The delay in getting crops harvested and fall tillage completed makes one wonder when harvesting will be completed. To say the least, it has been an out of the ordinary year.

One of the biggest concerns this fall has been wet corn. To address the issue, U of I Extension specialists have scheduled a program on December 3 that you can attend from your computer at home. Check out the article in the newsletter for the specifics on how to attend.

When the harvesting is finished and tillage and fertilizing activities are completed for the year, it is time to start planning for next year. Some of the planning could include taking advantage of the many workshop opportunities offered in the area by U of I Extension. A listing of the workshops can be found later in the newsletter and brochures for some of them also included. In particular with the current economic conditions facing farmers, the December 17 Farm Economic Summit will be a very valuable experience.

If you need to be certified, or recertified as a Private Pesticide Applicator, the Boone County training and testing workshop is scheduled for Friday, February 19.

The Boone County Extension staff wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving and a Joyous Holiday Season!

Sincerely,

Earle Mailand

County Extension Director

Boone County Extension

With late planting of corn, a cool summer, and a record wet fall many crop and livestock producers are faced with questions and concerns with corn over 25 to 30 percent moisture, presence of yeast, molds, and mycotoxins. University of Illinois specialists are scheduled to answer these questions and concerns in a Webinar on Thursday, December 3 from Noon to 1:00 Central Standard Time.

To register, go to https://www1.gotomeeting. com/register/169847248. Once registered, you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar. However, the system requirements include:

• PC-based attendees: Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
• Macintosh-based attendees: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer Topics to be covered include:
• Status of wet molds and mycotoxin formation
• Updates of mycotoxin levels measured in commercial labs
• Storage alternatives including drying, high moisture corn, and use of propionic acid
• Pricing wet corn
• Feed value of immature corn for livestock
• Mycotozin binder choices
• Questions from participants.

Jim Morrison, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension, 815-395-5710 morrison@illinois.edu

As more glyphosate-resistant corn hybrids are planted, so has the prevalence of volunteer corn in soybean fields. Not only can volunteer corn reduce yield and crop quality of soybean, but research has raised the question of the potential impact volunteer corn may play in the resistance management of western corn rootworm.

Vince Davis, University of Illinois Extension soybean specialist, suggests these fall strategies to help minimize volunteer corn in soybean fields next season.

• Make note of the pressure of volunteer corn in soybean fields and determine how dire changes in harvest practices need to be this fall in regard to timing and settings.

• Make note of corn fields that you may expect will have more volunteer corn next year because of "downed" corn or dropped ears. Next, adjust your crop and/or herbicide plans as necessary to possibly avoid an additional herbicide in your postemergence program in those fields.

• Assess the density of volunteer corn early in the growing season next year. Volunteer corn does not look as "thick" early in the season before it starts to tower over the soybean canopy.

For further information and details see Davis's article in the University of Illinois Pest Management & Crop Development Bulletin, located at this web site: http://ipm.illinois.edu/bulletin/article.php?id=1212

January 6-8, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Springfield, IL

The Illinois Specialty Crops, Agritourism, and Organic Conference will be held January 6-8, 2010, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield, IL. Three pre-conference workshops (concurrent) will be offered during the daytime on Wednesday, January 6, which will include "Grow Your Market: Creating a Memorable Experience for Customers," "Getting Started in Local Food Production and Marketing," and "Expanding Seasons and Markets with High Tunnels."

On Thursday and Friday, January 7-8, the conference will kick off with an opening session entitled "From Market Gardening to Commercial Readiness: Keys to Effective Production and Marketing Across a Range of Market Arenas" by Tim Woods, University of Kentucky. The remainder of the conference will include the traditional concurrent breakout sessions on fruits, vegetables, herbs, irrigation, agritourism/marketing, and business management. New to the conference this year will be two organic tracks. Thursday evening will feature a banquet followed by the announcement of the annual cider contest winners and comments from Doc Patterson, Fire Service Chaplain for the Lake County Honor Guard.

Peach and apple production will take center stage of the fruit breakout sessions with talks on disease management, thinning, insecticides, and fertility management to name a few. James Schupp, Penn State University, will discuss "Plant Growth Regulators for Apples and Peaches" and "Current and Potential Approaches to Thinning in Apples and Peaches." "Fertility Management for Fruit Production" will be the focus of presentation by Eric Hansen, Michigan State University.

