At a recent Marketing Club meeting in April, Dr. Elwynn Taylor, a Professor of Ag Meteorology at Iowa State University, spoke at length on the outlook for 2005 corn crop.

Dr. Taylor believes that, "Weather, the least controllable of the factors that determine crop yield–uncontrollable, but a RISK that can be MANAGED."

Dr. Taylor examines projected weather patterns, as well as, past year's weather conditions and the yield they produced. During the presentation Dr. Taylor presented some work done by a farmer named Samuel Benner in 1885. Samuel Benner was financially wiped out in the panic of 1873 and the hog cholera epidemic. In his retirement he studied economic patterns and published his version of the chart below, extrapolated by Dr. Taylor.

Worth noting is that the work projected the down turn in 1929 and the total collapse of prices in 1932. Both of these events occurred after Benner's death. Dr. Taylor went on to say that based on Benner's work, price risk could be higher than normal in the 2005 to 2010 time frame.

Currently, growing conditions look good. The Midwest has good subsoil moisture to start the year. For the past 22 months Illinois has been in a 60-day weather pattern of one month of higher than normal precipitation followed by a month of lower than normal precipitation. The continuation of the pattern cannot be guaranteed, however this is favorable for the growth of the crop. The El Nino pattern is also favorable for good growing conditions at this time.

Dr. Taylor's projection for the crops this year are at or above trend line with the national corn yield at 145 bushels per acre. Soybeans could be at or above trend line at a national average of 42 bushels per acre depending on Asian Soybean Rust. So it is setting up for a good crop year.

The 2005 Farm Progress Show in Decatur may look familiar in the field, but it's what's beyond the field that is very different. The Decatur site offers more opportunity for Farm Progress to offer expanded services to individuals and families who attend. This isn't your same Farm Progress Show!

Richland Community College flanks the Farm Progress Show site and their newly constructed Schrodt Health Education Center offers a perfect environment to bring expanded health risk appraisal screenings to the event. Local health providers including Decatur Memorial Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, Carle Clinic, the Macon County Health Department, the Community Health Improvement Center, Macon County Mental Health Association, Heritage Behavioral Health Center, the Red Cross, AMBUCS and University of Illinois Extension have created a menu of health risk appraisal screenings that should be hard to resist. At no cost, you'll be able to find out your Cholesterol score, Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index, Blood Glucose level, stress level, osteoporosis risk and get a hearing screening. Some health screening booths will be located in a tent on the field; others will be found inside the Schrodt Center. Shuttle Service will be available to get you from the field to the building. After finishing your health risk screenings don't forget to stop and make a donation to the American Red Cross that will be conducting a Blood Drive all three days of the show.

Finally, make a note to visit the Schrodt Center to get your Tetanus Booster. Tetanus Booster immunizations will be available for a reduced fee through the Macon County Health Department. Individuals working in the agriculture industry are at a higher risk of contracting tetanus through minor to severe injuries or through exposure to bacteria living in soil, dirt and manure. Protect yourself, and family members, from this preventable disease by taking time to get a tetanus booster immunization every ten years. If you haven't gotten your booster immunization within the past ten years stop into the Schrodt Health Center during Farm Progress Show and get your immunization updated.

Minors age 16 and over in agriculture are not included under the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Farm employers who are not covered under other provisions of FLSA (minimum wages, overtime) for the most part must comply with the law if they employ minors under 16 years of age.

• 16 years old is the minimum age for working inagricultural jobs:declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor, and during school hours.

• 14 years old is the minimum age for working in agricultural jobs: outside of school hours, and not declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.

Exceptions:

• 12 and 13 year olds may be employed with written parental consent or on a farm where the minor's parent or person standing in place of the parent is also employed.

• Minors under 12 may be employed with written parental consent on farms whose employees are exempt from federal minimum wage provisions.

It should be noted that minors of any age may be employed by their parents at any time in any occupation on a farm owned or operated by their parent or person standing in place of their parent.

