Agricultural News in Piatt County, Illinois
Reed Elected By Corn Growers
Jim Reed of Monticello has been elected Chairman of the
Industrial Committee of the Illinois Corn Growers' Association.
Reed has been active in ICGA for many years. He is a former
President of the Piatt County Farm Bureau. The Illinois Corn
Growers' Association coordinates market development, legislative
initiatives, and public relations programs designed to benefit
Illinois corn producers. The Association is goverened by
a 15-member Board of Directors consisting of three at-large
directors and directors representing specific geographic
districts in Illinois.
The Illinois Corn Growers' Association is funded by member
dues. The related Illinois Corn Marketing Board administers
the corn checkoff funds from a fraction of a cent paid on
each bushel of corn sold, which finance corn research and
marketing efforts.
Reed was elected at the Illinois Corn Growers' meeting in
Bloomington November 25, 2008. |
Harvest Is Better Than Expected
Farm operators and farmland owners in Piatt County are pleasantly
surprised by the harvest. The historical - nearly Biblical
- flooding in May and June caused a lot of dismay among elevator-office
conversationalists who were very anxious to get into the
fields for the extensive replanting. The growing season was
delayed so much that corn and soybean harvest had barely
begun by the end of September. On September 28, only 4% of
corn and 6% of soybeans were harvested statewide, compared
to 32% of the corn and 25% of the soybeans a year ago.
Topflight Grain Co-op, merchandiser of most Piatt County
corn and soybeans, estimated today (October 13) that 24%
of the soybeans and 53% of the corn in their area has been
harvested. The average corn moisture Topflight elevators
measured Sunday, October 12, was 18.76%.
Yields this year will not be as high as last year. In 2007,
Piatt County was the top-yielding soybean county in Illinois
at 56 bushels per acre. 2007 corn yield was 191 bushels per
acre. In 2005 Piatt County was the fourth-highest corn yielding
county in Illinois with 182 bushels per acre, and the third-highest
wheat yielder, at 92 bushels per acre. Piatt County is usually
in the top five counties in the state in crop yields. Last
year's cash receipts from crops grown in Piatt County was
$93.3 million, making agriculture by far the county's biggest
business. |
Farm Commodity Conference
Scheduled
Illinois farm commodity organizations have again joined
forces to host the 16th annual Illinois Commodity Conference,
scheduled this year at the Double Tree Hotel in Bloomington,
IL., on November 25, 2008. The groups hosting the event are:
Illinois Corn Growers' Association, Illinois Beef Association,
Illinois Milk Producers' Association, Illinois Pork Producers'
Association, Illinois Soybean Association, and Illinois Wheat
Association.
Headline speakers for the event are Jim Wiesenmeyer, Vice
President of Informa Economics, who will update changes in
the Washington outlook after the election; broadcaster Orion
Samuelson, who will discuss changes in the ag industry; and
Robert Zubrin, who will predict the outlook for biofuels
in the next 10 years. Conference registration information
is available at 309-557-3257. |
Texas Oil Man Continues
To Boost Alternative Energy
Legendary Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens raised a few eyebrows
when he voiced the opinion that America is in a hole and
it's getting deeper every day because we import 70% of our
oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual
cost of the Iraq war. He advocates a smorgasbord approach
using multiple sources of domestic renewable energy sources,
so we get away from using 25% of the world's oil.
In his latest foray Pickens has released four new ads for
television. In the ads, Boone talks about how the Iranians
are moving quickly to vehicles powered by natural gas so
they can free up their $120 a barrel oil to sell to us. Boone
says: "Get this one. Iran is changing its cars to run
on natural gas and we're not doing a thing here..."
The problem? NBC won't run the ads and wants Pickens to
PROVE that "we're not doing a thing here."
On Pickens' web site http://www.pickensplan.com/ you will
find comments like - I've been an oil man all my life, but
this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of. But
if we create a new renewable energy network, we can break
our addiction to foreign oil. On January 20, 2009, a new
President gets sworn in. If we're organized, we can convince
Congress to make major changes towards cleaner, cheaper and
domestic energy resources.
-from Illinois Corn Growers' Association. |
Topflight Grain Moves
Headquarters To Monticello
Topflight
Grain Cooperative recently moved its main office from Bement
to Monticello. Relocating to Monticello were General Manager
Scott Docherty, Controller Chuck Bentley, and Accountant
Rodd Runyen. The Monticello location is more central to
Topflight's grain elevator locations at Atwood, Bement,
Cisco, Emery, LaPlace, Milmine, Maroa, Monticello, Pierson,
and Seymour. Topflight Grain Cooperative was formed from
a merger of Bement Grain, Unity Grain, and Cisco Grain
several years ago. Later Monticello Grain also became part
of what is now the largest grain elevator cooperative in
Illinois.
Topflight Grain Cooperative also is a part-owner
of United Prairie, a supplier of agricultural inputs, and
One Earth Energy, LLC, which is constructing a 100-million-gallon
dry-mill corn processing plant in Gibson City, Illinois,
to make ethanol and distiller's grains. Mr. Docherty is
presently Chairman of the Board of One Earth Energy.
Visit Topflight Grain's website at www.topflightgrain.com. |
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