Learning exchanges pro-mote career education with

curriculum, career explo-ration, work-based learning,student groups, and intern-ships or similar job experi-ences.

Friday, three additional sec-tors — energy, finance, andtransportation and distribu-tion — received money toplan learning exchanges.

Quinn said major Illinoisagribusinesses, including JohnDeere and Archer DanielsMidland, always seek skilledworkers, and his goal is toprepare Illinois students forthose jobs.

Quinn recalled how SamAllen, Deere’s chief executiveofficer, explained that moderncombines contain more tech-nology than the first spaceship. Much science, technolo-gy, and math are part ofcareers related to agricultureand natural resources, thegovernor added.

Over the past year, agricul-ture education and the agindustry have prepared forlearning exchanges by updat-ing career education materials,outlining the classes neededfor different ag careers, anddeveloping new materials andpartnerships.

The initiative is beingfunded with $2.3 million infederal Race to the Top fundsand $8 million from privateindustry.

Gov. Pat Quinn

Quinn unveils new ag, tech ed partnerships

Constitutional amendment coming on the November ballotIllinois voters will determine

the fate of a proposed amend-ment to the state Constitutionin November.

The proposedamendment wouldrequire a three-fifthsvoter approval, or asuper majority, toallow the enhance-ment of pensions by any gov-ernment body, according toKevin Semlow, Illinois Farm

Bureau director of state legisla-tion. Currently, IFB does nothave a position on the measure.

The Illinois Gen-eral Assembly votedto put the proposalbefore voters beforelegislators adjournedthe spring legislativesession.

If approved by voters, thesuper-majority requirementwould apply to the General

Assembly and all local units ofgovernment and school dis-tricts.

The proposal specificallydefines pension enhancementsas adding to employees’ basepay with time off, bonuses,incentives, or other compensa-tion. Salary or wage increaseswould not require the three-fifths approval.

State law requires every Illi-nois mailing address to receive

a summary of the proposedamendment with pro and coninformation.

Approval of the proposedamendment will require afavorable vote by three-fifthsof voters who cast a vote onthe proposed amendment or amajority of those who vote inthe election.

Illinois voters haveapproved few constitutionalamendments, Semlow noted.

The Champaign-based Illi-nois Crop ImprovementAssociation this monthnamed Douglas Miller as thecompany’s chief executive

officer.Miller

joined IllinoisCrop in 1994as a green-house supervi-sor. Morerecently heserved as thecompany’sseed technolo-

gy manager and business

development director.“I am pleased to be leading

the Illinois Crop ImprovementAssociation as it continues toexpand and build upon its corevalues and expertise,” Millersaid.

Miller will assume fullresponsibilities on Jan. 1, 2013.Dennis Thompson, who isretiring, will continue to serveas CEO in the interim and willassist with the transition.

Thompson joined IllinoisCrop in 1996 after working 20years in the University of Illi-nois crop sciences department.

“By luck of the draw Istarted at Illinois Crop thefirst year commercializedRoundup Ready beans wereplanted,” Thompson toldFarmWeek in a phone inter-view from the company’sresearch farm in Puerto Rico.

“Biotech has changed agglobally. It’s been an excitingperiod in the history of ag.”

Illinois Crop Improve-ment Association’s corework is the certification ofseed. It provides seed testingand seed certification servic-es.

The company underThompson’s leadershipexpanded its role and collab-orated with other groups; itreceived grant money forresearch projects to work oncommodities such as high-oilcorn, extractable starch, andwheat kernel hardness; and itexpanded its third-party,seed research and develop-ment farm in Puerto Rico.

Illinois Crop also hasexclusive agreements withMonsanto to work on someof the traits in that compa-ny’s product line.

Illinois Crop Improvement names Miller new CEO

Douglas Miller

Since the 1970 Constitutionbecame effective, more than900 amendments have beenproposed in the state legisla-ture.

Of those, only 16 were puton the ballot by lawmakers. Avoter initiative put one pro-posal on the ballot.

Of the 17 proposedamendments put before vot-ers, only 10 were ratified,according to Semlow. — KayShipman

goverNmeNt


Rallying around policy:‘We need a farm bill now’

Congressional leaders joined crop, livestock, conservation,nutrition, and allied groups at the U.S. Capitol reflecting pool lastweek to lead the call for a “farm bill now!”

Here are some of their thoughts: “There’s no reason that this farm bill can’t get passed by the

House and get done in a conference committee. You just have towant to get it done. That’s it. The political will to get it done — that’sall this is about right now.”

U.S. Senate Ag Committee Chairman Deb Stabenow (D-Mich.)

“You have to get out there and get this grassroots effort going —get these calls and emails and letters out to these members ofCongress and put the heat on them. If you don’t, we’re going to endup getting dragged into next year. And I’ll guarantee you, there isno good outcome of this situation if we get into next year.”

U.S. House Ag CommitteeRanking Democrat Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)

“This is my third farm bill in my time in Congress. It’s more impor-tant now than it’s ever been because we’ve never experienced theweather our nation is experiencing in such a broad way in so manyplaces and so severely for so long.”

Senate Ag Committee member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)

“Many of (Farm Bill Now’s 90-some member organizations) havedifferent views of what ought to be in a farm bill. But we are all unit-ed about one thing: We need a farm bill, and we need a farm billnow. Why now? This farm bill isn’t just a farm bill. It’s a conservationbill; it’s a jobs bill; it’s a food and consumer bill; it’s a hunger bill; it’san energy bill.”

National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson

“We’ve recognized the need for major changes in dairy policy tomeet the needs of the 21st cen-tury. Dairy farmers have workedclosely with both the Senate andHouse Ag Committees in formu-lating new dairy policy. We arevery grateful for their opennessto change and their leadership inmoving the farm bill this far within avery partisan atmosphere.”

Ken Nobis, National Milk Producers Federation spokesmanand Michigan dairy farmer

“Agriculture remains the only sector of the American market-place that has proposed a concrete plan for deficit reductions withinour programs. This is a bipartisan plan, and it should be acted onnow.”

American Soybean Association President Steve Wellman

“The 2012 bill contains a strong conservation title. At the sametime, it provides critical funding in conservation programs that affectthe landscape across this country. The farm bill affects every acreof this country.”

National Association of Conservation DistrictsPresident Gene Schmidt, an Indiana farmer

“We have almost 50 million people in this country today who aregoing to bed hungry two, three, four days out of every month. Thisproposal, the farm bill, authorizes SNAP (the Supplemental Nutri-tion Assistance Program), which is used effectively by almost 47million Americans. Farmers and ranchers, senior citizens, andworking mothers with children depend on these programs. Theyshouldn’t be held hostage to a short-term (farm bill) extension.”

Alliance to End Hunger Executive Vice President Tony Hall, for-mer chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger

Continued from page 1House Ag Ranking Democrat Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)

maintained “we’re not going to get this bill done before theelection,” but argued a House vote sets the stage for a post-election conference and at least some level of certainty.

Extending debate into 2013 would mean “rescoring” of agspending, likely necessitating even greater program cuts andforcing lawmakers to “start over” with policy approval, hesaid.

Stabenow echoed producer rejection of a simple one-yearextension of the current bill — according to Peterson, “a verybad idea and an unnecessary idea.”

“This (suggested) extension is not about giving any cer-tainty to farmers, this is about getting into next year so (farmbill critics) can write a different kind of bill,” he warned.

“We have a lot of people who don’t like this bill, who wantto have a whole different kind of bill. They think that if theyget into next year, they might be able to do that.

“If we get into next year, we will not do anything until likeAugust or September. We probably won’t get it done by then.”

Farm bill

FarmWeekNow.comGo to FarmWeekNow.com toview video from last week’sfarm bill rally.

California GMO labelingvote spurs Midwest concernBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Once again, California is atan epicenter of the farm andfood industry debate, as WestCoast voters mull a GMOlabeling proposal on the fallballot.

Proposition 37 wouldrequire mandatory labeling offoods that contain GMO ingre-dients. If passed in November,food manufacturers marketingin California would have 18months to add that informa-tion to their ingredient lists.

Just as California Proposi-tion 2 in 2008 set the stage forstatewide poultry industryhousing restrictions and similarproposals across the nation,

Illinois Corn Growers Associa-tion (ICGA) warns Prop 37could “end up dictating whathappens in other parts of thecountry.”

California Farm BureauAdministrator Rich Matteisnoted a number of county andmunicipal anti-GMO proposalshave surfaced across the statein recent years, though previ-ous ballot initiatives weredefeated in Humboldt, Butte,Sonoma, and San Luis Obispocounties.

Prop 37 supporters, includ-ing organic producers, arguethe issue is one of consumerchoice, and that consumerswould reject foods with GMO-derived content if products

were labeled so. That’s despite currently

widespread U.S. production ofbiotech corn and soybeansused in key food ingredientsand, according to Matteis, thebasic principle that “We don’tput warning labels on food —either it’s safe or it’s not safe.”

In the end, the initiativewould do little to promote con-sumer choice but would forcetough, costly choices across thefood chain, on a national aswell as state level, he advised.Farmer-suppliers would berequired to document that theydo not raise GMO crops. Gro-cers would face new legal liabil-ityand that liability couldextend down the food chain togrowers as well..

“Obviously, with the label-ing requirement, grocery man-ufacturers would have chal-lenges in distribution,” Matteistold FarmWeek. “They’d haveone set of labels for Californiaand another for somewhereelse. Many times, food prod-ucts move out of a distributioncenter to a number of states, soit poses some commerce chal-lenges from that standpoint.

“There’s a full regulatoryregime that’s protective offood safety and the environ-ment. We have multiple federalagencies that deal with theseissues,” said Matteis. “We arguethat if folks do not want to buyGMO, they can easily do thatby buying organic and/or bybuying products that arelabeled as being ‘GMO-free.’There are many of those prod-ucts on the market now —there is the ability for people tomake choices.”

