Farmweek 10-18-2010

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Monday, October 18, 2010 Two sections Volume 38, No. 42

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

TWO INDUSTRY analystsare project ing oi l pr ices onceagain may hit triple digits, leadingto pain at the pump. .....................2

T H E U. S . E PA r e c e n t l yextended the deadline for comply-ing with its spill rules for a limitednumber of farms. ...........................4

ETHANOL PLANTS havereduced water used per gallon ofethanol by more than 50 percent;more may be possible. ................3

EPA E15 announcement draws mixed reactionsBY DAVE MCCLELLANDFarmWeek

The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agencys (EPA)ethanol announcement lastweek was mildly hailed bysome and generally assailed byothers.

EPA announced it waswaiving the limitation on sell-ing motor fuel that contains 15percent ethanol but onlyfor model year 2007 and new-er cars and light trucks.

Since 1979, the amount ofethanol in gasoline has beenlimited to 10 percent, and thatremains the limitation formodel year 2000 and oldercars and light trucks.

A decision on the use ofE15 in 2001 through 2006model year vehicles is notexpected until testing is com-pleted in November.

Congress has mandated theproduction and delivery of 36billion gallons of renewablefuels by the year 2022.

Last weeks announcementmeans 43 million cars andlight trucks will be able to usegasoline containing up to 15percent ethanol.

With the move to E15,were creating a bigger marketfor American ethanol, saidPhilip Nelson, president of

Illinois Farm Bureau.With more ethanol pro-

duction, were creating morejobs (estimated by some at136,000), reducing our depen-

dence on foreign oil, improv-ing our environment, andstrengthening our nationalsecurity, said Nelson.

For some, the EPAannouncement was akin totheir favorite football teamfailing to score after four triesfrom the one-yard line. They

were heartened that they gotthat far; disheartened that theycouldnt punch it across.

Were disappointed in thevery limited scope of thisapproval, but pleased the EPAhas finally taken action to par-tially approve the waiverrequest to allow higher blendsof ethanol in some motorvehicles, said National CornGrowers Association (NCGA)President Bart Schott.

We believe this bifurcation(allowing use of E15 in comevehicles but not all) of theapproval process, and thelabels that are expected to beplaced on higher-blend fuelpumps, can lead to generalconsumer confusion and,

therefore, act counter to theoriginal intent, he said.

Limiting E15 use to 2007and newer vehicles only cre-ates confusion for retailers andconsumers alike, said BobDinneen, CEO of the Renew-able Fuels Association.

The goals of Congress toreduce our addiction to oilcaptured in the RenewableFuels Standard cannot be metwith this decision.

EPAs decision certainlyisnt the best-case scenario,said Tim Lenz, president ofthe Illinois Corn GrowersAssociation.

The bright spot is that thisdecision by EPA does start theball rolling on the long list of

paperwork processes that haveto happen to get any new fuelto market. No decision fromEPA would have meant noprogress on that front. Forthis, we are grateful, Lenzsaid.

ICGA and NCGA continueto point to a recent researchstudy partially funded by theIllinois Corn Marketing Boardthat supported use of E15 incars and light trucks builtbetween 1994 and 2000.

Livestock producer groupswere skeptical about the EPAannouncement and what itmay mean for feed prices.

Corn ethanol production

MOVING CORN

Chris Herring, Ipava, (in the tractor cab) and Steve Shockency, Astoria, (standing in the semi) were mov-ing corn out of a field near Astoria last week. They work for Brian and Jennifer Lehman, Vermont.Lehman reported his corn yields were down about 25 percent this year while soybean yields were aver-age. The Lehmans expected to finish harvest early this week. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

Commodity groups: Enough corn for all usersBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Commodity groups areworking to reassure customersaround the world that the U.S.corn supply will satisfydemand.

Concern about corn sup-plies cropped up when USDAon Oct. 8 shocked traders bycutting its corn productionestimate for the current U.S.crop by 500 million bushels.

That news was followed lastWednesday with the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agencysdecision to raise the ethanolblend level from E10 to E15for 2007 and newer vehicles.

Corn prices the past weeksubsequently jumped to two-year highs based on the tightersupply and increased demand.U.S. corn production this yearis projected to be close to 12.7billion bushels compared tothe previous estimate of 13.2billion bushels.

The U.S. Grains Council(USGC) does not anticipatethese production levels willdramatically alter the U.S. posi-tion in the global marketplacein the long-term, said TomDorr, president and CEO ofUSGC. In the short-term,however, it will have an effecton prices and we need to be

sensitive to that.A number of market ana-

lysts last week recommendedend-users, such as livestockproducers, extend their cover-age on any price breaks andattempt to lock in a basis oncorn.

But while prices are expect-

ed to be higher, the NationalCorn Growers Association(NCGA) still expects a cornsurplus this year.

Total corn production (12.7billion bushels) and endingstocks (1.7 billion bushels)would cover the demand esti-mate of 13.5 billion bushels

and still leave ending stocksnear 1 billion bushels.

This may not be a recordyear, but were bringing in thecorn and meeting all needs, evenfor our export markets, saidBart Schott, NCGA president.

See EPA, page 2

See Enough, page 4

FarmWeekNow.comCheck out audio comments andreactions to the E15 decision atFarmWeekNow.com.

FSA REQUESTS FORMS Some producers lastweek received a letter from Farm Service Agency (FSA)regarding problems with Internal Revenue Service incomecompliance forms (CCC-927 and CCC-928). FSA is askingproducers to resubmit these forms to maintain their farmprogram eligibility. Questions should be directed to thecounty FSA office.

MORE STUDENTS STUDYING AG High schoolagriculture and horticulture classes continue to attract morestudents in Illinois, according to Jay Runner, coordinator ofthe Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education(FCAE). Most of those students 90 percent dont liveon farms.

Illinois students also are receiving additional high schoolcredits, in addition to an elective credit, for enrolling in agclasses, Runner added.

Currently, 81 percent of Illinois high school ag programsoffer students academic credits in math, science, languagearts, social studies, or consumer economics for theiradvanced-level courses. Illinois ag curriculum is used in 24other states.

HUNTERS DONATING VENISON Deer huntersmay donate venison to help feed hungry state residentsthrough the states Target Hunger Now initiative. Huntersmay donate a whole deer for processing and the venison willbe donated to participating food pantries, food banks, andother charities.

Cash donations to the Illinois Conservation Foundationalso are being accepted to help pay the processing cost.

Since 1994, more than 674,750 pounds of venison havebeen donated, including more than 50 tons last year.

LOOKING TO BUILT TRUST About 60 represen-tatives from more than 20 national food and agriculturalorganizations last week agreed to incorporate a U.S. Farmersand Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) to focus on working togeth-er to enhance U.S. consumer trust in modern food produc-tion.

In August, five Illinois farm organizations announced acoalition effort to update the image of farmers in the stateto build more public trust in farmers and farming. USFRAis expected to complement Illinois work.

Dennis Vercler, manager of the Illinois effort and pub-lisher of FarmWeek, called the newly announced nationaleffort welcome news for all U.S. farmers who face con-sumer mistrust and misunderstandings.

Organizers of USFRA said the organizational meetingrepresents only the beginning of a process designed to cre-ate a coordinated effort by and on behalf of U.S. farmersand ranchers.

Organizations have been asked to respond about affilia-tion no later than Nov. 1. After that date, a board of direc-tors will be established and will elect an executive committee.Members of the USFRA board, its executive committee, andits affiliated organizations will be announced formally inmid-November.

FarmWeek Page 2 Monday, October 18, 2010

(ISSN0197-6680)Vol. 38 No. 42 October 18, 2010

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

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2010 Illinois Agricultural Association

STAFFEditor

Dave McClelland ([email protected])Legislative Affairs Editor

Kay Shipman ([email protected])Agricultural Affairs Editor

Martin Ross ([email protected])Senior Commodities Editor

Daniel Grant ([email protected])Editorial Assistant

Linda Goltz ([email protected])Business Production Manager

Bob StandardAdvertising Sales Manager

Richard VerderyClassified sales coordinator

Nan FanninDirector of News and CommunicationsDennis Vercler

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

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

Quick TakesENERGY

Continued from page 1is significant to the cattleindustry because of itsimpact on feed grainprices, said National Cat-tlemens Beef AssociationPresident Steve Foglesong.

The National Pork Pro-ducers Council (NPPC)Ethanol Task Force Chair-

EPAman Randy Spronk saidNPPC was withholdingcomment on the blendingrate hike, but added, Anyupward pressure on cornprices will have a negativeeffect on producers.

The increased ethanoluse is not expected toimpact food supplies or

Analysts: Oil prices poised to break triple digits soonBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Recession-weary con-sumers may be in for a scarefit for Halloween when theyfuel their vehicles and heattheir homes this winter andwell into next year.

Two industry analysts thismonth projected oil pricesonce again are poised tobreak triple digits.

I look for substantiallyhigher oil prices by this timenext year with some tradesover $100 per barrel, JimAllwood, senior vice presi-dent and director of energyservices for Informa Eco-nomics, said this month dur-ing the Export Exchange inChicago.

Peter Georgantones, ana-lyst with Investment TradingServices, made a similar pro-jection in his near-term out-look at the event.

Were going over $100(per barrel) in crude oil. Youcan smell it, he said. Every-body is buying commoditiesright now.

