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Monday, July 9, 2012 Two sections Volume 40, No. 28

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

THe Island naTIonoffers much potential once numer-ous hurdles are overcome, IllinoisFarm Bureau market study tourparticipants discovered. ..............8,9

Fa r m e r s W I T H c ro plosses from the drought are urgedto contact their crop insuranceagent and the Farm Service Agencyas soon as possible. ........................4

THe IllInoIs De par t -ment of Ag r i cu l tu re had i t ssha re o f cu t s i n the budg e tG ov. Pa t Q u i n n s i g n e d l a s tweek. .....................................2

Is crop season shaping up to be another 1988?BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

If the weather pattern andcrop conditions so far thisseason seem familiar, it’sprobably because a similar sit-uation unfolded in 1988.

And most farmers remem-ber how that year turned out.Or maybe they tried to forget.

Illinois farmers in 1988 har-vested a corn crop that aver-aged just 72 bushels per acre.

Yield potential in Illinoisand other parts of the Mid-west continued to plummetlast week as high temperaturesbroke 100 degrees at manyIllinois locations and toppedout at 109 in Kaskaskia, 108in Fairfield and Nashville, and107 at at least a half-dozenlocations south of Interstate70, reported Jim Angel, stateclimatologist with the IllinoisState Water Survey.

“1988 was the last time wehad to deal with the type ofwidespread heat we’re seeingnow,” Angel told FarmWeek.“I’d say all the crops (in Illinois)are in some state of stress.”

The good news is the por-tion of crops rated good toexcellent in Illinois last weekwas higher than at the sametime in 1988. The bad news is

the portion of crops ratedpoor or very poor statewidelast week also was higher thanat the same time in 1988.

Last week, the corn cropwas rated 26 percent good toexcellent, 41 percent fair, and33 percent poor or very poor.At a comparable period in1988, the crop was rated 18percent good to excellent, 60percent fair, and 22 percentpoor or very poor.

Soybeans in the state lastweek were rated 28 percentgood to excellent, 41 percentfair, and 31 percent poor orvery poor. Soybeans at thesame time in 1988 were rated15 percent good to excellent,69 percent fair, and 16 percentpoor or very poor.

A big difference this year,though, is much more of thecorn crop is past the point ofno return as 46 percent of the

crop had silked last week com-pared to just 8 percent at thesame time in 1988.

“The plants in some fieldsare dead,” said EmersonNafziger, University of Illi-nois crop sciences professor.“If they are alive, but past thepollination stage with veryshort plants and no kernels, orthey have lost most or all oftheir green color, there’s nochance they can come back.”

And to add insult to injury,a pest issue is developing at alevel last seen in 1988.

“The hot and dry condi-tions likely will exacerbateinfestations of two-spottedspider mites in soybeans incoming weeks,” said MikeGray, U of I Extension ento-mologist.

He noted 1988 was the

See 1988, page 2

BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

The House Ag Committee released adraft farm bill blueprint last week thatseeks $12 billion in long-term ag cuts morethan Senate-proposed savings. The propos-al does, however, bolster crop insuranceand cross-regional program supports.

American Farm Bureau Federation(AFBF) and the major commodity groupswere studying the 557-page proposal,which tentatively is set for committeedebate and potential approval Wednesday.

The House draft calls for more than $35billion in mandatory funding cuts over thenext 10 years and proposes repealing orconsolidating more than 100 programs.

It charts about $14 billion in commodi-ty-related cuts, $6 billion in conservationreductions, and, perhaps most controver-sially, $16 billion from the SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or“food stamps.”

AFBF planned Friday to send a letter tothe House Ag Committee “in support ofmany of the concepts” of the plan, IllinoisFarm Bureau President Philip Nelsonreported.

“We recognize the differences betweenthe Senate and House versions and are goingto work to improve the overall bill in the bestinterest of our members,” Nelson said.

National Corn Growers Association

(NCGA) Corn Board President GarryNiemeyer reported NCGA was assessingsimilarities and differences between theHouse’s revenue safety net plan andNCGA’s “grower-developed policy.”While he could not yet discuss details ofthe House plan, Niemeyer stressedNCGA’s continued push for congressionalfarm bill passage yet this year.

“It was great that the Senate was able toget things together and get a bill passed,”IFB Director David Serven toldFarmWeek Friday. “This House draft isanother step in the right direction, in that(lawmakers) are moving forward.

“Hopefully, the committee will comeout with something and, in the end, we’llbe able to get the House and the Senatetogether and get something done this year.If we wait until next year, the cuts aregoing to be even deeper.”

Niemeyer noted the House plan’s inclusionof regulatory relief language aimed at headingoff recently enacted U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency National Pollutant DischargeElimination System pesticide permits.

The Senate to date has failed to act onthe standalone version of the measureapproved last year in the House, amidresistance from Senate Environment andPublic Works Chairman Barbara Boxer(D-Calif.) in particular.

The House draft repeals farm direct and

countercyclical payments and the AverageCrop Revenue Election and SupplementalRevenue standing disaster programs. Instead,it envisions a two-tiered central revenue pro-tection program that offers the option ofPrice Loss Coverage which addresses deep,multiple-year price declines; or Revenue LossCoverage, a “shallow loss program thatresembles the Senate-proposed new Agricul-ture Risk Coverage program.

Serven was pleased by what he viewedas strong House-Senate support for aviable crop insurance program. “That isdefinitely a priority for us in Illinois.”

At the same time, the St. Augustineproducer noted a slight boost in proposedcommodity production loss/“targetprices,” in his view, a necessary move to“appease” southern growers who argueSenate revenue proposals disproportion-ately favor the Midwest.

He suggested current drought conditionswould help “push (Congress) along.” Poten-tially heavy weather-related losses in SouthernIllinois and other areas “really show theimportance of a good farm bill,” Serven said.

“SNAP funding is probably going to bethe most contentious issue between theHouse and Senate,” he said. “The House iscutting a whole lot more in that area. I thinkthe Senate was talking more about fraudand misuse, while the House is talking moreabout changing the eligibility rules.”

House farm bill draft proposes deeper cuts

HIGHWAY BILL — A newly approved, 27-month highway bil l not only keeps transporta-tion projects roll ing until September 2014, butalso contains key provisions exempting farmers,ranchers, and covered farm vehicles from somefederal regulations, according to Andrew Walms-ley, Amer ican Far m Bureau Federat ion t rans-portation specialist.

A H o u s e - S e n a t e c o n f e r e n c e c o m m i t t e eapproved the compromise package prior to Con-gress July 4 break. It’s now headed for a presi-dential signature.

“Those farmers and ranchers who are using a(combination) farm vehicle to haul their calvesor their produce to market were exempt fromsome requirements that were meant for long-hau l t r uckers and commerc ia l t r uck dr ivers,”Walmsley explained.

FSA, RMA COLLECTING FOOD — TheI l l inois Far m Ser v ice Agency (FSA) and RiskManagement Agency (RMA) are collecting non-perishable foods through Aug. 31 as part of thenational Feds Feed Families Food Drive.

“We plan to step up last year’s efforts in orderto meet the increase in our goal,” said ScherrieGiamanco, FSA s ta te execut ive d i rec tor. “Al ldonations received in the state FSA office willbenefit the Central Illinois Food Bank,” she said.

County FSA Offices a lso are encouraged toparticipate in the food drive, she said.

The food drive is a national effort that startedin 2009 to he lp food banks and pantr ies s taystocked during the summer.

R A C T O PA M I N E S TA N D A R D — T h eC o d e x A l i m e n t a r i u s C o m m i s s i o n , a U n i t e dNat ions body, has approved an in te r na t iona lstandard for the feed ingredient ractopamine, anadditive used to promote leanness in pork andbeef. The commission’s edict adopts an accept-able daily intake and maximum residue levels forpig and cattle products containing ractopamine.

Ractopamine has been approved by the Foodand Drug Administration and approved for usein 26 countries. A Codex panel of internationalsc ient ists, including scient ists from the Euro-pean Union (EU), has confirmed the safety ofractopamine three times in the past, most recent-ly in 2010.

Yet, the EU and other countries continue toban imports of ractopamine–fed pork.

FarmWeek Page 2 Monday, July 9, 2012

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 40 No. 28 July 9, 2012

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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© 2012 Illinois Agricultural Association

STAFFEditorDave McClelland (dmcclelland@ilfb.org)Legislative Affairs EditorKay Shipman (kayship@ilfb.org)Agricultural Affairs EditorMartin Ross (mross@ilfb.org)Senior Commodities EditorDaniel Grant (dgrant@ilfb.org)Editorial AssistantLinda Goltz (Lgoltz@ilfb.org)Business Production ManagerBob Standard (bstandard@ilfb.org)Advertising Sales ManagerRichard Verdery (rverdery@ilfb.org)Classified sales coordinatorNan Fannin (nfannin@ilfb.org)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 Illinois

Editorial phone number: 309-557-2239Classified advertising: 309-557-3155Display advertising: 1-800-676-2353

Quick takesgovernment

Tuesday:• Ag weather with Harvey Freeseof Freese-Notis• Joyce Fikri, nutrition educatorwith St. Louis Dairy• Rebecca Blue, USDA undersec-retary for marketing and regulato-ry programs

Wednesday: • Tim Schweizer, IllinoisDepartment of Natural Resources• Dale Durchholz, AgriVisor• Sonny Beck, Beck Seeds

Thursday:• Illinois Specialty Growers repre-sentative• Keith Brannan, CountryFinancial’s vice president of finan-cial security planning• Adam Nielsen, IFB director ofnational legislation and policy development• Ryan Ford, Randolph CountyFarm Bureau manager• Kirk Liefer, president ofRandolph County Farm Bureau

Friday:• Sara Wyant, AgriPulse publisher• Alan Jarand, RFD radio director

Governor signs budget;ag shares in the cutsBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

The Illinois Department of Agriculture

(IDOA) shared cuts with other state agen-

cies when Gov. Pat Quinn signed the

budget for fiscal year 2013, which started

July 1.As passed by the General Assembly, the

budget included spending reductions for several

IDOA programs and services.

Quinn made one further change to the

ag budget by using his reduction veto

authority to cut $800,000 that was to be

used for the Centralia Animal Disease

Laboratory.

The budget reduction will close the Centralia

lab and consolidate its services with the Gales-

burg Animal Disease Laboratory, Kelly Kraft, a

spokesman in the governor’s budget office, told

FarmWeek. The lab is scheduled to close Aug.

31, she said. Kraft estimated about 15 people currently are

employed at the Centralia lab and about 10

positions are vacant at the Galesburg lab.

“IDOA has compiled a list of vacancies. This

(list) will be given to the Centralia lab (employ-

ees),” she said. Quinn proposed closing the Centralia lab in

his budget proposal, but lawmakers included

money for the lab in the budget.

Legislation implementingreorganization of the IllinoisCouncil on Food and Agricul-tural Research (C-FAR) isawaiting Gov. Pat Quinn’s deci-sion. Quinn has 60 days fromJune 13 to take action, and C-

FAR has asked him to sign thelegislation.

The legislation would putinto place reorganization rec-ommendations made by agri-cultural and commoditygroups in 2010. It would allow

money to be deposited in aspecial Food and AgriculturalResearch Fund. Previously, C-FAR depended solely on statefunding.

“When Governor Quinnsigns the bill, C-FAR will beable to solicit public and pri-vate monies to fund food andag research,” said Chuck Caw-ley, C-FAR chairman and Illi-nois Farm Bureau director.

C-FAR was organized in1993 to support food and agri-cultural research in Illinois. Aspart of the 2010 reorganiza-tion, four industry caucuseswere added to the C-FAR gov-erning structure.

The caucuses set researchpriorities for their respectiveinterests.

C-FAR legislation awaiting Quinn’s decision

million acres were treated inIllinois).

The forecast for this weekcalls for a little relief from theextreme heat but no significantrainfall.

“It’s awfully hard torecover from these types ofconditions this time of year,”said Angel, who noted soilmoisture in 1988 wasn’trecharged until October andNovember.

One of the few hopes atthis point is the develop-ment of tropical storms,which could bring moisturefrom the Gulf of Mexico tothe drought-ravaged Mid-west.

That’s what happened dur-ing the last major drought inIllinois, 2005, and farmersmanaged to harvest a crop thataveraged 143 bushels per acrethat year.

