This is your chance to vote on the Illinois Equine Check-off Referendum. On October 7, any equine (horses, mules, donkeys) owner, regardless of age, has the right to vote on the proposed check-off on horse feed. The rate is 50 cents per ton, which is a nickel per 50 pound bag of feed. The referendum will be held at the Macon County Extension Office, 2535 Millikin Parkway in Decatur.

The referendum was authorized by the Illinois General Assembly, and is an opportunity for all equine owners to decide whether they would be willing to pay an assessment on horse feed for support of the equine industry in Illinois. The feed manufacturer will collect the funds at the time of purchase. The feed manufacturer will then send the funds on a quarterly basis to the Illinois Equine Check-off Board.

The funds collected by legislation must go to fund equine research, education and equine industry promotion programs. The check-off board would grant funds to institutions, individuals, and groups for a wide variety of activities from adult education to summer youth camps or research activities for the improvement of equine health issues.

Any individual that owns or leases an equine animal and is an Illinois resident has the right to vote for or against the assessment. There is no age limit to be eligible to vote. The Macon County Extension Office will be open on October 7 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm for the referendum. Absentee ballots will be accepted prior to October 7.

Voters must be a Illinois resident and provide one of the following as proof of equine ownership: current registration for the equine; receipt for a valid Coggins test within the last 12 months; receipt for current lease of equine; lease/purchase agreement, contract or other legal document showing ownership or interest in an equine; or a receipt for feed, supplies, care or service for an equine within the past 12 months.

Extension is not advocating a yes or no vote, but is urging all equine owners to take the opportunity to vote!

On August 28, 2003 about 35 folks braved the heat and bugs to take soybean yield estimates in Macon County. The 2003 soybean crop has some great potential, but, results depended upon the August rainfall amounts and the extent of damage by soybean aphids. Depending on these two factors there is a possibility of a 10 to 20% swing in the yield estimate. There was some wide variation in the samples and these estimates assume that the potential of the crop will be realized with adequate rainfall .

Estimated Average by Township

Austin	51.6
Blue Mound	56.6
Friends Creek	41.3
Harristown	44.3
Hickory Point	50.0
Illini	57.7
Long Creek	56.9
Maroa	47.9
Milam	42.0
Mt. Zion	47.0
Niantic	44.7
Oakley	39.3
Pleasant View	60.6
South Macon	33.3
South Wheatland	49.3
Whitmore	47.4
Macon Co. Ave	49.0

For whatever reason, changes sometimes have to be made in farm leasing arrangements. Sometimes the change is amicable, and sometimes it is not. To give some structure to the process, Illinois law provides the framework for terminating a farm lease. The party desiring to terminate a farm lease could be either the owner or the operator. If you have a written lease in place, that lease likely spells out how and when the notification of termination should be performed, if it is well written. A written farm lease reduces potential misunderstandings.

But, suppose you have an oral lease, or a written lease that automatically renews every year, without a clear understanding of how and when the lease will end. Consult your legal advisor for assistance in evaluating your written lease if you are unsure about your legal obligations in terminating the lease.

(The following is not to be interpreted as legal advice. Consult your legal advisor for more information.)

When Do I Give Notice?
"In order to terminate tenancies from year to year of farm lands...the notice to quit shall be given in writing not less than 4 months prior to the end of the year letting." In other words, you must give 4 months advance warning before the end of the lease.

In most regions of Illinois, a year to year lease of farmland is presumed to begin on March 1 and end on the last day of February. If there is convincing evidence that the lease actually began on some other date, the actual term and its last day are used. This typically can be proven by a written agreement stating the date of the end of the agreement. A different date agreed to orally is not typically effective. The four month term prior to the end of February results in the end of October deadline. In such cases, the party receiving the notice of termination must be notified by October 31.

