Extension Update is a weekly summary of news from Extension, government, and other attributable sources, focused on marketing, farm management, and other issues that are of interest to Midwestern farm owners and operators.

Statewide, March 2005 through Feb. 2006 has been the driest March-Feb. period in the last 75 years and the 3rd driest since 1895, says the IL Drought Task Force. “Much of northern and western IL remains in a severe drought. Streamflows increased temporarily, but have declined. Water levels in reservoirs in western and central IL have increased, but are still below full pool. Soil moisture below 20 in. and shallow groundwater levels remain below normal and are causing low baseflows in rivers and streams.”

What about 2006? The IL Drought Task Force says indicators point to the possibility of a dry summer and it expects a more rapid deterioration in water resources than occurred in 2005. The Task Force says southern and east-central IL are drought free. Read the Task Force report.

You don’t know your well is low until it goes dry. If you are concerned enough to start conserving well water, begin with laundry, showers, and toilets, which consume 80% of your household use. Decreasing water usage in these and other areas will reduce overall water needs. More.

900 mil. bu. and dropping. That is the USDA forecast for soybean exports, and Darrel Good hints USDA may be optimistic. The U of I marketing specialist says, “As of March 16, exports totaled about 671 mil. bu., 200 mil. less than on the same day last year.” China’s purchases, 46% of all soybean exports, are running 22% behind the pace of 2005.

Darrel Good says the soybean crush is 2.2% better than last year, with good export demand for meal, but protein content was down for the 2005 crop. Subsequently, the oil content was up, and oil stocks are at record levels in the face of soft oil export demand.

Darrel expects USDA’s report next week to predict 74.1 mil. planted acres, which is 73 mil. harvested. With normal weather and a 42.8 bu. trend yield, production would be 3.124 bil. bu. If consumption exceeds the 2.782 bil. expected this year, ending stocks in August 2007 would be 670 mil. Darrel Good says stocks at that level would be a $5.30 average marketing year price, based on the speculative demand seen for the 2006 crop.

Don’t check your calendar for the first bug infestation; check the IL degree-day calculator website which indicates the amount of heat units that have been available to hatch insect eggs. Visit the website.=# Select an insect, select a reporting station near you, and have it predict your area’s insect egg hatch.

When your crop scouting detects insect problems, visit the U of I insecticide website, which evaluates alternative products and applications. The 2004 & 2005 reports cover corn rootworms, Japanese beetle grubs, soybean aphids, two-spotted spider mites, corn earworms, black cutworms and bean leaf beetles.

Farm program payments are under pressure from budget deficits and world trade reform, and a reduction would impact land prices, says U of I ag policy specialist Bob Thompson, “There is a great deal of concern about cash rents. They’ve been blown all out of proportion because of the capitalization of the farm program payments and 1031 exchanges into the price of land. Now, would land prices crash if we had a significant change in our farm programs? I think it depends entirely on how they would be done.”

Federal funding is ending for the AgrAbility Unlimited program which provides appliances to allow disabled IL farmers to continue farming, as well as help older farmers with arthritis, heart problems, blood pressure and back problems continue working. 70 volunteers work the state and provide assistance. IL lawmakers last year unanimously passed the IL AgrAbility Act, but did not appropriate any money for it.

What does test weight have to do with the quality of soybeans? U of I grain quality specialist Lowell Hill says “not a thing,” and he’s glad USDA is considering a change. Hill says test weight is “informational,” along with moisture, seed size and hylum color.

Soybeans should be graded only on foreign material, fines, broken kernels, and total damage, defined as mold or any bacterial deterioration, discoloration or damage by heat, says Lowell Hill. Also included would be acid value, as currently measured and reported as milligrams of potassium hydroxide per gram. Hill suggests that non-grade standards for soybeans could include compositional attributes such as oil and protein where the optimal levels might differ depending on price relationships and the end use.

Impact, Inteon, Stout; what are they? U of I weed specialists have analyzed the new products on the market, identifying their blended ingredients, and giving guidelines on application rates and timing. Visit the website.

Fuel #1. U of I researchers have developed a new way to dry mill corn, which uses less energy, yields more ethanol, and results in two new high value products: corn germ and corn fiber. These two products are separated from the corn starch before it is fermented.

Fuel #2. The new U of I ethanol production process increases the value of corn, since the germ and fiber can be recovered. Ag engineer Vijay Singh says corn germ sells for 11-15 cents per pound; corn fiber oil sells for $8-10 per pound. With the conventional dry grind corn milling process, the distillers dried grain (DDGS) is valued at 3-4 cents per pound.

Fuel #3. Another U of I researcher is taking the corn fiber from the distillers dried grain, and using it as a feedstock to produce an even higher octane corn-based fuel. With the help of bio-engineered bacteria, costs have been reduced in the production of butanol, which does not absorb water like ethanol and can be transported by pipeline.

Stu Ellis

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