Illinois AgriNews_011720

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Illinois yields decline

USDA issues final numbers for 2019 By Tom C. Doran

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture found more corn and soybean bushels from earlier “I” state yield projections, but also noted significant declines from 2018 in Illinois and Indiana. Here are the estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s final 2019 crop production report. ILLINOIS The corn yield was estimated at 181 bushels per acre, down 29 bushels from 2018 and 2 bushels above the November estimate. Planted area was estimated at 10.5 million and corn for grain was harvested across 10.2 million acres. Production was projected at 1.85 billion bushels, down 19% from last year. The Prairie State soybeans are estimated to average 54 bushels per acre, 9.5 bushels lower than last year and three bushels higher than the November estimate. The soybean planted area was estimated at 9.95 million acres with a harvested area of 9.86 million acres. Illinois harvested 10.5 million acres in 2018. Production was projected at 532 million bushels after producing 666.75 million last year. See YIELDS, Page A4

Corn yields

(Bushes per acre) Year Illinois Indiana 2007 175 154 2008 179 160 2009 174 171 2010 157 157 2011 157 146 2012 105 99 2013 178 177 2014 200 188 2015 175 150 2016 197 173 2017 201 180 210 189 2018 2019 181 169

SEE SECTION B

INSIDE

Women at risk for on-farm injuries A3 Flooding causes food safety concerns C5 Illinois swine breeding herd on the rise D4 AgriTrucker D1

Farms For Sale C1

Antiques C7

From the Pastures D6

Auction Calendar B1

Lifestyle C6

Business B6

Livestock D4

Calendar B2

Markets B6

Classifieds C4

Opinion B5

Vol. 42 No. 47

CONTACT AGRINEWS: 800-426-9438

AGRINEWS PHOTOS/MARTHA BLUM

Trevor Toland (right) and Carson Welsh check on a group of heifers grazing at River Oak Ranch. Although the cattle have only been grazing the pasture for a short time, Welsh said he can already see a big difference from utilizing a rotational grazing system.

Time of transition Cattleman sets goal to give young producer opportunities By Martha Blum

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

MACOMB, Ill. — Moving cattle through the managed intensive grazing system and monitoring the forage growth at River Oak Ranch will be the responsibility of Carson Welsh this year. The operation, owned by Trevor and Jane Toland, includes 250 grazing acres, 50 paddocks and nine ponds. The process to transfer the management of the system was started by the Tolands in February 2019. “The main thing was for me to get out of the responsibility,” said Trevor Toland, who recently turned 76. While on vacation, the couple started by using t-charts that included a plan with advantages, disadvantages and costs. “We did about six charts, and we started seeing the light for what we thought would be best which was a full lease,” Toland said. “I wanted to help someone get started, and I didn’t just want to

cess, Toland said, because there were not many guidelines to follow. “I wanted it to feel like a good opportunity for a young person,” he said. “Trying to find a per acre grazing rental cost is almost impossible because the range is huge.” “I looked online for ideas on how to write a lease, and I found some suggestions and forms,” Jane Toland said. “We had a lot of things to think about.” As the couple started to put together some numbers, they contacted Travis Meteer, University of Illinois Extension commercial educator, and Nic Anderson, business developer for the Illinois Livestock Development Group. “We talked for two to three Trevor and Jane Toland look over their lease agreement they developed for hours, and they helped with their grazing operation in McDonough County. The couple worked for several suggestions,” Trevor Toland months to write the lease so they had time to think about all the details that said. “They were really importwere required to help a young cattleman get started on their farm. ant in getting this done by telling us what they thought would think about profit,” he said. “I of the equipment, but I didn’t work well and some things that wanted to find a middle ground want it to be difficult for the les- weren’t going to work, as well.” between making some money see.” and being able to replace some This was a challenging proSee TIME, Page A4

Ag director reflects on whirlwind year By Tom C. Doran

applications in place for the growing season, then came the floods, delayed or prevent planting and dicamba issues. The year BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — 2019 began at concluded with preparations for legalized the Illinois Department of Agriculture with marijuana. a rush to have industrial hemp rules and Director John Sullivan, who resigned Jan. AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

ON DICAMBA The number of off-target complaints or dicamba and other products filed with IDOA rose from 350 in 2017 to 550 in 2018 and 950 last year. “Our goal was to try to bring the number of complaints down. After a lot of discussion and input, I made the decision to make the cutoff date to apply dicamba June 30. I thought that was going to help our situation and hopefully bring down the number of complaints,” Sullivan said. “What happened this year was the weather. In about the first week of June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture came out with their planted acres report and said that 49% of Illinois’ soybeans had been planted. The weather finally straightened out and a lot of soybeans finally got put in the ground. See DICAMBA, Page A2

ON INDUSTRIAL HEMP Online applications were made available May 1, and in the first 24 hours, IDOA received over 200 applications for about 5,000 acres permitted to grow hemp. At the end of the year, IDOA had received about 900 permits for growers and processors, including over 150 processor licenses and about 22,000 acres were permitted. Sullivan “I knew we could grow it, but the concern I had is what are we going to do with it once it’s grown. Who’s going to process it? When we started this venture there were no processors in the state, but we are making some gains on that,” Sullivan said. “The hemp industry is still in its infancy stages and has a long way to go. See HEMP, Page A2

13, reviewed the whirlwind year that was his first at the helm to open the Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable Jan. 8 hosted by Illinois Farm Bureau. Here are some highlights of the director’s report:

ON LEGALIZED MARIJUANA “Regardless about how you feel about it, I look at it this way: The Department of Ag mostly is a regulatory agency and we were authorized by statute to oversee, administer, permit, create the applications, write the rules and regulations for adult use marijuana with regard to craft grow, processing or infuser and transportation,” Sullivan said. “We have a small bureau, Medicinal Plants Bureau, which was the original bureau when medicinal marijuana was passed five or six years ago. Now in addition to medicinal, that bureau has taken on industrial hemp and has now taken on adult use. We are in the process of recreating that bureau,

ON COVER CROP PROGRAM About 1.5 million acres in Illinois did not get planted in 2019, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Sullivan in June to find ways that IDOA could help farmers with the challenges at hand. “I threw that question out to the department staff and one came back to me and said there were all of those acres that didn’t get planted this year and what if the department offers an incentive program to put cover crops on those prevent plant acres,” Sullivan said. Cover crops keep the weeds down, control erosion and probably most importantly help reduce nutrient loss. “We identified $500,000 in our budget, and we offered a program that would provide a farmer with a $5 per acre incentive to plant cover crops on those acres.

See MARIJUANA, Page A2

See COVER, Page A2


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