Delivering the Notice
How is the written notice to be sent to the tenant? The statute provides several methods by which the notice may be served. One method involves delivering the notice by certified or registered mail. Ask for a signed delivery receipt. The written notification may also be hand delivered, but doing so doesn't provide a receipt for delivery from the U.S. Post Office. The statute further states that the copy can be left with a person 13 years of age residing on or in possession of the premises. If no one is actually in possession of the premises, the statue says the notice can be posted on the premises. Elements can blow down and destroy posted documents. Messages left with a 13 year old may not always get to you. Terminating a lease can have many legal implications. It may be wise to consult a legal advisor before sending a notice to terminate.

Are You Sure?
Before terminating the lease, examine what the problem is. Can it be resolved? Many landowner/operator conflicts result from inadequate communication. Get a second opinion from a knowledgeable person. If the termination is necessary, follow Illinois Statutory requirements to terminate the lease. The requirements may need to be followed even if you are only making changes to the lease, not changing tenants. The last day of October isn't very far away.

For more information: www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/legal/leasing_farmland_text.html

How much farmland is being cash rented? The following information from a 2001 survey of Illinois farmers indicates the amount of farmland rented for cash as compared to crop share and owner-operated farms. The statistics are listed by crop reporting districts for Illinois Ag Statistics. Macon County is in the very southern tip of the central reporting district.

Region	Percent Cash Rented
NE	51
NW	37
West	18
Central	14
East	25
East Southeast	20
West Southwest	17
Southeast	9
Southwest	15

 

Paul Mariman has been selected by University of Illinois Extension to receive a top Extension award to be presented in late October for his effort in getting Macon County farmers signed up for the USDA farm program. 99% of the Macon County farms were signed up for the farm program, and only 23 farm operators elected not to participate out of 2,130.

While most farmers obtained their records and analyzed their choices, Paul helped several hundred farmers personally evaluate their options to be able to make informed choices. He spoke at several seminars attended by several hundred farmers, conducted numerous computer workshops where farmers were able to input their data into special decision-aids, and then met confidentially with dozens more. Extension determined that Paul's efforts resulted in many farmers signing up, who would not have participated, and those additional participants will be receiving over $4.5 million dollars that would have been left on the table.

 

Congratulations to Paul for a job well done.

The National Safety Council reports that work fatalities in agriculture increased two percent in 2002, while the all-industry average declined by three percent. Agriculture ranked second behind the mining/quarrying industry, with 21 fatalities per 100,000, workers or approximately 730 deaths.

The fatality rate for agriculture is nearly six times greater than the national average for all industries, which is 3.6 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Another 150,000 people suffered disabling injuries in 2002. More than 3.4 million people worked in the agriculture industry in 2002 according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

It has been conservatively estimated by the National Safety Council that agricultural related deaths, injuries and illnesses cost the industry 4.5 billion dollars annually in medical cost, lost production, lost productivity, rising insurance costs, replacement labor, equipment and facility damage, legal cost etc.

For the past 15 years on average 31 people have been killed in farm work related fatalities in Illinois and another 5,200 suffer loss time injuries as a result of farm accidents. We estimate that these deaths and injuries cost our state agriculture industry approximately $124 million dollars per year.

The most important sustainable resource we have in production agriculture is its people. Those of us who are involved in serving our agricultural populations through our Land Grant System have a responsibility to seek answers through research and provide them with information about the current safety issues and the interventions needed to reduce the injury/illness risk effectively.

The following are website links that will provide resources for promoting Farm Safety and Health week in addition to research based references that can be used throughout the year:

The National Safety Councils National Farm Safety and Health Week website is located at:
http://www.nsc.org/farmsafe.htm

The following is the link to the University of Illinois Extension agricultural safety and health website where you will find additional information that includes some fact sheets and the fatality data we have for Illinois: http://www.age.uiuc.edu/agsafety/index.html

 

The Macon County Soil & Water Conservation District will hold a sign up period for State CPP Cost -Share funds from October 15-November 30. Cost share funds are available for waterways, terraces, no till and strip till, field border strips and other conservation practices. CPP will cover up to 60% of the actual cost or 60% of the average cost whichever is less of the established practice. To be eligible landowners must be a Cooperator of the District and have a conservation plan approved by the District. Call 877-5670, Ext. 3 and ask for Jenny or stop by the office.