Continued from page 1last year spider mites, whichthrive in hot, dry conditions,caused widespread damageto soybeans (an estimated 6

1988

‘When Gove r n o r Qu i n nsigns the bi l l , C-FAR wil lbe able to so l i c i t publ i cand private monies to fundfood and ag research.’

— Chuck CawleyChairman, C-FAR

Drought

Page 3 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

Livestock farmers face some critical feed issuesBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Livestock producers whoare getting desperate for feedsources should use cautionbefore chopping or feedingdrought-stressed corn.

Drought-damaged corncan be high in nitrates.

And if the crop is imma-ture, the parched cornstalksstill could be too high inmoisture for optimal fermen-tation for silage.

“Immature, drought-stressed corn can appear dryand dead, but may contain

over 70 per-cent moisturein the stalk,”said MikeHutjens, pro-fessor emeri-tus of animalsciences atthe Universi-ty of Illinois.“For optimal

fermentation, ensile whenthe chopped material rangesfrom 30 to 38 percent drymatter.”

Meanwhile, nitrate levelsof some drought-stressedcorn in the state has tested ashigh as 17,000 parts per mil-lion (ppm).

Levels above 4,400 ppmrequire feeding adjustmentswhile values higher than17,600 ppm (in the totalration dry matter) should notbe fed to dairy cattle, the ani-mal scientist noted.

Fermenting corn as silagecan reduce nitrate levels byas much as 40 percent.

“Ensiling corn silage is arecommended practice,”Hutjens said. “But greenchopping or pasturing can berisky.”

He recommended produc-ers test the nutrient contentand nitrate level of theirdrought-stressed corn silageafter ensiling it.

Drought-stressed cornsilage could be a good alter-

native for livestock feed thisfall and winter as it may con-tain as much as 80 percent ofthe nutrient value of cornsilage.

Many livestock producersare scratching for feedsources as the drought anddangerously high tempera-tures have diminished theyield potential of corn andhay and burned up pastures.

The majority of pasturesin Illinois (65 percent) lastweek was rated poor or verypoor.

“The hay situation is oneof the biggest issues rightnow,” said Marc Lamczyk, agprogram coordinator at theU of I Extension Center inBenton. “We were short onhay to begin with, and herewe are already feeding it.Actually, some producersstarted feeding hay last

month.”Darrel

Good, U of Ieconomist,believes manylivestock pro-ducers indrought-stressed areaswill have to

thin their herds due to thelack of feed or high feedprices.

“What we’re seeing is apretty rapid sell-off of feed-er cattle,” Good said. “Thatdoesn’t bode well for feeddemand or the beef supplydown the road.

“We’ve seen expansion ofhog numbers (the first halfof 2012) but that probablywill come to an end,” he not-ed.

Good and Hutjens pro-jected tight corn supplies,higher feed costs, andreduced livestock numberswill lead to higher grocerybills for consumers in com-ing months.

Mike Hutjens

Darrel Good

State and federal agriculturalagencies are coordinatingefforts related to the drought.

On a related front, threecongressmen who representSouthern and Central Illinoisurged USDA and the FarmService Agency (FSA) toreview requests for emergencygrazing of ConservationReserve Program (CRP) acres.

“The Illinois Department ofAgriculture (IDOA) is coordi-nating with the Farm ServiceAgency to determine which ofits emergency programs areapplicable due to the drought,”Jeff Squibb, IDOA spokesmantold FarmWeek.

Illinois FSA Director Scher-rie Giamanco and FSA DeputyAdministrator Juan Garciareceived letters from U.S. Reps.John Shimkus, a CollinsvilleRepublican; Tim Johnson, an

Urbana Republican; and JerryCostello, a Belleville Democ-rat.

“Due to the extreme condi-tions faced by producers, weask that you promptly reviewany requests for emergencyhaying and grazing from coun-ties eligible to ask for theemergency designation,” thecongressmen wrote to Gia-manco.

Likewise, they asked Garciato promptly review any requestfrom Illinois for emergencygrazing before Aug. 2.

To be eligible for earlyrelease for emergency grazing,a county FSA committee mustfirst document a 40 percent orgreater loss of normal hayacreage and pasture, accordingto national FSA guidelines.Otherwise, CRP acres cannotbe released for emergency

grazing and haying until afterAug. 1.

This week, state agenciesare collecting data and prepar-ing reports for state officials,according to Arlan Juhl, direc-tor of the Illinois Departmentof Natural Resources office ofwater resources.

Supporting documents arerequired for the state torequest a USDA disaster decla-ration.

July 15 is the deadline forfarmers’ acreage reports tocounty FSA offices. Theacreage reports are to reportfailed acres and preventedplanted acres.

“We are taking every stepavailable in working with stateand federal authorities,” saidIllinois Farm Bureau PresidentPhilip Nelson. — Kay Ship-man

IDOA, FSA exploring available drought options

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Drought means grape grow-ers will harvest better-qualityfruit, but those growing condi-tions also bring negative conse-quences, according to growersaround Illinois.

“In years like this, the vinesput forth all the effort into thefruit. The fruit will be goodquality,” said Butch Browning,vineyard manager for Blue SkyVineyard, Makanda. However,the grapes probably will pro-duce less juice, he said.

Growers around the state areencountering hot, dry condi-tions on top of an early, warmspring. Some growers are cop-ing with a double whammy ofdrought following a springfreeze.

In Vermilion County, JoeTaylor estimated the April frosttook 40 to 50 percent of hiscrop when three or four vari-eties were hard hit. “A droughton top of that. We’re getting a

double whammy,” said Taylor,owner of Sleepy Creek Vine-yards, Fairmount, and an IllinoisGrape Growers and VintnersAssociation (IGGVA) director.

While the fruit quality will begood, Taylor anticipated lesstonnage when he harvests his10 acres of grapes.

Fox Valley Winery, Oswego,escaped the frost but is copingwith hot, dry weather in KendallCounty, said co-owner MikeFaltz. The vineyard has theoption of irrigating, he added.

Pest problems this seasonhave produced both positiveand negative consequences.

The lack of rain has reduceddiseases and weeds. “That’s onething; we’re saving a small for-tune. Fungicide applications thisyear have been spread furtherapart,” said Blue Sky’s Brown-ing.

Likewise, Browning has hadfewer problems with Japanesebeetles compared to a typicalyear and hasn’t needed herbi-

cides to keep the weeds incheck.

Birds, however, soon may bea problem because they will eatgrapes as a source of moisture,said Gene Meyer, owner of BayCreek Vineyard, Pittsfield, andan IGGVA director.

The Pike County grower saidhe planned to put fine-meshnets over his grapes to protectthem before the robins, wood-peckers, and cedar wax wingsdamage the crop.

“It’s unbelievable how quick-ly birds will take a ton ofgrapes. Some years the birdsdon’t bother you and someyears they eat you up,” Meyersaid.

Meyer, who also raisesgrapes for Rolling Hills Vine-yard near Pittsfield, lost someearly varieties to the springfreeze, while other varieties“look pretty good,” he said.

“We need a good rain —like everyone else,” Meyer con-cluded.

Grape growers, crop weathering dryness

Blue Sky Winery manager Butch Browning checks the Makanda vineyard’s vignole grapes in Jackson County.(Photo by Ken Kashian)

Drought

FarmWeek Page 4 Monday, July 9, 2012

Farmers urged to report acreage, file claims ASAPBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Farmers who have partial or totalcrop losses from the ongoing droughtlast week were urged to contact theircrop insurance agent and the FarmService Agency (FSA) as soon as possi-ble.

The deadline to file accurate acreagereports to crop insurance agents andFSA is July 15.

An acreage report is the mostimportant document farmers must pro-vide to file a federal crop insurance

claim, according to Steve Worthington,Country Financial crop claims supervi-sor.

“Any loss pay-ment will be basedon the informationthe producer pro-vides on thisform,” Worthing-ton said.

If an acreagereport is not com-pleted correctly andon time, it coulddelay the process-ing or payment ofclaims.

It’s important farmers spend timewith their financial representativeor crop specialist to accurately com-plete the form, Worthington noted.

Farmers should “report their sus-pected loss as soon as possible,” he

said. “This willallow cropadjusters to con-tact the producerand begin assist-ing them as wellas documentingthe loss.”

Once a claimis filed, a cropadjuster will visiteach drought-damaged field toappraise theacreage and

explain the options.Farmers who opt to destroy

cornfields should contact theiradjuster for instructions on leaving

test strips so the crop damage canbe assessed through the reproduc-tive stage. The adjuster mustinspect the crop prior to itsdestruction.

Crop claims with Country Finan-cial late last week totaled 182, upfrom about 40 the previous week.

The number of claims is expect-ed to continue to rise as crop condi-tions deteriorate further.

Last week 33 percent of thestate’s corn crop and 31 percent ofbeans statewide were rated poor orvery poor.

The majority of the state as oflast week was in a moderate tosevere drought, with all or parts of18 counties in Southern Illinois inan extreme drought, according tothe U.S. drought monitor.

FarmWeekNow.com

Listen to Steve Worthington’s RFDRadio interview on crop insurancetips at FarmWeekNow.com.

‘Any loss payment willbe based on the infor-mation the producerprovides on this form.’

— Steve WorthingtonCountry Financial

crop claims supervisor

Commodity conference speaker: Yield potential drying upCrop prices which shot up

in recent weeks due to droughtconcerns could heat up evenmore the rest of the summer ifthe weather situation doesn’timprove.

Darrel Good, University ofIllinois Extension economist,believes shrinking crop poten-

tial likely will require the mar-ket to ration demand in com-ing weeks and months.

“There’s a potential foryields to come down quite abit,” said Good, who will be afeatured speaker July 25 at theIllinois Farm Bureau Com-modity Conference in Normal.

“If everything turned favor-able from here (July 3) for-ward, we probably could stilldo a national yield of 150(bushels per acre),” he contin-ued. “But we don’t have thattype of forecast. The questionis, how much lower can (yields)go.”

Good noted corn demandalready has slowed. Ethanolproduction has eased — someplants have even shut down —while exports also have beencurtailed in recent weeks.

However, soybean demandand exports continue to berobust, despite higher prices.The situation likely will resultin additional market pressure.

“Additional rationing likelywill be required,” Good said.“If we get (a national cornyield of) 140 bushels instead of150, current prices aren’t highenough to get it (rationing)done. There is further upside(price) potential.”

Gary Schnitkey, U of IExtension farm managementspecialist, recently projecteddifferent crop price scenariosbased on yield possibilities.

A mild drought that result-ed in yields of 165 bushels peracre for corn and 53 bushelsfor beans on a typical farm inNorthern or Central Illinoiscould produce prices of $5.80per bushel for corn and $13.75for beans.

A moderate drought, withyields of 150 for corn and 48for beans, could lead to $6.20corn and $14.50 beans.

And a severe drought, withyields of just 135 for corn and40 for beans, could push pricesto $7.50 for corn and $17-plusfor beans.

“Grain farm incomes likely

will be above projections madein the winter of 2012 (whenprices were projected to aver-age $5 for corn and $11 forbeans) assuming crop pricesincrease if crop yields arebelow trend-line yields,”Schnitkey noted.

Farmers, however, will beeven more reliant on cropinsurance and risk manage-ment this year.

“Farms that did not pur-chase crop insurance couldface losses,” Schnitkey said.“Also, grain farms that hedgeda great deal of expected pro-duction could have lowerincomes than those farmerswho have not pre-harvest-hedged as much grain.”

There were reports lastweek of some farmers buyingback hedges due to the dra-matic drop in yield potential.

Good will provide a furtherupdate on the crop yield andprice situation July 25 at theIFB Commodity Conference atthe Bloomington-Normal Mar-riott Hotel and ConferenceCenter.

Pre-registration is availableonline through July 16 at{www.ilfb.org}. Participantsalso may register for the con-ference at their local countyFarm Bureau office or by call-ing Nicole Moore at 309-557-3343 or by e-mailing her atnmoore@ilfb.org. — DanielGrant

Chicago Farmers plan picnic,Garfield Farm Museum tour

The Chicago Farmers will have a family picnic and tour theGarfield Farm Museum near LaFox starting at 9 a.m. July 21.Reservations are due July 20.

The event will include tours of the restored prairie and nat-ural areas, an ox-driving demonstration, and a chore time foryoung visitors.

The cost is $25 for members, $35 for non-members, and$10 for children 12 and younger.

