Farmland is a good long-term investment as long as you don’t have to take a loan out to buy it. Todd Gleason has more from the University of Illinois.

The numbers are telling farmers to plant corn this spring. Todd Gleason has this quick analysis of the five-year trend from the state of Illinois.

There is new cookbook out. It is called Soy on the Menu: Recipes for Food Service. Todd Gleason has more on how the high impact of healthy eating through soy enabled foods can be brought into cafeterias around the nation.

LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY AND RENEWABLE FUELS
www.livestockandrenewablefuels.uiuc.edu

The last full week of May the University of Illinois will host a conference on the livestock industry and the impact of renewable fuels. It is subtitled Dynamic Opportunities and Challenges  and scheduled for the 23rd and 24th of the month. The purpose is to take a comprehensive look at the impact of using soybeans and corn for fuel production on the size of the livestock and poultry industries and the resulting supply and demand for the related feedstuffs. For more information and to register visit www.livestockandrenewablefuels.uiuc.edu.
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NOTES ON AN UNUSUAL SPRING by Emerson Nafziger
http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/bulletin/article.php?id=701

In this week’s pest management and crop development bulletin University of Illinois Extension Agronomist Emerson Nafziger comments on the cool wet spring. He says – and I quote - As we move as quickly as we can to finish up corn planting and to start planting soybean, we need to remember that damage done with soil compaction or from putting seed into poor seedbed conditions caused by working or planting fields too wet can be damage that affects the crop throughout the year. At some point it may become necessary to work and plant fields "on the wet side" because the delay in planting corn will cause more yield loss than will poor soil conditions. But Emerson Nafziger says we're at least three weeks away from that date in Illinois – as of last few days of April.
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ARMYWORMS AND BLACK CUT WORMS INVADE ILLINOIS
http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/bulletin/article.php?id=695

U OF I Entomologist Kevin Steffey says captures of both armyworm and black cutworm moths have picked up in the state. And that compared with previous years' captures, these are worth noting. He says because a lot of corn went into the ground before the widespread rains, those fields should be targeted for scouting first. The seedlings will be at risk to Black Cut Worm damage. It's important to note that corn hybrids with Herculex I Insect Protection are labeled for control of black cutworm larvae. And he says these hybrids should effectively control young (first and second) instars before they begin cutting. Cruiser 250 and Poncho 250 are also labeled for control of black cutworms, but past experience and some studies have shown that black cutworms are not controlled very well by either product.

Farmers taking federal crop insurance revenue products on corn and soybeans shouldn’t  feel pressured into selling their crop. Todd Gleason has more on the reasons why.

University of Illinois horticulture students have discovered a way to collaborate across campuses, and with a client. Todd Gleason has more on how the classes are helping Danville, Illinois create a new green space.

The numbers are in and it cost more to produce a bushel of corn in Illinois last year than it did the year before. Todd Gleason has the details.

With the anticipated increase of corn to be planted in Illinois this season, a lot of acres will have to go back onto last year's corn ground. One of the key tactics to help manage plant diseases is crop rotation. As you’ll hear from reporter Todd Gleason, although high yields can be achieved with corn following corn, there are disease risks associated with the practice.

The University of Illinois crop protection team is urging farmers to rotate, rotate, rotate. Todd Gleason has more on managing weed, disease, and insect resistance in commodity crops.

There’s a new glyphosate, weeds, and crops website for farmers to use. Todd Gleason has more on why the crop management specialists at 16 universities collaborated to produce the management information.

Five decades ago the people of India were on the brink of starvation. Then President Eisenhower called on the Land Grant system in the U.S. to help solve the problem. He promised a 1000 agricultural experts would converge on the sub-continent. Those from the University of Illinois helped to establish the G.B. Pant (gee bee pawnt) University of Agriculture and Technology. As Todd Gleason reports, their successors have returned to Pantnager (pawnt-n-nawger) to rekindle this decades old relationship with what today is noted as the birthplace of the green revolution.

Friday morning (March 30, 2007) USDA released the Quarterly Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports. Todd Gleason sat down with University of Illinois Extension Ag Economist Darrel Good within an hour of the release to get his reaction. Today we’ll hear what Darrel thinks the numbers will mean to the price of corn over the growing season.

Friday morning (March 30, 2007) USDA released the Quarterly Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports. Todd Gleason sat down with University of Illinois Extension Ag Economist Darrel Good within an hour of the release to get his reaction. Today we’ll hear what Darrel thinks the numbers will mean to the price of soybeans over the growing season.