Corn Projections Affecting Prices

SPRINGFIELD – When last week’s USDA Prospective Plantings report for corn was announced at a projected 97.3 million acres, the reaction from the market was predictable: prices plunged. The projected acreage, which is up slightly from 2012 but a full six percent higher than in 2011, would represent the highest planted acreage in the U.S. since 1936 if realized, AgWeb.com reported.

But in Illinois, farmers still smarting from last year’s prolonged drought and poor yields are intending to plant just 12.2 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2013, according to the USDA report. This figure is down 600,000 acres from 2012. Wetter than normal conditions across much of the state during March may have also contributed to farmers’ decisions to plant more soybeans (9.4 million acres, up nearly four percent from 2012) this year, the report suggested.

Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA) President Paul Taylor said the USDA report illustrates the challenges a corn-after-corn plan presents to many farmers. “Today’s (March 28) report from the USDA shows that America’s corn farmers are eager to accept the task of producing another corn crop, despite the rough experience most of us had in 2012,” Taylor stated, in an ICGA news release. “As much as anybody, as farmers we hope to see a return to at least trend-line yield, if not better, for 2013. Mother Nature certainly threw us a curve ball in terms of last year’s heat and drought. We’re getting a slower start this season, but we continue to be optimistic that we’ll produce a crop that can satisfy all our customers’ needs.

“Most of all, we look forward to delivering a quality crop to our valued customers, while farming in a manner that protects the land and our environment for future generations to come.”

New: Swine Environmental Readiness & Response Service

SPRINGFIELD – An environmental readiness and response service that assists pork producers with various issues confronting their farms is now available as a membership benefit for those in the Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA), the organization has announced.

“Hog farmers are committed to environmental responsibility in every aspect of our farms,” said Dereke Dunkirk, IPPA president and a hog farmer from Morrisonville. “We take a number of steps each day to ensure we are caring for our land, air and water. This new membership benefit is like an environmental preventative maintenance program, which will continue to further enhance the pork industry’s commitment to the environment. No one is more dedicated to preserving our natural resources and protecting the environment than farmers.”

IPPA has retained retired University of Illinois and faculty member Ted Funk to make confidential visits to individual farms at the request of producer-members. “I’ve been doing farm visits all over the state as an Extension ag engineer for more than thirty years,” said Funk, who has already embarked on some pilot farm visits for the IPPA. “Now that I’ve retired from the (U of I) and have more time to focus on this type of service, I am sure I can help our Illinois pork producers gain confidence that they are doing the best possible job of environmental stewardship.” (IPPA news release)

Durbin’s Locks Bill Gains Traction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation that would establish public-private partnerships for lock and dam modernization on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers was introduced in Congress on March 14 by Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk, along with Representatives Cheri Bustos and Rodney Davis. “It’s clear we need a new model– one that speeds up the process of planning and constructing projects and brings to the table greater private investment,” said Durbin, when announcing the Water Infrastructure Now Public-Private Partnership Act (WIN-P3). “Our bipartisan bill will provide a new way to upgrade and maintain our water infrastructure investments even as we face severe fiscal constraints in Washington.”

Under WIN-P3, a five-year pilot program would identify and target up to 15 previously authorized waterways infrastructure projects for completion. The bill would address a long-standing backlog of unfunded work upgrading and modernizing the transportation infrastructure on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, with agreements between the Army Corps of Engineers and private entities offering an alternative to traditional financing, planning, design and construction models. “This bill would provide for an innovative partnership between public and private stakeholders to get the work on the rivers accomplished,” said Paul Taylor, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA), who traveled to the U.S. capitol in March to rally support for Durbin’s bill.

ILLINI Brand Soybean Varieties Available

URBANA – The new “ILLINI” brand soybean varieties– developed by geneticists at the University of Illinois through breeding programs sponsored by the Illinois Soybean Association and others– are still available for 2013 planting in limited quantities, according to a news release issued last week by the National Soybean Research Laboratory at the U of I.

“(Sponsors’) investments have allowed us to use modern genetic technology such as marker-assisted selections in the development of new varieties,” said Brian Diers, crop sciences professor and soybean breeder at the U of I. “The ILLINI variety gives farmers options and is certainly worth considering for the 2013 growing season.”

The ILLINI brand is being sold by the Williamsfield Seed Company, where officials tout ILLINI varieties for offering soybean producers new genetics they can use to capture premiums paid for growing conventional varieties. “ILLINI brand varieties have the potential to reap some meaningful yield increases that will benefit a producer’s bottom line,” said Doug Baird, Williamsfield Seed Company owner.

With the launch of the ILLINI brand, the U of I is continuing its long tradition of helping farmers increase yield and profitability through the combined efforts of top agronomists, breeders, scientists, geneticists and researchers. Research on soybeans began at the U of I in 1897, according to the university. Regional test results for ILLINI varieties can be reviewed at www.bairdseedcompany.com/soybeans.html.

Illinois Farm Fact:

In Illinois, 48 percent of the corn crop was used for ethanol and 45 percent was exported in 2011-2012. (Illinois Corn)

(Tim Alexander is a freelance reporter who writes agriculture, news and feature articles for the News Bulletin, Farm World and many other publications.)