FUNDED BY THE ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION CHECKOFF PROGRAM.

2019

Do You Have a Crop Insurance Claim?

This year’s planting season created several challenges, not just for Illinois soybean producers, but for growers across the country. There have been several reports of strong corn and soybean yields throughout the state, however there are regions and isolated areas where performance was challenged due to regional stresses. The Federal Crop Insurance Program is a risk management tool that can help mitigate financial losses for U.S. farmers, like those that may have been sustained this year. In 1996, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) was established to administer the Federal Crop Insurance Program. RMA is an agency of the USDA [...]

By |November 25, 2019|

Biodiesel: A Year-Round Success

Biodiesel is one of the Illinois soybean checkoff program’s greatest success stories. This renewable fuel, made from soybean oil, contributes to cleaner air and fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and puts more money in the pockets of growers like you and me. The numbers are pretty astounding. Did you know that biodiesel increases the price of soybeans by $0.63 per bushel? One of the best ways to contribute to the value of soybeans is for us to use biodiesel in our trucks, tractors and combines. When we fill up our tanks with biodiesel on the farm, we’re not only [...]

By |November 23, 2019|

Understanding Crop Nutrients

Let’s take a trip back in time to 6th grade science – and class, today we’re going to review the Periodic Table of Elements. Comprised of both naturally occurring and man-made elements, this list currently has 118 elements. Seventeen of these are essential nutrients, or elements, for all plant life on earth. An “essential element” is required by the plant to successfully complete the vegetative and reproductive life cycle and cannot be substituted for any other nutrient or element. These 17 elements all have very specific tasks within a soybean plant to aid in emergence, structure, energy and reproduction [...]

By |November 19, 2019|

What Recent Experience Reminds Us About Raising Beans

The agricultural industry spends a lot of time contemplating which “silver bullets” or “golden inputs” should be used in soybean production. As an industry, we are notorious for tweaking the system —but we often forget how important it is to first embrace the fundamentals of soybean production. The past few growing seasons remind us of the “first steps” toward strong yields and management considerations that should be embraced before we experiment with “everything else.” Those considerations are grounded in a central concept—a very high percentage of pods naturally abort, and we must offset that by increasing overall field pod [...]

By |November 19, 2019|

Nominate a CCA for 2020 Soybean Master Adviser Award

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Nov. 18, 2019 — Know an experienced Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) with a passion for soybean management? Nominate them for the annual Soybean Master Adviser award, presented by the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff program. The award is part of ISA’s effort to recognize CCAs for contributions to Illinois soybean production. Any Illinois CCA whose certification is active and who is interested and involved in soybean management and works with farmers can be nominated. The award will be presented to the winning CCA at ISA’s ILSoyAdvisor Soybean Summit at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield - March 10, [...]

By |November 18, 2019|

Crop Progress: USDA Report

As the 2019 calendar year comes to an end, in many soybean regions, Illinois harvest still has a way to go. The below chart was sourced from the Nov. 10, 2019 USDA report and it shows harvest progress for Illinois and the surrounding states. In some fields, soybeans aren’t drying much, and with the cold front we’ve been experiencing, there’s little to no hope that additional moisture will be pulled out of the crop.  A lot of growers are trying to decide how to manage what’s left in the fields. It’s important to spend any allowable time to harvest [...]

By |November 13, 2019|

Storage Tips for World Trips

This article was originally published in the November issue of Soy Perspectives magazine. The 2019 soybean harvest is a memorable one. Millions fewer bushels will be harvested by U.S. farmers following weather woes. But high stock numbers and muted key export trade partners are keeping a tight lid on prices. And soybean stocks stored on- and off-farm are expected to increase as a result, adding on to the U.S.’ billion bushel ending stocks projection for 2018-2019. “In central Illinois we have always dumped our beans in the fall and stored some of our corn. That switched last fall with [...]

By |November 8, 2019|

Soil Temperature: Is It Just Another Number?

Soils are a geological work of art that have a strong interaction with the environment and regional challenges. Some people may see soils as just “dirt,” but to the agriculture community it’s much more than that. Soils are home to countless microbes, provide storage capacity for crop nutrients and structure for growing crops. Char 1: Soil temperature trends in the 2018-2019 season. It’s important to understand the amazing value that soils provide to better understand how to manage and protect them. Like many things in life, soils also go through a seasonal change based on the environment – rain [...]

By |November 6, 2019|
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