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September 1, 2014 • $1.00
PARTICIPATION FALLING Number of players in youth football leagues has dropped 11 percent since 2011 / B1 NWHerald.com
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Reform measure signed into law More oversight powers for RTA By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Harry Alten of Harvard examines an ear of corn Friday at his farm in Harvard. According to Alten, the wet, cold spring followed by a dry June was not good for the corn, although the crops seem to be doing well now. He also said that while you can make educated guesses on how the crops are doing, the only time it really matters is when you go to cash them in.
Crop yields look mixed Farmers: Conditions more favorable for corn than beans By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
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xpectations are high for corn and soybeans this year, but area farmers say it’s too early to tell just how well the crops will do. Michele Aavang said she couldn’t yet hazard a yield estimate for her own crop in Woodstock, but did say conditions were ripe for good news – at least for corn. “Overall, corn looks great,” said Aavang, who is president of the McHenry County Farm Bureau. “Corn likes it a little cooler, so it’s liked the relatively cooler temperatures we’ve had.” Soybeans, however, might be another story. “I would just call them OK,” she said. “They like it hotter – around 90 degrees during the day ... and we just haven’t had that.” At the start of the month, it was projected statewide corn yields could get up to 188 bushels per acre, up 10 bushels from 2013, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release. If realized, the Aug. 12 release said Illinois’ corn yield would set a state record, surpassing 180 bushels per acre in 2004. The USDA estimated soybeans at 54 bushels compared to
Harry and Dennis Alten of Harvard examine an ear of corn Friday at their farm in Harvard. The Alten family has been farming in the area since 1956, and only in the past two decades has switched to primarily corn and soybean crops.
“As far as corn and beans go, the key will be September. Corn is starting to fill out nicely, and beans – we’ll have to see what happens with beans. If it stays wet, beans will see more mold. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.” Michele Aavang, president of the McHenry County Farm Bureau
49 in 2013. The statewide projections exceed yields from previous years in McHenry County, with last year’s countywide corn yield at 160 bushels per acre, 2012’s at 124
and 2011’s at 175. Despite having a mostly sunny outlook for the 2014 harvest, Aavang said it’s not all good news. Fairly depressed markets in
recovery after the 2012 drought mean it’s expected to be a low-revenue year. The latest USDA estimates, released Thursday, have set Illinois corn at $3.70 per bushel – equal to the national price – compared to 2013’s $6.09 in Illinois. “It would be nice to have high yield and high demand,” Aavang said. “But this year, it’s just not going to happen. We’ll have good yields, but fall short on the price.” Harry Alten of Alten Farms Inc. in Harvard echoed similar concerns. “High yield is a good thing if we got a good market,” he said. “But grain prices are down quite a bit, and that’s because we have an anticipated oversupply.” However, Alten said crop yield on his own farm likely won’t hit the projected heights of 180 bushels or above. Just walking the field, his offthe-wall corn yield estimate was 130 to 140 bushels per acre this year. “Driving around the county, it looks like there were some areas that drowned out in the spring, but it still looks relatively good,” Alten said. “As far as our particular farm, it’s going to be alright
See CROPS, page A4
A reform bill aimed at Chicago’s mass-transit agencies in the wake of back-to-back scandals at Metra is now law. Gov. Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3056 into law last month, which returns more financial oversight power to the Regional Transportation Authority, the umbrella board for Metra, Pace and the Chicago State Rep. Transit Authority. The Mike Tryon bill began working its R-Crystal Lake way through the General Assembly last spring following the most recent leadership scandal at Metra and the release of a scathing report concluding the agencies are run by “a wasteful and often dysfunctional bureaucracy.” The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires the RTA to review any bonus
See REFORM, page A4
Finding job in ‘industry time forgot’ Women seeking work on construction sites By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press NEW YORK – Janice Moreno graduated from college with a degree in English literature, but never landed a job paying more than $12 an hour. Now, at 36, she’s back in the classroom – in safety glasses and a T-shirt – learning how to be a carpenter. “I believe it’s going to pay off,” she said amid instruction in sawing techniques. If Moreno’s six-week training program in New York City leads to a full-time job, she’ll have bucked long odds. On this Labor Day weekend, ponder the latest federal data: About 7.1 million Americans were employed in construction-related
See WORK, page A4
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