• 10 and 11 year olds: Upon application, waivers may be issued by the Department of Labor permitting 10- and 11-year-old minors to work in hand harvested, short season crops, provided the employer does not use certain restricted pesticides and complies with the minimum reentry times for specified chemicals. (29 CFR Part 575.)

The Secretary of Labor has found and declared that certain occupations in agriculture are hazardous. Aside from certain exemptions, no minor under 16 years of age may be employed at any time in these occupations. Briefly these hazardous occupations include:

• Operating, driving or riding on a tractor withmore than 20 PTO horsepower.

• Operating or assisting to operate a corn picker, cotton picker, grain combine, hay mower, forageharvester, hay baler, potato digger, pea viner, feedgrinder, crop dryer, forage blower, augerconveyor, self unloading wagon or trailer, power post-hole digger, power post driver, nonwalkingtype rotary tiller.

• Operating or assisting to operate a trencher or earth moving equipment, fork lift, potato combine, power driven circular, band or chain saw.

• Working in pen, yard, or stall with a bull, boar, stud horse, sow with pigs or cow with calf.
• Working around timber with a butt diameter of more than six inches.
• Working from a ladder or scaffold more than 20 feet high.
• Driving a bus, truck or automobile when transporting passengers.
• Working inside a fruit, forage or grain bin or silo under certain specified conditions.
• Handling or applying anhydrous ammonia or other specified chemicals, including those that bear the legend "Poison" or "Warning" on the label.
• Handling or using explosives.

EXEMPTIONS FROM HAZARDOUS OCCUPATIONS IN AGRICULTURE

• As previously stated, minors under 16 years old working for their parents on their parents' farm are exempt.

• Student-Learners

Student-learners in a bona fide vocational agricultural program may work in the occupations listed in items 1 through 6 of the hazardous occupations order under a written agreement which provides that the student-learner's work is incidental to training, intermittent, for short periods of time, and under close supervision of a qualified person; that safety instructions are given by the school and correlated with on-the-job training; and that a schedule of organized and progressive work process has been prepared. The written agreement must contain the name of the student-learner, and be signed by the employer and a school authority, each of whom must keep copies of the agreement.

• 4-H Federal Extension Service Training Program

Minors 14 and 15 years old who hold certificates of completion of either the tractor operation or machine operation program may work in the occupations for which they have been trained. Occupations for which these certificates are valid are covered by items 1 and 2 of the hazardous occupations order. Farmers employing minors who have completed this program must keep a copy of the certificates of completion on file with the minor's records. Enrollment in this program is open to minors who are not members of 4-H as well as 4-H members. Information on this program is available from an Extension Agent of the Cooperative Extension Service of a land grant university.

• Vocational Agricultural Training Program

Minors, 14 and 15 years old, who hold certificates of completion of either the tractor operation or machine operation program of the U.S. Office of Education Vocational Agriculture Training Program may work in the occupations for which they have been trained. Occupations for which these certificates are valid are covered by items 1 and 2 of the hazardous occupations order.

Farmers employing minors who have completed this program must keep a copy of the certificate of completion on file with the minor's records. Information on the Vocational Agriculture Training Program is available from vocational agriculture teachers.

EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES

Every employer (except a parent employing his own child on his own farm) who employs any minor under 16 years old must preserve and maintain records containing the following data on each minor employee:

Name in full

Place where minor lives and permanent address

Date of birth

Evidence in writing of any required parental consent

Employers must also:

• Keep a minor employee's age or employmentcertificate on file.
• Observe wage and hour provisions of the FLSA.
• Prohibit minors under 16 from performing jobsdeclared as hazardous.

REQUIREMENTS OF MINOR EMPLOYEES

Minor employees must provide their employers with proof of age. Certificates issued under most state laws are acceptable.

POTENTIAL PENALTIES FOR NON-COMPIANCE

Farm employers who violate these regulations are subject to fines of up to $10,000 for each violation and imprisonment. Additionally, if a youth is hurt or killed on a job where the employer is found to be in violation of these regulations they can be held liable in a civil suit.