Topics in the vegetable sessions will run the gamut of disease, insect, and weed management to production problems to marketing. Carl Cantaloupi, North Carolina State University, will discuss "Producing and Marketing Asparagus." Vegetables focused on will include asparagus, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and sweet corn.

The agritourism/marketing track will feature sessions on agritourism liability insurance, customer service, public relations and advertising strategies, and increasing marketing impact with photography. Marsh Laux, Iowa State University Extension will speak on "Iowa Agritourism Development."

Herb concurrent sessions will include subjects such as field herb production, composting processing and landscape waste, transitioning to organic greenhouse growing, seasonal herbs, and herb of the year. Jim Crosby, Crosby Mint Farm, St. Johns, MI, will talk about "History of Mint Production in the US and the Changing Market" and "Medicinal Uses of Mint and Sustainable Living."

Organic Production joins the conference this year with two concurrent tracts of educational programming focusing on the following areas: integrated organic vegetable production systems, grain and livestock systems, fruit production, and research. Pete Johnson, Pete's Greens, Craftsbury, VT, kicks off the two organic sessions with "Building a Healthy Food System," followed by Steve Pincus and Beth Kazmar, Tipi Produce, Evanston, WI, with a talk on "Farming and Marketing in a Homegrown Wisconsin Co-op."

The 21st Annual Cider Contest and the 8^th Annual Hard Cider Contest will again be held in conjunction with the conference. For more information, contact Dr. Elizabeth Wahle, U of I Extension, at 618/692-9434 or wahle@uiuc.edu. Or, please refer to the ISGA web site: http://www.specialtygrowers.org/confagenda.htm.

Trade show plans have spaces for over 50 exhibitors. Plenty of time is allowed between sessions to visit with exhibitors. Space is still available for those wishing to exhibit their specialty crop products or services.

To receive registration materials or to obtain exhibitor information, please contact Diane Handley at 309/557-2107 or handley@ilfb.org. A detailed conference agenda can be viewed at www.specialtygrowers.org. The Crowne Plaza Hotel is reserving a block of rooms for $83 per night plus tax. Please call the hotel directly at 217/529-7777 to make your reservations and ask for the Illinois Specialty Crops, Agritourism, and Organic Conference rate.

Increasing prices for inputs as well as concerns about global warming are encouraging more producers to change the framework in which they view their farms and they are asking if their farming system is sustainable into the future. The Illinois Farm Sustainability Calculator is a spreadsheet-based model capable of quantifying and analyzing some of the most important measures of agricultural sustainability for any farm in the state of Illinois.

Users input data from their farm including soil information, the production area of each crop, nutrients added to the fields, tillage methods, the number and type of animals raised, livestock dietary requirements, energy sources used, building energy use, product hauling distances etc. The model takes these inputs, combines them with data concerning crop productivity, carbon sequestration and emissions, energy use for different types of tillage and buildings, alternative energy production, and many other subjects.

From these parameters, IFSC produces final balance sheets for animal feed production vs. consumption, energy production vs. consumption, carbon sequestration vs. carbon emission, and nitrate runoff. It also indicates how many people the farm can feed. In other words, IFSC allows its user to discover whether or not their current farm design is sustainable and test it against any number of hypothetical farm designs until a sustainable design is reached. Development of the IFSC was funded by the Dudley Smith Initiative. To begin your farms sustainability index, go to the website https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/14015, Click on "File" and download the "zip" file. Begin entering data for your farm. Chose a cold winter day and bring your cup of coffee because there is a lot of information to enter, but it is worth your time if you are interested in assessing different options to increase the long-term sustainability of your farm.

What Soil Microbes Can Tell About Farming Practices

Don Comis,USDA-ARS,(301) 504-1625, donald.comis@ars.usda.gov

The first evaluation of alternative farming practices, based on changes in soil microbes, in the Texas High Plains has been done by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist. Soil microbiologist Veronica Acosta-Martinez has also done a similar analysis for land in USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a first nationally. Changes in microbes can give a relatively early indication as to whether an alternative practice is helping or hurting soil quality, which is important for plant productivity.

Acosta-Martinez, at the ARS Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Unit in Lubbock, Texas, has seen microbial communities respond within a few years to changes in land use or cropping systems, while it can take 10 years or more for changes to occur in other soil properties. Since 2006, she and Ted Zobeck, an ARS soil scientist at Lubbock, have been taking soil samples from many farms participating in the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation (TAWC). The Alliance is part of a broad study in the Ogallala Aquifer region on the effect of farming practices on soil and water conservation. The Alliance studies 3,954 acres of farmland as well as CRP grasslands.

