Land Values Showing Softness Across Illinois

Joanna Schroeder

Illinois Society of Professional Farm ManagersThe Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers announced during the 2014 Farm Progress Show held this week in Boone, IA that prices being paid for farmland across Illinois have seen a “softening” from 2.0 percent to 4.1 percent. This was discovered during the organization’s Midyear Land Values Snapshot Survey.

The decline was found for the first half of 2014 but survey respondents believe the trend in prices paid will stay the same or decline modestly over the next year according to Dale Aupperle, with Heartland Ag Group, LTD and the chair of the report.

More specifically, for the first half of 2014, land values decreased:

  • 2 percent for excellent quality farmland (over 190 bushels per acre);
  • 3.7 percent for good quality farmland (between 170-190 bushels per acre);
  • 4.2 percent for average quality farmland (between 150-170 bushels per acre); and
  • 6 percent for fair quality farmland (averages below 150 bushels per acre).

“Participants were evenly divided on expectations for volume in the second half of 2014: 33 percent expect more land being offered for sale in the second half of than last year while 38 percent expect the same amount of land and 29 percent expect less,” said Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D. with the University of Illinois College of ACES, who conducted the study. “Local farmers are still the primary buyers.”

To learn more about farmland prices in Illinois, listen to the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers press conference:Land Values Showing Softness in Illinois Presser

View the Farm Progress 2014 Flicker photo album.

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by AgLeader
Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Progress Show

EPA Official Talks WOTUS at FPS

Cindy Zimmerman

fps14-epaEnvironmental Protection Agency Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks held an informal press availability at the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday to mainly talk about the proposed Waters of the United States rule. He stressed the point that has been made by other officials that the rule exempts all normal farming practices that are currently exempt.

“If you did not need a permit from the (Army) Corps (of Engineers) or the EPA before this rule becomes final, you will not need a permit from these agencies after it becomes final,” said Brooks. He admits that the so-called “interpretive rule” part of the proposal needs some work. “From the get-go that was not well explained and has not been well understood. I’m fairly sure that the agencies will take another look at that.”

Brooks knew nothing about the maps released by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Wednesday which reportedly appear to detail the extent of EPA’s “Waters of the United States” proposal, but he said the final rule will be dependent on the results of an independent scientific review. “We know we need to have the science firm before we make the law to follow the science,” he said. EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks

2014 Farm Progress Show photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by AgLeader
Audio, Farm Progress Show

FMC Capture LFR & the Zone of Protection

Joanna Schroeder

capture_lfr_logoIt’s time to talk about the Zone of Protection offered by FMC’s Capture LFR Insecticide. I first heard this term from Gail Stratman, the Midwest technical sales lead for FMC who spoke with Cindy this week. FMC was one of our sponsors for the 2014 Farm Progress Show.

Capture LFR is an insecticide that is specifically designed to combine, or go in, a grower’s in furrow starter fertilizer and that provides an outstanding convenience for growers because he is able to apply is fertilizer and insecticide together in one pass,” explained Stratman. “As we know in this day in age, convenience is very important because growers have a lot to do in a very short period of time and especially in that planting window in the spring.”

Stratman also said this allows a grower to combine two operations into one tank, providing outstanding convenience and great control. Specifically, it helps control pests such as wireworm, cutworm, grubs, armyworm, seed corn maggot and common stalk borer. After several of years of work with Capture LFR, growers are seeing yield bump of 8-10 bushels per acre.

Stratman encourages growers who haven’t tried Capture LFR or an at plant in furrow insecticide treatment because a grower will see higher stand increases, greater plant health and higher yield potential.

To learn more about FMC Capture LFR Insecticide and the Zone of Protection listen to Cindy Zimmerman’s interview with Gail Stratman: Interview with Gail Stratman

View the Farm Progress 2014 Flicker photo album.

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by AgLeader
Agribusiness, Audio, Crop Protection, FMC, Insecticides

Growth Energy Displays a Model Ethanol Plant

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Supports EthanolAs part of New Holland’s commitment to being the Clean Energy Leader the company is very publicly and actively showing its support for biofuels like ethanol. During the Farm Progress Show not only could you find displays showing how and why the company supports home grown energy but there was also a special display on hand from Growth Energy. New Holland has partnered with Growth Energy for several years now.

You can find out about this display in this video I did with Kelly Manning, Vice President of Development. The educational display is under glass and is a fully built-to-scale ethanol plant showing how the feedstocks come into the plant and how the products made are then delivered from the plant.

2014 Farm Progress photo album.

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by AgLeader
Agribusiness, Biofuels, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, New Holland, Video

Corn Growers at Farm Progress Show

Cindy Zimmerman

fps14-ncga1National Corn Growers Association officers were out in force at the 2014 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa this week.

