The upcoming cooler weather should be all right for Illinois crops, seeing as how it is not a frost or freeze, according to USDA Illinois statistician Mark Schleusener of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.… MORE
Category Archives: Agribusiness
Harvest will begin in earnest
A warm, wet week finished off September for Illinois farmers. The statewide average temperature was 68 degrees, seven above normal. … MORE
Majority of crops reported in good-to-excellent condition
Depending on where you were in Illinois last week, the weather was ideal for farming.… MORE
Pritzker announces $2.2 billion Taiwanese commitment to purchase Illinois corn, soybeans
Gov. JB Pritzker announced Tuesday that Taiwan has made a $2.2 billion commitment to purchase Illinois corn and soybeans over the next two years.… MORE
Clean Energy Jobs Act focus of meeting
Michelle Knox, founder / owner of WindSolarUSA in Springfield, says business – facilitating renewable energy – is great.… MORE
Weekly crop report shows things coming down to the wire
USDA crop statisticians are out with the weekly crop report for Illinois.… MORE
Sustainable farming catching on in Illinois
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – “Sustainable farming” is catching on in Illinois. The Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District has developed a scoring system to help farmers evaluate how conservation-minded their practices are. The program, now used in 43 (and counting) Illinois counties, is S.T.A.R. – Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources. “The farmer can complete a…… MORE
Hy-Vee announces recall due to undeclared allergens
By Katherine Murphy BLOOMINGTON– Hy-Vee Fresh Commissary, based in Ankeny, Iowa, is recalling more than 6,000 pounds of ready-to-eat beef and chicken products due to mis-branding and undeclared allergens, according press releases from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Hy-Vee. The undeclared allergen is milk. The products were produced on Sept. 7 & 8, 2019.…… MORE
Favorable forecast for farmers
The weather forecast is pretty good for the state’s farmers.… MORE
Crops enter the home stretch under favorable conditions
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD– As the Illinois cash crops prepare to head down the stretch, the conditions and progress are halfway decent. USDA Illinois statistician Mark Schleusener says 75 percent of corn is in the dough stage, 34 percent in the dent stage, with about half in good to excellent condition. 93 percent of…… MORE
Blogs
Is federal mobilization the answer?
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…
Everyone counts and you could make the difference
By Mike Matejka How many federal dollars will there be for road repairs? To feed hungry families? How many Illinois representatives will there be in Congress? Are Illinois communities going to get their fair share? There’s only one way to ensure our community gets treated properly – answer the census. The every ten year U.S. census,…