Microbes—bacteria, fungi and protozoa—release enzymes that drive the important carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur cycles in soil and help form organic matter. Acosta-Martinez found that CRP encouraged an increase in microbial diversity and activity, as did pastures and crop rotations. These changes are precursors to eventual increases in overall soil carbon content.

Publications Plus –University of Illinois Agricultural and Horticultural Publications

Call 1-800-345-6087 or order on the web www.PublicationsPlus.uiuc.edu

It's a one-stop shop for a current catalog of research-based information (Mastercard and VISA accepted)

Cover Crop Innovators CD, Western Illinois University

This CD has profiles of more than 40 organic and conventional grain farmers in the Midwest region who are cover crop innovators.

For a copy contact Andy Clayton at (217) 322-2639 or AW-Clayton@wiu.edu, (309) 298-1172 or (217) 322-2639 or Western's School of Agriculture at (309) 298-1080. More information about WIU's Organic Agriculture Research program is available online at www.wiu.edu/ag/organicfarm.

Crop Rotation on Organic Farms - A Planning Manual

Charles Mohler

This new book focuses on the benefits of various crop rotations to improving soil quality and crop production. To order contact: NRAES, http://www.nrase.org or call (607) 255-7654.

Grain Drying, Handling, & Storage

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/postharvest.htm

Dr. Kenneth J. Hellevang, North Dakota State University

Post-Harvest Handling of Crops

http://www.bbe.umn.edu/Post-Harvest_Handling_of_Crops

Dr. Bill Wilcke, University of Minnesota

Grain Storage Tips: Factors and Formulas for Crop Drying, Storage and Handling

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/M1080-FS.pdf

Farmstead Energy Audit

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ageng/structu/ae1366.pdf

Selecting drift-reducing nozzles

http://agbiopubs.sdstate.edu/articles/FS919.pdf

Pest Management Videos on "YOU TUBE"

http://tinyurl.com/pz9p82.

The University of Wisconsin Integrated Pest and Crop Management program now has short videos on "White Mold in Soybeans," "Western Bean Cutworm: A Pest of Field and Sweet Corn," and, "Tomato Late blight in Wisconsin" on "You Tube". The videos can be found through the publication Wisconsin Crop Manager

Biomass Compare

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/biofuels.htm

This tool evaluates biomass profitability. This online Excel spreadsheet compares the profitability of raising a new biomass crop with existing crops already on a producer's farm. The program is flexible enough to handle harvesting of biomass residues, such as straw and stovers, from existing crops, as well as establishing a new, dedicated crop of annuals and perennials strictly raised for biomass harvesting, such as switchgrass. The program calculates what prices the user would have to receive for traditional crops produced on their farm to be competitive.

Audio-Video Barn: Illinois Agricultural History

(http://avbarn.museum.state.il.us),

Anyone with a computer can now see and hear the history of Illinois agriculture told by the people who lived it. This website features nearly 300 hours of interviews with more than 130 people involved with agriculture in Illinois over the past 129 years. The videos can be searched by topic, name, date, or geographic location.

County Agriculture Calendar

New programs are being confirmed every day. Keep in touch with Boone Extension and area programs by checking the Boone County web site at: http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/boone or by calling our office at 815-544-3710.

Area Educational Opportunities:

Dec. 3 Wet Corn Strategies Webinar (See article in newsletter)

Dec. 17 2009 Illinois Farm Economic Summit @ Rochelle

Jan. 6-7 2010 Northern Illinois Farm Show @ Northern Illinois Univ. in DeKalb

Jan. 6-8 IL Specialty Crops, Agritourism & Organic Conf. @ Springfield

Jan.14 Corn & Soybean Classic @ Kishwaukee College in Malta

Jan. 20 Illinois Dairy Day @ Highland College in Freeport

Jan. 21 Illinois Dairy Day @ Stratford Inn in Harvard

Feb. 16 2010 Stateline Fruit & Vegetable Conference @ Harvard

Feb. 17-18 N. IL Crop Management Conf. @ Kishwaukee College in Malta

Feb. 19 Private Pesticide Safety Training & Testing @ Boone County Extension Office in Belvidere

Feb. 23 Certified Livestock Managers @ Farm Bureau in Freeport

Feb. 24 Certified Livestock Managers @ Farm Bureau in Sycamore

For further information on the listed area workshops, contact the Boone County Extension Office at 815-544-3710 or online at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/cie2/offices/calendar.cfm