Prop 37 would further com-plicate food distribution andmarketing by restricting use ofthe word “natural” to describefood products, seemingly pro-hibiting processed foods fromcarrying that label, regardlessof content.

If Prop 37 had a negativeimpact on consumer buyingchoices, that would “put a pallon the technology in general”and potentially deprive Califor-nia growers of importantfuture production “tools,” Mat-teis suggested.

He emphasized the role ofGMO crops in reducing pesti-cide use —a key considerationfor a self-proclaimed greenstate.

ICGA, meanwhile, is post-ing a series by University ofCalifornia researcher SteveSavage, “Six More Good Rea-sons To Vote No on CaliforniaProp 37,” on its website{www.ilcorn.org}.

Above, retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, left, a Belleville Democrat,chats with Illinois Farm Bureau Leader to Washington Mike Campbell ofMadison County during last week’s Leader round of Capitol Hill officevisits. Below, Colona Republican Rep. Bobby Schilling, right, accepts anAmerican Farm Bureau Federation Friend of Farm Bureau award fromLeaders Deve Detloff Jr., center, and James Ufkin, both of Henry County.(Photos by Martin Ross)

production


Harvest pace accelerates; yields extremely variableBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Nearly a quarter of thecorn crop had been harvestedstatewide as of the first oflast week.

And the results in mostareas confirmed a significantyield hit due to the drought.

USDA last week in its Sep-tember crop report reducedthe Illinois corn yield estimatefrom 116 bushels per acre tojust 110 bushels, down 47bushels from a year ago.

“That’s a big drop,” saidEmerson Nafziger, Universityof Illinois Extension crop sys-tems specialist. “Especially inSouthern Illinois.”

The corn yield averagesin crop districts across thestate ranged from just 55bushels per acre in thesoutheast and 63 bushels inthe southwest to 139bushels in the northwest,the National Agricultural

growing on the dead stalks andleaves,” he noted. “It’s not doinga lot of damage.”

Corn harvest in the statelast week was 21 percent com-plete, more than three timesahead of the average pace of6 percent. Soybean harvestwas 1 percent complete.

USDA last week left its soy-

bean yield estimate for Illinoisunchanged from the Augustforecast at 37 bushels per acre.If realized, the state’s beanyield would be down 10bushels from a year ago.

Rippey projected the cool-er, wetter weather patterncould continue through theend of this month.

Statistics Service Illinoisfield office reported.

An ongoing crop yield sur-vey online at {www.farmwee-know.com} last week showeda range of yields from 0 to145 bushels per acre. Yield

results are posted each week atthe website in conjunctionwith USDA’s weekly cropprogress report.

Illinois, unfortunately, was atthe epicenter of the drought,and the yield results reflect it.Elsewhere, corn yields wereprojected to average 156 bushels

per acre in Minnesota, 152bushels in Texas, 145 bushels inNebraska, 140 bushels in Iowa,130 bushels in Wisconsin, and126 bushels in Ohio.

“Illinois (crop) conditionshave been worse than the nation-al average as it’s been at the cen-ter of the drought,” Brad Rippey,USDA meteorologist, told partic-ipants of the IFB Leaders toWashington trip last week.

Key corn-producing stateswith a lower average corn yieldthan Illinois include Indiana(100 bushels per acre), Mis-souri (75 bushels), and Ken-tucky (70 bushels).

“There are some goodyields coming in at a few loca-tions,” Nafziger said. “But it’stime to get 2012 behind us.”

Nafziger suggested farmersharvest fields with stalk qualityor grain quality issues (aflatox-in) as soon as possible.

“The clouds of black dust wesee flying are from mold spores

Farmers aren’t the only onesimpacted by severe yield lossescaused by this year’s drought.

The grain elevator industrythis year also is dealing with lessvolume and, in some cases,more grain-quality issues.

“Obviously, the yield is downsubstantially from average,” saidBrent Ericson, GROWMARKvice president of grain. “So(crop) volumes are way down(at elevators).”

Grain elevators depend onan adequate volume of crops tomake a profit.

This year, USDA projected cornproduction for grain in Illinoiswould total just 1.39 billion bushels,down 29 percent from last year.

Nationwide, soybean produc-

tion last week was projected tototal 2.63 billion bushels, down14 percent from a year ago.

GROWMARK’s grain retailunits in Illinois as a result bud-geted for an average of about30 percent less volume this year.But the situation is much moresevere in Southern Illinois.

“There is a big differencebetween Southern Illinois com-pared to the central and north-ern parts of the state,” saidJohn Cripe, director of MID-CO Commodities, a subsidiaryof GROWMARK.

There could be as much as a30 to 40 percent difference incrop volume adjustments at ele-vators in various regions of thestate due to yield variability.

Southern Illinois was the firstarea of the state to enter droughtconditions this year and spentmost of the summer locked inextreme to exceptional drought.

“Up north, some are thinkingit could be about a 20 percentreduction,” Ericson said. “But inSouthern Illinois, one unit inEffingham budgeted a 50 to 60percent reduction in bushels.They’re the hardest hit.”

The grain elevator industryalso is dealing with aflatoxinissues which, so far, aren’t as badas had been feared, Ericson said.

Farmers who think they havea field of corn infected withaflatoxin should contact theircrop insurance agent prior toharvest.

Larry Huelskoetter unloads corn on his farm in Logan County. He grows 1,500 acres of corn and soybeansand operates a 5,000 head farrow-to-finish swine operation near Beason. Harvest was well ahead of the av-erage pace in Illinois last week as 21 percent of corn was in the bin compared to the average pace of 6 per-cent. This year’s short crop and quality issues have created concerns on farms and at commercial elevators.(Photo by Cyndi Cook)

Aflatoxin levels can increasein storage but losses are onlyinsurable if the grain is tested atan approved facility before it’smoved into commercial or on-farm storage.

The combination of aflatox-in concerns and higher thanexpected harvest prices encour-aged more farmers to sell theirgrain at harvest.

“We’re seeing more sellingoff the combine than normal,”Cripe said. “Price-wise, if (yieldexpectations) don’t get a lotworse from here, the corn mar-

ket may have topped for thetime being.”

The lack of carry in thefutures and forward cash bids aweek ago indicated farmersshould consider pricing cornacross the scale instead of stor-ing it, according to Dale Durch-holz, AgriVisor market analyst.

However, if prices experi-ence a hard break by the end ofharvest (last week’s crop reportwas bearish for corn) farmersshould consider short-termstorage, the analyst added. —Daniel Grant

Grain elevators deal with less volume, aflatoxin issues

‘ I t ’s t ime to get2012 behind us.’

— EmersonNafziger

University of IllinoisExtension

Storing mycotoxin-contaminated grainAngie Peltier, University of Illinois Extension agriculture

educator for Northwestern Illinois, and Kevin Black, GROW-MARK insect/plant disease technical manager, offered the fol-lowing tips for storing mycotoxin-contaminated grain:

Mycotoxins present in grain are not broken down by the dry-ing process, but farmers have several options to decrease therisk of mycotoxin concentrations increasing in stored corn,Peltier said. Mycotoxins can evolve into aflatoxin if leftunchecked.

• Start with clean grain bins and store contaminated grainseparately from uncontaminated grain.

• Set the combine to kick out lightweight kernels and mini-mize kernel damage during harvest.

• Before storing, clean the grain using a rotary cleaner if possible. All of the mycotoxin-producing fungi can continue to grow

and produce mycotoxins in grain with more than 21 percentmoisture. Farmers who anticipate large-scale infections shouldharvest at higher moisture (up to 25 percent) levels and dry thecorn rapidly at a high temperature.

“Start with a goal to get the moisture down to 15 to 15.5 per-cent,” Black said. “After that, it depends on how long you plan tostore it.

“Bring it (the moisture level) down to 14 percent if you’regoing to keep the grain for up to six months, and get it down to13 percent if you plan to store (the grain) longer (than sixmonths).”

Aflatoxin can continue to accumulate in grain with moisturelevels above 15 percent. Cool all grain after heat drying as soonas possible. Long-term storage of aflatoxin- contaminated graingenerally is not recommended.

Black also recommended use of a bin spreader when storingaflatoxin-contaminated grain.

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Warm, dryweather last week helped thecorn and beans dry down closerto being ready for harvest. Weharvested one small field ofbeans last week that was plantedearly and matured early. It didn’tyield very well because itmatured before the recent late-

summer rains. Two different neighbors com-bined some small fields that averaged about40 bushels per acre. Corn harvest hasn’treally started, as some of the corn that hasbeen tested is still in the high 20s. One neigh-bor finished his fifth cutting of hay last week.We got about 0.2 of an inch of rain here onThursday.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: It was a cool, wetFriday morning in Lake County.We got 0.2 of an inch of rainThursday night. Too little, too late.Beans are about 10 days out yet.Too many green beans in the lowspots. Silage has been cut. Cornalso has grass-green spots in thelow areas. No corn has been

picked. Second- and third-cutting hay hasbeen done. The quality was good, but therewas not much quantity. Remember, slowdown. Be safe.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: A cool morning inNorthwestern Illinois Friday withtemperatures in the mid-40s. Afew sprinkles of rain fell onThursday. Fall is definitely on theway. More hay was made thispast week. Everyone is trying toget all the available forage possi-ble. Corn harvest activity has

picked up, as stalks look nearly dead. I’veheard of some near-normal yields. We’llhave more numbers later. Soybeans aredropping leaves and will be ready when theweather permits.