The Energy InformationAdministrations (EIA) winterfuels outlook released lastweek projected oil prices thiswinter will average $80 per

barrel ($2.50 per barrel high-er than last winter) and reachan average of $85 per barrelby the fourth quarter of2011.

By the end of next year, Ibelieve world demand forpetroleum will be as high rel-ative to supply as it was in2007 and the first half of2008 when we saw $147-per-barrel oil, Allwood said.

I dont think it will getthat high this time. I believeOPEC (the Organization ofPetroleum Exporting Coun-tries) will increase productionmore quickly in an effort tosustain economic recovery.

In fact, Allwood believesOPEC could hold all thecards when it comes to oilpricing in the future.

He noted the productionof oil and liquid fuels in non-OPEC countries has beenflat. And the analyst looks forthat trend to continue.

An increase in demandwill bring a need to increaseproduction from OPEC,Allwood said. They controlour ability to sustain eco-nomic growth the nextdecade.

Oil prices also could besupported by the value of the

U.S. dollar. Petroleum ispriced worldwide in dollars,and a weaker dollar, whichhas been the trend, supportshigher petroleum prices, All-wood said.

The U.S. likely will remainheavily dependent on oilimports to meet its petroleumneeds. Oil reserves availablein the U.S. are more difficultto extract and likely dontmake economic sense torecover until oil prices go ashigh as $150 per barrel,according to the analyst.

EIAs winter fuels outlooklast week also predicted anincrease (2.5 percent) inhousehold expenditures forspace-heating fuels comparedto last year.

Meanwhile, the projectednatural gas inventory by theend of this month (3.7 tril-lion cubic feet) would bedown 3 percent compared tolast years record but stillwould be the second-higheston record for the month ofOctober.

EIA projected the averagespot price of natural gas willrise from $3.95 per millionBritish thermal units in 2009to $4.47 this year and $4.58 in2011.

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

A new company is exploring the productionbiobutanol by converting existing ethanol plantsand applying a process developed at the Univer-sity of Illinois.

Chicago-based TetraVitae Bioscience isfocusing on the commercialization of biobu-tanol, which has a 3-billion-gallon market, saidNat Harrison, TetraVitaes vice president ofbusiness development.

Ethanol today produces a single product,but there are opportunities for more productsand co-products, said Hans Blaschek, a co-founder of the firm and the U of I professorwho advanced the technology.

Harrison said the companys strategy is toconvert ethanol plants that use corn in the U.S.and sugar cane in Brazil. There are manyethanol plants in the United States and a num-ber of potential partners, he said.

Asked if the company has met with plantowners in Illinois or elsewhere in the Midwest,Harrison answered that TetraVitae has beenspeaking with a number of owners, but declined

to name them or their locations.In May, TetraVitae completed a demonstra-

tion project of its technology at the NationalCorn-to-Ethanol Research Center inEdwardsville. In August, the firm completed adistillation scale test of its production technolo-gy at a University of Texas laboratory.

Biobutanol would offer converted ethanolplants an opportunity to sell products in thepaint, plastic, and solvent industry sectors.

The (ethanol plants) returns have been upand down. We think we can offer (them) morestability, Harrison said. We think we have astrong cost position compared to major petro-butanol productions.

In addition, the conversion process doesnot rule out ethanol (production in the future).It (production) could go back and forth, Harri-son noted.

Plus biobutanol could avoid the food vs.fuel controversy of converting corn and sugarinto an industrial product, according to Harri-son. The nice thing about our technology is itcan use other cellulosic feedstocks, heexplained.

prices, primarily becauseU.S. farmers this year pro-duced the third-largest corncrop in history.

And increased ethanolproduction means more dis-tillers dried grains produc-tion, which could help mol-lify concerns aboutincreased feed costs.

Biotech firm exploring revamp of ethanol plants

ENVIRONMENT


Ethanol producers more efficient on different frontsBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Ethanol production isbecoming more efficientwhen calculated by variousmeasurements, severalexperts said at last weeksforum at the University ofIllinois Center for AdvancedBioEnergy Research(CABER) in Champaign.

Kishore Rajagopalan withthe Illinois Sustainable Tech-nology Center noted ethanolmanufacturers continue toreduce the amount waterused per gallon of ethanolproduced and may be able tomake further reductions. (Seeaccompanying story.)

Over the years, ethanolplants have reduced waterused per gallon of ethanolfrom 6.5 gallons down to 3or fewer gallons, accordingto Rajagopalan.

Ethanol producers alsoare using less energy to pro-

duce ethanol. Steffen Muellerwith the U of I-Chicagoreported ethanol plants havemade major reductions inenergy use, based on a 2009-10 ethanol plant survey.There have been significantimprovements in (energy)

efficiency compared to 2001(survey results), Muellersaid.

Todays ethanol plants use28 percent less thermal ener-gy and 32 percent less elec-tricity per gallon of ethanolproduced, he said.

The ethanol industryneeds to consider many fac-tors to be both efficient andeconomical, said Seth Snyder,head of the chemical andbiotechnology section ofArgonne National Laborato-rys energy systems division.

From the national stand-point, (the bioenergy indus-try) is not engaged in theidea (of producing) a fullsuite of products to be suc-cessful, instead it isfocused only on fuel, Snydersaid.

Ethanol plants are using less waterbut potentially could use even fewer gal-lons, according to a scientist with theIllinois Sustainable Technology Center,Champaign.

Water use can be reduced substantial-ly in ethanol manufacturing, saidKishore Rajagopalan, the centers associ-ate director. He speculated the amount ofwater used may be cut to less than a gal-lon for each gallon of ethanol produced.

Currently, ethanol plants use about 3gallons of water for every gallon ofethanol produced, Rajagopalan noted.Because water is such a small cost com-ponent (of ethanol production), the

ethanol industry hasnt been as aggres-sive in (pursuing) water-saving technolo-gy, he added.

Rajagopalan offered several practicesto reduce water usage at ethanol plants.

His water-saving ideas include mini-mization of cooling tower (water) wasteand operational changes, primarily givingmore attention to plant water uses andlosses. He also suggested plants re-use fil-tered water.

To go further, (ethanol plants) coulduse other (types) of water besides freshwater, Rajagopalan said. For example, amanufacturer could treat municipaleffluent as an alternative water source

for use in the cooling towers.The scientist estimated ethanol plants

using current technology could reducetheir water consumption by 10 to ashigh as 25 percent. However, there areregulatory hurdles to overcome beforesome practices could be implemented,he added.

Rajagopalan said all of his proposalshave not been tested in an ethanol plant,but said he is interested in working witha manufacturer. He also noted the quali-ty of available water varies from loca-tion to location and some practices mustbe tested on a case-by-case basis. Kay Shipman

Scientist offers ideas to gain more ethanol from a gallon of water

An architects rendering shows a view of Eastern Illinois Universitys new renewable energy center that is un-der construction on the southeast side of the Charleston campus. The new plant will run on ground woodchips initially, but campus officials envision using other biomass fuel in the future. (Illustration courtesy East-ern Illinois University)

EIU represents early biomass market with new energy plant

Coles County is gaining a new biomass fuelmarket and may one day grow its own renew-able fuel, according to Gary Reed, Eastern Illi-nois Universitys (EIU) director of facilities.

EIU is building a new renewable energyplant to power its Charleston campus andreplace a coal-fired steam plant that was built in1925.

We represent one of the early markets ofbiomass, Reed said. I envision being able togrow our own sustainable fuel in Illinois.

Last week, Reed spoke during a forum atUniversity of Illinois Center for AdvancedBioEnergy Research (CABER).

Initially, the plant will burn wood chips in itsnew gasification plant that tentatively will goonline in April and be commissioned in thesummer.

EIU is installing two gasifiers in the newplant with an eye toward testing different bio-

mass fuels. Im interested in studying other(fuel) options besides wood, Reed said. Reedsaid that once the system is operational, EIUwill become the first campus entirely dependenton biomass energy, to the best of his knowl-edge.

The university plans to have a 10-day supplyof wood fuel on hand but will have gas/fuel oilboilers available as an emergency backup sys-tem.

The plant is part of an $80 million energyperformance contract that includes 16 energyconservation measures with Honeywell Interna-tional Inc. The contractors have guaranteed thebiomass system will pay for itself in 20 years,according to Reed.

Reed estimated the new plant will produceabout 600 tons of ash annually, but he wasuncertain what will be done with the ash. Kay Shipman

Illinois rates well in new nationalanalysis on forest stewardship

Forest stewardship has increased on Americas familyforests since the 2008 farm bill, according to a new study,Forest Conservation in 2009: A Farm Bill Progress Report,released last week.

Most Americans think our forests are owned by state andfederal governments. But the greatest segment is actually ownedby families and individuals, said Tom Martin, president of theAmerican Forest Foundation, which developed the report.

All Americans rely on these forests for clean water, clean air,carbon storage, recreation,and the wood products weuse every day. The 2008 farmbill was a strong beginningtoward acknowledging thesepublic benefits and investingin protecting them.

The study found that statesvary significantly in theirfocus on forestry vs. otherland types, and the use offarm bill program resourcesfor forests:

States range from 71 per-cent to 0.05 of a percent ofEnvironmental Quality Incen-tive Program (EQIP) fundingused for forestry.

Alaska, Alabama, Illinois,New Hampshire, and Ohio all top the list, spending more than 10percent of their funding on forestry.

