...for your 'Road Trip' List!

I love out of the way places to travel and explore. A blacktop (a rural road) is one of my favorite things in all the world. They look the same just about everywhere I've ever been, but always hold a surprise or two. If you play your cards right you'll find something of interest and a great place to eat. Coming straight south from East Peoria, Illinois is a great road.

This one is wider than usual, and even has a name on the map, Springfield Road. There are many treats to see. If you are a "Lord of the Rings" fan you'll love the hobbit hole along the west side of the road. It sits there with a perfectly round door, just like those in the shire.

Once you drop down the mountain of a hill - for central Illinois - pass all the white fences, and mount the other side of the little valley, keep your eyes open for a pair of pines on the east side of the road (see the red pin on the map along Springfield Road). Hunkered down in those pines is a rock and plaque.

I think only those that have knelt upon the earth, filled their lungs with its sweet fragrance, and reached into it searching for a kernel of corn, can truly appreciate the rock and the acreage.

It is the birthplace of yellow dent corn. This is the place where a poor stand prompted Robert Reid to intra-seed a second open pollinated variety hoping for a good nick. It worked, and over the next forty years Reid and his son James diligently developed the new yellow dent corn variety. Eventually, it became the primary parent line behind nearly all modern corn hybrids.

If you farm, this is a sacred place to visit. 

Given that, I doubt it is a sacred place for the rest of the people in the vehicle. They'll need another reason. I would suggest the Harvest Cafe in Delavan. Bring your wallet, but do plan to have a magnificent meal in one of the most luxurious little spaces in rural route Illinois.

Click on any of the photos to show a lager version.

Illinois Soybean Summit Finishes On Time

Today I hosted the Illinois Soybean Summit. It, in the third year, has blossomed into a "must go" program. We heard from Arkansas farmers, a Nobel Prize winner, and a nationally known meteorologist, among others. There were about 350 in the audience.

SOYBEAN PANEL with Curt Kimmel, Wayne Nelson, & Chuck Shelby

CORN PANEL with Pete Manhart, Jacquie Voeks, & Bill Mayer

WILL the PIECES FIT with Sue Martin

CASH GRAIN PANEL with Greg Johnson, Aaron Curtis, & Matt Bennett

LAND VALUES in 2014 with Murray Wise

25th Annual All Day Ag Outlook at the Beef House

Brokers and analysts for WILLAg.org Illinois Public Media AM580 Urbana gathered at the Beef House in Covington, Indiana to talk about the commodity markets with more than 300 farmers during the 25th Annual All Day Ag Outlook. Click photo to enlarge.

Left to Right - Murray Wise, Joe Vaclavik, Jacquie Voeks, Aaron Curtis, Matt Bennett, Bill Mayer, Chuck Shelby, Todd Gleason (microphone in hand), Greg Johnson, Pete Manhart, Curt Kimmel, Jason Clapp, & Wayne Nelson

Jack Crowner, 1932-2014 - Farm Service Radio Network

Grain is Flowing Through the Canal

Excerpted from U.S. Grains Council website.

The February 6th U.S. Grains Council Chart of the Week shows the export destinations of U.S. grain, including soybeans, corn, sorghum wheat, rice and other, that was transited through the Panama Canal following the 2013 U.S. harvest season. According to the Panama Canal Authority, this is a record year for U.S. grain cargoes passing through the Canal, with more than 20.4 million metric tons shipped so far this marketing year, October through January. That's a 36 percent increase over the same time period last year. Approximately 4 million tons (157.4 million bushels) of U.S. corn and 1.6 million tons (62.5 million bushels) of U.S. sorghum have transited the Canal since October 2013.

U.S. corn cargoes shipped through the Canal have increased more than 78 percent compared to 2012 volumes. Considering the 2013/2014 U.S. corn crop featured record production while the 2012/2013 U.S. corn crop experienced a severe drought, this is not surprising. According to the USDA's January World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, U.S. corn production is expected to be a record 252.7 million tons (9.9 billion bushels) for the 2013/2014 marketing year that began in September 2013. This is a 30 percent increase compared to 2012/2013 marketing year.

China was the primary beneficiary of these cargoes with a 48 percent increase in shipments, followed by Japan and South Korea - end excerpt.

However, it is interesting to consider explanations for the slackened export pace of grains and oilseeds headed to Japan through the Panama Canal, as compared to the previous marketing year. Click on the chart and you'll see tonnage to Japan, Taiwan, and Guatemala are all trailing. This is surprising given 12/13 was a drought year. Here are some possible explanations. These nations have not yet regained full faith in the ability of the United States to be a reliable supplier. Or, since 2012/13 Gavilon has become a larger supplier of grains and oilseeds through United States west coast ports. This would mean fewer bushels of grains and oilseeds originating in New Orleans and transiting the Panama Canal.