Ryan Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: The smell of fallis in the air. Night temperatureshave been cooler and days havebeen comfortable. Harvest startedfor us on Tuesday with early-plant-ed corn moisture levels at 26 per-cent and yielding a wide range of100 to 150 bushels per acre.Showers on Thursday afternoon

brought much-needed precipitation to thearea.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: Still not a lot of har-vesting done here in Lee County.A few fields have been harvestedwith moisture in the mid-20s, butwe haven’t found much below 30until Thursday. Light showers allafternoon Thursday postponedour scheduled start to the 2012harvest. I haven’t heard of any

big surprises from those who have started.Everyone was expecting highly variableyields, depending on soil types and whetheryou were lucky enough to get a few showersin July and August. Field averages that I haveheard so far range from a low of 6 bushelsper acre to a high of 180. The tough ques-tions are how much of each is out there andwhat will it average?

Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: It has beennice to wake up to some coolermornings. Corn harvest rapidlycontinues. Several producershave finished and are nowwaiting for the beans tomature. I would guess that thebulk of soybean harvest is stilltwo weeks away. Yields have

continued to be all over the board. From 20to 220 bushels per acre. Yes, that dirtyword aflatoxin is still showing its uglyhead. Elevators have been especially busy— surprising given a short harvest. Guesswe all will see what’s left in the grain binscome next August.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: Light rain onThursday slowed corn harvest fora day. Moisture levels are running15 to 22 percent. Yields are vari-able. Corn on corn is disappoint-ing, but there is 200-bushel-per-acre corn on soybean ground.That is, if there was a good stand.There are fields where Pythium

took out stands. There may be beans cut thisweek.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We received 0.6 ofan inch of rain last week in twodifferent events. The recent rainsmade the yards and pastures turngreen and start to regrow. Thatwill help save some winter feedsupplies. The rains have not start-ed the tile lines flowing yet.Aflatoxin has reared its ugly head

here now. The local elevators are now onlytaking in what they can dry in 24 hours. Evenlow amounts of aflatoxin are growing in thewet holding bins. There are lines at the eleva-tors, and they are closing at noon or sooner.This is just adding insult to injury with thelower yields caused by the drought this year.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: It seemsharvest started last week for mostaround my area. For me, thereare some varieties of corn withyields so poor a herd of deerwould starve to death. Corn yieldsrange from 0 to 200 bushels peracre, just depending which sideof the farm I am on.

Tim Green, Wyoming, Stark County: It was busy around herelast week. Corn harvest startedpretty much everywhere onMonday (Sept. 10). Moistureswere in the mid- to low 20s. Yieldshave been at or a little bit belowwhat was expected. One field ofbeans in the area has been cut,and the yield was pretty disap-

pointing. More beans will be cut this week.Lodging is starting to be a problem in the beans,and the corn is starting to fall over. Be safe.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: It was agood week to help dry down thiscrop. Most everyone around herestarted corn harvest, as moisturelevels have come down some.Yields are at disastrous levels,except for a few areas thatreceived some isolated showersthis summer. Soybeans are ripen-

ing slowly. My neighbor combined whole fieldswith yields of 24 to 35 bushels per acre. Latersoybeans look much better. The governmenthas decided to print more money. This shouldinflate all commodities. Corn wants to driftback, but soybean demand is strong.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: The slow pace ofharvest continues. Ten percent ofthe corn may have been harvest-ed in the area. I haven’t seen anysoybean fields harvested yet.Corn yields have ranged from 1 to200 bushels per acre. The rangeof 50 to 120 bpa will catch manyfields. The variability within the

field is just as wide. Corn developmentranges from the R5 (dent) growth stage andthe milk line 50 percent of the way down thekernel up to the corn being harvested. Localsoybean fields are at the R7 (beginning matu-rity) or R8 (full maturity) growth stage.Soybean harvest is getting close. The localclosing bids for Sept. 13 were: nearby corn,$7.85; fall 2013 corn, $6.22 for nearby soy-beans, $17.39; fall 2013 soybeans, $13.62.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Harvest is40 percent complete at our farmwith field averages ranging from50 to 90 bushels per acre.Different hybrids vary widely.Moistures are falling slowly intothe mid- to low 20s. Test weightshave been good, but aflatoxinremains a concern. Soybeans

are a week away from maturity. Drivers,please use caution around large, slow-mov-ing equipment on the rural roads. Corn,$7.86; fall 2013, $6.33; soybeans, $17.40; fall2013, $13.63; wheat, $8.34.

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Not much newsfrom Adams County, exceptenough rain on Thursday after-noon to wet the bottom of thegauge. Combines are runningand the black dust looks like acontrail behind them. Yields arefrom 7 bushels per acre to 120bpa. Beans are looking better

every day and the pod-fill is improving, butthe growing season is winding down withmost fields showing some yellowing. Thegrowing season is still ahead of schedule byabout three weeks. Good hay will be in highdemand this fall and winter.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Harvest-o-meter for our area is 16 percentwith 79 percent of corn mature.Lots of corn was combined lastweek, and some farmers are fin-ishing corn and switching headsto start beans. Tip of the hat toarea grain handlers for keepinggrain flowing, as many farmers

are bypassing their bins due to aflatoxin con-cern. Our harvest is at 50 percent and our firstfield averaged 109 bushels per acre dry cornat 19.7 moisture. With this summer’s pollina-tion issues, we are thrilled with anything northof 100 bpa. We had 0.25 of an inch of rainFriday morning. We may have had our last 80-degree day. Remember it’s Farm Safety andHealth Week, so “Let’s be careful out there!”

Carrie Winkelmann, Tallula, Menard County: This year’scorn harvest is rapidly coming to anend. The fields are clearing out andfarmers are looking toward theirsoybeans. It is a scary look, though.Beans are already falling/jumpingout of pods, and I am afraid that soy-bean harvest is going to be as lack-luster as the corn harvest has been.

I hope to be proven wrong. Remember to walkaround your equipment before getting in, andtrain your employees to do the same. Thirtyseconds could save a life.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: Corn harvest iswrapping up fairly quickly. We aredown to the last 20 percent to beharvested. Yields have been allover the board: some very good,some just pretty much a disasterwith yields below 50 bushels peracre. Good corn is consideredanything from 120 bpa. The first

field of soybeans in our area was harvestedthis past week, but the majority of the beansare still two weeks away from harvest. Farmersseem fairly optimistic that we have a chancefor yields approaching 40 bpa, but soybeansare a hard guess. Late rains proved beneficialto the full-season beans, but the combine willbe the true test of yields. A minimal amount oftillage is being done. Even though harvest wasearly, there is concern about volunteer corn iftillage is done too early. At this point, mostfarmers are holding off on tillage.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: The too little, toolate rainfall keeps coming toColes County farms. Bean fieldsare almost all in the process ofturning, so precipitation we getnow just works toward replenish-ing the dry ground for next year.Because the ground is so dry, the1 to 3 inches received last Friday

(Sept. 7) didn’t stop harvesters for very long,which put corn harvest on the downhill slidefor the year. Tillage work and fertilizer applica-tion are getting a good start, stirring up someoptimism for the next crop of corn.

Jimmy Ayers, New City, Sangamon County: This past week,we got 0.2 of an inch of rain. Forthe most part, the week was pret-ty productive. A few beans werecut in the area. Quite a few ofthem are yellowing. Several farm-ers are done with corn harvest.Some were chiseling last week.Yields have been all over the

board. Variety seems to be a large factor indetermining yield. In some cases there is an80-bushel difference in side-by-side checks.I’m hearing some 80, 100, 120 bushels-per-acre yield averages with an upper end of 140bpa. In spots where rainfall was timely, thingsworked out pretty well. Aflatoxin is quite a con-cern, and most elevators are testing for it.We’ve all become familiar with the black lighttest, but one of my fields looked pretty decentand still had 11 parts per billion (ppb).Apparently 20 ppb is where they start turningloads away or docking them. Be safe.

Jeff Guilander, Jerseyville, Jersey County: It looks as ifcorn dried down a little more thana point last week. Everyone isfinding a way to deal with it beinga little wetter than normal. Lookslike we’re over the hump in corn.The good surprises in somefields are quickly balanced out bythe expected yields in others,

leaving the county average somewhere below100 bushels per acre. Beans need a fewbright, warm days to get them ready. Lookslike the harvest crunch is on.


CROPWATCHERS

Randy Anderson, Galatia, Saline County:We can say halfthe harvest is over. Finished cornharvest on Thursday, and I wouldestimate 90 to 95 percent of thecorn has been harvested ordisked down. Beans that I cut thispast week were a little better thanI expected, but not by much. Themajor problem is that they are

popping out and have a lot of green leaves onthem. The pastures are in good shape. Wehave not had to feed as much hay the pastmonth.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: It was another busyweek of harvest activities herein deep Southern Illinois. Theweather has been cooler anddrier with bright sunshine. It hasbeen really pleasant weather forharvest. We managed to finishour corn harvest Thursdaynight. Probably the best thing I

can say about it is that it’s over. Our yieldsran all the way from 15 to 94 bushels peracre and it seems most tended to be onthe low side. We hoped to start soybeanharvest Friday. We have some early soy-beans that are ready to harvest. Yields inthe area for soybeans that I’ve heard ofranged from pretty good to very low, but itdoes seem like the overall average seemsbetter — somewhere in the 30s. I’ll knowmore about how our early beans are goingto do by next week’s report. Please taketime to be careful, as we are in this busyseason.

Dave Hankammer, Millstadt, St. Clair County: This pastweek was quite comfortable. Rainshowers moved through the areaon Sept. 7 and left almost 3 inchesof moisture. The temperatures havebeen moderate as each weatherfront moves through. The coolertemps remind us that summer iscoming to an end. Despite high

rainfall received in the last few weeks, the soilcontinues to absorb the water. With the lastround of showers, the soil surface was tackyfor a day then harvest activities resumed.Local grain bids are: corn, $7.37; soybeans,$17.27; wheat, $8.55. Have a safe week.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: Ahhh. Pickingcorn this year brings back mem-ories of when I used to huntEaster eggs. Ears are veryscarce. Yields are laughable, orcryable — whichever way youlook at it. Group III beans areturning yellow fast.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Corn harvest is pro-gressing rapidly. There are sever-al farmers done with corn andwaiting for beans to get ready. Ishelled my river bottom corn, andit has been my worst corn. Mostof it was white corn, but yields arebelow 30 bushels per acre.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: We had apretty good week picking corn.Yields were not good at all, butwe had good weather. I see someyellow in a few beans, so we willhave beans ready to harvest in alittle while. I just wish our cornyields were a little better. We willsee what the soybeans have for

us. Take care this harvest.