For more information or to register, go online to{www.chicagofarmers.org} or call 312-388-3276.

government

Page 5 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

FSA alerts farmers to income verification needBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Many Illinois farmersneed to bring their federalfarm income documenta-tion up to date or risk los-ing program benefits, aFarm Service Agency (FSA)Illinois program specialist

warns.Under the 2008 farm bill,

farmers were required tosubmit a CCC-926 adjustedgross income (AGI) certifi-cation form to receive pro-gram payments. SeparateCCC-927 individual orCCC-928 farm entity con-sent forms authorized dis-closure of basic InternalRevenue Service (IRS) taxinformation to FSA.

IRS will review tax datafor potential use in identify-ing farmers who mayexceed AGI eligibilitythresholds and providenames and taxpayer identi-fication numbers to FSAfor further inquiry withoutsupplying tax records orspecific income figures. The927/928 forms acknowl-edged USDA could use theinformation to ensure com-pliance with payment eligi-bility.

Certification and consentforms now have been con-solidated into a single CCC-931 form, and AGI infor-mation now flows throughFSA rather than the IRS.IRS has questioned whethersome growers who initiallysubmitted 927-928 formsmay now have exceededAGI thresholds.

Currently at issue are2009, and 2010 programpayment reviews covering2005-2007 and 2006-2008income levels. “There’s aone-year lag and a look-back,” FSA Chief ProgramSpecialist Stan Wilson toldFarmWeek.

A reported 1,166 Illinoisfarmers have not providedFSA with currently requiredverification that they do notexceed AGI thresholds as

the other or both spousesback into eligibility. In addi-tion, a major income“spike” can affect eligibility:2005-2008 Illinois land salesgenerated significant rev-enues, and even withspousal division of that rev-enue, sales proceeds cancompromise a year’s eligibil-ity, Wilson said.

“That spike doesn’t haveto involve farmland,” hesaid. “It could be the sale ofa residence or two resi-dences; it could be exercis-ing stock options or beingbought out of a business.Anything that causes

income subject to capitalgains to spike could causethem to be ineligible.”

Further, an estimated20,000 Illinois farmers thatreceived 2009, 2010, and/or2011 program paymentshave submitted a 926 formbut not 927, 928, or 931consent. Without that con-sent, USDA cannot reviewAGI information, and Illi-nois’ FSA office plans tocontact those growers tenta-tively by month’s end.

County FSA offices,meanwhile, are attemptingto contact farmers at risk ofineligibility.

indicated by IRS checks.Roughly 600 of those grow-ers failed to respond to aninitial April 4 letter, andthey could be declared ineli-gible for or even have torepay past benefits if theydo not provide new verifica-tion.

FSA mailed a secondnotification letter in lateJune, offering farmers eligi-bility appeal rights.

“These (600) producerscan still regain eligibility –-all they have to do is give usthe documentation thatwould show their eligibility,”Wilson stressed. “Get it in

to us, so we don’t have tosend you a letter sayingyou’re ineligible.

“Their options are to giveus a CPA or attorney state-ment that indicates alicensed professional hasreviewed their income taxrecords and confirmed thatthey are eligible, or to sub-mit their 1040 (income tax),with schedules and attach-ments, to us, and we’ll dothat review.”

Wilson noted many farmsfile joint tax returns. Insome cases, disallowance ofone recipient spouse’sreported wages may bring

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: The extremelyhot, dry weather continues withnot much relief in sight. Therewere some scattered rains inNorthern Illinois last weekend(June 29-30), but none inWinnebago County. We receivedless than 0.6 of an inch the wholemonth of June, and it has been

three full weeks since our last rain. The cornon the lighter soils is wrapped up most of thetime now, and the corn on our good, heavy,black dirt is now looking pretty tough. Thankgoodness we have an irrigator on one farm,but that only reaches 110 acres of corn and100 acres of beans. There have been lots ofwheat combined since my last report, andthat is one bright spot so far this summer. Itwas the best wheat we have ever had — 100-plus bushels per acre, but we only had 40acres. Several neighbors are reporting similaryields.

Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: Another hot, dryweek in Lake County with no rain.I thought my report would beworse than it is. The corn is reallyshowing signs of stress but stillhas good color. I don’t know why.Beans seem to be shrinking andgetting very thin on the hills.Winter wheat is being cut with

yields of 60 to 88 bushels per acre — unbe-lievable for the year we’ve had. Forecastersare calling for a couple more hot days andthen turning cooler. Not much rain for thecoming week. Hopefully, we can hang on untilwe get some rain.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: We experienced apop-up shower on Friday,June 29, of 1.25 inches, makingJune’s total 2.25. Wind in thesouthern part of the county tippedcorn and tore down tree limbs.The crop looked better by Sunday(July 1), but the heat was oppres-sive. Milk production is down 10-

15 percent. Cows do not want to eat when itis so hot. Wheat farmers tell me they had 90-bushel yields with excellent test weight andquality. I combined some oats Thursday,which is the earliest I’ve ever done that. Itwas bright and heavy with about a 95-bushelyield. Most cornfields are silking. Since pollenusually falls at night when it cools off, Ibelieve we will have average pollination. Howthe ears will fill is yet to be determined. Wehave had 1,040 growing degree units.

Ryan Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: Storms lastweekend (June 30-July 1) includ-ed strong winds and hail that dam-aged buildings, took down powerlines, and blew down corn. It wasa week of record high tempera-tures with no rainfall. Crop dustersare applying fungicide and insecti-cide on pollinating cornfields to

control Japanese beetles and adult rootwormbeetles. Soybeans are flowering for the sec-ond time and also are being sprayed forweeds, bugs, and disease.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: Last weekend(June 30-July 1) the countyreceived from 2 to 5 inches ofrain. There was some wind andhail, but the benefit of the rainalong with the previous week-end’s amounts will go a long waytoward making a crop. Planes areflying hot and heavy applying

fungicides and insecticides on corn andbeans. Rootworm and Japanese beetles areclipping silks in many cornfields.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We did notreceive any rain last week. Thelast rain was two weeks ago andit was only 0.1 of an inch. Weare like most of the Midwest —hot, dry, and in need of rainbadly. The corn crop has beenpollinating in 95-degree or high-er temperatures. We will know in

the next few weeks how much yield losshas occurred because of this year’s weath-er conditions. The soybeans still are notgrowing very fast, but they are starting toflower. Pasture conditions are very short aswell. The cattle are heading for the shadeat 7 a.m. with the hot temperatures. Thestreams are still flowing, but that will notlast much longer without above-normalrainfall.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: My reportis the same as last week — HOTand DRY. A dome of hot air satover the heartland of the countrylast week blocking any weathersystems. Corn is trying to polli-nate in 100-degree heat with nomoisture. Not a good combina-tion. Soybeans are trying to grow

and flower. Agronomists tell us to get maxi-mum soybean yields the plants need to haveno stress when growing and shooting flow-ers. The heat has to be taking a toll on live-stock producers as they try to keep animalscool with some respectable weight gain.Remember to slow down on country roads.Markets are trading weather. Have youlooked at pricing some of your 2013 crop?

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: We started theweek with a shower on June 30.Our farms received a range of0.55 to 0.95 of an inch. That wasfollowed up with temperatures inthe low to mid-90s for two days,one day near 100 degrees, andtwo days above 100 degrees.Close to 85 percent of the corn

in the area has been pollinating during thishot and dry spell. Corn in the area rangesfrom the V11 growth stage on up to the R1(silking) growth stage. Most corn is in theR1 growth stage. Area soybean fields areat the R1 or beginning flower growth stageor R2 full flower growth stage. Field activi-ties during the past week included postemergence herbicide applications androadside mowing. The local closing bids forJuly 5 were: nearby corn, $7.44; new-cropcorn, $6.91; fall 2013 corn, $5.72; nearbysoybeans, $16; new-crop soybeans,$15.03. As the prices go up to levels whereyou want to sell, the problem is in predict-ing what production there will be to sell.That is the situation where crop insuranceallows some sales to be made.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: One-hun-dred degree heat, no rain,severe drought, and noprospects for relief. Corn is try-ing to pollinate and we willknow this week if it hit the nick.Pollen shed and silk receptionare out of sync. Aerial applica-tions of insecticides are going

on to combat rootworm beetles. A few areadding fungicide in case disease pressurearrives later on. Scouting for spider mites inbeans has shown nothing ... yet. Corn,$7.39, fall, $6.83; soybeans, $16.02, fall,$14.96; wheat, $7.88.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Our “fiveminutes before it’s too latecountdown is at one,” but theweekend did have a chance forup to 0.2 of an inch of rain withcooler temperatures. Corn tas-sel is in full swing. The NationalAgricultural Statistics Servicehas the corn in our district at 33

percent silking and 63-inch average height.Soybeans are 29 percent bloom and areshorter than normal. Preliminary shaketests indicate pollination went well, but weneed rain to fill kernels (see article page 7).Fisher Fair, I & I Historic Farm Days atPenfield, and Champaign 4-H Expo are thisweek.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: Another dryweek with extremely high tem-peratures. It is really taking atoll on the corn. I’ve been farm-ing for 37 years and we arelooking at possibly the worstcorn crop that I’ve ever seenand we farm on very black soils.Our biggest rain, which was

about three weeks ago, was 0.4 of an inch,and that was the biggest rain we have hadsince the middle of April. Corn is firing andcurled, and we are right in the middle ofpollination. Not a good scenario and I’m notoptimistic on the corn at all. Farmers haveeven cut back and canceled orders forspraying different fungicides on the corn.Soybeans, however, continue to grow, butat a very slow rate. I’m somewhat optimisticabout them if the rains ever start up again.We had a chance for showers over theweekend here, but 30 percent chances arenot generating much rain in our area.Hopefully, the cooler temperatures willbring a little relief to the crops.

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Some parts of thecounty received rainfall lastweekend (June 30-July 1) but ourgauge barely got wet. I heardreports of up to a couple inchesin scattered locations but nosoaker that is so desperatelyneeded if we want to put anygrain in the bin this year. It may

be a rerun of 1983 when one small truckwould hold the yield from an entire field in ourneck of the woods. Raccoons and someJapanese beetles are the pests of the weekwhile the markets are in a frenzy.

Carrie Winkelmann, Tallula, Menard County: We received0.3 of an inch of rain on Saturday,June 30, but most places around usgot less than that. We are stillincredibly dry, but there must besome optimists out there becausethere was some fungicide applica-tion going on last week in the area.We have seen some corn rootworm

beetle damage and sprayed for that.Japanese beetles, while still having a pres-ence, were less bothersome this year, whichis a trend I hope will continue. Lime is beingstockpiled. Corn is showing serious stress,but the beans seem to be miraculously hold-ing out. But I know we are no where as bad offas some of my friends in the southern coun-ties. Hoping for rain for everyone who needsit, but the forecast seems against us.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: The suffering con-tinues for crops and producersalike. Corn and soybeans aredeteriorating rapidly in thisexcessively hot weather.Cornfields especially are one-more-missed rain away frombeing finished for the year.Leaves are staying rolled up

through the night — a sure sign the crop hasabout had it. Soybeans are holding on, butthey are stuck at the same height they havebeen for several weeks. To make mattersworse, scattered spider mite infestations areshowing up in the beans and without a rainvirtually all bean fields will be affected. Thebest rain chances we have seen in a whilewere predicted last weekend. It would begreat if something more than disappointmentcomes out of that.

Jimmy Ayers, New City, Sangamon County: We hadalmost 0.3 of an inch of rain,and an area to the east of ussupposedly had an inch. But Iwould say the majority ofSangamon County received norain. It’s been very hot and dry.We pulled ears on some of theearly corn and noted 12 rows

around and 34 long. That doesn’t put muchin the yield bracket. There is still some ofthe later-pollinated corn that I haven’t got ahandle on yet. Maybe I can report on thatnext week. The beans actually seem to beresponding pretty well in this heat. Themajority of the 30-inch beans still haven’tclosed the rows, and the sun is hitting thedirt in the middle of the day and drying itout. Roadsides are pretty much dried up.Looks like we possibly have a stretch ofcool air coming at us this week.

