by Tim Alexander

GROWMARK CEO to Step Down

BLOOMINGTON – Longtime GROWMARK chief executive officer Jeff Solberg has announced his impending retirement from the cooperative after 38 years of service. Solberg joined GROWMARK in 1976 and has held many leadership positions during key growth periods for the company, including senior vice president (finance), vice president (finance) and treasurer. Solberg assumed his most recent leadership position in January of 2011. A graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, Solberg later received an MBA from the University of Illinois. He also currently sits on the boards of several GROWMARK subsidiaries.

A Morton man, Jim Spradlin, will replace Solberg as GROWMARK CEO on September 16. GROWMARK is a regional cooperative with annual sales of $10.1 billion providing agronomy, energy, facility planning and logistics services, in addition to grain marketing and risk management services. (GROWMARK news release)

Aventine Completes $13 Million Upgrade

PEKIN – Ethanol producers Aventine Renewable Energy of Pekin recently completed a $13.2 million upgrade project, replacing three 70 year-old coal boilers with two high-pressure natural gas boilers. The company will now rely exclusively on natural gas at its cogeneration facility, which produces high pressure steam for electricity generation and low-pressure steam for use in corn wet-milling.

In addition, Aventine is building a new truck and rail dump that will allow for the unloading of 60,000 bushels of corn per hour– or the unloading of a 110-car BNSF Railway Co. shuttle train in less than 15 hours. “Ag processing plants must be rebuilt every 20 years, so we are rebuilding the Pekin wet mill to be productive for another 20 years,” said  Mark Beemer, Aventine president and CEO, in a news release. (Progressive Railroading)

McLean Corn Estimated at 222 Bushels Per Acre

BLOOMINGTON – Soy Capital Ag Services’ annual McLean County corn yield survey shows that the 2014 corn crop will yield a new record there. Soy Capital, a division of Capital Bank and Trust Company, drew 1,590 samples from 159 locations on managed farms in every McLean County township by eight Soy Capital farm managers to determine the corn yield estimate, explained Kevin Meiss, an assistant vice president for the company.

“The result we came up with was a record yield of 222.6 bu./acre. This is a record compared to any estimate we’ve done since 1997 by some 26.3 bu./acre,” said Meiss, whose Bloomington-based company has been conducting yield estimates in McLean County since 1997.

Soy Capital’s corn yield estimate comes in 16 percent higher than the actual, average McLean County yields for the past five years, with sample yield estimates ranging from 169.2 bu./.acre to 263.9 bu./acre.  Most of the samples were pulled during the first and second weeks of August.

McLean County was blessed during 2014 with some of the best conditions throughout the growing season of any year in recent memory. The addition of much needed, late season precipitation in the region– occurring post-survey– may mean an even more bountiful corn harvest than predicted by Soy Capital.

“Based on the moisture we’ve received lately and the cooler grain fill period we’ve had, I think we’re going to be close to or maybe even a little behind the actual yield this year,” said Meiss. “We just don’t know how big and heavy those kernels are going to be.”

To access Soy Capital’s “Highlights of the 2014 McLean County Corn Yield Estimates,” go to www.soycapitalag.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Highlights-of-the-2014-McLean-County-Yield-Estimates.pdf.

ISA: Farmers Should Support Soy Value Study

BLOOMINGTON – Much attention has been given to recent slippages in soybean oil and protein values in Illinois and the Midwest. To help ensure the crop’s future economic value, the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) is urging farmers to submit soybean samples to measure protein and oil levels from this fall’s harvest.

“Working together with farmers from every county in Illinois, we’ll be able to develop a county-level baseline measure of compositional quality for soybeans,” said Sharon Bard, manager at Centrec Consulting Group, the firm conducting the ISA-supported study. ”To help us do this, we’re asking farmers statewide to contribute one or two samples from the fall 2014 harvest.”

Bard said that farmers who sign up for the program will receive a test kit through the mail. Corresponding farmers will label the sample bag, enclose some soybeans and return the postage-prepaid envelope. The program is free and confidential.

Individual results will be returned to participants so that farmers can compare their soybean compositional quality with others on state, regional and county levels. To sign up, visit www.ilsoy.org/composition/qualitysurvey or contact Pat Herron at pherron@centrec.com.(ISA news release)

Japanese Trade Team Tours Illinois Farms

BLOOMINGTON – Marty Marr, a corn farmer from New Berlin who serves as a director on the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, was one of two farmers who had the privilege of hosting a Japanese trade team on his farm to discuss biotechnology and recent developments and implications in farm technology.

“A special highlight for the team was the opportunity to visit with two Illinois farmers to learn about the agronomic advantages of biotechnology in the field,” said Tammy Hammamoto, U.S. Grains Council. “We are very grateful to the producers for providing their unique perspective on the newest technologies. (Ill. Corn Daily Update)

Illinois Farm Fact:

During the first half of 2014, farmland prices in Illinois averaged $13,000 per acre for “excellent” quality farmland, $10,700/acre for “good” quality farmland, $8,600 for “average” quality farmland and $6,700 for “fair” quality farmland. (Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers)

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