Doug Uphoff, Shelbyville, Shelby County: Rainfall forSeptember so far is 5.7 inch-es. Almost finished harvestingcorn last week. We have 25acres left that was replantedand it still is testing 34 percentmoisture. Grain quality on thereplant may not be very good.Can’t believe we are almost

done with corn by Sept. 12 and going tostart chiseling cornstalks already. Oneguy told me he rode with a farmer whowas harvesting corn and they went for anhour before they dumped in the truck, andhe still didn’t have a full hopper. He saidyou could almost count the ears goinginto the combine. Beans are 10 to 14 daysoff, although some are being harvestednorth of here in Moultrie County. Hardlyany bins are being used for the corn cropout of fears of aflatoxin. I have seen veryfew augers set up at bins this fall. I don’tknow where the processors are going toget their corn other than from elevators.Out of 100,000 bushels of storage wehave, only 7,500 bushels are in a bin tohaul to processors in January. I don’tthink USDA is even close on its yielddata.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: Light showersmoved through the area Fridaymorning. Otherwise it was a dryweek with mild temperatures.Corn harvest is continuing.Some silage choppers are run-ning in the later-planted corn.Combines are running in thecornfields, especially those with

chopper heads, merely to chop the stalks.Yields are mostly in the single digits. Beansare starting to turn. Some isolated fieldshave been harvested. Temperatures areexpected to be in the 70s this week with aslight chance of showers.


CROPWATCHERS

Reports received Friday morning. Expanded crop and weather infor-mation available at FarmWeekNow.com

New report spurs questions about RFS2 ‘tradeoff ’BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

The latest U.S. corn projec-tions raise questions about theneed to curb 2013 ethanolrequirements on behalf of thelivestock sector, according toIllinois Farm Bureau Leadersto Washington and industryobservers.

In Capitol Hill visits lastweek, IFB leaders raised con-cerns about U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA)review of a proposed waiver offederal Renewable Fuel Stan-dard (RFS2) ethanol use man-dates for the coming year.

More than 100 congress-m e n s u p p o r t t h e wa ive r ,requested by several governorsbased on expected corn short-falls. American Farm BureauFederation (AFBF) energyspecialist Andrew Walmsleytold the IFB leaders “we knewthis fight was coming” — keyoil interests have mounted anearly $30 million campaign to“go after the RFS” — but thedrought “sped things along.”

AFBF itself has been “walk-ing a tightrope,” conscious ofboth crop and livestock con-cerns, and held a series of callswith livestock, poultry, andfeed grains producers in earlySeptember, Walmsley said. Hesaid he nonetheless is uncertainwhether a 2013 waiver wouldsignificantly impact corn prices,especially given USDA’s newcrop report.

USDA lowered its average

the proposed waiver until Oct.11 and is expected to issue adecision in mid-November. Butwaiver rejection might not endthe debate: Walmsley warned aproposal by former House AgCommittee Chair man BobGoodlatte (R-Va.) to peg RFS2targets to year-end corn stocks,could prove a “starting point”for a renewed push next year.

Also on the Hill last weekwas Dana Gustafson, politicalaffairs director for Hennepin-based ethanol producer Mar-quis Energy and part of a dele-gation representing the biofuelsgroup Growth Energy.

With nationwide ethanol

production down nearly 12 per-cent over the past two months,Gustafson argued “the marketis already beginning to workitself out.”

Marquis continues to oper-ate at full capacity. Gustafsonstressed the plant’s continuedcontribution to the rural Illinoiseconomy.

“We provide more than 50jobs,” she told FarmWeek.“Our minimum sa lar y andhourly rates are very good. Allof our jobs have benefits, andour retention rate is high — wehave at least 50 people who’vebeen with the company for fiveyears now.”

per-acre corn forecast by lessthan half a percent from theAugust report. Despite thedrought, the crop still should bethe eighth largest on record.

Sen. Dick Durbin, a Spring-field Democrat, stressed he iscarefully weighing waiver issues.He acknowledged the role ofdistillers dried grains derivedfrom ethanol production in off-setting corn diverted from feedto biofuels use.

“If I’m helping the poultryindustry at the expense of farm-ers who are having a tough year,that to me is not a good trade-off,” Durbin told IFB leaders.

Further, Walmsley noted

ethanol is trading roughly 50cents cheaper than gasoline andthus remains “financially attrac-tive” to petroleum blenders.That raises questions aboutwhether refiners would “switchout” even without RFS2 biofu-els obligations, he said.

And Walmsley c i ted the“flexibility” the RFS2 offersblenders in the form of trad-able renewable identificationnumber credits that can be usedin lieu of immediate biofuelspurchases. He, therefore, ques-tions whether a short-termwaiver “would have muchimpact on corn prices.”

EPA is taking comments on

Biodiesel sector supportive toward ethanol counterpartsW h e n i t c o m e s t o t h e

“food vs. fuel” debate andthe drought’s impact on feed-stock supplies, the biodieseland ethanol industr ies aresomewhat different animals.

B u t b o t h r e l y o n t h eRenewable Fue l S tandard(RFS2) to help sustain marketgrowth as ethanol producersadjust to elimination of fed-e r a l t a x c r e d i t s a n d t h ebiodiesel sector continues tomature amid policy uncer-tainty.

The Nat ional Biodiese lBoard (NBB) thus is con-cerned by a potentia l U.S.Environmental Protect ionAgency waiver of 2013 cornethanol mandates. Corn maybe the target of requests to

are using animal fats, restau-rant grease, and other oils inaddition to soy sources. Thathas proven an effective strate-gy in coping with biofuelspolicy uncertainty and “thed i s r u p t i o n s c a u s e d b y adrought,” Evans said.

And while ethanol produc-ers are limited to plant-basedfeedstocks and have drawnf i r e f rom ma jor l ives tockgroups, Evans noted animala g r i c u l t u r e h a s b e c o m e“essent i a l l y a pa r tner” inbiodiesel production throughthe use of animal fats.

“We add value to the live-s t o ck i n d u s t r y,” h e s a i d .“We’re always reaching out tothe l ivestock industr y.” —Martin Ross

suspend blending require-ments, but NBB spokesmanBen Evans fears biodiesel maybe winged in the crossfire.

“Any waiver, even to justthe conventional corn ethanolportion of the program, isgoing to have a ripple effecton advanced b iofue l s l ikeb i o d i e s e l , ” E v a n s t o l dFarmWeek.

“People are going to startto wonder how committed thefederal government and Con-gress are to the RFS2. Thataffects investment and entre-preneurs as they’re trying toplan growth and hiring andbuilding new capacity.”

In 2011, the U.S. biodieselindustry set a new productionrecord of nearly 1.1 billion

gallons, reportedly supportingsome 39,000 jobs. At mid-year, 2012 biodiesel produc-tion had reached 557 milliongallons.

The corn ethanol industryfaces a triple-edged dilemmarelative to biodiesel — its cur-rent reliance on a single fuelfeedstock and impact on cornpr ices, and concerns overdiversion of corn from food,feed, and export channels.

The food market continuesto drive the soy oil market,though Evans no ted soy -based biodiesel demand helpsboost supplies of and poten-tial ly lowers prices for soymeal.

He c i t ed h i s member s ’feedstock diversity — plants

safety


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Safety in the blood: a family affairtroy White has witnessed

the hazards of farming first-hand.

besides being a farmer, hehas worked as a volunteer fire-fighter. the worst call he

answered occurred when afriend’s child suffocated in agrain bin.

“It really sits in your mindwhen it’s someone you know,”White said.

he has responded to many earn more responsibilities onthe farm, mikayln will receiveher driver’s permit this fall. Forthe Whites, roadway collisionsare always a source of appre-hension.

mikayln said driving a trac-tor around the farm preparedher to be a safer driver whenshe gets her license.

“once you’ve been in thatposition, it gives you morerespect for the people who aredriving the equipment,” thelowpoint-Washburn highschool student related.

Deaths from rural roadway-collisions continue to rank sec-ond only to tractorrollover/runover deaths. sevenrural motorists died last year inroadway collisions with farmequipment, according to aCountry Financial survey.

last year, Denny Pfanzteamed with Woodford CountyFarm bureau manager Jolene

neuhauser to teach roadwaysafety to driver’s education stu-dents in surrounding highschools. students visited thePfanz farm in the spring andfall to get a better appreciationof large, slow-moving farmmachinery.

“We hope to expand theprogram to other schools inthe county,” Pfanz said. Ifthey’re aware of the danger,they will stay safer.”

Paying constant attention tofarm safety has allowed theWhite family to remain acci-dent-free on the farm, but thefamily knows there will alwaysbe risks.

“the no. 1 rule is to besafe,” mikayln said. “We thinkabout safety all the time. thefirst rule for operating equip-ment is turn off the key if any-thing happens. If somethinggoes wrong, you should alwaysknow what to do.”

calls that underscore the dan-gers of farming. he and hiswife, Dana, use incidents suchas those to talk with their chil-dren, mikayln, 15, and Kadin,10, about the importance ofstaying safe on their Washburnfarm.

Dana, an X-ray technolo-gist, also teaches a safety lessonwith her mom, Cheryl Pfanz,as part of Agriculture in theClassroom presentations coor-dinated through the WoodfordCounty Farm bureau.

