(Washington, D.C., May 23, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will take several actions to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption. President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy to support American agricultural producers while…… MORE
Producers of many major crops are likely to see lower prices during this coming marketing year. (Gary Crawford/USDA) … MORE
GRIDLEY – As growers put the finishing touches on equipment preparation, seed delivery season is in full swing Now is the time to double check that seed list, making sure product placement and planting populations are known before heading to the field. This is also a good time to prepare variable rate seeding scripts. Seed…… MORE
SPRINGFIELD – There were 1.1 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending April 7, according to the weekly crop progress and weather report issued for Illinois on Monday afternoon. Statewide, the average temperature was 48.4 degrees, 1.1 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.34 inches, 0.32 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated at…… MORE
LEXINGTON – Since the fall season was cut short due to weather, nitrogen choices are a hot topic heading into the 2019 growing season. Anhydrous ammonia was not applied on as many acres as expected – which is forcing farmers to think of a different strategy for spring. “Obviously, the question is: Can we get…… MORE
USDA-NASS has released the 2018 county estimates for corn and soybean production. In McLean County, corn area planted was 314,500 acres with soybeans at 312,000. Corn area harvested was 313,500 with a yield per acre of 229.3 and production at 71,884,000 bushels. Soybean area harvested was 311,500 with an average yield of 69.1 and production…… MORE
January 15, 2019 With declining farm revenues and other industry factors, this is not the year to skimp on crop insurance protection. “This is a tough environment you are in and it’s not getting better,” said Doug Yoder, crop agency manager with COUNTRY Financial during an informational meeting in Fairbury last week. Through new…… MORE
January 14, 2019 BLOOMINGTON – A complimentary Central Illinois farm seminar event is set for Jan. 30 at the Holiday Inn & Suites on East Empire Street in Bloomington. The three-seminar event for farmland owners is presented by First Mid Ag Services, formerly Soy Capital Ag Services, and Ritchie Law Office, Ltd. Attendees will have…… MORE
January 11, 2019 MINONK – Many farmers are using the latest technology on their operations which opens up the perfect farm playbook. LG Seeds can perform on-farm testing in an area as small as two acres through Advantage Acre. “A planter can vary the population within those two acres and we can pick up those…… MORE
Farmers are finishing up just in time for the first shot of winter weather.… MORE
Several years ago, after the Politically Correct Athletic Association extorted the University of Illinois not to use any Native American symbols for its teams, I declared the name Fighting Illini meaningless…
As we recently marked July 4 and our nation’s independence, it’s hard to feel celebratory when one looks at our Southern border.
No Neck and his Democratic buddies patted themselves on the back and told us how happy we should all be now that we have a “balanced” budget for the first time in years.
Now that the spring legislative session is over, it’s amazing to reflect all that was completed: a balanced budget, legalized cannabis and a long-overdue infrastructure bill to fix our roads and bridges.