Other report findings include: Farm bill programs helped 36,000 landowners conserve more

than 1.019 million acres of forest land just in 2009 alone. EQIP funding for forest conservation activities has increased

by 134 percent since 2007. Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) funding has

increased 296 percent for forested habitats. EQIP and WHIP together devoted more than $40 million in

2009 up from $14 million in 2007 to practices such aswildlife habitat improvement and thinning to reduce fire risk.

The Forest Stewardship Program helped nearly 16,000 forestowners develop management plans that promote good steward-ship and cover more than 2 million acres.

To generate the report, the American Forest Foundation ana-lyzed data provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Ser-vice, the Farm Service Agency, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Most Amer icansth ink our fo res tsare owned by stateand federa l gov-ernments. But thegreatest segmentactually is ownedby families and in-dividuals.

Tom MartinAmerican Forest Foundation

ENVIRONMENT


2009 GROWMARK, Inc. The FS Seed logo is a registered trademark of GROWMARK, Inc. Roundup Ready Corn, YieldGard Plus and YieldGard VT3 are trademarks of Monsanto Technology L.L.C. S11806

These days, theres a lot of talk out there about stacked traits and improved genetic proles. But the truth is, there is one brand of seed corn developed specically for the needs of Midwest growers FS Seed Corn. With its high-yielding genetic foundations and proven performance record, FS Seed Corn is offering Midwest corn growers greater prot opportunities than ever before. So when you choose FS Seed Corn, you can be sure youre getting more than just top-of-line genetics, youre getting bottom line results. Now how smart is that?

Always follow IRM guidelines and grain channeling requirements.

Continued from page 1USDA this month lowered

the national corn yield from162.5 bushels per acre to 155.8bushels per acre.

Overall, the crop still wouldbe the third-largest on recordand compare favorably to the2008 corn crop that totaled12.1 billion bushels with anaverage yield of 153.9 bushelsper acre.

American farmers consis-tently produce what we needto meet the demand for all ourcustomers, Dorr said last

week at the Export Exchangein Chicago.

Meanwhile, corn used forethanol production isnt a totalloss for livestock producers.Each 56-pound bushel of cornused in dry mill ethanol pro-duction generates 17.4 poundsof distillers dried grains(DDGs), a high-energy feedingredient.

One error in the anti-bio-fuels argument is it gives nocredit to the byproduct, BobThompson, consultant withthe National Center for Food

and Agricultural Policy, said atthe Export Exchange.

After corn is processedinto ethanol, all the proteinand energy are still there, hecontinued.

You have a very good live-stock feed in DDGs.

U.S. DDGs productionfrom 2004 to 2009 nearlytripled from 11 million tons to30-plus million tons.

That production is expectedto surpass 33 million tons thisyear and push the 40-million-ton mark in the next few years.

Enough

EPA extends storage plan deadline for new farmers, some dairiesBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

For a limited number offarms, the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA)recently extended the deadlinefor complying with Spill Pre-vention, Control and Counter-measures (SPCC) rules,according to Nancy Erickson,Illinois Farm Bureau directorof natural and environmentalresources.

The new deadline of Nov.10, 2011, applies only to farmsthat started operation afterAugust 2002.

However, farms in opera-tion before 2002 are under theSPCC rule and should have aplan in place or updated tocomply with the new require-ments by Nov. 10, 2010, Erick-son said.

Erickson noted EPA alsodelayed the SPCC compliancedate for facilities that mustaddress milk and milk productcontainers, associated pipingand accessories constructedaccording to currently applica-ble 3-A Sanitary Standards,and that are subject to the cur-rently applicable Grade A

Pasteurized Milk Ordinance(PMO) or the equivalent stateregulatory requirement.

The date is delayed one yearfrom the effective date of afinal rule specifically address-ing these milk and milk prod-uct containers.

The SPCC rule pertains tofacilities, including farms, thathave above-ground oil storagewith an aggregate capacitygreater than 1,320 gallons orcompletely buried oil storagecapacity greater than 42,000gallons. Residential home oilcontainers are exempt, and oil

tanks smaller than 55 gallonsare exempt.

The rules require farms thatmeet a certain storage thresh-old to prepare and implementa plan to be kept at the farmand have a secondary contain-ment structure around theirtanks or use double-walledtanks.

Under the rules, there aredifference compliance require-ments based on a facilitysstorage capacity.

For smaller-capacity facili-ties with an aggregate storagecapacity of 10,000 or fewergallons, EPA has two cate-gories.

To qualify, the smaller facil-ities must not have had a sin-gle discharge of more than1,000 gallons into navigablewaters within three years priorto the date the SPCC is certi-fied.

The farm also cannot havehad two oil discharges ofmore than 42 gallons into nav-igable water within a 12-month period.

In addition to meeting thespill history requirement,smaller-capacity facilities musthave 10,000 or fewer gallonsof aggregate storage and can-not have any single above-ground storage container with

capacity for more than 5,000gallons.

Facilities that meet thesmaller-capacity category mayuse an EPA plan template andself-certify their plan. They donot need to have a plan certi-fied by a professional engineer.

Facilities that have 10,000or fewer gallons of aggregatestorage and a single tank ofmore than 5,000 gallons wouldfall into a second-tier category.They also may self-certify aplan, but they cannot use theEPA template.

Facilities with more than10,000-gallon storage capacitymust have a plan approved bya professional engineer.

A plan template for smaller-capacity facilities is online at{www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/spcc/tier1temp.htm}.

EPA issues five-year planThe U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA)recently issued a five-yearstrategic plan for fiscal years2011-15. The plan includesfive strategic goals to meetthe agencys mission relatedto human health and theenvironment.

The strategic goalsinclude: taking action on cli-mate change and improvingair quality; protecting Ameri-cas waters; cleaning up com-munities and advancing sus-tainable development; ensur-ing the safety of chemicalsand preventing pollution; andenforcing environmentallaws.

Those goals reinforce EPAAdministrator Lisa Jacksonspriorities, such as reducinggreenhouse gases, adapting toclimate change, and promot-

ing smart growth within com-munities.

Commenting on the goals,the American Farm BureauFederations Rich Krause said,On the surface, it looks likemotherhood and apple pie who can be against cleaning airand cleaning water?

But, once you get beneaththe surface, then you see thatthis ... will cost people jobs, itwill cost people money.

For example, greenhousegas regulations will impose alot of additional costs onfarmers, ranchers, and otherpeople, other consumers ... allwith the idea that it will reduceglobal temperatures by lessthan one-hundredth of adegree in a hundred years.

For more information, goonline to {www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm}.

TECHNOLOGY


Southern Illinois receives $45 million broadband infrastructure projectSouthern Illinois broad-

band infrastructure will takea major step forward fol-lowing last weeksannouncement of a $45.4million project, whichincludes a $31 million feder-al grant.

Gov. Pat Quinn joined bystate and local leaders atJohn A. Logan College

announced the $45.4 millionproject of fiber opticbroadband infrastructure in23 Illinois counties.

In addition to the grantfrom the U.S. Departmentof Commerce, project fund-ing includes $11.3 millionfrom the Illinois Jobs Now!capital program and $2.5million in private funding.

The federal grant propos-al was submitted by DeltaCommunicationsLLC/Clearwave Communi-cations on behalf of theIllinois Broadband Oppor-tunity Partnerships south-ern region.

Harrisburg-based Clear-wave Communications willuse funding to connect

about 232 community insti-tutions, such as schools andlibraries.

The counties involved inthe project include Alexan-der, Clay, Clinton, Edwards,Franklin, Hamilton, Jackson,Jefferson, Johnson, Marion,Massac, Perry, Pulaski, Ran-dolph, Richland, Saline, St.Clair, Union, Wabash, Wash-

ington, Wayne, White, andWilliamson.

The project is one of 17broadband expansion awardsthe state has received sinceFebruary. These awards rep-resent a $350-million-plusinvestment in Illinois broad-band and include nearly$245 million in federal stim-ulus funds.

U of I, mass transit district receive IEPA clean diesel grantThe University of Illinois and

the Champaign-Urbana Mass Tran-sit District (CUMTD) have receivedthe largest clean diesel grant everissued by the Illinois Environmen-tal Protection Agency (IEPA)through its Illinois Clean DieselGrant Program, IEPA DirectorDoug Scott announced last week.

The $445,000 grant will be usedto retrofit 43 buses in the CUMTD

fleet with diesel particulate filters.Xinlei Wang, a U of I agricultur-

al and biological engineering pro-fessor, conducted field tests andevaluation of filter technology thatcaptures about 90 percent of thediesel soot and up to 85 percent ofthe hydrocarbons and carbonmonoxides emitted from the busestailpipes.

These filters will remove 5.7

tons of pollutants each year, with81 tons reduced over the life of thebuses, Wang said.

Wang began working with theCUMTD in 2006 and received a$50,000 U.S. EPA grant to installfilters on four CUMTD buses in apilot project.

CUMTD also bought severalhybrid electric buses for its fleet.

When all 43 filters are installed

and running, in conjunction withthe hybrid buses that are now inservice, 80 percent of our fleet willhave clean emissions, said BillVolk, CUMTD managing director.

We hope to obtain another 21vehicles over the next two years,and at that point, 100 percent ofour fleet will have emissions asclean as they can be under currenttechnology.

Agricultural solutions focus at U of I ECI annual summitSpeaker topics will

include: chemical manage-ment and soil fertility, agri-cultural productivity, preci-sion agriculture, crop genet-ics and resource dynamics,organic, and sustainablefarming.