With experience in farm-ing, farm accident response,and safety education, theWhites could be a poster fam-ily for this year’s nationalFarm safety Week theme,Agricultural safety and

health: A Family Affair.” mikayln and Kadin have

learned how to be safe aroundfarm equipment and animalsthrough 4-h projects and les-sons from their parents andgrandparents, Denny andCheryl Pfanz.

brake and signal checks,seatbelts, and safety lights are afew topics that can be over-heard at the family dinnertable. “safety always comesfirst. It’s drilled into theirheads,” White said. “theyknow that buckling up is thefirst thing to do, and theyknow to always make eye con-tact with the person who is onthe ground before the tractormoves.”

While Kadin continues to

twenty farm-related deaths occurred in Illinoislast year — the lowest number in more than 30years, according to a Country Financial survey.

the number of deaths is nearly half what itwas the previous year when 39 farm-related deathswere reported.

the leading cause of death continued to betractor runovers and rollovers, while roadway col-lisions ranked second for the fourth year in a row.

the tractor runover and rollover death ratedecreased by three, but still accounted for nearlyhalf of all farm deaths.

roadway collision deaths rose by four, andaccounted for 35 percent of reported Illinois farmdeaths.

electrocution caused the third highest number

of deaths, accounting for 15 percent of the total.Grain bin accidents accounted for one death

this year, the lowest number on record. last year’snational Farm safety and health Week campaignfocused on preventing grain bin suffocations.

“the increased awareness and publicity offeredby the Illinois Grain handling safety Coalitioncertainly helped prevent accidents,” said ericVanasdale, Country senior loss control representa-tive. “A dry crop also worked in our favor last year.there wasn’t much reason for farmers to entergrain bins and break up crusted grain.”

Country tracks farm-related deaths throughnewspaper clippings and reports findings in con-junction with national Farm safety and healthWeek and the Illinois Press Association.

IllInoIs: the numbers

Denny Pfanz and granddaughter Mikayln affix a slow-moving-vehicleemblem to one of the family’s utility tractors to help ensure safety ontheir rural roadways. (Photo courtesy of Country Financial)

Check out checklistsSafety matters on the farm. Ask any farm family.Equipment with moving parts, unpredictable livestock, and large

machinery that allows only limited visibility post just some of the myri-ad dangers on the farm.

What can farm families do to stay safe? Identify and eliminate haz-ards, according to Eric Vanasdale, Country Financial senior loss con-trol representative.

Country distributes “Safety Matters in the COUNTRY,” a checklistthat identifies farm dangers. Because the checklist addresses potentialhazards affecting all ages of farm employees and family members,Vanasdale suggests completing it this week — National Farm SafetyWeek.

After families answer the checklist questions, they receive a safetyscore. A “no” response indicates a potential hazard that should be elimi-nated.

Checklist questions include:• Do all vehicles have safety belts that are always used?• Are all slow-moving-vehicle emblems clean and reflective?• Does a professional electrician inspect your electrical system

every five years?• Are children always supervised while performing farm tasks?• Does someone know where all farm workers or family members

are at any given time?Vanasdale urges farm families to be particularly aware of harvest

dangers enhanced by drought conditions.“The drought has added stress to farm life,” he said. “Many families

are worried about yields and income.“Make sure every tractor, combine, and truck contains at least one

ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher. Teach farm employees and familymembers how to use it. Extremely dry conditions pose an increasedpossibility of field fires.

“One accident is one too many. Farm families can enjoy an injury-free harvest if they keep safety at the forefront every day,” said Vanas-dale.

For copies of safety checklists, visit {countryfinancial.com}.


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education


©2012 GROWMARK, Inc. A Farm Bureau Affiliate A12248Rev

Bumper crop of Illinois high schools teaching ag

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

High school students arestudying agriculture in moreIllinois schools this fall.

Eleven schools opened newagriculture programs, higherthan the average annualincrease of three or four pro-grams, according to JessSmithers, Facilitating Coordi-nation in Agricultural Educa-tion (FCAE) coordinator.

Forty-one openings existedin Illinois schools in additionto the teachers needed for newprograms.

Smithers anticipated aninflux of new programs willbe positive for ag student num-

bers statewide. “We’ve gonedown ever so slightly the lastfew years. By adding 11 newprograms, it should hold(enrollment) steady,” he said.

High schools around thestate added agriculture pro-grams. Two are in the Chicagoarea with a couple in CentralIllinois. Six opened in South-ern and Southwestern Illinois.

Agriculture is new to somedistricts, while in other cases,

such as Spoon River ValleyHigh School, ag programs arereturning after an absence ofseveral years.

Illinois not only has addedmore high school ag teachers,but those teachers also tend tobe young.

More than half, 53 percent,

have 10 or fewer years ofexperience. Of those, morethan a fourth, 27 percent, havetaught for five years or less.

High school agricultureprograms may find renewedinterest as the state puts moreemphasis on career and techni-cal education.

The Illinois State Board ofEducation selected agricultureas one of the subjects for anew career initiative.

“With more focus on careerand technical education, itdoesn’t hurt (agriculture edu-cation) and it could help,”Smithers said.

11 districts opennew ag programs

Angie Schoenbein, Tremont High School’s new agriculture teacher, teaches students about the history of ageducation funding last week. Tremont is one of 11 school districts that opened new agriculture programs thisfall. (Photo by Cyndi Cook)

New ag teacher gives studentsopportunities she didn’t have

Angie Schoenbein enthusiastically shares the history ofFFA with her agriculture business and marketing students atTremont High School.

With a wide smile, the first-year teacher helps the studentsunderstand how what was a fledgling farm club in 1928became a standardized organization nationwide.

It’s a lesson Schoenbein couldn’t have studied when sheattended Tremont High School. In fact, the district hadn’t

offered agriculture classes since the late1960s.

“I wasn’t able to have FFA when I was inhigh school,” said Schoebein, who grew up ona local farm. “My dream was to start an agprogram here. I have been blessed, and I havebeen lucky. I couldn’t be happier.”

Schoenbein’s enthusiasm has been matchedby that of her students. Of the 300-memberentire student body, 93 are taking an agricul-ture class and 35 attended the first meetingabout starting an FFA chapter.

The school is offering classes in introduction to agricul-ture, ag business and marketing, ag leadership and communi-cation, plant and animal science, and ag mechanics and tech-nology.

Schoenbein also teaches a general science course.A couple of the ag business students said they took the

class because it fit their schedules, but Lucy Wagenbach, asenior who lives on a farm, said she changed her class sched-ule so she could study agriculture now that it is being offered.

“I took this class so I could help my dad with marketing,”she said. Although Wagenbach is considering teaching mathas a career, she said she “wants to stay involved with agricul-ture.”

Wagenbach’s classmate, Kaylie Black, said she would like acareer working with animals. Black moved to Tremont from afarming area in Pennsylvania but did not grow up on a farm.

One of Schoenbein’s first goals has been to introduce stu-dents to the variety of ag-related careers.

“The kids are now realizing what all the opportunities are.At first, they didn’t know,” she said. “It’s great to have themlearn what FFA has to offer. Hopefully, we’ll get the wordout.” — Kay Shipman

AngieSchoenbein

‘With more focuso n c a r e e r a n dtechnical educa-t ion , i t doesn ’ thurt (agricuItureeducation) and itcould help.’

— Jess SmithersFacilitating Coordination in

Agricultural Education

EDUCATION


Auction CalendarWed., Sept. 19. 10 a.m. First LotCloses. Online Only Unreserved

Auc. www.bigiron.comSat., Sept. 22. 10 a.m. Huge OldCountry Farm Auc. Richard/IreneBossler and Glenn Heberer

Estates, MASCOUTAH, IL. MarkKrausz Auc. Service.

Sat., Sept. 22. 9 a.m. Clark CoLand Auc. Cecil Brasfield, WESTUNION, IL. Parrott Real Estate &Auction Co., LLC. www.sella-farm.com or www.parrottauci-

tons.comSat., Sept. 22. 10 a.m. Farmmachinery and misc. Est. ofMarjorie Herriott/Plotner Trust,MAHOMET, IL. Gordon Hannagan

Auction Co.www.gordyvilleusa.com

Sat., Sept. 22. 9 a.m. Farm &Construction Eq ConsignmentAuc. TREMONT, IL. Cal Kaufman

and Brent Schmidgall,Auctioneers. [email protected]

Wed., Sept. 26. 10 a.m. First LotCloses. Online Only Unreserved

Auc. www.bigiron.comSat., Sept. 29. 6 p.m. Pike Co.Land Auc. John C Shover Est.,BARRY, IL. Sullivan Auctioneers,

LLC.www.sullivanauctioneers.comSat., Sept. 29. 11 a.m. ChristianCo. Land Auc. Kirby Harris andGreg Buesking, KINCAID, IL. Cory

Craig, Auctioneer.www.corycraig.com

Tues., Oct. 2. 7 p.m. Crawford Co.Land Auc. John Wilbur & ElsieCoward Family Trust, ROBINSON,IL. Parrott Real Estate & AuctionCo., LLC. www.sellafarm.com or

www.parrottauctions.comWed., Oct. 3. 6 p.m. Fulton Co.Land Auc. Robert D. WilhelmFamily Trust Farm, CUBA, IL.Sullivan Auctioneers, LLC.

www.sullivanauctioneers.comWed., Oct. 3. 10 a.m. MacoupinCo. Land Auc. Chuck and LindaHolzwarth, CARLINVILLE, IL.Sullivan Auctioneers, LLC.

www.sullivanauctioneers.comWed., Oct. 3. 7 p.m. Richland Co.

Land Auc. John Wilbur & ElsieCoward Family Trust, CLARE-MONT, IL. Parrott Real Estate &Auction Co., LLC. www.sella-farm.com or www.parrottauc-

tions.comSat., Oct. 6. 10 a.m. Macoupin Co.Farmland. Charles J. Monetti,Charles & Helen Perrings Heirsand Fred Smith Jr. Est., CAR-LINVILLE, IL. Mike Crabtree,

Auctioneer.Thurs., Oct. 11. 6 p.m. Knox Co.Land Auc. David and JoniBlackburn, VINCENNES, IL.

