Ponding and replanting led to delays in corn development (as seen here in Douglas County), but Illinois farmers were able to get back on track with drier conditions across much of the state last week. (University of Illinois Extension photo)

In this week’s ag news, corn planting is catching up after weather-related delays, while John Deere continues to slash jobs due to decreased demand for farm machinery. For more on these and other news items of interest to farmers and rural dwellers, please read on …

Crop report: Corn planting catching up

SPRINGFIELD/URBANA — Crop planting and development is looking good across most areas of Illinois as of last week, with many ponded areas drying up and planting (or, in some cases, replanting) back on schedule. As of May 20, corn planted reached 67 percent, compared to the five-year average of 71 percent. Corn emergence reached 49 percent, compared to the five-year average of 44 percent. Soybean planting and emergence remained slightly above average.

In northeast Illinois (Grundy County), University of Illinois Extension commercial agriculture educator Russ Higgins said planters are rolling, “in instances planting fields for the first time, and replanting in others. Fields that held ponded water are noticeably uneven in emergence and early season growth. As the growing season progresses it will be interesting to follow the development in these fields.”

Marshall County Extension educator Emily Hansen reported that field conditions have dried out over the past week, with a lot of sunny days allowing for planting. “Around 80 percent of fields have been planted in Bureau, LaSalle, Marshall, and Putnam counties. Corn that was planted earlier is at (growth stage) VE-V1, and soybeans are at VE-VC.”

Corn growers continue to be vigilant in scouting for insect pests in Champaign County, according to Nick Seiter, Extension Field Crops Entomologist. “Black cutworm larvae should be approaching cutting size in most of Illinois — it’s a good time to scout fields where winter annuals were a problem at or around planting. We are right at 50 percent egg hatch for corn rootworms in central Illinois, so larval feeding will be occurring over the next several weeks,” he said. (University of Illinois farmdoc/USDA-NASS Illinois)

New animal disease control measures in place

SPRINGFIELD — Controlling foreign animal diseases has been a priority for the Illinois Department of Agriculture for many years. Last week, new federal measures took effect to control the development and spread of FADs in the livestock sector, including a new tag requirement in cooperation with the IDOA.

According to an IDOA news release, the Animal Disease Traceability Program was developed with state animal health officials in cooperation with industry to ensure official individual animal identification and premises identification traceability from farm to harvest. Key changes focus on the use of electronic identification as the official identification for all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age and older, all dairy cattle of any age, and any cattle used for rodeo, recreation or exhibition moving interstate. This identification will be required to be read visually and electronically. Visual ear tags applied to an animal prior to the effective date of the rule will be recognized for the lifetime of that animal.

In addition, the rule will change the definition of dairy cattle to “All cattle, regardless of age or sex or current use, that are of a breed(s) or offspring of a breed used to produce milk or other dairy products for human consumption, including, but not limited to Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey, Milking Shorthorn, and Red and Whites.”

IDOA’s Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare is offering free electronic 840 tags to cattle and bison producers and veterinarians for use in replacement cattle through an agreement with USDA.

Congressional district ag data analyzed

URBANA — Last week we reported that the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service issued data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture breaking down farming’s impact per U.S. congressional district, and promised more information. This week we have a report on national data related to the report, courtesy of the University of Illinois’ Farm Policy News and Agri-Pulse. Ryan Wicks of AgriPulse noted that Republicans are tightening their electoral grip on farm country, holding all but 19 of the top 100 congressional districts in terms of agricultural sales.

“Republicans control 21 districts ranked highest for the value of sales of agricultural commodities in 2022, with Adrian Smith’s Nebraska district topping the list with $22.9 billion in sales,” Wicks reported. “Altogether, 81 of the top 100 districts in ag production are represented by Republicans. Three seats are currently vacant, and Republican Vince Fong won a race Tuesday for one of those, California’s 20th District, which was vacated by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“The Democrat-held seat that ranks highest in agricultural production is California’s 18th district, which is represented by Rep. Zoe Lofgren,” Wicks continued. “… The districts held by California Democrats Raul Ruiz and Salud Carbajal rank 32nd and 36th, respectively. Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson’s seat is 38th on the list, while North Carolina Democrat and House Agriculture Committee member Don Davis’ district is 49th.

“Even when ranking congressional districts by their overall number of farms, Republicans outnumber Democrats. (Adrian) Smith’s Nebraska district led in 2022 with 34,297 total farms; (Michelle) Fischbach’s Minnesota district followed with 31,267 and (Randy) Feenstra’s Iowa district came in third with 29,941. New Mexico Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez is the first in her party to appear on that list, with her district ranking 43rd in terms of number of farms.”

Next week, we will provide information on how the USDA report breaks down across Illinois congressional districts.

Deere continues to slash workforce

MOLINE — Faced with a downturn in demand for heavy agricultural machinery, John Deere has cut an additional 500 workers from its payroll in Iowa, according to AgricultureDive.com. “Recently, Deere has cut 500 employees from its Waterloo Works facility after slashing more than 300 positions in March, according to Iowa’s WARN log as of Monday. The company has also laid off 150 positions from its Des Moines Works facility and close to three dozen from a plant in Illinois. Equipment sales totaled $13.61 billion, a 15 percent decline over last year. In response to growing levels of retail inventory, Deere will strategically underproduce machinery in the back half of the year,” the news source reported on May 21.

Illinois Farm Fact:

In order to help control animal diseases, the Illinois Department of Agriculture requires 840 tags for cattle and swine exhibited at the state fairs in Springfield and Du Quoin. (IDOA)