Illini Farm Report

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Benchmarking Soybean Production Systems
Emerson Nafziger, Extension Agronomist - University of Illinois
source: North Central Soybean Research ProgramSoybean farmers in ten states across the Midwest are being asked twenty questions. Todd Gleason has more on a Soybean Checkoff funded project to benchmark the yield impact of different production practices.The primary goal of the Soybean Checkoff…
2:32 radio
2:41 radio self contained The primary goal of the Soybean Checkoff funded project is to “benchmark” current yield and management practices in producer fields. This will happen across the north-central region of the United States. Think the Midwest. The “benchmark data” will help identify key management factors in each state and across the region. The hope is producers will use the information to increase soybean yield on their farms, and do that with an input-use efficiency that would improve profits. Essentially University of Illinois Extension Agronomist Emerson Nafzig…

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A New Way to Look at Soybean Management
Emerson Nafziger, Extension Agronomist - University of IllinoisUp next Todd Gleason talks with University of Illinois Extension Agronomist Emerson Nafziger (nahf-zig-er). Nafziger says ILLINOIS is cooperating with other Land Grants across the Midwest to gather field level data to find best management practices for the soybean. I’ve had this idea…
6:27
…really doesn’t have much power when you are done.University of Illinois Extension Agronomist Emerson Nafziger talking with Todd Gleason about a new initiative to gather data from soybean fields across the state. The effort is part of a larger multi-state North Central Soybean Research Program funded by state checkoff dollars to look at the effects of weather, soils, and management on soybean yields.

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Consumption Pace of Corn & Soybeans
FarmDocDaily ArticleThe price for corn has traded in a 25 cent range over the last two months. The price of soybeans has mostly traded within a 40 cent range. Todd Gleason explores this sideways pattern and how the pace of consumption has contributed the stable, if low, price structure.The sideways price pattern reflects on-going…
3:23 radio
3:34 radio self contained The sideways price pattern reflects on-going expectations of adequate supplies of both crops writes Darrel Good on the FarmDocDaily website. He says there is plenty to meet consumption needs during the current marketing year, but that the pace of consumption is continually monitored by the market to determine if those expectations should be altered. For corn, the pace of consumption can be monitored on a weekly basis for exports and ethanol production. The pace of feed and residual use is revealed on a quarterly basis with the release of the USDA Grain Stocks reports. Fo…

ifr160219–038
A Weather Market for Corn in 2016
Darrel Good, Agricultural Economist - University of IllinoisNearby corn futures remain above the early January lows, but continue to struggle under the weight of a number of negative market fundamental factors. Todd Gleason has more on the prospects for higher corn prices later this year. Those negative factors include both supply…
3:43 radio
3:54 radio self containedThose negative factors include both supply and demand considerations.On the supply side, domestic corn production has been large for three consecutive years and the USDA now projects 2015–16 marketing year ending stocks of U.S. corn at a 10 year high of 1.837 billion bushels. While those stocks represent a modest 13.6 percent of projected marketing year consumption, they are considered ample in light of prospects for another large South American harvest and projected foreign year-ending stocks of coarse grains that are nearly 40 percent larger than stocks of three years ago w…

Local Government Information and Education Network Webinar

REGISTER HERE

Thursday, February 18 from Noon - 1 PM
Professor J. Fred Giertz with the Institute of Government & Public Affairs will share his analysis of the current state budget crisis looking both at current and future impacts on local government budgets.  
J. Fred Giertz is a professor emeritus in the Department of Economics (where he served as head from 2007-2010) and a member of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He has been at the University of Illinois since 1980.  He received his Ph. D. in economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1970.  
Professor Giertz's major research interests are in the areas of public finance, public choice, and regional economic development.  He specializes in state and local taxation and expenditure analysis and in regional economic development issues. He has consulted with a variety of different gover…

ifr160205–032
About NCSA’s Blue Waters Super Computer
Scott Wilkin, NCSA Director Economic & Societal Impact - Univeristy of Illinois
Blue Waters Website
view Todd Gleason’s photosTodd Gleason tours the National Center for Supercomputing Applications Blue Waters facility on the University of Illinois campus.

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TCP–160203–02
The Meaning of Flowers
Source ArticleUp next… have you been wondering what flowers to give to your sweetheart, and just exactly what your choice is supposed to say to them? Todd Gleason has and he found an answer online from University of Illinois Extension’s Rhonda Ferree.

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Annie’s Project Interview with Ruth Hambleton
Ruth Hambleton, President Annie’s Project - Ashley, IllinoisUp next Todd Gleason from University of Illinois Extension explores Annie’s Project. It is a series of classes targeted to women wanting to learn more about record keeping and the farm.

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Bull Buyers Guide
Travis Meteer, Extension Beef Cattle Educator - University of Illinois
blog post sourcedownloadsIt’s that time of year when farmers and ranchers buy bulls for their herds. They’re likely sifting through stacks of bull sale catalogs. Todd Gleason has some advice on evaluating a sire’s potential.The first item on University of Illinois Extension Beef Cattle… 3:11 radio
3:22 radio self containedThe first item on University of Illinois Extension Beef Cattle Educator Travis Meteer’s list for buying a bull doesn’t have anything to do with the bull. He says the farmer, the rancher, first needs to know their market. They must understand what traits are value added-traits for the market they’re selling into, local freezer beef, retained ownership, alliances, branded beef programs, video sales, or fitting the production environment to a consumer demanded practice are all ways farmers are adding value to their calves. Meteer says bull selection should be based on tr…