Topic: Agriculture

Tuesday University of Illinois Ag Economist Darrel Good laid out his current view of the row crop commodity landscape in his Weekly Outlook article.

Here is an excerpt, "...the 2013 corn crop is expected to be large enough that rationing of consumption during the year ahead will not be required. The average farm price will likely be higher than expected a month ago, but a sharp increase in prices from current levels to discourage consumption is probably not needed. Prices during the first half of the marketing year may be relatively flat. There is more concern about the size of the soybean crop and prices have risen sharply over the past month. Unlike corn prices, soybean prices are expected to unfold in more of a short-crop pattern like that of last year. Under such a pattern, prices would be expected to peak very early in the marketing year in order to discourage consumption and decline as the year progresses, particularly if the South American crop is large again in 2014."

LISTEN - Labor Day Radio Story

From U.S. Department of Labor Website

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

Demand for soybeans inside and outside of the United States is strong. As Todd Gleason reports consumption of the oilseed should keep its price relatively high.

WILLAg and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) invites you to attend the annual Salute to Agriculture Day event at the University of Illinois next Saturday September 7.

Join the College of ACES from 9 to 11 a.m. for a public tailgate at the ACES tent located just west of the State Farm Center (Assembly Hall) main entrance/circle drive. Then, watch the Fighting Illini football team take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 11 a.m.

Register for tickets now! A breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches and L.A. Gourmet signature cinnamon rolls will be featured in the tent. Adult breakfast tickets are $15, and student breakfast tickets are $10. A cash bar will be available. Individual game tickets also may be purchased for $20.

Several WILLAg folks (Gleason, Nelson, Coolley, Voeks, Kimmel) will be on hand for the event next Saturday along with Orion Samuelson, Dean of the College of ACES Bob Hauser, and President of the University of Illinois Bob Easter. Come join them for Salute to Agriculture at the Illini Football game.

We'll take time each day this week during the Closing Market Report to hear updates from the 21st Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. We'll also post the audio into this page and on Twitter @CommodityWeek. If you are a Twitter user, maybe even Facebook now that it is possible to search hashtags (#) on that service, look for #PFTour13 for posts from crop scouts on the tour. 

Friday Chip Flory will join us for Commodity Week as our guest. He'll confirm the numbers from the tour, and the adjusted estimates to be made by Pro Farmer. Commodity Week airs on WILL AM580 each Saturday at 6:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Use the following links to listen to our crop tour interviews.

Western Leg Day 1

Eastern Leg Day 2

Western Leg Day 2

Eastern Leg Day 3

Western Leg Day 3

Eastern Leg Day 4

Western Leg Day 4

Corn       Soybean        State
171.64   1283.61        Ohio
167.36   1185.14        Indiana
170.48   1115.97        Illinois
171.94     927.30        Iowa
181.09     869.43        Minnesota
154.93   1138.94        Nebraska
161.75   1016.70        South Dakota

...see the Tour's home webpage at www.profarmer.com

* Below you'll find the live Crop Tour twitter feed. Just in case you wondered about all the social media fuss. 

Illini head basketball Coach John Groce told farmers attending Agronomy Day at the University of Illinois he hopes his farm background will underpin his team's work ethic.

The summer of 1993 brought with it record rainfall. The flood those waters spawned on the Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers was of historic proportions. Todd Gleason traveled with a group of volunteers from Champaign County to the water's edge where they worked to hold back nature. He produced this radio portrait of the scene on the Illinois River

Every summer the Extension entomologist at the University of Illinois digs up the roots of corn.

Listen to Darrel Good's discussion about the Aug 12 USDA reports. There are two interviews. LISTEN to the 'day of' radio interview using the audio button or watch the video interview recorded August 14.

University of Illinois Agronomist Emerson Nafziger discusses the impact of Growing Degree Day accumulations on corn and soybeans. Todd Gleason spoke with him Wednesday August 7, 2013. Use the link on this page to hear the interview.