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.