February 17 PSEP Training and Testing * Warren * Aledo * 9:00 – 1:00

February 18 Soil & Water Management Workshop * 9:00 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. * 309-853-1533

February 19-22 Illinois Beef Expo * Springfield Illinois State Fairgrounds * 11:00 a.m.

February 23 Annie's Project * Kewanee * BHE Community Outreach Center * 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

February 23 Henry County Marketing Seminar Series * Henry * Geneseo * 6:30 p.m. * 309-853-1533

February 24 Four Seasons Gardening Ornamental Grasses * 1:00 p.m. 309-853-1533

February 25 Annie's Project * Kewanee * BHE Community Outreach Center * 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

February 28 All Breeds Goat Health * Kewanee * BHE College Indoor Ag Arena * 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

March 2 Annie's Project * Kewanee * BHE Community Outreach Center * 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. 309-853-1533

March 3 Livestock Management * Dekalb County Farm Bureau * Sycamore * 8:50 a.m.

March 4 Annie's Project * Kewanee * BHE Community Outreach Center * 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

March 5 ACRE Program Decision Help * Knox * 8:30 a.m.

March 6 – 8 Illinois Horse Fair Clinicians * Springfield

March 9 Annie's Project * Kewanee * BHE Community Outreach Center * 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

March 12 PSEP Testing ONLY * Henry * Kewanee * BHE Conference Center * 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

August 31 Henry County Marketing Seminar Series * Geneseo * 6:30 p.m. * 309-853-1533

November 23 Henry County Marketing Seminar Series * Geneseo * 6:30 p.m. * 309-853-1533

2009 Summer Fair Schedule

(Save these dates on your calendar)

Henry County Fair – Cambridge - June 23 – 28

Stark County Fair – Wyoming - July 24 – 27

Illinois State Fair – Springfield - August 14 - 23

Meat and dairy goat producers need to mark Saturday, February 28 on their calendars. Sharpen your skills related to animal health in the warmth of the Ag Arena at Black Hawk College. Sign-in begins at 9:00 am. with coffee and donuts.

The program will start promptly at 9:30 with a welcome and a short update by Jeff West, Extension County Director, Henry-Stark Unit. There will be presentations on grazing, hoof-trimming, meat and dairy goat feeding similarities and differences. Cost of the program is $10 for adults, free for youth; $12 for walk-ins that day. There will also be a FAMACHA certification program offered at 1:30 p.m. at an additional cost of $15 per family/farm for the card.

Pre-registration should be made by February 20 by contacting the Extension office at 309-853-1533 or email Jeff West at jwest@illinois.edu or mail your registration directly to Henry-Stark Extension, 26234 Black Hawk Road, Galva, Illinois 61434.

Sure, you could put off making a decision about the new ACRE option available to producers in the 2009 Government program bill until late May when you are busy in the field and really don't have time to think about it. BUT… why not make time to fully evaluate how your decision is going to affect you, your operations, and your 50/50 landlords now while you still have time. Consider these options:

March 5

Best Western Prairie Inn

Call the Knox County Extension office at: 309-342-5108

x 8:30 a.m. Registration

x 9:00 a.m. Changes in Commodity Title

x 10:15 a.m. ACRE Calculator Demonstrator

x 11:00 a.m. SURE Calculator Demonstrator

x 11:30 a.m. Lunch

x 12:30 p.m. Changes in Crop Insurance

x 1:30 p.m. Do you need to make changes?

x 3:30 p.m. Adjourn

**On-line resources put together by University of Illinois Extension and other Midwest Ag Economists can be found at:

U of I Extension FREE on-line Excel Spreadsheet via Farmdoc (ACRE Comparison Program at: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/fasttools/index.asp

Overview by Gary Schnitkey, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics University of Illinois (The ACRE Decision) http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/

Iowa State Ag Economic Analyst of the ACRE Program at:

http://www.card.iastate.edu/about/sitemap.aspx.

