The Central Illinois Farm Fresh Network is an organization in its earliest beginnings. The group is growing out of a need to get farm production directly to the consumer whether it is to the local restaurants or direct to consumers tables. The group is open to the public and wishes to form an organization made up of producers, consumers and local chefs to get nutritious farm fresh food to the local community.

If this concept interests you, plan to attend a meeting on August 30 at the 4-H Center on at the Macon County Fair Grounds in Decatur. The meeting will start at 6:00 P.M. and includes a dinner.

The speaker for the evening is Richard Schell author of "A Guide to Illinois Laws Governing Direct Farm Marketing: For Farmers and Other Food Entrepreneurs", on how to market your product within the laws of Illinois. Schell is a lawyer and farmer from Northern Illinois and has several years of experience in direct marketing products. Come and learn from his experience on how to Market your products legally.

Cost is $10.00 for non-members and $5.00 for members, which must be paid prior to the meeting. A $25.00 membership can be paid at the door and includes a copy of the book, "A Guide to Illinois Laws Governing Direct Farm Marketing: For Farmers and Other Food entrepreneurs". Checks can be made out to Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Please Register by August 25th at 4:00. at the Macon County SWCD 217-877-5670 ask for Shannon Allen.

You don't have corn rootworms? This picture was taken in the Dalton City area. In Macon County there have been reports of Japanese Beatles, corn borers and root worms so the pests are out there this year.

It really points out that there are reasons to scout for problems, at the current prices of corn and soybeans a few bushels per acre loss in a crop is a big dollar loss on the bottom line.

Scouting the fields for late season pests is as important as checking for yields. In some of the later crops last minute rescue treatment may payoff. Even if it is too late for treatment it is a prime time for analysis of this year pest management.

Which Type of Lease Will Yield a Higher Return?

Want to know how much a cash lease will return compared to a crop-share lease? What about a crop-share with a supplemental cash payment? What are the financial risks of a 50/50 crop-share agreement compared to a 60/40 split? Can I make more money paying someone to farm for me, but I take on the risk? What is the risk level for having someone farm for me versus letting someone pay me for the use of the land?

The answers to these questions can be easily calculated and risk levels assessed by using Farm Rent Evaluator. This Farm Analysis Solution Tool (FAST), designed by University of Illinois Extension Specialist Gary Schnitkey is available for a free download on the farmdoc website, or for a small fee on CD. Excel software is required to run FAST spreadsheets.

The format is easy to understand and follow. Farm Rent Evaluator will compare various types of leasing arrangements to each other, but also call one thirty years of yield and price history for your area to assess how much risk you are taking on for each lease arrangement. Figures are given for both the landowner and the producer.

To download Farm Rent Evaluator: www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/fasttools/index/html

The University of Illinois South Farms is celebrating its Centennial this year and you are invited to the party Aug. 19 at Agronomy Day. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jim Moseley will be the featured speaker over the noon hour. Agronomy Day tours begin at 7 a.m. and the last tour departs at 12 noon, and they are about an hour long. Visit with experts and view the exhibits, but plan to join the tours:
1) Corn response to nitrogen, a new nitrogen soil test, Illinois nitrogen recommendations, compaction, & twin corn rows.
2) Soybean rust fungicides, corn rootworms, emerging diseases, aphids & nematodes.
3) Weed competition in Roundup-ready crops, soybean herbicide injury & variable rate sprayers.

4) Corn composition, miscanthus as an alternative crop, climate change, ozone effects, & crop marketing.