NEBRASKA - a Movie Made with Real Farmers

A Conversation with the Freudenburg’s: Neal and Eula Freudenburg play a farm couple in the movie 'NEBRASKA'. It wasn't a stretch, because they are in fact a farm couple. Todd Gleason called them at their home one Monday morning in January and talked with them about their lives and the making of the movie.

Detroit's Urban Blight becoming Hantz Farms

During the 2013 AgMasters Program University of Kentucky's Ron Hustedde introduced agriculturalist to Hanrtz Farms. It is a project working to take the blighted areas of Detroit (between downtown and the 8 Mile Road) and turn them into farms. Todd Gleason spoke with Mike Score from Hantz Farms in 2010. You may listen to that interview.

Sunset in the Woods

China May Be Unhappy with Ukraine Grain Deal

There are reports China is unhappy with Ukraine. The two nation's struck a $3 billion 'Grain-for-Loan' deal in 2012. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying, at a regular press conference held February 27, 2014, when questioned on the issue said, "We have seen relevant reports. China is willing to further its strategic partnership with Ukraine. On the already signed agreements, we hope that the Ukrainian side will ensure the effective implementation. As to the specific issue you raised, to my knowledge, relevant reports are inconsistent with facts."

The reports suggest China is suing for return of its $3 billion loan because Ukraine did not ship agricultural products to China according to contract terms.

You may read from the official report here.

Team Converts Sugarcane to Cold-Tolerant Oil-Producing Crop

Urbana, Illinois — A team of researchers led by the University of Illinois reports that it can increase sugarcane’s geographic range, boost its photosynthetic rate by 30 percent, and turn it into an oil-producing crop for biodiesel production. These are only the first steps in a bigger initiative that will turn sugarcane and sorghum – two of the most productive crop plants known – into even more productive, oil-generating plants. “Biodiesel is attractive because, for example, with soybean, once you’ve pressed the oil out it’s fairly easy to convert it to diesel,” said Stephen P. Long, a University of Illinois plant biology researcher and leader of the initiative. “You could do it in your kitchen.”

But soybean isn’t productive enough to meet the nation’s need for renewable diesel fuels, Long said. “Sugarcane and sorghum are exceptionally productive plants, and if you could make them accumulate oil in their stems instead of sugar, this would give yoau much more oil per acre,” he said. Working first with the laboratory-friendly plant Arabidopsis and later with sugarcane, the team introduced genes that boost natural oil production in the plant. They increased oil production in sugarcane stems to about 1.5 percent. “That doesn’t sound like a lot, but at 1.5 percent, a sugarcane field in Florida would produce about 50 percent more oil per acre than a soybean field,” Long said. “There’s enough oil to make it worth harvesting."

The team hopes to increase the oil content of sugarcane stems to about 20 percent, he said. Using genetic engineering, the researchers increased photosynthetic efficiency in sugarcane and sorghum by 30 percent, Long said. And to boost cold tolerance, researchers are crossing sugarcane with Miscanthus, a related perennial grass that can grow as far north as Canada. The new hybrid is more cold-tolerant than sugarcane, but further crosses are needed to restore the other attributes of sugarcane while preserving its cold-tolerance, Long said. Ultimately, the team hopes to integrate all of these new attributes into sugarcane, he said. “Our goal is to make sugarcane produce more oil, be more productive with more photosynthesis, and be more cold-tolerant,” he said.

The team presented its latest findings this week at the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. The research team, led by the U of I, includes scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Florida, and the University of Nebraska. Long is an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology at the U of I.

Controlling Costs with Lower Crop Revenue: Cash Rents

by Gary Schnitkey, Extension Ag Economist, University of Illinois

Current projections put corn and soybean prices at much lower levels compared to prices between 2010 and 2012. Non-land costs are not projected to come down by the same amounts as revenues have declined. Current projections place operator and farmland returns below average cash rents, leading to the need to adjust cash rents down.  

Palmer Amaranth: A Weed on the Move in Illinois

The bane of the south is making its way northward.

The question at hand says University of Illinois Extension Weed Scientist Aaron Hager is not if, but when and where Palmer Amaranth will show up in Illinois fields. Maybe more importantly, how much damage will it do to the yield of a growing crop. He wrote about it in The Bulletin online. “The Bulletin” is ILLINOIS’ crop science and extension outreach webpage.

Hager notes research done by Adam Davis, USDA-ARS plant ecologist at the University of Illinois, has examined these questions.  Results demonstrate there are few landscape-level barriers to the

A Very Robust Demand Base for Corn & Soybeans

Livestock and ethanol are the goto users of commodities like corn and soybeans. As you'll hear these two sectors have now created a very robust domestic demand base for the crops.

Sampling Errors Associated with Grain Stocks

USDA tallies the amount of corn available in the United States quarterly. It does this through a survey. However the Grain Stocks report that is developed from the survey data has been suspect for a few years.   Listen to a short piece with Scott Irwin to learn more on the sampling errors associated with the amount of corn on hand or watch the longer form unedited video interview.

Learn more on the farmdocdaily website.

2012 Ag Census Infographic by University of Illinois Extension