Parrott Real Estate & Auction Co.,LLC. www.sellafarm.com orwww.parrottauctions.com

Thurs., Oct. 11. 7 p.m. IroquoisCo. Land Auc. Dan Tordai, MART-INTON, IL. Rosenboom Realty.www.rosenboomrealty.com

Sat., Oct. 13. 10 a.m. MacoupinCo. Farm and Recreational Land.Jim Ruyle and Judy Demenbrun,CARLINVILLE, IL. Mike Crabtree,

Auctioneer.Sat., Oct. 13. 9 a.m. Crawford Co.Land Auc. David and Joni

Blackburn, FLAT ROCK, IL. ParrottReal Estate & Auction Co., LLC.www.sellafarm.com or www.par-

rottauctions.comTues., Oct. 23. 10 a.m. KankakeeCo. Land Auc. HERSCHER, IL.

Hertz Farm Mgmt.www.hfmgt.com

Mon., Oct. 15. 6 p.m. HendersonCo. Land Auc. Shokokon Ac.,LOMAX, IL. Sullivan Auctioneers,

LLC.www.sullivanauctioneers.comWed., Oct. 17. 7 p.m. Menard Co.Land Auc. Joan McElhattan andJanet Dickerson, PETERSBURG,IL. Sanert Auction Service.

www.sanertauctions.com or auc-tionzip.com auction id #2473

Tues., Oct. 23. 10 a.m. KankakeeCo. Land Auc. HERSCHER, IL.Hertz Farm Mgmt., Inc.

www.hfmgt.comThurs., Nov. 1. McLean Co.Farmland. Hartzel Henline TrustFarm, COLFAX, IL. Soy Capital AgServices. www.soycapitalag.com

WIU ag enrollments set back-to-back records WIU ag openhouse Friday

Western Illinois Univer-sity’s School of Agriculturewill host prospective stu-dents and their parents orguardians Friday at itsannual open house. Theevent will start at 9 a.m.and feature faculty and stu-dents tours of the Macombcampus, the universityresearch farm, and ag-relat-ed fraternities.

Individuals who registerwill receive a free lunch. A$100 scholarship will berandomly awarded to oneparticipating student.

To register, go online to{www.wiu.edu/cbt/agricul-ture/openhouse.php}.

All participants shouldpark at the WIU LivestockCenter.

A campus map anddirections to the livestockcenter are available onlineat {www.wiu.edu/cbt/agri-culture/openhouse.php}.

For more information,call the school at 309-298-1080.


Agriculture students thisyear enrolled in record numbersat Western Illinois University(WIU) for the second consecu-tive year, bucking a campuswideslide in enrollment.

Bill Bailey, head of WIU’sSchool of Agriculture, pointedto the strong agri-cultural economyand positive out-look for jobs.

“The agricultur-al economy isgoing super. Get-ting an educationin agriculture trans-lates into agricul-ture employment,”Bailey toldFarmWeek.

A total of 360undergraduates, a 3percent increase, ismajoring in agricul-ture. Meanwhile,WIU’s total enroll-ment declined by 2.7 percent.

Another trend: Bailey notedstudents majoring in non-agri-culture subjects, such as chem-istry and biology, “are rounding

out their education” by takingan ag class.

The international compo-nent of agriculture courses andpotential for studying abroadalso attract non-ag students, headded.

Among the new ag students,the freshmen are outnumberedby students with community

college creditswho transferredto the Macombuniversity. Cam-puswide, fresh-men enrollmentdecreased, whiletransfer studentenrollmentslightlyincreased.

“We’re alsofinding a largernumber ofincoming fresh-men do notcome from farmbackgrounds,”Bailey said.

The transfer students areable to find their interests andfit into campus life thanks tothe 15 ag-related student organ-izations, he said.

Agriculture business andgeneral agriculture remain pop-ular majors on campus. Interestalso is strong in agronomybecause students are aware ofthe job outlook.

Bailey did not foresee the

drought negatively impactingthe short- or long-term jobmarket for agriculture gradu-ates. In fact, a record numberof employers registered for theOct. 10 agriculture career fair,he said.

Western Illinois University (WIU) senior Jessica Horton, far right, an animalscience/pre-veterinary major from Lomax, assists with a class on the univer-sity’s research farm. WIU enrolled a record number of agriculture studentsfor the second consecutive year. (Photo courtesy WIU School of Agriculture)

cover cropS


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High demand, tight supply challenging cover crop boom

A cover crop of cereal rye emerges in a cornfield. Seed for cereal rye and other cover crops is in demand asfarmers seek conservation solutions. (Photo courtesy Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service)


Illinois farmers aresearching as far as Canada tofind quality cover crop seedas demand outstrips domes-tic supply.

“The No. 1 problem I’mseeing is a shortage of seed,”said Mike Plumer, an agricul-ture consultant from CrealSprings and retired Universi-ty of Illinois Extension edu-cator.

One farmer told Plumerhe saved $4 to $5 per bag byimporting two semi-truckloads of seed from the Cana-dian province ofSaskatchewan. Plumer esti-mated the two truckloadswould hold enough seed toplant 2,000 to 4,000 acres,depending on the cropspecies.

“I’ve talked to guys plan-ning to plant 4,000 to 5,000acres (of cover crops) thisyear,” he added.

Cover crop benefits, espe-cially in absorbing and hold-ing nitrogen overwinter,fueled interest this year.

Plumer said he has seenyield increases in both cornand soybean crops on fieldsthat had cover crops, com-pared to those without covercrops.

Joel Gruver, a soil scien-tist at Western Illinois Uni-

versity, reinforced Plumer’soutlook: “Interest is high.”

Big demand coupled witha tight seed supply areresulting in some seed mixesthat contain unsuitable covercrops, according to Plumer.

“We’re seeing people sell-ing all kinds of gardenradishes — red and whitegarden radishes,” Plumerwarned.

Unlike forage daikonradishes, garden radishesaren’t appropriate cover

crops. Plumer explainedsome unsuitable seed with avariety name, such as wonderradish, has been added toand sold in seed mixes.

Gruver said he was notsurprised that questionableseed was being sold: “Thecover crop seed industry isgrowing very quickly. Mostgrowth has occurred in thelast five years. (Daikon)radishes weren’t even knownas a cover crop 10 yearsago.”

Seed mixes might be con-venient for farmers who arenew to cover crops, but thebest way to ensure seed val-ue is to buy separate speciesand do the mixing yourself,Gruver advised.

“Most veteran cover cropfarmers are not buying mix-es. They’re buying seed andmaking their own mixtures,”he said.

A cover crop may not be apanacea, Plumer indicated.He recalled problems when

cover crops were allowed togrow too long, absorbedmoisture, and the corn andsoybean crops suffered.

“It goes both ways. Youcan’t say it’s all good,”Plumer said.

Cover crops also mayimprove soil structure andbreak up tillage pan, allow-ing crop roots to grow deep-er. In five- to six-year covercrop trials, corn roots grew70 inches deep, according toPlumer. In compacted fields,corn roots may grow but 20to 24 inches deep.

Timing and challengingweather are causing somefarmers to wonder if a covercrop will be establishedbefore winter.

To Plumer, mid-Septem-ber is the cutoff time forcover crop planting in Cen-tral Illinois, while NorthernIllinois fields need to beseeded even earlier.

However, Gruver said hedid not think it was too lateto plant small grain covercrops, such as cereal rye,anywhere in the state. “I feelcomfortable planting intoNovember,” he added.

Both Plumer and Gruvernoted certain cover crops,such as clover and daikonradishes and other brassicas,are the most sensitive totemperature change.

Researchers studying covercrop uses and their impacts

Western Illinois University(WIU) and Illinois State Uni-versity (ISU) researchers areconducting on-farm covercrop trials.

On WIU’s Allison Farm,soil scientist Joel Gruver iscollecting data on replicatedtrials of individual cover cropspecies and of two-speciesmixes.

Gruver also is observingfields planted in various mix-es of several cover cropspecies.

His trials include testingdifferent production prac-tices, such as precision plant-ing.

“We’re using a corn planterto place (tillage) radish seedin 30-inch rows and then willplant the corn close to thoserows,” Gruver said.

Gruver also is starting anew study involving tillageradishes and soybeans. Theradishes will be planted into acornfield that will be plantedinto soybeans the followingyear.

“We’ll see how the soy-beans perform the next year

if they are planted on top ornear the radish row,” Gruverexplained.

On ISU’s research farmnear Lexington, soil scientistShalamar Armstrong is con-ducting nitrogen efficiencytrials with cover crops andfall-applied nitrogen.

Armstrong is studying tri-als of tillage radishes, cerealrye, and crimson clover andalso mixes of those species.

In the study’s first year,soil tests showed 36 percentless nitrate remained in thecontinuous cornfields withcover crops compared tothose that had no cover crop,according to Armstrong.

Another part of his studyis determining the rates atwhich cover crops releasenitrogen during decomposi-tion.

Early results show tillageradishes release nitrogen at ahigher rate, he said.

Armstrong said he hopesto test the cover crops’ effec-tiveness in absorbing nitratefrom field tile systems. —Kay Shipman

dairy


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e’re here to expectations. Make no mistake: Wun-cede the top seed. See your local FS member company when you’re ready to get serious.

BOND — Farm Bureauwill sponsor an informa-

tional meeting on floodingdebasements on Bond Countyfarmland assessments at 7 p.m.Monday (today) at the FarmBureau office. Call the FarmBureau office at 618-664-3100for more information.

COOK — Farm Bureauwill sponsor a farmland

lease webinar at 7 p.m. Tuesday,Sept. 25, at the Farm Bureauoffice. Topics will include leaseinstruments, trends and ranges,and farm economic trends thatinfluence lease rates. Call theFarm Bureau office at 708-354-3276 for reservations or moreinformation.