Doug Uphoff, Shelbyville, Shelby County: Rainfalltotals: January, 2.9 inches;February, 1.05; March, 1.7;April, 5.7; May, 1.55; June 0.2;July 0.2. Jim Angel, state clima-tologist, reports that on astatewide basis, the opening sixmonths of 2012 were thewarmest since records for

Illinois began in 1895. I’ve heard rain makesgrain. If that’s the case, don’t count onmuch grain from Shelby County this year.Corn planted in mid-April tried to pollinatein this heat and it is toast. March and early-April corn is pollinated, but it’s firing up tothe ear. The firing will only get worse withtwo more days of 100-plus temps forecaston Friday. I haven’t experienced anythinglike this, so I don’t really know how to relateit to you all. It is what it is, and it ain’t gonnabe much. Insurance agencies better havesaved all those premiums from the past 10years because they are going to need themto pay out claims. If I were to go by the oldsaying, “If you don’t have anything good tosay, don’t say anything at all,” the only thingI would have said is: “Hey, the grain marketshave really gone up!”

FarmWeek Page 6 Monday, July 9, 2012

CROPWATCHERS

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: We are settingall kinds of records.Unfortunately, most of them arebad for crops. There were acouple of thunderstorms thispast week with variableamounts of rain. I receivedabout 1 inch on most of myfields. That gave us a day or so

of relief from the choking dust. Many corn-fields are past help, no matter how good orbad the weather is the rest of the summer.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: Sameole thing for the last threeweeks. No rain. It’s getting verydry in Jackson County. A lot ofthe corn is turning white on thehill ground. The soybeans aregrowing very little and hardlyany of the wheat field beanshave come up. We sure would

like to have a rain. We may get some thisweek. One thing we did have is a goodsweet corn crop, for some reason, and thepeach crop was good, too.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: Hot, hot, hot. Thatsums up the weather here indeep Southern Illinois. We hadanother week of heat and lowhumidity. Highs have been inthe triple digits. We received 0.7of an inch of rain on Tuesday. Iheard of rain amounts any-where from areas that received

no rain at all up to 1.2 inches. Rain we didget certainly didn’t last long. Crops werealready looking stressed again byWednesday afternoon. We had a chancefor rain again on Sunday evening, so Ihope by the time you read this that we’vehad a nice shower. I’m afraid it’s too late tohelp the corn very much, but it certainlywould help the soybeans.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: It was an extreme-ly hot and dry week. A few veryisolated showers came throughthe area Monday (July 2), butmost people received little or norain. The heat index has been ashigh as 116. The early-plantedcorn in the extremely dry areasmost likely will not survive. The

mid- to late-May planted corn and soybeansstill have some hope if cooler temperaturesand rain come soon. No field activity tookplace last week. A cooling trend is predictedfor this week with a slight chance of showers.

Dave Hankammer, Millstadt, St. Clair County: Triple-digithighs and low humidity were thenorm for the week with 108degrees being the highest temp.Isolated showers passed throughthe region with only a lucky fewreceiving a trace. The corn cropcontinues to suffer through thehigh heat. The earliest corn has

pollinated and working on filling out the ear.Now corn planted at the beginning of May isstarting to extend its tassels. It will be inter-esting to see which plantings fare the bestthrough this harsh drought. First-crop soy-beans continue to gain in height and extendtheir canopy to cover soil between the rows.The plants will start to bloom soon. Hopefully,the temperature will return to more seasonalwhen blossoming is in full swing. The double-cropped soybeans are approximately 3 inchestall and waiting for rain. Farmers with hayfields have made their third cutting and arehoping for rain so these fields can recoverenough to make another cutting. Obviousyield reduction can be seen in these fieldsand the drought raises concerns over an ade-quate hay supply, especially with many of thepastures turning brown this early in the sum-mer. Local grain bids are: corn, $7.57; soy-beans, $16.20; wheat, $7.97.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: We had anotherweek of 100-plus degree temper-atures with isolated thunder-storms on Monday, July 2. When Isay isolated, one side of a sectionmay have gotten five drops, andthe other side 0.5 of an inch. Rainamounts varied from those fivedrops up to 2-plus inches. There

was also a strip that received hail that riddledsome crops, and some high winds broke fivebig power poles east of St. Peter along Route185. Corn that was in this high-wind path waslain flat. The excessive afternoon tempera-tures are putting major stress on the crops.The corn rolls up as tight as it can. Beanleaves are cupping and the little double-cropbeans that there are are melting away. Therewill be corn in the area that won’t be harvest-ed with a combine. Normally we receive rainduring our county fair and it started Sunday. Ihope all goes well at the fair but am also wish-ing for the rain and a little cooler temperatures.

Jeff Guilander, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Well, at least it’snot dead yet. I do not know howthis crop is holding on, or how itcan produce in such miserableconditions, but there is still somelife in the majority of it. The corngot burned badly last week withwidespread whitening of theleaves. I guess the saving grace

has been the nighttime temps, as the sweetsmell of the pollen fills the air after 10 p.m.The first-crop beans are trying to grow, but thedouble-crop beans seem to be getting thinnerby the day (and they were not that thick tobegin with). This definitely looks like a year wewill tell our kids and grandkids about.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: As baseballannouncer Kenny “Hawk” Harrelsonwould say, “It’s gone.” I’m talkingabout the corn. I don’t think anyamount of rain could revive it.Nothing is different from last week,except things are browner and rightnow, it’s 109.1 degrees.

Page 7 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

CROPWATCHERS

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

BY KEVIN BLACKA number of stress factors or injuries can interfere

with corn pollination. Once corn ovules (developingkernels) start to swell, the success of pollination easilycan be determined.

Prior to that time period, here is an easy way todetermine the success of pollination:

The time period for this test is between pollenshed and blister formation.

Select the corn ear you would like to check. Care-fully remove the husks. With the tip of the ear point-ing down, shake the ear. Silks will fall from ovulesthat have been successfully fertilized.

Silks that remain attached indicate ovules that havenot been fertilized (pollinated).

Tip: With a sharp knife, make a lon-gitudinal cut the length of the corn ear.You may also carefully cut throughhusks at the base of the ear. This willmake the husks easier to remove. Withpractice, you will be able to determinehow deep to make the cuts.

This method of checking pollinationonly helps determine if the pollinationprocess is successful. According to Dr.Bob Nielsen at Purdue University,

severe wilting of corn in the two weeks prior to silkingcan reduce yield 3 to 4 percent per day. During the silk-ing and pollen shed period, Nielsen indicates that severestress can reduce yield 8 percent per day.

During the two weeks following silking and pollenshed, severe stress can reduce yield 6 percent forevery day that the stress continues.

Kevin Black is GROWMARK’s insect and plant disease tech-nical manager. His e-mail address is kblack@growmark.com.

Pollination of this ear of corn was poor, as indicated bysilks that did not drop free of the ear when the ear wasshaken.

Here’s easy method to check corn pollination

FSA accepting pollinator habitats in continuous CRPThe Farm Service Agency

(FSA) is now accepting polli-nator habitats that supportdiverse pollinator species as acontinuous sign-up practiceu n d e r t h e C o n s e r v a t i o nReserve Program (CRP).

Pa r t i c i p a n t s o f n e w l yenrolled poll inator habitatpractices are eligible to receiveCRP sign-up incentive pay-ments (SIP) of $150 per acre.The SIP is a one-time paymentmade to landowners after thecontract is approved.

Select practices that qualifyfor SIP include: pollinator

allows landowners to enroll atany t ime. To be accepted ,landowners must meet certaineligibility requirements.

Landowners interested inc o n t i nu o u s C R P n e e d t o

contact their local countyFSA office for more infor-m a t i o n a n d p r o g r a mrequirements. Informationi s a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e a t{www.fsa.usda.gov/crp}.

habitats; wetland restorationthat restore the functions andvalues of wetland ecosystemsthat have been devoted to agri-c u l t u r a l u s e , a n d h a b i t a tbuffers that provide food and

cover for quail and uplandbirds in cropland areas.

The SIP for all other con-t inuous s i gn -up prac t i cesremains $100 per acre.

Continuous CRP sign-up

U of I Brownstown Center plans Agronomy DayThe University of Illinois Brownstown

Agronomy Research Center will hostAgronomy Day July 26. The program willstart at 8:30 a.m. and conclude with lunchat 11:30 a.m. The event is open to thepublic at no charge.

Weather permitting, presentations willtake place in the research plots. Shaded

tour wagons will take participants to eachstop.

Topics will include: production fac-tors for high soybean yields; optimalcorn planting and nitrogen rates; cornfoliar disease identification and man-agement ; nutr ient remova l by cor nand soybeans ; and c l ima t e chang e

impacts on crop production and man-agement.

More than 30 research and demonstra-tion projects are conducted at the centerannually.

The research center is located south ofBrownstown on Ill. 185, about 4 miles eastof the junction of Ill. 40 and Ill. 185.

Kevin Black

CUBA

FarmWeek Page 8 Monday, July 9, 2012

BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

They call it “The Crisis” — the historic moment when walls and ideologies fellacross Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and when Cuba, politically isolated fromits powerful neighbor, the U.S., was forced to sink or swim.

Over the roughly 20 years since Soviet supplies and support stopped flowing onto theisland, Cuba has managed to keep its head above water through partial “reallocation” ofstate-run lands, a push to regain its pre-1960 tourist base, and herculean efforts to feedits millions through imports and “urban agriculture” (see next week’s FarmWeek).

During Illinois Farm Bureau’s Cuba market study tour,Illinois farmers met with officials, business leaders, and co-ops working to meet the socialist nation’s food needs.While the U.S. has been allowed to sell ag goods to Cubafor nearly a dozen years, it is under strict cash salerequirements and a one-way, U.S.-to-Cuba trade policy.

IFB National Policy Director Adam Nielsen noted he hopes that study tour partici-pants can address the value of U.S.-Cuba relations in Washington and recruit congres-sional “champions” to fight decades-old Cuban trade and travel sanctions.

“This trip will refocus and re-energize us for this goal,” Nielsen told Cuban officials. Cuba today imports about 80 percent of its food supply, but Cuban ag ministry

international relations specialist Juan Jose Leon reports “we’re working very hard in(domestic food) import substitution.”

“And as you are aware, we import a lot from the U.S.,” he stressed.Leon nonetheless blasted what he deemed the 50-year-plus U.S. “blockade” of

Cuban goods, arguing U.S. purchase of “good Cuban cigars” and other productswould help President Raul Castro fund added food purchases. Plus, he noted “verypoor” Cuban corn yields, a lagging dairy-cattle herd formerly fed with plentiful Sovietgrain, and heavy fruit and vegetable losses due to “our inability to process (produce).”

Jamie Walter, a DeKalb County farmer and majority owner ofSynergy Seeds, a combo seed dealership/crop insurance agency,applauded “the resiliency of the Cuban people,” particularly their“very interesting, very old school” and yet innovative style of low-input farming.

However, Cuba’s isolation from high-tech, higher-yield agriculturehas contributed to “quite a few limitations in their marketplace and intheir production system,” Walter said.

“It seems quite obvious that this is not going to be a very efficientway of feeding their population,” he argued, noting the absence of ruralfarms on the tour agenda. “I think there are a lot of market opportuni-

ties there. We personally didn’t get to see those the way I would have liked. They showedus, in Havana, what they wanted us to see and perhaps not everything we should or need-ed to see. But I do think that especially when it comes to grains and livestock and animalprotein, there are real market opportunities for us. Those opportunities may be the nextsevere hurricane season away.”

U.S. cash purchase requirements are “very unusual among international businesspractices,” Cuban Chamber of Commerce President Estrella Madrigal Valdes told Illi-nois visitors. U.S. refusal to liberalize trade “has only acted to erode your competitiveedge in the Cuban market,” she said.

That’s frustrating given the U.S.’ proximity to Cuba and “your quality of supply andefficient operation,” Madrigal maintained. She applauded her guests’ support for U.S.trade reforms, but emphasized “we’d like to see that willingnessshared by your politicians, who claim to represent you.”

Alimport’s (Cuba’s state trading company) Eidel Mussi Vasqueznoted the importance to Cuba of generating “different cashstreams” through exports, credit, and capital expenditures by for-eign countries such as Brazil. Those options currently are “notpresent” in Cuban relations with the U.S., said Mussi, who arguedfor U.S. extension of 360-day credit repayment for future imports“to alleviate the burden on our cash flow.”

That’s generally unheard-of in the shipping world, where 30- to 60-day credit is standard, Hancock County farmer Joe Zumwalt said. Butgiven prospects for sales to a “close proximity buyer,” Zumwalt is open to offering Cubalong-term, “mortgage”-style credit.

