University of Illinois East Central Region sent a relief mission to Biloxi, Mississippi to aid families in the devastated area. In a three day period Extension East Central Region collected over 410 cubic feet of donated material including: Clothing, shoes, basic health needs, personal toiletries, diapers, baby food, non-perishable food, bleach, cleaning supplies, buckets, brushes, children's toys, books, blankets and linens. As well as cash donations of $546 that is being sent to a fund at Mississippi State that will go directly to the needs of Extension Families.

This project was an area effort with donations from: Ameren IP; the cargo trailer by Larry Costello, Trail Master of Springfield; truck by Jim and Kay Tipton of Decatur; and two semi loads of livestock feed ADM Animal Feed of Quincy.

THE TRIP

Originally the humanitarian material was to be delivered to Jackson, Mississippi (the coordination drop off point). A rough list of the materials donated were given to Debbie Montgomery at Mississippi State, upon hearing the list she asked if the donations could be taken directly to the Extension Relief Center in Biloxi, Mississippi (175 miles south of Jackson).

The truck and trailer left Friday evening and arrived Saturday in the early afternoon. At Hattiesburg, Mississippi (120 miles north of Biloxi) trees that had been moved off Highway 49 on both sides of the road. The damage in the communities varied from area to area, but steadily got worse closer to the coast. From Hattiesburg to Gulfport/Biloxi over 40 different Electric Cooperatives were working on the power lines. In Biloxi, the streets were filled with military, Red Cross, Electric and Gas Utility Vehicles from different states all over the Midwest and east.

The devastation is impossible to describe; houses crushed; houses with all the walls missing with the 2x4 studs holding up the roof or the second story; metal stairways going into the air that are no longer attached to buildings. There were messages painted on the walls saying that the family is OK, or telling of lost family members. It will be years before Mississippi will recover from the hurricane.

Thank you to everyone that has helped the Mission to Mississippi!! Your kindness and generosity made this possible.

A number of factors have combined to push corn prices to a low level and produce a very weak basis in most areas. This combination generally favors storage of the 2005 crop.

Low prices and a weak basis has resulted from relatively large carryover stocks of 2004 corn crop, a larger that expected 2005 crop, increased transportation costs, and the interruption to export movement through the Louisiana Gulfport. Cash corn prices are expected to continue to drift lower as harvest progresses, particularly if the USDA's October Crop Production reportcontains a larger forecast of the size of the current harvest. The low prices and weak basis are generally a signal to store as much of the crop as possible, depending on availability and cost of storage. In years of large crops the central Illiniois cash price ahs generally reached a marketing year low during harvest and a marketing year high in the spring/summer after harvest, with the high typically being $.60 to $.70 above the harvest low. Last year, for example, the average cash price (overnight bid) reached a low of $1.695 on November 4, 2004 and a high of $2.395 on July 18, 2005. The increase reflected a $.29 increase in futures prices and $.41 strengthening of the basis.

The strong tendency for cash prices to recover significantly from harvest lows in large crop years has a lot of producers planning to establish the loan deficiency payment (LDP) sometime in the harvest window and store the crop unpriced to capture the seasonal recovery expected by spring. That is an acceptable strategy for part of the crop, but there are a number of reasonable alternatives to consider as well. Following are some examples.

The current weak basis and relatively large carry in the corn futures market (deferred contracts higher priced than nearby contracts) offers producers with low cost storage an opportunity to establish the LDP after the crop is harvested and to store the crop priced for later delivery. That is, a large portion of the typical season recovery in cash prices is already reflected in deferred futures and can be captured by forward pricing. Forward pricing for delivery in the spring of 2006, rather than January, may be warranted, depending on storage costs and basis expectations.

Another alternative is to store some of the crop unpriced, but under loan rather than establishing the LDP. This strategy manages the risk of prices going lower, rather than higher, after harvest. The marketing loan gain, if any, could be established anytime (within 9 months) after the loan is established. The crop could be priced at that time or continue to be held in storage unpriced.

There are a large number of pricing alternatives that involve some combinations of the loan program and storage, and perhaps options, that could be considered, including the provision to place corn under loan and Alock at the current marketing loan gain rate for 60 days. Many producers will want to consider a combination of strategies depending on storage availability and cost and cash flow needs. The loan certificate program is available for those who face payment limitations.

- By Darrel Good

Harvest is upon us and more of us are going to spend more time in grain bins in the next two months than we will all year. You or a loved one can suffocate in a grain bin in 60 seconds. In the September 04 Prairie Farmer Magazine the following chart was printed. The information was provided by Bill Field, Purdue University Farm Safety Specialist, Please read all of the chart and remember what it says before you go into a bin alone with the auger running.

Timeline to death by suffocation

0 seconds............... Standing over center of auger, top of grain Clog breaks free, Auger running. Grain flows.

14 seconds..............Nearly knee-deep in grain

15 seconds..............Trapped, unable to move

16 seconds..............Free-fall ride begins

17-59 seconds...........Scream for help

60 seconds..............Body out of sight

61 seconds..............Mouth and nose fill with grain.

61-180 seconds........Oxygen supply shut off.

180-240 seconds......Brain Damage likely.

240-300 seconds......Skin Discoloration sets in.

5 minutes...............No pulse – flatline. Dead

Note: Assumes 15,000 bushel bin, 8 inch unloading auger, unloading600 bushels per hour. If you're loading a semi in 12 to 15 minutes, flow rate will be much faster and timeline shorter.

BE SAFE AND LIVE, we need you around.

- Bill Field