The ECI mission is tofocus the U of Is resourcesand research capabilities toadvance the understanding of

global environmental changeand offer solutions, said Wes-ley Jarrell, the interim direc-tor of ECI.

The registration fees are$150 for corporate and indus-try members; $50 for academ-ic members; and $25 for stu-dents, members of not-for-profit groups, and non-gov-ernment organizations.

Registration must be com-

pleted by Nov. 5 to ensuremeals. Registrations will beaccepted at the door, butmeals cannot be guaranteed.

For more information orto register online, go to{http://eci.illinois.edu/news-events/eci-summit/}.

To register by phone, callLori Spencer at 217-244-0965or Karen Decker at 217-333-0548.

Agricultural practices thatcan mitigate climate changesand adaptation of agriculturefor climate changes will bediscussed Tuesday, Nov. 9, atthe University of IllinoisEnvironmental Change Insti-tutes (ECI) annual summit.

The event will start at 7:45a.m. in the I Hotel and Con-

ference Center, Champaign.The early registration dead-line is Nov. 5.

In the keynote address,Mark Seeley, a climatologistand meteorologist, will dis-cuss anticipated changes overthe next 50 years, and theirimplications for land use,landscape, and infrastructure.

NRCS extends CSP sign up Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief

Dave White has announced the application deadline for theConservation Stewardship Program (CSP) has been extendedto Jan. 7, 2011.

CSP was authorized in the 2008 farm bill and offers pay-ments to farmers who maintain a high level of conservation ontheir land and agree to adopt higher levels of stewardship.The extension is intended to allow more producers to partici-pate in the program, according to White.

CSP provides conservation improvements, including waterand soil quality, wildlife habitat enhancement, and the adoptionof conservation activities that address climate change.

Eligible land includes cropland, pastureland, rangeland,and non-industrial forestland. For more infor mation onCSP, contact your local NRCS off ice or go onl ine to{www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/new_csp/csp.html}.

An audio-video website ofIllinois agricultural historythat includes comments fromseveral Illinois Farm Bureaumembers has received aninternational honor.

Last week, the Oral Histo-ry Association announced theIllinois State Museum willreceive its major project awardfor the museums oral historyof Illinois agriculture project.The international award is pre-sented once every two years.

The ag history website fea-tures 300 hours of interviewsof more than 130 peopleinvolved in agriculture and

rural life in the state. Launch-ed in 2009, the website isaccessible free of chargeonline at {http://avbarn.museum.state.il.us}.

Information covers thegeneral topics of land, plants,animals, people, and technolo-gy.

Information may besearched by topic, name, date,or location.

The website also featureseducational resources forteachers and students, includ-ing 33 activities in the finearts, language arts, and naturaland social sciences.

State museums ag website honored

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Another greatweek for harvesting here inNorthern Illinois. No rain, sunnyskies, warm days, excellentyields, dry corn, good prices forcorn and beans, what else can Isay? The elevators are startingto get filled up, are closing earlyand are starting to pile corn out-

side in some locations that never had to dothat before. Most people are ready for arainy day to catch up on everything, includ-ing resting up. Have a good week and staysafe.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: Another warm,dry week in Lake County. Wehad a light shower Wednesdaymorning that was more likeheavy dew. Beans are mostlydone with very good yields. Itsunusual to be able to start cut-ting beans and finishing themwithout any stoppage becauseof moisture. Corn is about 30

percent done, with most of the moisture lev-els in the teens. Some third- and fourth-cut-ting hay was baled last week. A slight chanceof showers exists for today (Monday). Mostof the winter wheat is planted with theearly-planted fields looking good, even with-out much moisture. Have a safe week har-vesting and be careful.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Dry and dusty andharvest continues at a recordpace. No rain weve had 1.7inches in the last six weeks.There are still a few fields of soy-beans to harvest. Cornstalks aretoo dry and field loss is occurringat the rollers. Stalk quality hasbeen very poor; however, the

fields that had fungicide applied are standingmuch better. Fall tillage has been going on ata record pace. Enjoy the fall colors eventhough they arent as brilliant as some years.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: The 2010 har-vest is coming to a close fast.Some are done and most are fin-ishing up. Fall fertilization andtillage are in full swing. Soybeanyields were mostly above aver-age. Corn yields were extremelyvariable with some good yields,but most below average to far

below. Last year, we couldnt get enough LPto dry the corn. This year, we hardly burnedany. Most corn came out of the field below 15percent. In 40 years of farming, I have neverseen such extremes as in the past two years.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: It feels like we are har-vesting back in the dark ages.The yield monitor on our com-bine broke down almost a weekago and we are still waiting forparts. Meanwhile, we dont knowwhat our field averages were onthree farms. We missed out on acheck of Cobra for white mold

suppression, and I have no idea what kind ofyield loss we took on some beans that weredecimated by hail early in the summer. Isntit amazing how spoiled we get after gettingused to technology? Harvest progress con-tinues to move forward. Depending on whichdirection you drive from my house, corn iseither 85 or 50 percent completed, so I willgo with an average of 67.6 percent. Its toughto find a soybean field that is still standing.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: Another dry week.Soybean harvest is windingdown rapidly with the latest-planted ones being cut. Anotherweek of good weather will finishup many corn producers. Ishould finish up in MercerCounty today (Friday). Cornyields are all over the place. Its

no wonder the government cant figure it out.Corn is all dry my wettest load was17 percent and most are below 14 percent.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We finished beanharvest last week and will bedone with corn this week. Yieldshave not improved since thebeginning of harvest. Lots oftillage and fertilizer applicationare going on now. We have hadlittle, if any, rain since earlyOctober. We could use one to

settle the dust.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Another weekof great weather to enjoy workingthis fall. Fall tillage is still goingalong with trying to get fertilizerspread between barge loads.Limestone also is running shortdepending on location. As you putmachinery away, dont forget toput mouse traps in the grain

trucks mice seem to love that environment.Tiling crews are hoping the dry weather willcontinue for a couple of months. Markets arefun to watch, as there seems to be no price-rationing yet. The last time commodities went tohigher levels, all of our inputs escalated toextreme new highs. Some consolidation herewould be fine. A lot of early sales have beenmade. Now that the prices are higher, are wewaiting for higher prices for more sales?

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: Harvesting, fertilizerand lime applications, and tillagecontinued last week. Harvest is98 percent complete. We harvest-ed 11 percent corn out of the field.Quite a contrast to last year whencorn was 30 percent and we hadnot started harvesting. Althoughwe lost some yield to overly dry

corn, we were able to sell it out of the field for$5.50 per bushel. Many new records havebeen set over the past two crop years, whichhave been almost complete opposites of eachother. This year, there are more fields tilled thanwere harvested at the same date last year.Many fields are green with a new crop of cornor soybeans growing from the grain that waslost from the combine head during harvest.Local closing prices for Oct. 14: nearby corn,$5.41, January corn, $5.50, fall 2011 corn,$4.74; nearby soybeans, $11.47; January soy-beans, $11.82; fall 2011 soybeans, $11.08.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Harvest isover. Tillage is done. Waiting forcooler soil temperatures to puton NH3. Hoping that the Indianadrought does not keep pushingwest and abates by spring.Spiking prices lead us to wonderhow high is too high? Corn,$5.47, January, $5.52, fall 2011,

$4.69; soybeans, $11.51, January, $11.71;fall 2011, $11.03; wheat, $6.31.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Just a fewfields are left standing awaitingharvest as the cooperative weath-er continues. USDA has our cropreporting district at 98 percentcorn harvested and 93 percent ofthe soybeans harvested, which isthe fastest pace in the state. I sawa farmer quote last week on an

ag website that sums up 2010: My best cornwas on my worst ground and my worst corn onmy best ground! We had 0.3 of an inch of rainas a cold front rolled through Wednesdaymorning. Long-range temperatures vary from40 to 65 degrees with a chance of rainTuesday and the weekend. Ground tempera-ture is 62 degrees, so still too warm for fallanhydrous. Lets be careful out there!

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Our comments thisweek just duplicate last weeksexcept that we are seeing a lotmore empty fields. Harvestedfields are definitely in the majorityaround here with not many left tomeet the combine. Corn probablyis at close to 90 percent completeand soybeans are dragging

behind at maybe 60 to 70 percent complete.Tillage already has begun big time, as has fer-tilizer application. I have even seen some anhy-drous wagons moving already. Is the soil tem-perature cool enough yet? No rain in the gaugefor the week, just dust. In fact, zero moisture forthe month so far. Have a good week.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: Harvest is down tothe last 1 or 2 percent of corn andsoybeans. Farmers overall arevery pleased with yields and evenmore pleased with where theprices have headed. A lot of tillagehas been completed. There is alot more than normal with a lot ofthe bean stubble also being

worked to break up compaction left from theprevious years nightmares. No anhydroushas been applied at this time. Farmers arereally pausing and catching up on cleaning upequipment and waiting for cooler tempera-tures before the ammonia application.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: With harvest inthe rearview mirror for virtuallyeveryone, the combines haveretired for the year and tractorshave taken over across thecountryside. Fall tillage is begin-ning to wind down as lime andfertilizer spreaders take theirturn across the field. I have been

waiting in long lines at the quarry for lime asit is being hauled out as fast as they canmake it. With the limited opportunity to applylime last year, everyone is taking advantageof this early fall to catch up. Now that every-one is getting caught up, producers are anx-ious for conditions to allow anhydrous ammo-nia application, but we will need a goodstretch of cool weather before we can get thetoolbars out.