Right out of the gate on the first day I met up with NCGA chairwoman Pam Johnson of Iowa, First VP Chip Bowling of Maryland, and President Martin Barbre of Illinois. It was a soggy start to the show on day one, while day two was lovely, and day three was a complete wash out.

gps14-ncga-chipChip stepped up to the podium in the media tent on day one to talk about our record corn crop in the fields this year. “We’re keeping a close eye on corn prices and are greatly concerned about efforts in Washington that may reduce or stifle demand for corn and raise the cost of production,” said Bowling, specifically noting the EPA’s proposal to lower volume obligations for ethanol under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Chip Bowling, NCGA comments on record corn crop Interview with Chip Bowling, NCGA

fps14-ncga-robNCGA soon-to-be Vice President Rob Elliott of Illinois sat down with us to talk about NCGA’s involvement in the American Ethanol NASCAR program which has had the popular racing platform running on 15% ethanol. “We’ve had about a four year program with Growth Energy and others to talk to 100 million NASCAR fans,” he said. “NASCAR in its three levels has run over six million miles (on E15) which is the same number of miles EPA drove to prove E15 to be a good fuel!”

Listen to our interview with Rob here: Interview with Rob Elliott, NCGA

2014 Farm Progress Show photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by AgLeader
Audio, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, NCGA

Typo 2 Keyboard for iPhone 5/5S

Chuck Zimmerman

Typo 2I took the new Typo 2 Keyboard for iPhone 5/5S on the road with me this week. It has a very different feel to it and very needed changes on the keyboard. You can see the new features in the video below but one in particular makes a big difference between using version one.

The Typo 2 now has a keyboard button that lets you lock the keyboard. Now you can put it in your pocket or wherever and it won’t accidentally turn the phone on when you bump keys. The keys on this new keyboard are also shaped differently with less curves in them. I find it even easier to type on.

So, if you’ve been missing your old Blackberry keyboard and have an iPhone 5 or 5S here’s your alternative and it’s available for order now.

Typo 2 Demo from Typo Keyboards on Vimeo.

Equipment, Technology

Final Farm Progress Show Day Cancellation

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Progress Show New HollandWell the show started to go on today. However, the weather finally deteriorated and the Farm Progress Show has just announced final day cancellation since lightning has entered the area. I got my notice via Twitter. The first two days were great and the ZimmComm Team got everything done that absolutely had to be done. We wish we could have had this last day to spend some time with a few more companies. We have lots of stories to continue telling you though.

As you might have guessed, my team assignment has been New Holland. I can’t thank them enough for their continued support which is now approaching a decade! But I also want to say a big thank you to all our sponsors both here on AgWired and also on Precision.AgWired.com. We couldn’t do it without you!

2014 Farm Progress photo album.

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by AgLeader
Farm Progress Show

Home Grown

Melissa Sandfort

20140827_084030Summer is one of my favorite seasons (not that I have many to choose from!) for a number of reasons. I enjoy sitting in my new rocking chair on the front porch at dusk, watching for deer and turkey to walk through the yard. I love going to the lake and letting the kids play on the beach. I love firing up the grill and cooking burgers. And I LOVE the fresh fruit and vegetables.

This summer, my in-laws planted quite the garden and have been sharing the goodies with our family. I cooked, cut and froze more than 400 ears of sweet corn; we’ve had spaghetti squash, cucumbers galore, potatoes, cantaloupe and if I liked them, could’ve had tomatoes. If you can see in the picture, there’s a lighter colored cucumber on the top of the pile. These are Syrian cucumbers – the seeds came over from Lebanon with my grandfather and my grandmother (featured in AgWalk!) has kept the seeds growing over the years. She shared some with us this year and my father-in-law had success growing them. At the end of the season, you let one get big and save the seeds. The great thing about these cucumbers is that you don’t peel them, and no matter how big they get, they’re never bitter.

Gardens can be quite a bit of work and let me tell you, theirs is pristine. Straight rows, no weeds and some of the best cantaloupe I’ve ever eaten. I’m very thankful for their efforts…and maybe next year we’ll have a garden at our house! Until then, it’s cucumbers for late-night snacks.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • The National Sorghum Producers board of directors elected officers and appointed two new individuals to the board last week during its annual August board meeting.
  • DuPont announced construction on two state-of-the-art centers dedicated to developing and testing seed treatment formulations, applications and seed handling techniques in an important step toward bringing new solutions to growers.
  • Valmont Industries, Inc., a leading global provider of engineered products and services for infrastructure and mechanized irrigation equipment for agriculture, announced that it has acquired a majority interest in South Dakota-based AgSense.
  • U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is launching a new campaign entitled I AM FARMLAND geared to help support the expanded distribution of FARMLAND, a new feature length documentary about the lives of young farmers and ranchers.
Zimfo Bytes

Jeff Simmons, Elanco, Accepts #ALSIceBucketChallenge

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff Simmons ElancoAnother ALS IceBucketChallenge has been met. This time it’s Jeff Simmons, Elanco Animal Health. He received my challenge and he has answered it and issued his own.

Here’s what Jeff did:

Elanco president Jeff Simmons accepts the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Chuck Zimmerman and Tyson president and CEO Donnie Smith, then challenges U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heifer International CEO Pierre Ferrari, Land O’Lakes CEO Chris Policinski and Mike Engler, CEO of Cactus Feeders. In addition, a $100 donation will be made to the ALS Association.

Now I’m just waiting on Kelly Schwalbe, BCS Communications to get back in touch with me since he’s my one remaining challenge! Thanks again to Abe Hughes, New Holland, for taking care of business last night.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Elanco