Tom Jennings, Illinois’ former ag director, and another IFB tour participant, seespotential Cuban trade opportunities well beyond the ag sector. He noted that much ofCuba’s infrastructure is in poor condition, opening doors to U.S. equipment manufac-turers such as Deere and Caterpillar.

“We’re No. 1 in food processing equipment and manufacturing in Illinois, and I’dthink we’d have a lot to offer,” Jennings added.

CUBAToo long an island unto itself?

Jamie Walter

Joe Zumwalt

Above, Cuba Market Study Tour participants RobertInman of Pulaski County, foreground, and David Ser-ven, an Illinois Farm Bureau board member, eye high-tech milling equipment at Molinera de la Habana, aCuban-Mexican venture located at the Port of Havana.At left is the dome of Havana’s El Capitolio, Cuba’spre-revolution national capitol building, which is nowhome to the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

Above: Friday morning in metro Havana, as anassortment of older-model cars, cycles, streetcarts, and packed buses fill the streets.Below: Sunday afternoon at Havana’s ParqueCentral (Central Park), where vintage automobilesthat have served Cuban citizens for decades arenow put on display for fascinated tourists.Left: While Cuba is headed toward increased self-employment and entrepreneurship, images suchas this one of Cuban revolutionary hero Che Gue-vara appear on apartment buildings, walls, andstreet-side signs. (Photos by Martin Ross)

FarmWeekNow.comL i s ten to audio f rom tourparticipants and view ourphoto gallery of the trip atFarmWeekNow.com.

cuba

Page 9 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

Cuba: ‘A lotof millions,’many challengesBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Amparo Garza-Lang represents the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA)across Latin America. She sees her turf as continually fertile ground for Illinois agexports, arguing “more than 500 million people is always a very good market.”

Based in Mexico City, Garza-Lang focuses on perennial mega-market Brazil aswell as developing markets where U.S. free trade agreements have taken or arepoised to take root, including Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and the DominicanRepublic — a major Caribbean market for the U.S.

“The Caribbean has more than 40 islands,” she told FarmWeek during IllinoisFarm Bureau’s Cuba market study tour. “Cuba is the largest island. It also has thelargest population — 11 million. The Dominicans have 9 million. You put them alltogether, and that’s a lot of millions. There’s a lot of potential there.

“(Cuban) tourism will bring a lot to Illinois in the food business. In comparisonto Brazil, we are closer. When you are closer to the customer, it’s always better.”

Backyard potentialFormer IDOA director and tour participant Tom Jennings

shares her optimism. Cuban trade interests “ definitely recognizethe logistical advantages that we have, transportation-wise — athree-day trip instead an 18-day to 24-day trip (from Brazil orEurope) for grain or any other bulk or container commodities.”

Molinera de la Habana (IMSA), a Mexican/Cuban milling ven-ture, relies largely on wheat from France, Germany, Canada, andMexico. Traffic in U.S. hard red winter wheat halted three years ago.

IMSA general director Maria Elena Quintana Graverán saidtransportation costs from the Gulf would be roughly a third of

those for French wheat shipments, at roughly a fourth the travel time, and offeringIMSA higher milling quality than the European product.

“It would be good all over,” she concluded — that is, if Cuba were granteddirect credit for U.S. wheat purchases. In turn, IMSA sees the U.S. as an ideal mar-ket for the 5 percent of production it does not sell to the Cuban government or cit-izens.

IMSA operates in a key industrial zone adjacent to the Port of Havana — one ofthe nation’s four major ports and one able to receive container shipments four daysa week.

Brazil is investing in a major new container terminal at the Port of Mariel west ofHavana. Eidel Mussi Vasquez, an official with Cuba’s state trading company,Alimport, reported the government is eyeing added container handling facilities“elsewhere in Cuba.”

Jennings is encouraged by port improvements that could tap container trafficfrom Northeastern Illinois’ “global freight yards,” but said he is concernedabout the implications of Brazil’s potential $800 million invest-ment in the Mariel port. He fears “the Brazilian foothold heremight edge us out,” and fellow tour participant Joe Zumwaltfrom Hancock County ponders the possibility that Mariel couldbecome a commercial port for Brazil.

“A lot of farmers think we’re just going to start boating cornand soybeans down there, but their infrastructure is not readyto handle that yet,” Kankakee County egg producer KeithMussman argued. “But they obviously need feed for their live-stock, because their livestock is not producing as well as itshould be.”Product for the people

Jennings noted Cuba has roughly Chicago’s area and population density. Hesees an island crowded with “hungry people used to just staples in their diet,” aswell as a tourist trade that could swell significantly with an end to U.S. travelrestrictions.

Those economically disparate groups have converged with the proliferationof paladares — small family-run restaurants that offer foreign visitors a homierand often heartier cultural alternative to state-run and luxury “white linen”restaurants. As the popularity of paladares rises, so likely will demand for thefood needed to stock them — food currently in limited supply.

Refrigerated containers could deliver U.S. pork and other products to citizensseeking improved animal protein and travelers attuned to “a better product thanwhat we’ve seen in some of the (Cuban) restaurants,” Jennings said.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) spokesman Joe Schuele noted “the mar-ket is quite open,” though USMEF and other groups currently are prohibited by theU.S. from promoting U.S. products in Cuba. Because of the island’s economy, U.S.sales to Cuba largely are confined to beef livers and cheap pork “variety meat” inlittle demand in the U.S.

“We just need commerce to take hold down there,” Schuele told FarmWeek.“Then it would become a good market.”

Tom Jennings

Keith Mussman

You can see it in the streets and neigh-borhoods of Havana. A growing numberof hole-in-the-wall eateries dispense afragrant blend of African, Spanish, andCaribbean cuisines.

The avenues boast colorful graffiti thathails the solidarity, productivity, and revo-lutionary heritage of the Cuban people.

Isabel Garcia senses something else inthe streets: a generally “happier” peoplewho see national progress in health, educa-tion, and domestic equality and a new gen-eration that “wants to maintain the spiritof the revolution, but with changes.”

Garcia is Havana-based coordinatorwith Global Exchange, which orches-trates visits by “research delegations” andapproved “people-to-people” groups.

The former New Yorker, who’sworked in Cuba since 1987, hopes U.S.tourists someday can “sit on the beachand drink a mojito,” and enjoy thefruits of Cuba’s evolution towarda more open, entrepreneurial soci-ety.

Cuban officials are seeking todevelop a more efficient economywithin their nation’s socialistframework. The government’scurrent economic plan anticipatescutting more than 1 million statejobs and, potentially, legalizing thesale of private property, and self-employment is on the rise.

As a result, family-run restau-rants (“paladares”) are openingtheir doors to international tourists,and carpenters and other craftsmenare plying their skills for higher personalprofit — profit that ultimately could helpCubans buy more imported goods.

“A lot of people feel this is going toallow them to be more creative, to feel alittle more independent economically,and to not have to depend on a govern-ment job,” Garcia told FarmWeek.

It’s mostly the younger generation thatwants that. You go to a self-employed restau-rant or cafeteria, you see the young people.

“If you talk to people, they say theirmain objective is to have self-determina-tion, and to have no foreign power con-trol the country. But within that objective,

everything else can be changed. “Young people want to maintain the

social programs that have been achieved bythe revolution, but I have a friend who saysshe wants the ‘good things of capitalism.’”

Cuba has retained a large measure ofpersonal creativity over the decades —the locals boast about Havana’s art muse-ums and ballet company, and the city ishome to international jazz and film festi-vals and a renowned annual book fair.

Garcia sees music, movies, and amutual love of baseball as potent linksbetween the U.S. and Cuba, and believesCubans would embrace relations withtheir northern neighbor as “part of thecountry’s development.”

Last week, as Cuban fervor over theEuro Cup soccer finals subsided, TeamUSA — a squad of players who’ve com-pleted their college freshman or sophomore

seasons — headed to Havana for a five-game showdown with Cuba’s national team.

U.S. relaxation of policies regardingcommunications and support betweenCuban-Americans and their relatives onthe island has helped foster entrepreneur-ial spirit. Visiting U.S. family membersdeliver supplies crucial to restaurant start-up as well as TVs, appliances, and othermodern home conveniences.

“They feel a responsibility to helptheir relatives here and pride thatthey’ve been able to be in the U.S. anddo that for their families,” Garcia said.— Martin Ross

VIVA LA EVOLUTION?

Colorful, often socially relevant graffiti is one of Ha-vana’s most publicly prominent forms of artistic expres-sion. Graffiti is spreading across the country and hasbeen featured at island art festivals. (Photos by MartinRoss)

M a l e c o n — H a v a n a ’swalled sea front — pro-vides a scenic vista of Ha-vana Bay and its historicsite. Crumbling homes andbuildings along the Maleconcurrently are under repairand reconstruction in an ef-fort to rehabilitate the heav-ily tourist-traveled area.

Estrella Madrigal Valdes, president of Cuba’s chamber of commerce, addresses Cuba’s eco-nomic growth objectives and trade concerns with Illinois Farm Bureau market study tour par-ticipants. “We don’t attach any political strings to establishing normal relations between ourtwo countries,” she said. “When it comes to trade, we only look at competitive edge.”

sAfETy

FarmWeek Page 10 Monday, July 9, 2012

Farmer training in anhydrous safety going online

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)will be the focus of an August twilight tourorganized by the Central Illinois Sustain-able Farming Network to a Shelby Countyfarm.

The tour will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 7with registration from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

The group will tour the Samara Farm,1150 N., Shelbyville. Zach and Annie Met-

zger of Samara Farm will discuss harvest,storage, handling, pricing, and marketingwithin a CSA.

For more information or to register, go online to {https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=6646} orcontact Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant withUniversity of Illinois Extension at cvnghgrn@illinois.edu or by phone at 217-782-4617.

July 10University of Illinois Northern Illinois Agronomy Centerfield day, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Shabbona.Indian Creek Watershed tour and program, 7:30 a.m. tonoon, Baptist Church, Fairbury. RSVP to LivingstonCounty Soil and Water Conservation District, 815-844-6127, extension 3.

July 12Southern Illinois University Belleville Field Day, 8 a.m.,Belleville Research Center, Belleville.

July 17Orr Center Field Day, 9 a.m. – noon, Perry.

July 17-18Advancing Wind Power in Illinois, Marriott Hotel andConference Center, Normal. To register, go to{www.RenewableEnergy.ilstu.edu}.

July 18University of Illinois Northwest Research Center fieldday, Monmouth. Tours start at 8 a.m.

July 192012 Illinois Forage Expo, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Pittsfield.

July 25Illinois Farm Bureau Commodity Conference, MarriottHotel, Normal.

July 26University of Illinois Brownstown Agronomy ResearchCenter Agronomy Day, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., Brownstown.

July 29Pull and Cast for Agriculture Education, World Shootingand Recreational Complex, Sparta. Registration dead-line July 16. Go online to {www.rcfb.org} or call 618-443-4511.

Aug. 9-19Illinois State Fair, Springfield.

Aug. 16University of Illinois Agronomy Day, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.,Crop Sciences Research and Education Center,Urbana.

Aug. 24-Sept. 3DuQuoin State Fair, DuQuoin.

Aug. 28Meet the Buyers event, Highland Community Collegeconference center, Freeport. Registration deadline Aug.24. Call 815-235-4125.

Sept. 26Meet the Buyers event, University of Illinois Extensionoffice, Springfield. Registration deadline Sept. 24. Call217-753-5200.

DATEBOOK

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Anhydrous safety training is comingto a computer monitor near you.

The Illinois Fertilizer and ChemicalAssociation (IFCA) is working with theIllinois Department of Agriculture(IDOA), Illinois Farm Bureau, and Illi-nois Corn Growers Association(ICGA) to develop an online anhy-drous safety training program for farm-ers, according to Kevin Runkle withIFCA.

The voluntary online program willbe a mix of text and video featuring

safety and first aid practices. Runkleestimated the program will take aboutan hour to complete.

A real-life basis for the safety sce-narios will be featured. “It will be basedon actual (anhydrous) incidents,” Runk-le said.

After the online program is devel-oped, the plan is to make it availablethrough links on the homepages ofIFCA, IDOA, IFB, and ICGA aroundthe first of the year, according to Run-kle.

Runkle envisioned farmers using theonline program to review safety proce-

dures or to train family members andnew employees.