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: We receivedno rain for the week, and dry andpretty normal temperatures pre-vailed for the most part. Most ofthe crop has been harvested inthe area. A lot of fieldwork hasbeen done. Havent seen muchammonia being applied. I guessthe most exciting part of the

week has been the markets. Like I said lastweek, hope you are on the right side of that.It appears to be quite a challenge this year. Alot of fun to it, but sometimes its a little hardto take. There was some wheat sowed thispast week in the area.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: Another dry weekhere in southern Fayette County.Harvest has pretty well wrappedup in this area other than somelate-planted, replanted, or dou-ble-crop beans. A lot of fall fertiliz-er is being applied. Some tillagework is going on along with thewaterway work and ditch clean-

ing. Rain would not hurt anything. Some ofthe wheat that has been sowed needs ashower to help it emerge. Its pretty dry. Grainmarkets are back on the yo-yo. Local elevatorprices are: spot soybeans, $11.50, Januarysoybeans, $11.95; corn, $5.37, January,$5.52; wheat, $6.81.

Ted Kuebrich, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Harvest hascome and gone for about half ofthe farmers in Jersey County,and the ones who have theircrops out are doing fall tillage. Itlooks like there will be morewheat planted this fall than lastyear due to the early harvest.Jersey County farmers had

more than their share of combine fires thisharvest. I heard of five catching on fire andtwo of them burning up. Most of the corn isout and the beans are not far behind. Pricesat Jersey County Grain, Hardin: Cash corn,$5.42, January 2011 corn, $5.63; cashbeans, $11.66, January 2011 beans, $12.10.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: It was a very pleas-ant week for harvest with somelight showers on Wednesday. Cornharvest is pretty well wrapped up.Bean harvest is coming along, butmost of the July-planted beans arenot ready yet. Wheat sowing ismostly finished and some hasemerged. Lime and fertilizer are

being applied and fall tillage is being done. Thiscoming week is expected to be good for harvestand more fieldwork.

Bob Biehl, Belleville, St. Clair County: Harvest is aboutwrapped up in this area. Thereare a few fields of beans left,both first-crop and some double-crop. Corn is done except for anisolated field or two. Corn mois-ture got down to 13 percent andyields were good for our area.The southeastern part of this

county was not as good. The only bad cornyields in our area were some later-plantedcornfields that encountered the cool, wetweather the first three weeks of May.Otherwise, yields were between 160-200.Beans have been very consistent like corn.Every field has been in a narrow range of yield.I would say 53 to 63 bushels an acre will covermost fields. Lots of 10 percent moisture beanscut vs. 13 percent from hot weather. People aresowing wheat in some places; however, wheatis lying in dry ground. Otherwise, producershave started fertilizer and lime applications anddoing some fall spraying and tillage work.


CROPWATCHERS

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: It was another dryweek here in Pulaski County.We had no rain and it is reallygetting dry. We have only hada trace of rain since the week-end of Sept. 1011. The onlygood thing about the lack ofrainfall is that harvest surehas been rapid. We finished

our soybeans on Saturday, Oct. 9, so weare finished with harvest. We finishedplanting wheat this past week. This is theearliest I can remember being this faralong with harvest. The main activitiesnow are putting down dry fertilizer andlime. A lot of people have been workingground. Please remember to be carefulduring this busy time of year.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: Anothergood week for harvesting inJackson County. Not much cornor soybeans left in the field rightnow. Some of the beans that areleft to be harvested are late-maturing beans and those thatwere planted late because of thelow ground. A lot of tillage work is

going on and quite a bit of the wheat that wasplanted is now out of the ground and lookingpretty decent in most places. We could use ashower for the wheat growers to get theirstands up a little better. Rain has been avoid-ing us. We had a little shower go through, butdidnt get much out of it. Take care and havea good harvest.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: Harvest is get-ting down to the two-minutewarning. Bean fields are disap-pearing fast. Yields on beans onthe side of town that got rain arerecord breaking. Other side oftown, very average. Wheat iscoming up very spotty until itgets a good rain.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Very little rain thispast week. Some places got agood shower, but I had less than0.1 of an inch. There is somewheat trying to emerge I dontknow how when it has been sodry. Fieldwork, spreading lime,and fertilizer, fall application ofchemicals are the main activities.

There is a lot of conservation work and tilinggoing on jobs farmers havent been able toget done the last two falls because of wet soil.

Page 7 Monday, October 18, 2010 FarmWeek

CROPWATCHERS

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

Grain, oilseed demand projected to grow worldwideBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The U.S. is on pace thisseason to produce thelargest soybean crop andthird-largest corn crop onrecord.

But current crop produc-tion capabilities, whileimpressive, must improveworldwide in order to meetdemand for grain andoilseeds that is projected toskyrocket in the future.

Robert Thompson, con-sultant with the NationalCenter for Food and Agri-cultural Policy and a profes-sor emeritus at the Universi-ty of Illinois where he heldthe Gardner endowed chairfor agricultural policy, pro-jected world food demandfrom 2000 to 2050 will dou-ble.

That scenario will forcefarmers around the world toincrease yields, improvefarming practices, andexpand acreage if theyregoing to keep pace withdemand, he said.

Thompson, who deliv-ered the keynote address atthe recent Export Exchangein Chicago hosted by theRenewable Fuels Associa-tion and U.S. Grains Coun-cil, projected the worldspopulation from 2010 to

crop rotations as the climatechanges. He predicted farmersin the parts of the NorthernHemisphere will be able togrow more grain, but otherfarmers may have to adjusttheir mix of crops to a rota-tion more suitable for the cli-mate in their region.

The big question is whathappens to precipitation,he said.

Agriculture currentlyconsumes about 70 percentof the fresh water used inthe world. But last year forthe first time, more thanhalf the worlds populationlived in cities, and Thomp-

son projected 70 percent ofthe worlds population willlive in cities by 2050.

If 70 percent of thepeople live in cities, farmerswont have access to 70 per-cent of the water, Thomp-son said.

He also believes farmerswill have to increase theamount of acres in produc-tion. Thompson estimatedabout 12 percent of theworlds arable land, whichcurrently is not in produc-tion or heavily forested, isavailable. Most of thatground is in South Americaand Sub-Saharan Africa.

2050 will increase by 2.6 bil-lion people, more than twicethe size of Chinas currentpopulation of about 1.2 bil-lion people.

The worlds farmers willbe chal-lenged tofeed theequivalent oftwo moreChinas bythe middle ofthis century,Thompsonsaid.

Thatshould put countries such asthe U.S., with the ability toproduce the most food, inthe drivers seat when itcomes to trade.

I see a bright, brightfuture for international trade,particularly for feed grainand oilseeds, Thompsonsaid.

China, for instance,recently re-entered the mar-ket as a corn buyer afteryears as a net exporter.Thompson believes thattrend will continue.

Its difficult to construea scenario in which coun-tries in Asia will be self-suf-ficient in food productionno matter how much theyinvest in research and agdevelopment, Thompson

said. Self-sufficiency is aninefficient way to achievefood security because itleads to misallocation ofresources.

Thompson believes theuse of biotechnology is vitalto improving yields andenhancing the nutritionalvalue of crops.

We have a long way togo to increase productivity,he said. We must investmore in research. The abilityto deal with drought (forexample) will be very impor-tant.

In fact, Thompson envi-sions a gradual shift in various

Robert Thompson

Another week of ideal weather conditionslast week allowed farmers to put much of thefinishing touches on harvest.

As of the first of last week harvest in Illi-nois was 87 percent complete for corn, and 79percent of the soybeans were in the bin com-pared to just 6 percent and 9 percent, respec-tively, at the same time last year.

The 2010 harvest is coming to a closefast, said Ron Frieders, a FarmWeek Crop-watcher from DeKalb County. Some (farm-ers) are done and most are finishing up.

Nationwide, harvest progress wasnt as faralong as it was in Illinois 51 percent ofcorn and 67 percent of soybeans were har-vested nationwide as last week began.

Most farmers in Illinois recently turned

their attention to fall tillage and fertilizationapplications.

I have been waiting in long lines at thequarry for lime as it is being hauled out as fastas they can make it, said Todd Easton, aCropwatcher from Coles County.

Farmers should be able to make significantprogress in the fields again this week as theforecast was mostly dry and cool conditions inthe state, with a chance of scattered showersthe middle of this week.

Illinois farmers as of the first of last weekhad seeded 56 percent of the winter wheatcrop compared to 11 percent at the same timea year ago and the average of 35 percent,according to the National Agricultural Statis-tics Service Illinois field office.

Harvest nearly complete in Illinois

Russia could source additional feed from U.S.Livestock producers in

drought-ravaged Russiacould source additional feedproducts from the U.S. tomake up for crop losses inthe Black Sea region.

Dmitry Beskurnikov, theU.S. representative for theChamber of Commerce andIndustry of the Russian Fed-eration, this month attendedthe Export Exchange inChicago to source distillersdried grains, soybean meal,and sorghum.

The harvest (in Russia)this year was much lowerthan last year, Beskurnikov

range of crops but place aheavy emphasis on wheat,barley, and rye production,according to Beskurnikov.

The drought in Russiathis year destroyed about 27million acres of crops, orabout 26 percent of the totalharvest, according toAlexander Petrikov, Russiasag minister.

Prime Minister VladimirPutin in August bannedexports of feed grain fromRussia, which helped triggera run-up in U.S. corn andwheat prices.