• Farm Bureau will sponsor atwo-day hunter education coursefrom 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday,Oct. 6, and from 10 a.m. to 4p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, at the FarmBureau office. Those attendingneed to bring their lunch. Thereis no charge for Cook County

Farm Bureau members. Includedin the course is basics of hunterresponsibility, wildlife conserva-tion and identification, firearmsand ammunition, and state regu-lations. Those who complete theinstruction and final exam willreceive a State of Illinois certifi-cate of competency and a gradu-ate patch. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 708-354-3276 for reser-vations or more information.

LEE — Deadline to pur-chase custom candles is

Friday, Oct. 12. Payment is duewith order. Delivery will be inNovember to the Farm Bureauoffice. Order forms are availableonline at {www.leecfb.org} or bycontacting the Farm Bureauoffice at 857-3531 or leecfb.com-cast.net.

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

Prairie Farms diversifies

Dairy industry faces economic challengesBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

A number of economicchallenges have put the squeezeon dairy farmers this year.

Operating costs for thedairy industry nationwideincreased about $4 per hun-dredweight the first sixmonths of this year, accord-ing to USDA.

Higher operating costs driv-en by tight crop supplies, dueto the drought, resulted inhigher feed expenses. USDAlast week projected a nationalaverage corn yield of

“Spending is down, evenon staples such as milk,”Mullins said.

Prairie Farms responded bydiversifying its product line tokeep up with changing consumerdemands.

Last year the Carlinville-basedcooperative introduced reformu-lated flavored milk that is fat-freeand contains less sugar.

More recently, Prairie Farmsintroduced cottage cheese thatcontains 50 percent less sodium

and new 4-ounce snack cups ofyogurt.

The new yogurt cups, whichcome in blueberry, strawberry,raspberry, peach, plain, cherryvanilla, and strawberry/bananaflavors, were designed for schoollunches and the hotel industry.

USDA last week projected aslight increase in the all-milkprice for 2013 ($17.85 to $18.85per hundredweight) compared tothis year’s range of $17.80 to$18.

just 122.8 bushels per acre,which would be the lowestsince 1995.

Meanwhile, the farm price ofmilk the first six months of thisyear declined by an average ofabout $2.50 per hundredweightcompared to the same time ayear ago.

“This year has been verychallenging for all producers,”Ed Mullins, CEO of PrairieFarms, told FarmWeek lastweek.

“They (dairy farmers) arefacing extreme pressure andfinancial strain.

“The price (of milk) isgoing down, input costs aregoing up and, if you growyour own inputs, the yields aredown so (farmers) have to buy(feed) supplements,” he con-tinued.

The hot, dry conditions thissummer also increased thethreat of aflatoxin in the corn,which can be transmitted todairy cattle through feed.

Mullins stressed that PrairieFarms tests every load of milkfor aflatoxin.

The dairy industry also isdealing with financial straincaused by changes in con-sumer purchasing and con-sumption trends.

Consumption of milk percapita trended down in theU.S. the past two decades.

Many consumers havebeen affected by the reces-sion while others have chosenalternative products, such as aproduct made from soy.

The number of trips to thegrocery store by the averageU.S. consumer has declinedby nearly 1 percent this year.

from the counties

proFitability


Export inspections(Million bushels)

Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn09-06-12 12.9 19.6 9.808-30-12 15.5 25.4 8.6Last year 11.6 16.4 18.8Season total 12.6 277.8 8.9Previous season total 13.5 316.2 23.3USDA projected total 1315 1025 1700Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $11.54-$46.50 $36.0940 lbs. n/a n/a

Receipts This Week Last Week 124,620 98,997*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 $63.73 $65.93 -2.20 Live $47.16 $48.79 -1.63

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

Steers 127.01 121.80 5.21 Heifers 127.06 121.70 5.36

USDA five-state area slaughter cattle price

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

This week Prev. week Change 143.13 141.80 1.33

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs.

Lamb prices

(Thursday’s price)

Slaughter Prices - Negotiated, Live, wooled and shorn 123-180 lbs. for97.65-118 $/cwt. (wtd. ave. 109.35).

Drought dampens income outlookFarm income could deteriorate this year due to significant

crop losses caused by the drought.The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis last week released

the results of its first quarterly survey of ag credit conditions.The 88 ag bankers surveyed predicted farm income in the thirdquarter will dip below last year’s level.

“The drought has causedmore bank respondents to tem-per their expectations for farmincome in the current quarter,”the Federal Reserve Bank notedin its second quarter newsletter.

A projected dip in farmincome was echoed by recent projections from University ofIllinois economists.

The U of I predicted average crop prices next year couldslip to $6 per bushel for corn and $12.50 per bushel for beanswhile non-land costs should be about the same as this year.

Total U.S. farm inputs this year were a record-high $104 bil-lion.

“These fundamentals do not suggest that increases in cashrents should occur in 2013,” U of I farm management special-ists noted.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service Illinois fieldoffice this month released a county-by-county report on cashrents that found the average cash rental rate in the stateincreased by 16 percent.

There were, however, some counties in which the averagecash rent this year was unchanged from 2011 or decreasedfrom a year ago.

FarmWeekNow.com

For information about the lat-est USDA county by countyc a s h r e n t s u r v e y, g o t oFarmWeekNow.com.

What happened in 2008 provides a history lesson59 percent and soybean prices52 percent. This collapse hadnothing to do with (traditional)crop fundamentals.

And it wasn’t just agprices that fell: all types ofcommodities were sold offin sync. Virtually every typeof financial asset — includ-ing stocks and bonds —also collapsed.

The sell-off in ag prices wasthe result of financing prob-lems among large Wall Street

institutionsstemmingfrom lossescaused by thefalling hous-ing market.

As interestrates and vari-able-ratemortgage

rates rose during 2005-2006,many homeowners wereunable to pay their mortgages.Mortgage defaults and fallingcollateral value (the homesthemselves) caused highlyleveraged banks’ and invest-ment firms’ assets to decline invalue.

With high leverage, a mere 3percent fall in assets can causebankruptcy if a firm cannot

acquire fresh loans or sellenough assets to raise capital.

In fact, many financial firmssold investment and loanassets to prevent further lossesand to raise capital. However,those in the worst financialshape were unable to roll overloans they desperately needed,because their lenders — simi-lar firms in similar shape —had concerns about their cred-itworthiness.

This funding crisis causedlosses for other leveragedfirms. As fear increased in thesystem and as investment com-panies had their funding andasset purchasing power pulled,hundreds of firms rushed forthe exits, selling their holdingsof stocks, bonds, and com-modities, thereby sendingprices spiraling.

Other futures market partic-ipants interpreted all this sell-ing as a “decrease in demand”for commodities because theywere unable to distinguishbetween investors leaving withtheir money and end con-sumers no longer wanting toconsume.

The primary lesson from2008 is that actions by play-ers outside our industryaffect our industry: morethan half of the contractsfor corn on the ChicagoMercantile Exchange are pur-chased by investors and spec-

ulators, not by people whodeal in agriculture.

These players channel suchmassive amounts of borrowedpurchasing power into and outof the corn and soybean mar-kets that they can dramaticallyalter prices.

The actual supply and use ofa crop can remain unchanged

even while its price doubles orhalves, solely due to theamount of purchasing powerchasing or fleeing from thatcrop.

Kel Kelly is GROWMARK’smanager of economic and marketresearch. His email address is [email protected].

UPCOMING NAP DEADLINE FOR 2013 CROPS —Farmers have until Sept. 30 to apply for Noninsured DisasterAssistance Program (NAP) for forage crops (mechanically har-vested and/or grazed), barley, and rye.

The application deadline is Nov. 20 for apples, asparagus,blueberries, caneberries, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches,pears, plums, rhubarb, and strawberries.

NAP provides farmers financial assistance for noninsur-able crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or preventedplanting occurs due to normal disasters, said said ScherrieGiamanco, Illinois Farm Service Agency (FSA) executivedirector.

To be eligible for NAP, crops must be noninsurable, com-mercially produced agricultural commodity crops for whichthe catastrophic risk protection level of crop insurance is notavailable. If the Risk Management Agency offers coverage fora crop in a county, NAP coverage is not available for thatcrop.

In cases of natural disaster, NAP covers the amount of lossgreater than 50 percent of the expected production based on theapproved yield and reported acreage.

Eligible farmers may apply using form “CCC-471, Applica-tion for Coverage” and must submit the application and servicefee by the deadline. The fee is $250 per crop or $750 per farmerper administrative county, not to exceed $1,875 for a farmer withfarming interests in multiple counties.

Contact your local FSA office for more information.CONTINUOUS SIGN-UP FOR CRP HELI — FSA is

accepting continuous sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Pro-gram (CRP) Highly Erodible Land Initiative (HELI). Illinois wasallocated 50,000 acres for enrollment.

Offers will be accepted until the state acreage allocation isreached or Sept. 30, whichever occurs first.

Farmers may offer new cropland or CRP acres with contractsthat expire Sept. 30 and with an erosion rate of at least 20 tonsper acre per year. Existing grass stands that are not consideredexpiring CRP are not eligible.

Landowners enrolled in CRP receive annual rental paymentsand cost-share assistance. Incentive payments are not authorizedunder HELI.

New land contracts approved during this continuous sign-upinitiative will become effective the first day of the month follow-ing the month of approval and are valid for 10 years.

CRP contracts set to expire Sept. 30 may be offered for con-sideration and approved contracts will become effective Oct. 1and be valid for 10 years.

For more information, contact your local FSA office.BANKS RECEIVE PREFERRED LENDER STATUS

— Illinois FSA has granted preferred lender status for USDAguaranteed farm loan programs to the Harvard Savings Bank andthe Bank of Pontiac.

Both banks have been standard eligible lenders for FSA’s guar-anteed loan program. The Harvard Savings Bank has made 28guaranteed loans and the Bank of Pontiac has made 92 guaran-teed loans. Those factors along with their good standing in theprogram made them eligible for preferred lender status.