A companion piece will be a day-long anhydrous safety course also beingdeveloped for farmers.

The Asmark Institute, which isbuilding a new training facility inBloomington, is developing the pro-gram. Asmark plans to offer the safetycourse at its new Agricenter.

Asmark also expects to offer thesafety course around the first of theyear, according to Runkle.

FarmWeek will provide additionalinformation about the online programand the safety course after it becomesavailable.

‘ I t w i l l be based onactual (anhydrous) inci-dents.’

— Kevin RunkleIllinois Fertilizer and

Chemical Association

Shelbyville farm siteof August twilight tour

Production

Page 11 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

A Central Illinois on-farm tour of fieldresearch plots will offer strategies for manag-ing herbicide-resistant weed populations. Thefree event will be July 24 and include weedscientists from the University of Illinois,Southern Illinois University, and University ofTennessee.

Pre-registration is recommended. Tourparticipants will be transported on buses thatwill leave from the southwest parking lot atthe U of I Assembly Hall, Urbana. Twodeparture times from the parking lot will be7:30 and 9:30 a.m.

At the Douglas County field, participantswill rotate among four 20-minute presenta-tions. After the field tour, participants willtravel to the Bayer CropScience research sta-tion at White Heath for lunch and discussion.

Topics will include: • Herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth has

changed farming practices in the mid-South,and herbicide-resistant waterhemp may do thesame thing in the Midwest;

• Spray additives and application tech-

niques with alternative herbicide chemistriesto improve control of herbicide-resistantweeds;

• Evolution of herbicide resistance andimplications for the future in Illinois; and

•Management techniques for waterhemppopulations that are resistance to multipleherbicides.

The group will be transported back tothe Assembly Hall. Once they are back oncampus, they may join a 90-minute “On-Target Application Academy” about thelatest techniques and technology toimprove herbicide deposition and reduceoff-target movement.

The educational program is a collaborativeeffort of the weed science program at the Uof I and its industry partners at Bayer Crop-Science, Valent, and BASF.

To register online, go to{http://events.SignUp4.com/REspecttheRo-tation2012}. Registration also may be done bycontacting the local Bayer representative or bycalling Daren Bohannan at 217-836-7874.

Herbicide-resistant weeds field tour focus

IMPA to host dairy tech showcase at two Illinois farmsThe Illinois Milk Produc-

ers’ Association (IMPA) willsponsor a dairy tech showcaseTuesday, July31.

The confer-ence will behosted by dairyconsultant andformer Exten-sion specialistDave Fischerand will high-light dairy tech-nology at twoSouthern Illi-nois dairy farms.

Attendees will visit MeyerVMS Dairy, owned by Pauland Lisa Meyer, at 18718 Ell-wood Road, Breese. The farmis a mile north and east of St.Rose in Clinton County.

The Meyer Dairy recentlyincorporated a DeLavalrobotic milking system, aswell as an automated calf

feeding system and long-day,short-night lighting.

Also included on the touris Elm Farms Dairy, owned

by Norb,Hadley, Larry,Wayne, andMichelleHasheider. ElmFarms Dairyfeatures a high-type registeredHolstein herd,a Lely roboticmilking system,and a manure

flush system with sand bed-ding reclamation.

The farm is located at15542 Bottom Road,Okawville, which is approxi-mately a mile west of townon Route 177, and north onBottom Road.

Each farm stop willinclude an organized tour,discussion, and question-and-

answer sessions led by Fisch-er.

The tour of Meyer VMSDairy will begin at 10:30 a.m.and continue through noon.The tour of Elm Farms Dairywill begin at 1:30 p.m. and

continue through 3 p.m. Travel time between the

farms is approximately 45minutes, and attendees areresponsible for their ownlunch arrangements. There isno need to register for the

event, and participants mayattend either one or both ofthe host farm operations.

For more information,contact Jim Fraley, IMPAmanager, at 309-557-3109 orDave Fischer at 618-224-7951.

Milk price posts first increasein months; production sinks

The Class III price for milk adjusted to 3.5 percent butterfatfor the month of June was $15.63 per hundredweight, 40 centshigher than the previous month.

The June price represents the first month-to-month priceincrease in six months. Prices had been pressured due to near-perfect conditions for milk production as cows were milkingextremely well.

This all has been changing the past two weeks as record hightemperatures, coupled with oppressive humidity, have put a hugedent in milk production.

The early spring allowed for dairymen to squeeze out an extracutting of hay this year, but yields have been drastically cut as theprolonged dry weather curtailed alfalfa and hay yields, leading toserious hay shortages in some areas.

FARM BUREAU IN ACTION

FarmWeek Page 12 Monday, July 9, 2012

The Freedom To Grow

The Support To Succeed

Find out more about being a COUNTRY Financial representative.Go to www.countrycareer.com today.

0512-563HO Equal Opportunity Employer

Jo Daviess County FB ‘adopted’ lawmaker tours farmsBY CHRISTINA NOURIE

Rep. Carol Sente (D-Ver-non Hills) took a whirlwindtour of three Jo DaviessCounty farms recently cour-tesy of her hosts and the JoDaviess County Farm Bureau.

Sente was ‘adopted’ by thecounty Farm Bureau in 2010and hosted farmers on a tour

of her district last summer. Sente’s first stop was the

Car-Mar Farm, a third-genera-tion dairy farm that milks 425cows three times a day andhas 400 head of young stockon site.

The farmers discussed sev-eral important dairy-relatedissues, including, use of rBST,tail docking, and gestationstalls.

The representative learnedabout the care the animalsreceive and what farmers doto ensure their livestock

remains healthy and safe.Her next stop was Wildber-

ry Farm, a beef farm that hasbeen in the seed stock busi-ness for more than 30 years.

The group received anoverview on the breeding andraising of cattle as well assome of the challenges facedin the beef industry. After-

ward, the Jo Daviess CountyBeef Association provided agrilled steak lunch.

The final stop was the Gregand Janice Thoren farm,where they grow 2,200 acresof corn, soybeans, hay, wheat,and barley.

The tour included a discus-sion of and demonstration onthe use of GMOs and pesti-cides in crops. Sente also rodea tractor and learned aboutmodern farm equipment.

She commented that othernon-farmers need to comeout to the country and tourfarms to better understandagricultural issues, especiallythose who may challenge

how farmers raise their ani-mals or grow their crops.

Christina Nourie is IllinoisFarm Bureau’s northeast legislativecoordinator. Her e-mail address iscnourie@ilfb.org.

Car-Mar Farm is a third-generationdairy farm that milks 425 cows threet imes a day and has 400 head ofyoung stock on site.

Jo Daviess County Farm Bureau board member Greg Thoren, center, explains modern farm technol-ogy to Rep. Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills) as fellow county Farm Bureau board member Ronald LeeLawfer listens. Sente, who was matched with the county Farm Bureau through the Adopt a Legislatorprogram, toured Thoren’s farm and two others recent ly when she visi ted the county. (Photo byChristina Nourie)

Auction CalendarWed., July 11. 3:30 p.m. Farmmachinery and misc. Lawrenceand Carrol Farthing, MORRISON,IL. Lenny Bryson and Mark EbertAuctioneers. topauctions24-

7.com/paspolo.Sat., July 14. 9:30 a.m. Farmmachinery and misc. Phil Legel

and Reba Legel Estate, METAMO-RA, IL. Schmidgall Auction

Service, Inc. www.topauctions24-7.com/schmidgall

Sat., July 14. 10 a.m. Randolph,Jackson and Perry Co. LandAuctions. SPARTA, IL.BuyAFarm.com

Mon., July 16. 7 p.m. Shelby &Fayette Co.’s Land Auction. W.H.“Willie” Jones Trust, HERRICK, IL.

Wm. Beck and Cory Craig,Auctioneers.

Wed., July 17. 10 a.m. Skid Steer,Vehicles, Forklifts and miscella-

neous. Becker Farms, CHESTNUT,IL. Mike Maske Auction Service.Thurs., July 19. 11 a.m. DeKalbCo. Land Auction. HINCKLEY, IL.

www.mgw.us.comThurs., July 19. 5 p.m. Bids Due.

LaSalle Co. Land Auction.www.mgw.us.com

Fri., July 20. 10 a.m. Iroquois Co.Land Auction. WATSEKA, IL. mur-

raywiseassociates.comFri., July 20. 9 a.m. Farm &Construction Eq. ConsignmentAuction. TREMONT, IL. Cal

Kaufman and Brent Schmidgall,Auctioneers. tremontconsignmen-

tauction@yahoo.comSat., July 21. 9:30 a.m. Farmmachinery and miscellaneous.Marie Van Wassenhove, KEWA-NEE, IL. Rediger Auction Service.

ww.rickrediger.com

Tues., July 24. 9 a.m. Farming Eq.Dale and Joan Morton, TRILLA, IL.Schmid Auction and Realty Co.www.schmidauction.com

Tues., July 24. 10:30 a.m. Landand Gravel Pit Auction. Dan andPaula Ellberg, FORRESTON, IL.www.lennybrysonauctioneer.comWed., July 25. 1 p.m. Winnebagoand Ogle Co’s Land Auction. Heldat Monroe Center Fire Station.murraywiseassociates.com

Sat., July 28. 10 a.m. DeKalb Co.Farmland. Karrie Ruetten and KellyBarto, WATERMAN, IL. RedigerAuction Service and Brummel

Realty, LLC. www.rickrediger.comor www.brummelrealty.comSat., Aug. 4. 12 p.m. Fulton Co.Land Auction. Ione Hamman Est.,LONDON MILLS, IL. LowdermanAuction & Real Estate. www.low-

derman.comThurs., Aug. 9. 2 p.m. Moultrie Co.Land Auction. CHAMPAIGN, IL.Schrader Real Estate and AuctionCo., Inc. schraderauction.comThurs., Aug. 9. Summer FarmCloseout and Consignment Auc.

Agri-Tech Inc.Fri., Aug. 10. 9 a.m. Henry Co.Land Auction. ANNAWAN, IL.

Schrader Real Estate and AuctionCo., Inc. schraderauction.comSat., Aug. 18. 9 a.m. Large Multi-

Farmer Absolute Auction.OKAWVILLE, IL. RiechmannAuction. www.riechmannauc-tion.com, www.topauctions24-

7.com orwww.biddersandbuyers.comThurs., Aug. 23. Kankakee Co.Farmland Auction. Melba F. Novak

Trust Farm. Soy Capital AgServices. www.soycapitalag.com

from the counties

Page 13 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

ADAMS — An informa-tional meeting about the

Enbridge pipeline will be at 1p.m. Tuesday at the Farm Bureauoffice. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 275-7305 for reserva-tions or more information.

BUREAU — FarmBureau will sponsor a

health screening from 8:45 a.m.to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, atthe Farm Bureau office. Screen-ings include carotid arteries,abdominal aortic aneurysm,peripheral artery disease, andosteoporosis. Cost for membersis $100. Call 877-732-8258 foran appointment.

• Farm Bureau is sponsoringan Ag Olympics at 3 p.m.Thursday, July 26, during the 4-H fair. Participants are asked todress appropriately for becom-ing wet. Registration deadline isMonday, July 16. Teams will bedetermined the day of the event.Call the Farm Bureau office at875-6468 to register or moreinformation.

• Bureau and Lee CountyFarm Bureaus will sponsor a tripFriday, Aug. 17, featuring a boatride on the LaSalle Canal and atour of the Hegeler Carus Man-sion. Cost is $35, which includeslunch. Registration and pay-ment are due to the FarmBureau office by Monday, July30. Call the Farm Bureau officeat 815-875-6468 for more infor-mation.

CHAMPAIGN — Cele-brate Champaign County

Farm Bureau’s 100th anniver-sary by golfing Monday, July 30,at Stone Creek Golf Club,Urbana. Shotgun start at 8 a.m.Cost for a team of four golfersis $100 each and includes rangeballs, golf, cart, coffee anddonuts, lunch, and prizes. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 217-352-5235 for reservations ormore information.

COLES — Farm Bureauwill sponsor a Viewpoint

meeting at 9 a.m. Friday at DailyFeed and Seed, 8449 E CR 450N, Mattoon. Nancy Erickson,Illinois Farm Bureau director ofnatural and environmentalresources, will discuss fuel stor-age tank regulations and conser-vation issues. Call the FarmBureau office at 345-3276 forreservations or more informa-tion.