Beskurnikov was uncer-

tain how long the feedexport ban will remain inplace.

We have two harvests,winter and summer, hesaid. It (the duration of thefeed export ban) depends onthe outlook for the wintercrops.

Beskurnikov encouragedrepresentatives of compa-nies in Illinois who canexport feed products to Rus-sia to contact his Virginia-based office at 414-994-8388or e-mail him [email protected]. Daniel Grant

told FarmWeek. There ispotential demand for these

(U.S.) products. Crop losses due to

extreme drought this year inRussia recently were project-

ed to exceed $1 billion.Russian farmers grow a wide

The harvest (in Russia) this year wasmuch lower than last year. There ispotent ia l demand for these (U.S. )products.

Dmitry BeskurnikovU.S. representative, Chamber of Commerce

and Industry of the Russian Federation

EVENTS


ICMB to sponsor No. 28 car for historic race at MadisonBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

National Association ofStock Car Auto Racing(NASCAR) driver Kenny Wal-lace recently tried his hand atdriving a combine this cornharvest in Illinois.

That event took placerecently on the farm of TimSeifert, an Illinois Corn Mar-keting Board (ICMB) Districtdirector from Auburn and aSangamon County FarmBureau member.

Now, Wallace will representcorn farmers from around thestate in what likely will be abittersweet NASCAR race forthe St. Louis native.

The Nationwide Seriesevent, which will be held Sat-urday at Gateway InternationalRaceway in Madison, Ill., is thelast NASCAR event at the St.Louis area track.

In fact, the future of the65,000-seat track, which origi-nally was a drag strip that

opened in 1967, is in jeopardyas the property reportedly wasdevalued recently from $10million to $2.1 million.

Its definitely sad to seeGateway close, Wallace said.The fans in Illinois and Mis-souri are really great.

Wallace will run his final

NASCAR race at his home-town track in the No. 28 carsponsored by ICMB.

Illinois is one of Americastop corn-producing states, andIm extremely proud to be rep-resenting all of its hard-work-ing corn farmers, Wallacesaid.

Were putting a big effortinto the weekend to have agood run and help share thestory of the family farmers inIllinois and what corn, their

biggest crop, can do for thiscountry.

Wallace is the brother ofNASCAR drivers Rusty andMike.

The No. 28 car will featurea black, green, and yellowpaint scheme with the wordsIllinois Corn Farmers paint-ed on the hood, trunk, andrear quarter-panels.ILCORN.org will appearbelow the rear spoiler to pro-mote the ICMB website.

The opportunity to workwith Kenny Wallace Racing isexciting for us, said Scott Stir-ling, ICMB chairman fromMartinton. Especially sincetheres been significant interestfrom the racing world to incor-porate ethanol into their fuel.

The upcoming NationwideSeries event at Madison alsowill feature Danica Patrick,who grew up in Roscoe, justnorth of Rockford.

Patrick, who originally racedto stardom driving Indy cars,is a well-known nationalspokesperson. But she also is atalented driver who placedthird in the 2009 Indianapolis500, the highest finish by awoman in the events history.

The opportunity towork with KennyWallace racing isexciting for us.

Scott StirlingICMB chairman

NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace, right, prepares to test drive a combineowned by Tim Seifert, left, Illinois Corn Marketing Board (ICMB) District10 director from Auburn. ICMB recently entered into a promotionalpartnership with Kenny Wallace Racing and will sponsor Wallaces carat a Nationwide Series race Saturday at Gateway International Race-way in Madison, Ill. (Photo by Tricia Braid, Illinois Corn Growers Asso-ciation/Marketing Board communications director)

Singles in Agricultureplans Thanksgiving dinner

The Illinois chapter of Singles in Agriculture is hosting its18th annual Thanksgiving dinner and dance Sunday, Nov. 7, inHarding in LaSalle County.

Reservation deadline is Nov. 2. The event will be at theHarding Community Center with registration from 10 a.m. tonoon. A dance will follow a turkey meal.

For more information, contact Sandra at 708-534-8698 orPam at 309-288-5061.

A PRETTY PEST?

To most farmers, milk weeds are not a welcome sight. But at West-ern Illinois University at Macomb, the weed has been the subject ofstudies designed to see if it could become a potential cash crop.Cash crop or weed pest, the milkweeds offer a pretty picture as theheads open up to release their seeds and floss. This picture wastaken east of Freeport last week. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

FROM THE COUNTIES


2010 GROWMARK, Inc. A Farm Bureau Afliate M12238

Cooperatives Working together to grow.

For over 80 years, the FS System of member cooperatives has worked together to improve the profitability of farming. Through professional people, quality products, and exceptional service, we prove that by working together we grow together.

Celebrating Co-op Month.

JACKSON The Dis-trict 18 Equine Commit-tee will sponsor an equineseminar at 6 p.m. Tuesday,Oct. 26, at the Southern Illi-nois Sale Barn, Goreville.Ron Beasley, a veterinarian,and Matt Jenkins, a farrier, willbe the speakers. Admission isfree. Call any Farm Bureau inDistrict 18 for reservations ormore information.

LASALLE Thereare openings for thefamily portrait session Satur-day and Sunday, Nov. 13-14,at the Farm Bureau office.Call the Farm Bureau officeat 815-433-0371 for anappointment or more infor-mation.

Farm Bureau will haveAmish country cheese avail-able to purchase. Stop by theFarm Bureau office or visitthe website{www.lasallecfb.org} for anorder form. Deadline toorder is Thursday, Nov. 11.

LEE Carol Schnaiter,Usborne Books,Amboy, is participating in theLee County Farm Bureau localdiscount program. FarmBureau members will receive a10 percent discount on eachorder. Contact her at 815-857-3717, her website at{www.carolsreadingclub.com}or the Farm Bureau office at815-857-3531 for more infor-mation.

Ed Morris, a Shaklee dis-tributor, Harmon, is partici-pating in the Lee CountyFarm Bureau local discountprogram. Farm Bureau mem-bers will receive a 10 percentdiscount on orders through2011. Call him at 815-359-6037 for more information.

MASSAC The District18 Equine Committeewill sponsor an equine seminarat 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, atthe Southern Illinois Sale Barn,Goreville. Ron Beasley, a veteri-narian, and Matt Jenkins, a farri-er, will be the speakers. Admis-sion is free. Call any FarmBureau in District 18 for reser-vations or more information.

PEORIA The dead-line for Ag Serviceaward nominations is Tuesday,Oct. 26. A nomination formis in the October Farmernewsletter and in a mailingwith the county annual meet-ing invitation.

A Proctor Hospital healthclinic will be Wednesday, Oct.27, at the Farm Bureau audi-torium. Flu, tetanus, andpneumonia vaccines will beavailable for members. Callthe Farm Bureau office at686-7070 for an appointment.

STARK The PrimeTimers annual AntiqueRoad Show has been canceleddue to the remodeling of theFarm Bureau office. It willreturn next fall.

WAYNE Hamilton,Wayne, and WhiteCounty Farm Bureaus willsponsor an On the Roadseminar at 6 p.m. Monday,Nov. 1, at St. PatricksCatholic Church, Enfield. Apork chop dinner will beserved. Kevin Rund, IllinoisFarm Bureau senior directorof local government, will bethe speaker. Call the FarmBureau office at 618-842-3342by Monday, Oct. 25, for reser-vations or go to the website{www.waynecfb.com} formore information.

Farm Bureau will sponsor

an Ag Contracts seminar at7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, atthe Farm Bureau office. Lau-ra Harmon, Illinois FarmBureau senior counsel, will bethe speaker. Items to be cov-ered will be farm leases, utilityrights-of-way, and mineralrights leases. Call the FarmBureau office at 618-842-3342for reservations or go to thewebsite {www.waynecfb.com}for more information.

WHITE Hamilton,Wayne, and WhiteCounty Farm Bureaus willsponsor an On the Roadseminar at 6 p.m. Monday,Nov. 1, at St. PatricksCatholic Church, Enfield. Apork chop dinner will beserved. Kevin Rund, IllinoisFarm Bureau senior directorof local government, will bethe speaker. Call the FarmBureau office at 618-382-8512by Monday, Oct. 25, for reser-vations or go to the website{www.whitecfb.com} formore information.

From the counties items aresubmitted by county Farm Bureaumanagers. If you have an eventor activity open to all members,contact your county Farm Bureaumanager.

Auction CalendarWed., Oct. 20. 7 p.m. 107 Ac.

Sangamon Co. Tomlin Bros., PLEAS-ANT PLAINS, IL. Middendorf Bros.

Auctioneers and Real Estate.www.middendorfs.com

Thurs., Oct. 21. 10 a.m. 73.1 Ac.Bureau Co. Martin Farm, LADD, IL.Auctioneers, Joe McConville and

Marty McConville.www.mcconvillerealty.com,

www.biddersandbuyers.com, [email protected]

Thurs., Oct. 21. 10 a.m. 80 Ac.Livingston Co. Robert W. Brown andSusan K. Brown et. al., Immke andBradleys Auction Service. bidder-

sandbuyers.com/immkeSat., Oct. 23. 9:30 a.m. Farm machin-

ery and miscellaneous. Walter andBetty Stephens Estate, CON-

GERVILLE, IL. Schmidgall AuctionServices, Inc. www.topauctions24-

7.com/schmidgall or schmidgallauc-tions.com

Sat., Oct. 23. 10 a.m. Farm LandAuction. Heil Farm, SIBLEY, IL. Bill

Kruse, Auctioneer. Wed., Oct. 27. 98.72 Ac. Jefferson

Co. Soy Capital Ag Services.www.soycapitalag.com

Thurs., Oct. 28. 6 p.m. 394 Ac.Schuyler and Adams Co. Rowland

Farms, GOLDEN, IL. SullivanAuctioneers, LLC.

www.sullivanauctinoeers.comThurs., Oct. 28. 7 p.m. 80 Ac. White

Co. Wayne and Deanna Williams,GRAYVILLE, IL. Carson Auction,

Realty & Appraisal Co.www.carsonauctionandrealty.com

Fri., Oct. 29. 10 a.m. 117.3 Ac.