The Preferred Lender Program (PLP) was developed toreward experienced lenders by streamlining and adding flexibilityto the loan application and servicing requirements.

PLP lenders submit a one-page application and a narrativedescribing the loan applicant’s credit factors. Approval is auto-matic if USDA does not respond within 14 days of receiving acompleted application.

Contact your local FSA office for more information.

USDA

Farm ServiceAgency

BY KEL KELLYIt often is helpful to learn

from history so that we mightnot be doomed to repeat it. Itshould help, therefore, toassess the agricultural collapseof 2008. In doing so, we canlearn that the true cause wasnot what we thought.

From July to December of2008, corn prices plummeted

Kel Kelly

Fr o m J u l y t oD e c e m b e r o f2008, corn pricesp l u m m e t e d 5 9percent and soy-bean pr ices 52percent.

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AgriVisor LLC is not liable for any damageswhich anyone may sustain by reason of inac-curacy or inadequacy of information providedherein, any error of judgment involving anyprojections, recommendations, or advice orany other act of omission.

CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

ü2012 crop: The Decembercontract’s close below $7.88suggests the trend is turningdown into the 40-week lowcoming in mid- to late Septem-ber. Use this post-report rallyto boost sales to 80 percent.Given quality issues, carefullyconsider whether you want tostore any corn on the farm thisyear. And with prices near $8,we question the wisdom ofstoring any corn commercially.

ü2013 crop: Use rallies onDecember 2013 futures forcatch-up sales.

vFundamentals: TheUSDA supply/demand reportfailed to generate fresh buyinginterest. Its 122.8-bushel yieldand 10.727-billion-bushel pro-duction estimates exceededexpectations. More telling mayhave been its 733-million-bushelending stocks forecast, up from650 million last month. Theimplication is that high pricesare rationing demand. Harvestcontinues to progress through-out the Midwest and yieldreports continue to be varied.

Soybean Strategyü2012 crop: The soybean

rally stalled short of the highsthis past week, but the per-formance implies there couldbe a push to new highs ahead.Still, we’d use current levelsfor catch-up sales. But makesure you don’t exceed yourinsurance guarantee.

ü2013 crop: Use this pushto a new contract high onNovember 2013 futures forcatch-up sales.

vFundamentals: Of thethree crops, soybeans still havethe best potential to move to anew high. The reduction inthe production forecast in lastweek’s report implies an eventighter fundamental structureover the next 3 to 4 monthsunless Chinese demand doesn’tlive up to expectations. But byno means is the smaller pro-duction assured. Early yieldreports, and they have beenfew, have been a little betterthan expected. They do tendto reinforce the notion thatlate-season rains improvedproduction potential. Thefinal yield in 1988 was 4 per-cent larger than the Augustforecast. That would be 36.8

bushels per acre this year.

Wheat Strategyü2012 crop: The minor

trend in wheat turned upwhen Chicago Decemberfutures penetrated $9.06resistance. But the short-termtrend is still sideways. It ispositioned to test its July highat $9.53. Use rallies above$9.20 on Chicago Decemberfutures to make catch-up sales.

ü2013 crop: Make catch-up sales with Chicago Julyfutures trading above $8.90.Check the Hotline as we couldadd a sale at any time.

vFundamentals: Concern

about tightening world suppliesgave the wheat market the need-ed catalyst to spark another runtoward price highs. Egypt hascontinued its buying spree, mak-ing purchases mostly from Rus-sia and Ukraine. However, thelast couple have included pur-chases from the EuropeanUnion countries. The subtleshift invigorated speculationthat Russia may have sold nearlyall the wheat it will have avail-able to sell this year, potentiallypushing some business to theU.S. Ongoing dryness in Aus-tralia, particularly western Aus-tralia, is a part of the short-termbullish mix too.

Cents per bu.

USDA corn estimate is close

Monday, September 17, 2012

crop stacks up relative to 1988. If anything, the ear counts

and ear weights imply a poten-tial yield in the high-120s, notthe 122.8 USDA forecast inlast week’s report. But that isbased on 1988’s final yield esti-mate, not the September one.

In October, we will getsome acreage clarificationwhen USDA builds in theimplications of the Farm Serv-ice Agency (FSA) plantingdata. That may alter the plant-ing number but doesn’t haveimplications on the harvestedacreage number.

Many still think the harvest-ed acreage is too large basedon the percentage relationshipin a drought year. But thisyear’s plantings were 20 to 40percent larger than some previ-ous drought years. Using apercentage relationship thisyear implies an unusually largesilage harvest number. Still, wethink the harvested acreagenumber could drop half a mil-lion to 1 million acres.

As we implied in August,USDA may have pretty well“nailed” the size of this year’scorn crop. The SeptemberUSDA estimates back that up,especially as far as yields areconcerned. There’s still a lotof doubt about acreage, whichcould swing the productionestimate higher or lower.

But as far as yields go, USDAhas had two consecutive monthsto pull samples to estimate theear weight. Normally, that does-n’t happen until it gathers datafor the October report.

We normally look closer atthe data USDA supplies for the10 objective-yield states, but thehistory we have access to does-n’t extend into the 1980s. Weare displaying the seven-statedata so you can see how this

perspectives


A teenager reaches many milestones in justseven years.

First is the achievement of becoming ateenager at 13, then driving at16, and of course, getting intoan R-rated movie at 17. Thebiggest milestone of a teenager,however, is turning 18.

A lot of responsibility comeswith becoming a legal adult,including the ability to vote.Before we talk more about theright to vote as a teen, let mefirst introduce myself.

I am Perry Harlow and cur-rently am a 4-H member in

Grundy County and a member of the SenecaFFA chapter. This year, I served on the IllinoisFarm Bureau Youth Education Committee as a4-H representative. Even greater, this year Iturned 18, and I am finally able to vote!

It is the 26th amendment of the Constitu-tion of the United States that gives you theright at age 18 to vote.

It is not just your right, it is your duty. Beingable to vote is very important to me and manyother people.

Voting essentially allows us to let our voicesbe heard. We vote for those we want in office,then our voice is heard in the Congress, theGeneral Assembly in Springfield, countyboards, and city councils.

I registered to vote for one reason: I wantedmy voice to be heard!

I want my vote to count. I want my vote tocount on a national level and a local level.Although the presidential election is very sig-nificant, the local elections are important. Thelocal elections impact everyone on a day-to-daybasis.

Registering to vote was very easy. Each year,our high school requests representatives fromcounty clerks’ offices in LaSalle and Grundycounties come to the school to help teens regis-ter to vote.

The paperwork is easy. All I needed weretwo forms of identification and to complete

some basic information, including name,address, and telephone number.

The representative from the clerk’s officetook my information back to the office andprocessed the information. I received my vot-er’s registration card within a week. It was sim-ply that easy.

Did you know that students who are 17 canpre-register to vote?

The paperwork is the same, but they will notreceive their registration or voting card untilthey are 18. The advantage of pre-registering isteens do not have to remember to register afterthey turn 18.

Lately, I have been asking my 18-year-oldfriends if they will be voting in the presidentialelection this November.

I have been surprised; many of them are notvoting. They think their votes will not count. Itold them their vote does count and it willmake a difference.

The next president will be running our coun-try for the next four years. He will be makingdecisions that could affect us, not just for thenext four years but for the rest of our lives.

It was then they realized that those decisionscould affect them. I hoped that from thatmoment they would decide to vote in the nextelection.

Many of my friends do not vote becausethey feel they do not know what the issues are.

For those who feel that way, I suggest youwatch, read, and listen to the news.

Do it on your way to work, school, or athome. Learn what is going on in Washington,D.C., and Springfield.

Become educated about the issues and bills.Become an informed voter.

According to Young Democrats of America,46 million 18 to 29 year olds are eligible to votein 2012. Will you or be among those who vote?

I want to leave you with some advice: Goregister and vote!

Perry Harlow, 18, Kinsman, is a student at Joliet Jun-ior College (JJC). This fall he will be majoring in agri-culture education at JJC.

FROM ONE TEEN TO OTHERS

PERRYHARLOW

U.S. needs permanentnormal trade relationswith Russia right nowRussia recently was welcomed into the World Trade

Organization (WTO).That was a very important step, which will require Rus-

sia to live by predictable, reasonable, and enforceable trad-ing rules.

It should be celebrated as a big day forthe U.S. because more exports will meanmore jobs.

However, we don’t qualify to receivethese advantages because we have in placean antiquated law dating back to the 1970s— the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.

That law restricts U.S. trade with coun-tries that limit immigration rights. We weretrying at the time to help thousands of Jewsleave the Soviet Union.

The time is well overdue to throw outthat ancient, irrelevant law and extend permanent, normaltrading relations (PNTR) to Russia.

Failure to extend PNTR to Russia won’t hurt Russia. Ithurts us. It will cost us thousands of jobs.

We need legislation to get this done now. Other coun-tries already are getting ahead of us.

We have been slow to act on trade the last four years. It took forever to finally pass the free trade agreements

with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. And now, Rus-sia is in the WTO and we aren’t positioned to take advan-tage of it.

We have had many trade conflicts with Russia over theyears.

Remember the 1980 grain embargo? President Reaganlifted the embargo on April 24, 1981. A couple years later,I signed a long-term grain agreement with the SovietUnion.

We have had trading problems with Russia involvingchickens and other food products.

It’s time to put in place the rules of the WTO.As U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “PNTR

is not a favor to Russia. It is a significant opportunity forAmerica’s farmers, ranchers, and producers.”

Russia is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.It’s time for Congress to pass permanent normal trade

relations for Russia.

John Block, former U.S. agriculture secretary, is a senior policyadviser with the Washington, D.C., firm of Olsson, Frank, Weeda,and Terman. His email address is [email protected].

JOHNBLOCK

farmweek september 17 2012

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