Area Farmers Elected to Soy Committee

BLOOMINGTON – The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) elected its 2013-14 leadership lsat week and seated new directors to their executive committee, including two area farmers. Rob Shaffer of El Paso was elected as treasurer, while Dan Farney of Morton was voted in as secretary of the ISA executive committee, joining Bill Raben of Ridgeway, who was elected to serve as chairman for the new year.

“I want to do what is best for ISA and Illinois soybean producers,” said Raben, who previously served as ISA vice chairman and chair for the membership task force. “I want to build a strong board, show our farmers that the checkoff is a good return on their investment and benefits them, and increase our membership.”

The board was certainly strengthened by the elections of Shaffer and Farney. Shaffer, a former secretary for the ISA, is part of a fourth-generation farm family who raises corn, soybeans and specialty soybeans on he and his brother’s El Paso farm, while also maintaining an Angus cow-calf herd. Shaffer, who is also the president of the Illinois Livestock Development Group, holds an ag business degree with an animal science minor from Illinois State University.

Farney is a past ISA secretary and vice chair for image building who raises no-till soybeans and corn. An Illinois Soy Leader, Farney is active in the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH), has been involved with the Illinois and Tazewell County farm bureau committees and serves on the World Soy Foundation board of trustees. (ISA news release) 

Corn Progressing Nicely; Beans Catching Up

EDGINGTON – With six days suitable for fieldwork Illinois farmers had plenty of time to catch up on activities such as spraying, baling hay and straw and mowing, according to USDA-NASS’ Illinois Weather & Crops Report for the week ending July 29. Corn and soybean growth progress is catching up nicely to their five-year averages. 85 percent of corn had silked by July 29, consistent with the five-year average of 86 percent, while 16 percent of soybeans had set pods compared with the five-year average of 33 percent. A farmer in the state’s northwest region said that after a rough start, his crops are coming along just fine.

“Like everyone else, we got off to a late start with the cold and wet conditions. Once the weather did finally break, we planted corn in the ground as fast as we could,” said Tom Mueller, who raises corn, soybeans and hay in southwestern Rock Island County. “Some areas got washed out, and some had so much water the corn rotted. But the crop doesn’t look too bad right now, except for the fact that it’s several weeks behind. As for soybeans, we had a little trouble with Japanese beetles, but took care of that. Our soybeans are now progressing well also.”

Mueller farms 17 miles north of Aledo near the town of Edgington. USDA-NASS’ crop report indicates 92 percent of corn has silked in the region and 74 percent of soybeans are blooming, placing the district as among the most verdant in the state to date.

Overall, corn condition in the state was rated as 27 percent fair, 48 percent good and 16 percent excellent, while soybeans were rated at 22 percent fair, 58 percent good and 13 percent excellent.

County Level Wheat Yield Survey Underway

SPRINGFIELD – With winter wheat 100 percent planted in Illinois according to USDA-NASS, it’s now time to estimate yields. Beginning July 31, mailings of a county-level yield estimate questionnaire for winter wheat were sent to some 3.500 soft red winter wheat producers across Illinois. Producers can either respond to the mailing or wait for NASS telephone enumerators to follow up with them, according to Mark Schleusener, state statistician for the NASS Illinois Field Office.

“Information collected during this survey is used to set individual wheat county estimates for all the major wheat producing counties in Illinois. In order to publish the yield for any given county, it is necessary to have a minimum of 30 good reports so that’s why it’s so important that farmers complete this survey,” Schleusener said in a press release.

County yield estimates are utilized to evaluate and administer farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster, insurance and loan programs. Individual responses are held confidential. For more information, call (800) 622-9865.

Buffett’s Ag Vision Broadcast by NPR

PEORIA – Howard Buffett, the 58 year-old son of billionaire Warren Buffett who operates research farms in Illinois, Arizona and South Africa, was the subject of a profile on National Public Radio in late July. Buffett’s charitable foundation is trying to reduce world hunger by growing better crops and making more efficient use of the land for poor subsistence farmers and large corporate producers, as well.

“You’ve got a global food problem,” Buffett told NPR’s Nick Oza. “And so the truth is, the U.S. is going to have to produce more, on not very many more acres. And so we’re going to have to do a  better job.”

The philanthropist hired research teams for his project farms to examine soil content, planting techniques and irrigation in an effort to make drought-prone land more productive for the benefit of struggling farmers in Africa and elsewhere, Oza reported. But recently, Buffett decided to concentrate a bigger portion of his work on solving the domestic hunger problem. He recalled visiting a school in his hometown of Decatur, where 92 percent of the students received free or reduced-price meals. Located near the world’s largest corn processing plant, hundreds of thousands of bushels of corn passed by the school via railcar every day.

“The trains go out of town past kids that don’t get to eat every day,” Buffett said. “This is not the American dream.” Armed with money and science, Buffett hopes to help change that.

Illinois Farm Fact:

Of the 8,144 farmers markets currently operating in the United States, 336 of them are in Illinois– ranking the Land of Lincoln third in the nation in the number of farmers markets. California leads the way with 759, followed by New York with 637. Michigan is fourth with 331 markets. (USDA)

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