Macoupin Co. Estate of Ernest GlennSlightom, ATWAER, IL. Glenn E.

Karrick, Auctioneer.Fri., Oct. 29. 10 a.m. Land AuctionHall Co., NE. GRAND ISLAND, NE.

Farmers National.www.farmersnatinoal.com

Sat., Oct. 30. 6 p.m. 1,171 Ac. LewisCo. MO. The Thom and Butch Smith

Farm, QUINCY, IL. SullivanAuctioneers, LLC.

www.sullivanauctioneers.comSat., Oct. 30. 9 a.m. Consignment

Auction. N.I.T.E. Eq., PECATONICA,IL. www.niteequip.com

Sat., Oct. 30. 10:30 a.m. 116.68 Ac.Rock Island Co. Jane T. Olson, MaryL. Spohnoltz, Eileen T. Grosso, BUF-FALO PRAIRIE, IL. Steve Relander

Auctioneer/Farm Broker.www.relanderauctions.com

Mon., Nov. 1. 10 a.m. 239.61 Ac.Woodford Co. Jones Family Farm, EL

PASO, IL. Terry Wilkey AuctionService. www.terrywilkey.com

Mon., Nov. 1. 10:30 a.m. 137.54 Ac.Vermilion Co. Womacks Estate,ROYAL, IL. Gordon Hannagan

Auction Co.www.gordyvilleusa.com

Wed., Nov. 3. 960 +/- Ac. Lee Co.Soy Capital Ag Services.www.soycapitalag.com

Wed., Nov. 3. 10 a.m. 40 Ac.Moultrie Co. Trust of John E. Reuss,

c/o Scott State Bank Trustee,BETHANY, IL. biddersandbuy-ers.com-keyword-lamendola.

autionzip.com-ID #5614Wed., Nov. 3. 960 Ac. Lee Co. Soy

Capital Ag Services.www.soycapitalag.com

TAKING A BREAK

Jackson County Farm Bureau Womens Committee member Bar-bara Arbeiter gives Scott Bunselmeyer, who was harvesting west of

Murhphysboro, a snack andwater. Womens Commit teemembers handed out snacksand drinks to 65 farmers re-cently in an effort to get them

to take a break and stay hydrated. (Photo by Lindsay McQueen,Jackson County Farm Bureau manager)

PROFITABILITY


Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $33.50-$43.32 $38.7840 lbs. $46.00-$55.38 $50.5350 lbs. n/a n/aReceipts This Week Last Week

17,129 26,912*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at sellers farm

MARKET FACTS

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

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $64.10 $71.10 -7.00Live $47.43 $52.61 -5.18

Export inspections

(Million bushels)Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn10-07-10 37.9 21.9 30.709-30-10 26.5 31.1 37.8Last year 25.5 18.9 24.4Season total 107.1 407.6 200.9Previous season total 66.1 316.9 216.6USDA projected total 1520 1250 2100Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

(Thursdays price)This week Prv. week Change

Steers $96.77 $94.98 1.79 Heifers $97.03 $94.99 2.04

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 Change108.25 109.78 -1.53

CME feeder cattle index 600-800 Lbs.

Slaughter Prices - Negotiated, Live, wooled and shorn 120-160 lbs. for 120-149 $/cwt., dressed, no sales reported.

Lamb prices

In Pursuit of Maximum Yields trials showing resultsBY MATT HYNES

Last spring, I wrote about aprogramlaunched withour FS mem-ber coopera-tives calledIn Pursuit ofMaximumYields.

This pro-gram is

designed to work with ourgrowers to approach the mar-ket differently and explorenew ideas on how to raiseyields.

This means taking the lead

in recommending and posi-tioning the right hybrids andvarieties and looking at newand better ways to managenutrients and weeds, and pro-tect the crop with fungicides,insecticides, nematicides, andbiologicals.

We will look at anythingthat may limit yields, rangingfrom looking at nutrient man-agement systems to changes intillage.

We refer to this as the Lawof the Minimum certainenvironmental conditions, cul-tural practices, and nutrientconcentrations are necessary

to maximize harvest yield. Each can individually limit

the potential yield of whatcomes out of the bag, regard-less if all other conditions, cul-tural practices, and/or nutrientlevels promote maximum yield.

Its all about unlocking thegenetic potential of what isplanted.

Results of these MaximumYield plots are coming in and theyare exciting. One such trial, report-ed by Illini FS, showed the Pursuitof Maximum Yield treatmenthaving a 41-bushel-per-acre advan-tage over the farmers normal prac-tices.

Apparently, the geneticpotential was more fully real-ized on that farm in that fieldwith the additional inputsand/or practices.

Just imagine what elsecould be done to gain moreyield.

We have trials that havepushed plant populations, usedfungicides, different seed treat-ments, split N applications, andeven seed enhancements, andthese trials consistently out-yield the normal growerpractices.

Is this economical? Wedont know. What we are look-

ing for is maximum yield with-out input or practice limita-tions.

Once maximum yield isfound, we can, by omission, tryto eliminate the less effectivetreatments and/or practices todiscover the optimum eco-nomic yield.

I encourage you to ask yourcrop specialist about the InPursuit of Maximum Yieldtrials that were conducted inyour area.

Matt Hynes is FS Seed salesand marketing manager. His e-mailaddress is [email protected].

Matt Hynes

Export market crucial to boost demand for DDGsBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Growth in the productionand use of distillers dried grains(DDGs), a byproduct ofethanol production, has beenphenomenal the past five years.

From 2004 to 2009 U.S. pro-

duction of the high-energy live-stock feed component nearlytripled from about 11 million to30-plus million tons.

This year the RenewableFuels Association (RFA) esti-mated DDGs production will

total 33.5 million tons. And thattotal is expected to increase asethanol production continuesto grow in the U.S. with therecent U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency announcementon 15 percent ethanol.

A jump in ethanol produc-tion obviously would result inmore DDGs, but it also couldlead to a challenge.

There is a feed wall forDDGs (due to limits on inclu-sion rates in livestock rations),Wendell Shauman, vice chair-man of the U.S. Grains Council(USGC) and an Illinois CornMarketing Board member fromMonmouth, said recently at theExport Exchange in Chicago.And for ethanol plants tomake money, they really need to

get the most out of (theethanol feedstock) as possible.

The Export Exchange, orga-nized by USGC and RFA,brought nearly 200 feed buyersfrom 33 different countries toChicago for the event.

We need to expand the

export market to increasedemand for DDGs, Shaumansaid. And were still trying todevelop the poultry market.

About 39 percent of DDGscurrently is used in dairyrations, 38 percent is fed tobeef cattle, 15 percent is used

by the swine industry, but thepoultry sector consumes only 7percent. The remaining 1 per-cent is consumed by otherspecies, according to RFA.

Livestock producers in othercountries have caught on to thebenefits of using DDGs ratherthan higher-priced corn in feedrations. U.S. DDGs exportsfrom 2005 to 2009 jumpedfrom 1.44 million tons to 5.75million tons. This year, the U.S.is projected to export 8-plusmillion tons of DDGs.

The market is just explod-ing, Shauman said. I think itsintriguing because five or sixyears ago it seemed nobodyknew what this stuff was.

Were doing feeding trialsall over the world to prove tofeed companies its an econom-ic product to put in their mix,Shauman said. And they soonfigure that out.

FarmWeekNow.comListen to an interview withWendell Shauman on exportdemand for DDGS at Farm-WeekNow.com.