The 2009 Premium Calculator is now available for use in the crop insurance section of farmdoc. In addition, the Payment Simulator is available for use. A FAST tool called the 2009 Crop Insurance Decision Tool is available for download. This FAST tool is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that contains a premium calculator, what-if tool, historical analysis, and yield analyzer.

Have a look at the 2009 Crop Insurance section at: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/cropins/index.asp

Black Hawk East Conference Center

March 12 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.

The only date left in the Henry-Stark Unit is a Testing ONLY date:

- March 12 * BHE Conference Center * 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Call 309-853-1533 to register (space will be limited)

Online registration is at: web.extension.uiuc.edu and click on registration link in the upper right-hand corner. There is no charge for testing only.

Contact the Extension office or reference the online training schedule at:

http://www.pesticidesafety.uiuc.edu/training/training.html, if you would like to find another location and time to fit your schedule.

Manuals and study guides will be available for $15 from the Henry-Stark Extension office located on the campus of Black Hawk East in Building 4. Direct mail of the manual via the Henry-Stark Extension office is also an option for an additional $4.80 per set.

This year's pesticide safety education testing manual is 39-7 (October 1999 red cover). If you already have these, there is no need to get another set. To order online, go to: https://pubsplus.uiuc.edu/agriculturepesticide.html.

Location: Glory Days Banquet, 109 East Orange Street, Geneseo

Cost for the Series: (all 4 meetings) $65.00

Cost per seminar: $18.00

Make checks payable to Henry-Stark Extension and mail to 26234 Black Hawk Road Galva IL 61434 to confirm pre-reservation for each program or for the entire series.

x February 23, 6:30 p.m. ** Larry Acker – 3F Forecasts

x June/July **TBA

x August 31, 6:30 p.m. **Rob Huston – AgriVisor®, L.L.C.

x November 23, 6:30 p.m. **Terry Jones – Russell Consulting Group

2009 Series Sponsored by:

x Henry Co. Farm Bureau Marketing Committee

x Henry-Stark Extension

We also want to thank our local business sponsors who help us offset the full cost of our speakers for these 4 sessions

x Central Bank

x Gold Star FS

March 6-8

Springfield Illinois State Fairgrounds

Top national clinicians and equine educators join vendors offering everything for the equestrian - recreational horsemen as well as professionals in all breeds and disciplines - at the 20th annual Illinois Horse Fair, March 6-8 at the state fairgrounds in Springfield.

A complete schedule of events is printable from the Horse Fair web site at www.HorsemensCouncil.org.

Saturday or Sunday Horse Fair tickets are $12 adults and $6 child/senior; weekend Horse Fair passes are $20 adults and $10 child/senior. Tickets for Saturday night's Ranch Rodeo require a separate $7 ticket for adults, $5 for children and seniors. Advance tickets may be purchased online with a credit card at: www.HorsemensCouncil.org or by calling the Council office at: (217)585-6500.

Thursday - Saturday, February 19-22

Springfield Illinois State Fairgrounds

Beef Cattle producers and junior beef exhibitors interested in attending the Illinois Beef Expo to be held on Thursday through Sunday, February 19-22 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield can obtain all the dates, times and breed sales on the IPX web site (www.illinoisbeefexpo.com).

• Thursday, February 19
  • 11 am – Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale
• Friday, February 20
  • 8 am – Angus Show
  • 1 pm – Livestock Equipment Auction
• Saturday, February 21
  • 8 am – Junior Judging Contest Registration
  • 8 am – Simmental Parade
  • 9 am – Hereford Illini Classic Parade
  • 10 am – Junior Judging Contest Begins
  • 10 am – Simmental Sale
  • 11 am – Hereford Illini Classic Sale
  • Noon – Angus Sale
  • 1 pm – Beef Quiz Bowl
  • 4:30 pm – Junior Heifer Show Begins
• Sunday, February 22
  • 8 am – Junior Steer and Heifer Show