· The Pesticide Safety Education Program (also known as Private Applicator Training) will be provided to area farmers and others needing a private applicators license to purchase and apply restricted- use products. Registration accompanied with payment must be received by our office no later than November 25th. Program will be held at U of I Extension Building—1120 N. Webster St. in Taylorville. Call 287-7246 to register or online at www.extension.uiuc.edu/christian

· Registration fee of $30. Registrations will be confirmed starting at 8:30 a.m. Training will start at 9:00. Testing will begin immediately after training. Testing session should end by 1:00 p.m.

• Area producers are encouraged to attend the February 22, 2010 Pesticide Safety Education "test only" session at the Extension office in Taylorville. Anyone needing to apply Restricted-Use pesticides in Illinois is required to be licensed and must pass a 50 question exam.
• Testing session will start at 8:00 a.m. and last until about 10:00 a.m. Advance registration is required (no later than February 19th). For more information call 287-7246.

The University of Illinois Extension office in Taylorville will be the host site for a Beef Cow-Calf Field Day and Research Project Update on Wednesday, November 18, 2009.

The 2009 field day will highlight many developments of new and ongoing local research utilizing teff, winter annuals, tropical maize as silage and the rotational grazing/paddock system in place at the U of I Dudley Smith farm near Pana.

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the U of I Extension Christian County auditorium in Taylorville. At 10:00 a.m., Gary Letterly, U of I Extension Christian County Natural Resources Management Educator, will provide updates and program introductions. Our special guest, Dr. Robert Kallenbach, University of Missouri Plant Sciences Dept., will share information on "Extending the Grazing Season in Illinois with Winter Annuals." His program emphasizes forage/livestock systems—winter feeding.

Also, on the program will be U of I researchers Mike Vincent and Wendy White who will share "Tropical Maize Silage Yield and Nutritional Value" as part of a Dudley Smith Farm study this past year.

Ed Ballard, retired U of I Extension Animal Systems Educator from the Shelbyville area, will provide cattle project updates and will be your host for a brief tour of the grazing project (weather permitting) beginning at the Pana farm around 11:45 a.m.

Coffee and donuts will be provided by the Dudley Smith Initiative (DSI). To attend, please return the registration form to the University of Illinois Extension Christian County Unit office, located at 1120 N. Webster St., Taylorville, IL 62568, or call 217/287-7246 by noon on Friday, November 13th., or go on line to http://christian.extension.uiuc.edu.

University of Illinois Extension will host a Soil and Water Management Workshop for Certified Crop Advisors on February 18, 2009. The workshop is planned to provide 4.5 hours of CEU's in Soil and Water Management.

This workshop will be "live" and distance presentation, using Telenet and Power Point.

Registration for Certified Crop Advisors and others interested in the workshop will be $45 per person. Advance registration is required no later than Monday, February 1. The workshop is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

8:30 a.m. Registration

9:00 Presentations

• Gulf Hypoxia
• Biochar - What is it?
• Cover crops research and farm conservation programs update
• New Tillage tools
• Using the Web Soil Survey
• Cap and trade (Carbon Credits) Where do things stand?

2:15 Adjournment

The 2010 winter sessions of "4 Seasons Gardening" will be offered starting in February at the U of I Extension office at 1120 N. Webster St. in Taylorville. Programs will be geared to interests of the homeowner and seasonal gardening. Topics will be presented by Extension Staff via telenet starting promptly at 1:00 p.m. for all afternoon sessions and 7:00 p.m. for evening sessions. Registration is required in advance for all telenet programs (1 week prior to program).

* Ferns in the Landscape February 23 (1:00) / February 25 (7:00)

* The Elusive Morel – tips for safe & successful hunting March 9 (1:00) / March 11 (7:00)

* Plant Propagation - Gardeners Guide March 23 (1:00) / March 25 (7:00)

* Vegetable Gardening - small spaces April 13 (1:00) / April 15 (7:00)

* Don't Fear the Shade Garden April 27 (1:00) / April 29 (7:00)

* The Bountiful Flower Garden May 11 (1:00) / May 13 (7:00)

* Tree Fruit Diseases in the Home Garden June 29 (1:00) / July 1 (7:00)

* Urban Soils July 13 (1:00) / July 15 (7:00)

* Native Prairie Wildflowers July 27 (1:00) / July 29 (7:00)

* Fall dates TBA

Please call a few days in advance of specific presentation you would like to attend 287-7246. A registration fee of $5 will be assessed for printed handout materials.

Master Gardener Training will start in early January. Enrollment and Application forms can be found via our website: www.extension.uiuc.edu/christian or call 287-7246 for more information

- Open House -

A Biomass Furnace Operation open house will be held November 13th at the U of I Extension Office from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Stop by our office to see our furnace system that utilizes locally grown perennial grasses and Q and A on bioenergy.

• Dudley Smith Initiative Research and Demonstration
• Learn about biomass furnace applications being utilized at your local Extension Office
• Compare energy costs related to a variety of fuel sources, furnace efficiencies, options for home heat
• Free and open to the general public

Wet fall weather has caused more than just a two month delay in harvesting. We now face challenges from moldy corn. Many questions about mold damaged corn can be answered by the following points:

• Corn kernels that are broken or cracked need to be removed ASAP before storing and drying. If there are a high percentage of fine particles in the grain, then "cleaning up" the corn is also necessary. The way we will approach the balance of harvest (hurry and cram) will likely exacerbate mold and a few other storage problem we haven't always faced.
• Corn that is molding in the field must be dried down to 13% to stop mold growth. Generally, we dry corn down to 14 -14 1/2 % moisture, but we should concede that it will not store nearly as well as in prior years. Note: Some molds will grow on 12 1/2% moisture corn while others wait their turn to thrive at slightly higher kernel moisture levels, temperature and humidity.
• When sampling bins to determine moisture, don't use an average of several readings, treat the contents of the bin based on the highest moisture reading taken.
• Moisture readings on corn from high temperature dryers will often show 2 percentage points lower than the actual moisture. Retain theses samples and retest in 12 hours to improve accuracy.
• Moldy corn is considered unsafe to all breeding animals, lactating cows, or sows.
• Attempts to turn and mix very high moisture corn in drying are largely unsuccessful due to poor particle flow, slip and bypass characteristics while "wet".
• For more information refer to: http://ipm.illinois.edu/diseases/series200/rpd206/index.html

· November 13 - Biomass Furnace Demo and Display

· November 18 - Dudley Smith Cow-Calf Field Day in Taylorville

· December 1 - Private Applicator Training and Testing (PSEP)

· February 23 - Horticulture / 4-Seasons Gardening Series Begins

· February 22 - PSEP—Test Only Session

· February 10 - Certified Crop Advisors Training

For more information on any of the listed workshops or activities contact 287-7246.