PROFITABILITY


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CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy2010 crop: Nothing has

signaled the move up in priceshas ended, but Decemberfutures are struggling at a keylong-term resistance point,$5.83. The market remains vul-nerable to a hard break if thetrend shifts. A drop below$5.50 on December futures is apossible trigger. Use strengthto wrap up sales. Hedge-to-arrive (HTA) contracts for win-ter/spring delivery may be agood tool, but because carryhas been taken out, check themagainst cash sales.2011 crop: New-crop sales

should have been increased to20 percent. Current high pricescould begin a demand rationingprocess, one that if startedcould extend into the new crop.Fundamentals: At pre-

sent, corn prices are being sup-ported by the soft dollar, andideas that production will getsmaller. As noted on theaccompanying article, that maynot necessarily be true. Amidthe talk about tight fundamen-tals, feed grain supplies are notas tight outside of the U.S. andChina as three years ago.Soybean Strategy2010 crop: The persis-

tence of good export sales isbolstering ideas of higherprices, but those can changequickly. Theres a chance wecould be seeing the highestdemand forecast for this crop.Use these prices to wrap upsales. Given the lack of carry,it generally does not pay tostore soybeans commercially,and there are only limitedgains from farm storage.2011 crop: You should

have boosted sales to 20 per-cent on the latest surge. Unlikewheat and coarse grains,oilseed fundamentals are not astight unless South America hasa significant crop problem.Fundamentals: China

continues to buy soybeans at arelatively aggressive pace. Weare now hearing the Chinesealready are booking soybeansout of South America. Theyfear supply availability if thereis a crop problem. Processorsalso are able to lock in a prof-itable crush margin on thosedistant purchases. However, ifthe South American crop is

good, and prices decline,theres risk some of thosepurchases could be canceled.Wheat Strategy2010 crop: Wheat is trac-

ing out a choppy, sidewayspattern with Chicago Decem-ber futures bouncing betweenthe 50- and 20-day movingaverages. Short-term down-side risk should be limited aslong as corn prices are sup-ported. Use current strengthto wrap up sales if you haventdone so already. HTA con-tracts for winter delivery arestill the best marketing tool.2011 crop: Use rallies to

$7.60 on Chicago July 2011futures for catch-up sales. Ifbasis is wide compared to thispast summer, consider a HTAcontract.Fundamentals: As we

earlier indicated, old-crop pricesappear to be following the leadof the corn market. However,the deferred months are startingto gain some upward momen-tum on concern about dryweather conditions throughoutthe Plains. It has some worriedabout emergence issues thatcould correlate into reducedyields next summer. Tradersalso are monitoring the strug-gles of the new Russian crop.

The popular wisdom in thetrade is that this corn cropmay get smaller yet, tighteningthe fundamental structureeven more. Traders are adher-ing to the adage, small cropsget smaller.

We have looked at historicaldata and find that conclusionto be potentially erroneous.Looking at years when yields,on average, ended up 95 per-cent of trend or less, the aver-age yield in those yearsincreased nearly 1 bushel fromOctober to January.

Since 1970, there have been13 years that fit that criteria.Of those, weve chosen not toinclude 1970 (the corn blightyear), 1974 (late plant,drought, early frost), and 1993(the summer flood). Thoseyears were so unusual, wethought it unfair to includethem in the observations.

Of the 10 years that fit,only two had significant yieldreductions in subsequentUSDA reports, 1995 and 1983.

Basis charts

In the first, USDA started attrend, and in the second, itstarted below trend. So, itwasnt that USDA started withsomewhat optimistic expecta-tions like it did this year.

Of the remaining years,most of the subsequent yieldforecasts were at, or above, theOctober estimate. In two ofthose, 1988 and 2005, the yieldestimate rose significantlyfrom the October estimate.

The importance of this istied to the current expectationthat this crop might still besmaller than what USDA fore-cast on Oct. 8. That is accom-panied by expectations thesupply/demand forecastscould get tighter yet.

In retrospect, even USDAanalysts may be thinking theystarted too high this year. Theimplied ear weight on theAugust report and even the Sep-tember report appeared to behigh given the weather the CornBelt experienced this summer.

But thats history; the questionis, what lies ahead? Given theimplied ear weight in the Octo-ber report and this historicalassessment, the odds of seeing asignificantly smaller crop projec-tion may be relatively small.

At the same time, one has torecognize the potential implica-tions of high prices early in themarketing year. They havepotential to diminish demand,adding to the supply left at theend of the year. Weve alsolooked at world feed grain sup-plies, and find the supply out-side of the U.S. and China is notas tight as it was three years ago.

If the combination of factorsholds up, the adage short crop,long tail could be realized againthis year. Hence, strongly consid-er making sales at current prices.

Cents per bu.

Corn yield may not decline

PERSPECTIVES


U.S. soybean farmers adopt biotechnol-ogy not only for production reasons but topreserve natural resources, such as water,soil, and wildlife.

Biotechnology allows us to use lesstillage, helping to protect the soil from ero-sion. In addition, biotech varieties allowsoybean farmers to apply less herbicideand pesticides than in the past.

A study conducted by the ConservationTechnology Information Center (CTIC),reviews data surrounding the adoption ofbiotech crops in the United States. Thestudys results show soil loss is reduced by90 percent and movement of phosphorusis reduced by 70 percent when U.S. soy-bean farmers use no-till practices.

The use of no-till has increased signifi-cantly since the approval and adoption ofthe first U.S. soybean varieties improvedthrough the use of biotechnology morethan a decade ago. The soybean checkoff-funded CTIC study found a 69 percentincrease in no-till farming since biotechsoybean varieties hit the market.

In addition to the conservation benefits,biotechnology will continue to be impor-tant because more food will be needed forthe growing world population.

With biotechnology, soybean farmershave the potential to increase yields, nutri-tional value, and other quality attributes ofU.S. soybeans in order to meet the worldsgrowing demand for food, feed, and fuel. Withoutthe use of biotechnology, farmers wont be able tofeed the growing world population.

The soybean checkoff realizes that informationand communication about biotech remains impor-tant, both at home and abroad. This year, ourBiotechnology Initiative developed middle and highschool science biotech curricula and showcased themat the National Science Teachers Convention and U.S.Agriculture in the Classroom Conference for teachersto use this school year.

In addition, the checkoff developed a short coursefor some college journalism students to give theminsight into biotech. This unique program strives towork with these future bloggers, reporters, and news-casters to provide them with the fact-based informa-tion and sources they need to report on biotech accu-rately.

Another way the checkoff promotes biotechcomes through a partnership with the World FoodPrize. Norman Borlaug developed the World FoodPrize to create the foremost international award rec-ognizing the achievements of individuals who haveadvanced human development by improving thequality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.

The soybean checkoff has partnered with theWorld Food Prize, headquartered in Des Moines, tohelp in its effort to develop a new visitors center thatwill help increase knowledge and awareness of theimportance of biotechnology.

Its very important that we continue to work withour trading partners and communicate to them that

the safety and benefits of biotechnology have beenproved for over a decade.

Many of our trading partners already have verystringent evaluation and review processes for biotechcrops. Some of these evaluations may not be basedon the best peer-reviewed, science-based research.

In the past, many consumers have not been able torelate to the benefits of using biotechnology. But inthe near future, the potential exists for new biotechsoybean varieties that produce soybeans with heart-healthy properties of high-oleic, omega-3, and stearicacid oils, just to name a few. These may be some ofthe first biotech crops with direct health benefits forconsumers.

As the United Nations raises the awareness of thenagging problem of hunger by holding its WorldFood Day, and the World Food Prize recognized itslaureates last week, its important to remember thatcrops improved through the use of biotechnologyremain necessary to meet the demands of a growingworld population.

Biotechnology allows farmers to provide afford-able, high-quality, nutritious food, which benefits allincome groups. In the end, we all win with biotech-nology, and acceptance of biotech will be critical tofeeding that growing population.

Phil Bradshaw is chairman of the United Soybean Board(USB), which administers the soybean checkoff program at thenational level. He and his family grow soybeans, corn, andwheat and raise swine on their farm near Griggsville. Brad-shaw has served on USB for six years. For more informationabout biotechnology, go online to {www.unitedsoybean.org}.

It is an exciting time to be entering the agricul-tural department at Illinois State University. The100th anniversary of the department in 2011 isquickly approaching!

Last year I had the opportunity to serve as the2009-2010 Illinois State FFA president. My yearof service allowed me to travel the state, as wellas the country, and to see the many universitiesthat offer agricultural courses.

Ive made Illinois State myhome for the coming years formultiple reasons. ISU is a smalluniversity with big opportunities. Ifelt I was a name not a number inthe agriculture department, as wellas in my general education courses.

The opportunities for a fresh-man may oftentimes be limitedbecause of seniority, but at IllinoisState I already have had numerousopportunities.

These include joining the CollegiateFFA/Post-secondary Agricultural Student (PAS)organization, serving as an ag ambassadorrecruiting for the department, being a member ofthe ag department homecoming planning com-mittee for next years celebration, and developinga poster used for a recent media day at the ISUfarm.

I am already receiv-ing the vital hands-onexperience that I canlater apply in a futurecareer. In Blooming-ton-Normal, there arenumerous agriculturalopportunities tobecome involved withcompanies and futureemployers.

While becoming involved in the agriculturedepartment was high on my priority list, complet-ing general education courses also needed myattention. Going to a lecture for the first timewas not intimidating, despite the fact that mylargest lecture class consists of 300 studentstwice a week. On the third day of the course, wewere divided into groups of 25 students for a lab.

Yes, the lecture hall had a high population, butthe lab time allowed for one-on-one attentionand made a more comfortable learning environ-ment.

In hard economic times when budgets aretight, some people may believe there should notbe four universities in the State of Illinois thatoffer agriculture. I believe that viewpoint shouldbe challenged.

Agriculture is the No. 1 employer in Illinois.Preparing future minds to take on the positionsin agriculture is vital to meeting the demands ofa growing world. Each university offers its owncharacter, as well as specialties.

While college hunting, I maintained the mind-set of choosing what was right for me. I cannotstress the importance of each student makingthat decision for himself or herself. The first dayof classes I was walking across the quad andknew I was in the right place!

Amie Burke, Fithian, is a freshman agriculture student atIllinois State University. She is studying agricultural com-munications/leadership.

AMIEBURKE

Finding the right fitkey for ag students

Editors note: Illinois State University will mark its agri-culture departments 100th anniversary in 2011. As part ofthe centennial, FarmWeek will publish information about theagriculture program and its students.BIOTECHNOLOGY

Farmers, the environmentreaping benefits from it

PHIL BRADSHAW

Farmweek 10-18-2010

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