COOK — Farm Bureauand the University of

Illinois Extension will sponsor ababysitting workshop for pre-teens and teens from 9 a.m. to 4p.m. Friday, Aug. 10, at the FarmBureau office. Participants areasked to bring lunch, and FarmBureau will provide drinks. Costis $10. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 708-354-3276 by Friday,July 27, to register or for moreinformation.

• The annual Farm BureauFamily Celebration Picnic willbe from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday,Sept. 22, at Goebbert’s Farm, 40

W. Higgins Road, South Bar-rington. Tickets are $15 foradults and $10 for children 3-11.Children under 2 are free.Included in the cost will be amaze; wagon, pony, and camelrides; and haunted house orjumping pillow. Children willreceive one small pie pumpkinand lunch. Tickets must be pur-chased by Friday, Sept. 7. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 708-364-3276 for tickets.

EDGAR — A crop insur-ance meeting will be at

10 a.m. Thursday at the FarmBureau office. Country Finan-cial adjusters will discuss claimsfor crop insurance under thecurrent drought conditions. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 217-465-8511 or 217-465-8320 formore information.

EFFINGHAM — FarmBureau’s member appre-

ciation picnic will be at 6 p.m.Sunday, July 15, at EvergreenHollow Park, Effingham. Porkburgers, hot dogs, hamburgers,chips, baked beans, and coleslaw will be served. CountryFinancial agents will provide theice cream and South Central FSwill provide the drinks. MattPoss will provide the entertain-ment. Members may swim atKluthe Pool from 7 to 8:30 p.m.Call the Farm Bureau office at217-342-2103 by Tuesday forreservations. A drawing will beheld for those who make a reser-vation and attend.

LASALLE — The annualMarketing Committee

trip to Springfield will be Tues-day, July 24. The group will visitthe home and tomb of Presi-dent Lincoln, the Abraham Lin-coln Museum, and concludewith a Corn Belter’s baseballgame and barbecue in Normal.Cost is $85 for members and$95 for non-members. Call theFarm Bureau office at 815-433-0371 for reservations or moreinformation.

LEE — The Young Lead-ers Committee will have

its annual cookout at 6:30 p.m.Saturday, July 21, at Nathan andTiffany Hummel’s, 335 N.Blackstone Ave., Amboy. Thecookout is open to all membersbetween the ages of 18-35.Bring a dish to pass and yourown lawn chair. Call the FarmBureau office at 815-857-3531or e-mail leecfb@comcast.netfor more information.

• Bureau and Lee CountyFarm Bureaus will sponsor a tripFriday, Aug. 17, featuring a boatride on the LaSalle Canal and atour of the Hegeler Carus Man-sion. Cost is $35, which includeslunch. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 815-857-3531 for reser-vations or more information.

MONROE — Scholar-ships are available to

college students. Call the FarmBureau office at 939-6197 or e-mail mcfarm@htc.net to receivea scholarship application. Dead-

line to return applications is July15.

PEORIA — A farmlandassessment review pub-

lic hearing will be at 6:30 p.m.Thursday at the Farm Bureauoffice.

• Deadline to order Michiganblueberries is Friday. Blueber-ries are available in five- and 10-pound cartons. Members maypick up their orders on Thurs-day, July 19, at the Farm Bureauoffice.

• The Heart of Illinois Fairis Friday through Saturday,July 21, at Exposition Gar-dens, Peoria. Farm Bureauwill have an interactive displayin the Youth Exhibition Build-ing.

• Members are invited toparticipate in a golf scrambleSaturday, July 21, at LaurelGreens. Cost is $15, whichincludes golf and cart. Asteak fry is an additional $10.Call the Farm Bureau office byFriday for reservations ormore information.

PIKE — A “Planning forTransfer of the Family

Farm and Tax Changes” seminarwill be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tues-day, July 17, at the Farm Bureauoffice. Dinner will be served. Call285-2233, 285-4427, or yourCountry Financial representativefor reservations or more informa-tion.

SCOTT — A “Planning forTransfer of the Family

Farm and Tax Changes” seminarwill be from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.Tuesday, July 17, at the NimrodFunk Extension building, Win-chester. Lunch will be served.Call 742-3351 or 742-3182 forreservations or more information.

SHELBY — The ShelbyCounty Farm Bureau

Foundation will sponsor its annu-al Culumber Classic at 8 a.m. Sat-urday, at the National at EagleCreek, Findlay. New team cate-gories include Bicentennial, Fami-ly, and Farmer Team and FunFoursome. Cost is $50 for eachgolfer, which includes golf, cart,and lunch. Registration forms are

available at the Farm Bureauoffice. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 217-774-2151 or e-mailshelbycofb@consolidated.net forreservations or more information.

VERMILION — FarmBureau is taking orders for

Rendleman Orchard peaches.Cost for a 25-pound box is $23for members and $28 for non-members. Orders are due byTuesday, July 24. Delivery will bethe end of July or first part ofAugust. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 217-442-8713 or visit thewebsite {www.vcfb.info} formore information.

WOODFORD — Alandowner meeting for

those involved in the EnbridgeFlanagan South Pipeline projectwill be at 7 p.m. Monday, July 16,at the Community UnitedChurch, 300 North Main St.,Morton. Illinois Farm Bureaustaff will present informationabout the project. Call the FarmBureau office at 467-2347 or e-mail wcfb@mtco.com for moreinformation.

profitability

FarmWeek Page 14 Monday, July 9, 2012

Export inspections(Million bushels)

Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn06-28-12 13.9 21.5 22.206-21-12 7.6 19.5 30.0Last year 5.7 25.5 37.1Season total 1215.5 84.3 1321.0Previous season total 1424.8 103.5 1486.1USDA projected total 1315 1025 1700Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $29.47-$45.20 $37.2940 lbs. n/a n/a

Receipts This Week Last Week 76,020 73,650*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

MARKET FACTS

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

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $90.93 $95.08 -4.15Live $67.29 $70.36 -3.07

(Thursday’s price)This week Prev. week Change

Steers 114.00 116.36 -2.36 Heifers 117.00 116.03 0.97

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 Change 146.16 147.66 -1.50

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs.

Lamb prices

(Thursday’s price)

NA

Fertilizer market tight; new pricing tool unveiledBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The fertilizer market couldremain tight in comingmonths, based on a reportreleased last month.

The International FertilizerIndustry Association (IFIA)last month projected world fer-tilizer demand will continue toexpand through 2016.

Demand the next five yearswas projected to grow annuallyby 3.7 percent for potash, 2.3percent for phosphates, and1.5 percent for nitrogen.

“Reduced inventories andstrong crop prices are expectedto persist in the agriculturalcommodity markets because ofthe need to supply the fast-ris-ing food, feed, fiber, andbioenergy markets,” saidPatrick Heffer, director ofIFIA’s ag service. “This isanticipated to stimulate fertiliz-er demand.”

The industry is expected toboost fertilizer production aswell. But delays in expansionprojects, combined withincreasing demand, are expect-ed to keep the fertilizer mar-kets tight near-term.

About 250 new fertilizerplants around the world areprojected to come on line inthe next five years. But abouthalf of the projects face delaysranging from six to 18 months,which will slow the expectedgrowth in capacity.

Farmers who struggle to

find pricing information forfertilizer and other inputs forcomparative purposes now canuse a new tool to shop around.

Pro Farmer last monthunveiled an inputs monitorservice that is free at least intoAugust. Farmers and othersinterested in farm input pricescan use the online service at{www.inputsmonitor.com}.

Users of the inputs monitorcan click on the region of theirstate to get price quotes. Theprice quotes are from actualretailers in each area, althoughthe retailers won’t be listed byname.

“The whole goal is to levelthe playing field in the inputsmarket,” said Chip Flory, ProFarmer editor. “Farmers caneasily compare offers (forinput products) in their districtand across their state.”

The price survey for theinputs monitor includes morethan 300 retailers in 12 Mid-

west states, including Illinois.Flory said the need for

more price transparency in thefertilizer market began in 2008when commodity pricespeaked and then retreated,which left numerous retailersholding the bag in the form ofoverpriced fertilizer.

“A lot of dealers got caughtholding high-priced inventory.They don’t hold that kind ofinventory any more,” Flory said.“Price movement (as a result)has gotten clouded over time.”

Pro Farmer plans to add theinputs monitor to its risk man-agement products, whichmeans Pro Farmers specialistswill make purchase recommen-dations for everything fromfertilizer to diesel fuel.

Farmers in Illinois also can

New technology in good handsBY SID PARKS

I recently had the opportu-nity to speak with two groupsof individuals affiliated with

our FS com-panies. I cancomfortablysay, they get it!The “it” towhich I amreferring isthe under-standing andapplication ofinformation

management technologies.The first group was

GROWMARK’s 2012 summerinterns. These individualscome from 22 different uni-versities across North Americaand typically are a year fromgraduation.

Their skills vary fromaccounting to logistics, butthey are overwhelmingly fromthe farm, are agriculturemajors of one flavor oranother, and are looking forpractical experience in the agindustry.

GROWMARK has beenoffering an intern program formore than 50 years, and I ampleased to say the vast majorityof these interns eventually findtheir way into our system asfull-time employees.

You may encounter theseindividuals working in yourlocal FS cooperative, acquiringexperience in the fields oroffices, or working alongsidecurrent employees and gainingunderstanding in their chosenareas.

In return, our system gains atalented summer employee, aswell as the opportunity to eval-uate and gain potential futureemployees.

The second group involvedparticipants in training con-ducted by our agronomy serv-ices department. These ses-

sions are offered annually forthose who are or are in processof becoming FS crop special-ists.

Some call this week “bootcamp” because it is very rigor-ous in-field training. Theyleave at the end of the weekwith a greater understandingof the science and applicationof agronomy.

These individuals also comewith many expectations andare quite fearless when itcomes to technology. I givethem both theory behind pre-cision farming and informa-tion management and instruc-tion in practical hands-on datacollection.

Now, you might be asking,“What does this have to dowith the FarmWeek spaceallocated to farm profitabili-

ty?” For me — just abouteverything.

If we are to feed future gen-erations and be profitable inrunning our farming opera-tions, we all need to be com-fortable with current andfuture technology as itbecomes available. As I said inthe opening, our new andfuture employees “get it” andwill help you “get it” as well.

Your local FS cooperative isexperienced in maximizingcrop yields and using technolo-gy to operate most effectively.Contact them with any ques-tions for your farming opera-tion.

Sid Parks is GROWMARK’smanager of precision farming. Hise-mail address is sparks@grow-mark.com.

Sid Parks

REPORTING CROP LOSSES: Crop losses are losses onacres that were planted timely with the intent to harvest, but thecrop failed and could not be harvested because of a disaster-related condition.

To meet Farm Service Agency (FSA) program eligibilityrequirements, farmers must report failed acreage to their countyFSA office before disposition of the crop. Prevented plantedacreage must be reported to their county FSA office within 15days of the final planting for the applicable crop.

Farmers who have Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Pro-gram (NAP) coverage will be required to report crop losses with-in 15 days of the disaster occurrence or when the loss firstbecomes apparent by using an FSA form “CCC-576 — Noticeof Loss and Application for Payment Noninsured Crop DisasterAssistance Program.”

It is important for farmers to file accurate and timely reportsbefore the crop is destroyed to prevent the potential loss of FSAprogram benefits.

Failed acreage reports allow the FSA to maintain an accuraterecord to report how many acres of each crop were destroyed ordamaged by a disaster event. This information is used to deter-mine county and state eligibility for programs, such as the Aver-age Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program, as well as futurefederal farm programs.

‘Price movement( fo r inpu t sup-plies) has gottenc l o u d e d o v e rtime.’

— Chip FloryPro Farmer

get input price informationvia the Illinois ProductionCost Report released everyother week by the IllinoisDepartment of Agriculture’s

market news service.Information about the Illi-

nois report can be obtained bycalling 888-458-4787 or goingonline at {www.ams.usda.gov}.

USDA

Farm ServiceAgency

PROFITABILITY

AgriVisor Hotline Number

309-557-2274

AgriVisor endorsescrop insurance by

Policies issued by COUNTRYMutual Insurance Company®,

Bloomington, Illinois

AgriVisor LLC1701 N. Towanda Avenue

PO Box 2500Bloomington IL 61702-2901

309-557-3147

AgriVisor LLC is not liable for any damageswhich anyone may sustain by reason of inac-curacy or inadequacy of information providedherein, any error of judgment involving anyprojections, recommendations, or advice orany other act of omission.

CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

ü2011 crop: Sell remainingold-crop bushels now.

ü2012 crop: Get sales torecommended levels now!This surge will start to rationdemand. We prefer hedge-to-arrive contracts for makingsales.

ü2013 crop: If December2013 futures close below$5.98, price 10 percent ofyour 2013 crop.

vFundamentals: Thecentral focus remains thedrought in the Midwest. Theforecast is calling for a shift tocooler temperatures, but rain-fall amounts still appear to beminimal. If substantial rainsdevelop, the market would bevulnerable to a sharp break.The trade is looking forwardto the new USDAsupply/demand projections.In this mix, demand starts tobecome as important as sup-ply, and typically demandtends to underperform earlyestimates in years with highearly prices. Of recent year’sthis one has the best potentialof fulfilling the old adage,“short crops have long tails.”In other words, prices peakearly, and tend to declinethrough the marketing year.

Soybean Strategyü2011 crop: Wrap up any

old-crop sales now. ü2012 crop: Use rallies

above $15.25 on Novemberfutures for catch-up sales.

ü2013 crop: Price 10 per-cent of your 2013 crop ifNovember 2013 futures closebelow $12.99.

vFundamentals: In theshort term, weather is the pri-mary focus. As long as there’sno significant moisture relief,look for prices to remain firm.Temperatures are expected tocool, but little rain is expectedin the immediate future. Thetrade is looking forward to thenew USDA supply/demandestimates. While most of thefocus will be on supply,demand becomes equallyimportant with high earlyprices. China continues to bea steady, if not slightly aggres-sive, buyer and importer ofsoybeans. One has to consid-er the possibility the Chinesemay be accumulating a physi-

cal inventory of soybeans tokeep from getting caughtshort. If so, that could lead tosluggish demand this winter.

Wheat Strategyü2012 crop: The uptrend

in wheat remains intact, withprices being supported bycorn. Make catch-up saleswith Chicago September trad-ing above $8. The futures car-ry makes it attractive to storewheat into the winter but onlyif it’s priced or hedged. Wemay recommend an addition-al10 percent sale at anytime,so stay close to the Hotline. Wewill be watching closely to seehow far the drought situationcan carry the corn market.

But when prices break, thedecline will be as fast as therally.

vFundamentals: Thebasic fundamental structure inwheat remains unchanged,with the price surge linked tothe rally in the corn market.International wheat condi-tions have deteriorated, pri-marily in the Black Sea, Aus-tralia, and northern China.Recently, milling wheat pricesat Russia’s Black Sea portwere at an all-time high evenas harvest is getting underway. But even with the erod-ing world output, supplies arenot nearly as tight as theywere in 2008 or 2010.

Cents per bu.

Crop indices not as bad as 1988

Page 15 Monday, July 9, 2012 FarmWeek

to this year’s 48 percent.For 20 years, we have used an

index basing the ratings on a 1 to5 scale to gauge conditionsbecause it takes into account thepoor/very poor ratings as well. In1988, the poor/very poor ratingsescalated quite rapidly, easilyeclipsing those for this year’s crop.

So far, the trend of the cropratings is following the 2002 cropcloser than any other year. Thatdoesn’t imply this crop cannotget significantly worse, but itdoes suggest the outcome of the2002 crop is worth consideration.

That year, corn yield ended 7percent below trend, with soy-beans 6 percent below. Using thisyear’s trends, the respective yieldswould be 151.9 and 42.0bushels/acre. By comparison, the1988-based counterparts wouldbe 125.5 and 36.7 bushels/acre.

How the crops turn out isanybody’s guess at the moment,but it is worth noting that the1988 drought was arguably theworst drought since those inthe 1930s. That makes it amodern day extreme.

With all of the comparisonsto 1988 that are being floated, wethought it important to at leastput it in perspective. It was thelast significant drought we expe-rienced in the Corn Belt.

Even though this year’s cropshave deteriorated rapidly sinceplanting, they are still not as badas the crops were in the earlypart of the 1988 growing season.The initial 1988 good/excellentrating for corn was just over lastweek’s level for this crop. By July1, 1988, only 14 percent was rat-ed good/excellent, compared tothis year’s 48 percent.

The story is much the samefor soybeans, except that the ini-tial rating for the 1988 crop wassignificantly below even the cur-rent level for this year’s crop.But like corn, on July 1, 1988,only 16 percent of the crop wasrated good/excellent, compared

perspectives

FarmWeek Page 16 Monday, July 9, 2012

The debt crisis in Europeseems to defy resolution.Each new stumble down theeconomic path is met withnew resolutions by the heav-ily indebted to stop spend-ing more than they have, fol-

lowedshortlythereafterby an emer-gency week-end sum-mit, fol-lowed by anannounce-ment thatbriefly

makes the financial marketsfeel better.

However, upon furtherexamination of the actualterms of the announcement,the financial markets cometo realize that nothing hasreally changed. All that hashappened is that a newbandage has been placedover the gaping wound inthe hope that the bleedingwill stop and the patient willget better without having toactually go through the painof a permanent solutionthat will last past the nextweekend.

The latest case-in-point isthe bailout of the banks inSpain announced on June10. Spain claims it doesn’thave a sovereign debt prob-lem like the rest of thePIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ire-land, Greece, and Spain). Itsproblem is one of highlyleveraged banks thatfinanced a housing boombased on the cheap creditthat was thrown their waywith the introduction of theeuro.

Spain got so caught up inthe housing boom that con-struction spending was morethan 16 percent of grossdomestic product (GDP) in2007. For comparison, resi-dential construction spend-ing in the U.S. was about 5percent of GDP in 2007.

As seems to be the casewith central bankers thesedays, Spain’s central banksaw the housing bubble asno cause for alarm and con-tinued with loose monetarypolicies to encourage thecontinuation of the housingboom.

However, prices of resi-dences began to decline and

soon many homeownersowed more on their housesthan they were worth. Banksbegan to get houses backand the inventory of unsoldhomes began to climb, verysimilar to the situation in theU.S., except prices rosefaster and fell harder inSpain.

As the housing declinecontinued, banks began torealize that the mortgagesthey held as assets on theirbalance sheets were notworth anywhere close towhat value the banks wereplacing on them. If thebanks reduced the value ofthe loans, it would wipe outtheir capital.

From a sovereign debtperspective, Spain is notquite as indebted as otherEurozone countries. Butonce you count the bankdebt and personal debt,Spain is very heavily indebt-ed.

The program announcedrecently is not a loan to theSpanish government, but adirect loan to the Spanishbanks.

As such, it does notappear to have all the stringsattached that the loans toIreland, Portugal, andGreece have had.

Shortly after theannouncement, no one wassure whether the EuropeanUnion (EU) will use theEuropean Financial StabilityFund (EFSF) or EuropeanStability Mechanism (ESM)to finance the bailout. Itdoes make a differencewhich fund is used becauseESM funds will get a prefer-ence over the sovereign debtof that country in the eventof a default.

In other words, thesenew borrowings will be inline ahead of Spanish gov-ernment debt in the event ofdefault, which will makeSpanish debt less attractiveto potential buyers.

When the news was firstannounced, European finan-cial markets gained andSpanish bond yields declinedfrom 6.4 to about 6 percent.However, as market partici-pants began to really look atthe proposal, they began tosee the flaws. Spanish yieldson June 12 had climbedback to about 6.71 percent.

Just to add more fuel tothe fire, Cyprus also hasasked the European CentralBank for a bailout ofaround $125 billion, makingit the fifth country out ofthe 17-member EU to askfor one.

Since the bailout forSpain appears more lenientthan those given to Ireland,Portugal, and Greece, onehas to think those othercountries will be calling theEuropean Central Bank torenegotiate their loan terms.

Meanwhile, U.S. banksare bracing after a round ofratings downgrades fromMoody’s, S&P, and Fitch.

Moody’s reduced the rat-ings for 17 large banks Juneand it is estimated that thedowngrades could costthese banks billons of dol-lars in extra interestexpense.

The downgrades also willmake it more difficult forthe money market industryto find investments to put intheir money market funds.Most funds are required toown investments that arerated A-1/P-1. After down-grades, some of the banks’paper will be rated A-2/P-2,which will disqualify it forinclusion in money marketfunds.

I know it seems impossi-ble, but with fewer invest-ments to choose from,money market funds will bevying for a shrinking uni-verse of investments fromwhich to choose and yieldsmay fall from current levels.

The really sad news in allof this is that we believeinterest rates can stay lowfor at least a year, possiblylonger. Economies all overthe world are so weak thatthere will be little in the wayof inflationary pressures.

We also expect continuedmonetary stimulus from theFederal Reserve and mostother central banks aroundthe world in an effort tostimulate economies andward off deflation.

I’m afraid this means thatwe’re going to get more ofwhat we’ve already seen forthe past several years.

Bruce Finks is vice president forinvestments with Country Finan-cial.

BRUCEFINKS

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No change in Europe’s financial crisis

Dorothy was right: “There’s noplace like home!” And USDA RuralDevelopment concurs.

But as extraordinary as Dorothy’sWizard-of-Oz situation was, it wasalmost easier for her to find her way

home than it is todayfor some to buy ahome.

Most everyoneknows Dorothy’stale, but what’s your“no place likehome” story?

Maybe you live inthe same homewhere you grew up.

Maybe you inherited your residence.Or, as is common in agriculturalemployment, your home might beconsidered part of your compensa-tion.

What did it take for you to ownyour first home? Or, have you neverbought or built a home?

And what, you may wonder, dothese questions have to do with RuralDevelopment?

The answer is: Housing for ruralcommunities is the largest of all ofour Rural Development programs. Infact, our housing programs haveplayed a vital role in ensuring thatrural residents enjoy the same home-ownership opportunities that areavailable to urban and suburban resi-dents since 1949.

Over the past three years, we haveassisted more than 15,000 rural Illi-nois households with the purchase oftheir homes.

Here are some of those stories wehighlighted last month to celebrateNational Homeownership Month:

Bill Dawdy returned to Illinoisfollowing 14 years of military servicein Kosovo, Bosnia, and Iraq. Afterbeing away from his family for six ofthe last 10 years, owning a home wasa top priority. He and his wife, Kelly,and sons, Jakob and Colton, nowown a home in Bushnell, where theyare close to family and Bill’s work atNTN Bower in Macomb.

Kim Paulinski and her daughterlived with her parents. At age 30 shesaid, “Rural Development gave methe opportunity of homeownershipwithout financial assistance fromfamily or friends. The sense of free-dom is a great feeling.” And daugh-

ter, Kaylee, is excited about growingher own tomatoes on the deck, eventhough she doesn’t like to eat them— yet.

Mary MacLeod, Gerald, and theirtwo children lived in a two-bedroom,inaccessible apartment for 10 years.The children had to play in the park-ing lot, and Mary’s physical limita-tions made it difficult to movearound the apartment.

Their new Carbondale home hasan open floor plan with no stairs andthe children have their own bed-rooms and a yard with a white picketfence.

Javier and Damaris Hernandezand their two young girls were paying$600 per month to live in an apart-ment that did not provide adequateheat. They now own an attractive,well-insulated, three-bedroom homewith an attached garage and nicelylandscaped yard in Rochelle. Theirmortgage is around $700 per month.

Those are just a few of the recentexamples in which Rural Develop-ment has played a vital role inexpanding and preserving the foun-dation for a stronger and more pros-perous rural America and a strongeroverall economy.

USDA Rural Development hastwo home loan programs available tobuyers looking for homes in commu-nities with less than 20,000 people.We can guarantee fixed-rate loanswith their lender or offer a directloan for those who qualify.

Neither program requires a downpayment or mortgage insurance pre-miums, while offering the security ofa long-term loan with a fixed interestrate at record low levels.

There are many positive statisticsabout homeownership and the eco-nomic activity that it generates. Butwhat can’t be measured is the prideone feels and the level of determina-tion that exists in maintaining one’sown home.

Illinois USDA Rural Develop-ment is proud to be a partner withnearly 5,000 rural home buyers,every year.

Dorothy was right: “There’s noplace like home!”

Colleen Callahan is the state director ofUSDA Rural Development. Her e-mailaddress is Colleen.Callahan@il.usda.gov.

COLLEENCALLAHAN

No place like home

Letter to the editor policy