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Illini Farm Report
Todd
E. Gleason
1301
W. Gregory Dr., Rm 75 MC710
Urbana,
Illinois 61801
217-333-9697
or ifr@uiuc.edu
January 29,
2010
Dear
Broadcaster:
The Illini Farm Report is for use in your agricultural radio programming slots. You are welcome to run each story "as is," or to lift actualities from it. For your editing convenience, the scripts used for each story are included in this document. If you have any problems with the audio, story ideas, or suggestions for improvements, please call me at 217-3339697.
1 Good Fences are Valuable Tools
2 The Life Span of a Western Honey Bee
3 How Many Corn Acres are Needed in 2010
4 Yield Increases on Illinois Crops: Questions for the Future
5 Horseradish; More than Just a Condiment
The opinions expressed on the Illini Farm Report are not necessarily those of the program producer, the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences or U of I Extension. Our programs feature a wide range of viewpoints in the interest of promoting awareness and discussion of issues that are important to the agricultural community.
CUT 1 Good Fences are Valuable Tools
Dean Oswald, Animal Systems Team Educator – University of Illinois Extension
A good livestock fence makes a for a good neighbor. ItÕs also not that easy to install and maintain. Todd Gleason has more on the How ToÕs of fencing.
Electric fences have been a mainstay of the livestock farmerÉ
3:03
Electric fences have been a mainstay of the livestock farmer for decades. TheyÕre used to keep animals in and predators out. When done correctly, the electric fence works really well. TheyÕre quick and simple to erect, move and even maintain. Still, Dean Oswald of University of Illinois Extension says it is important to recognize the electric fence is not really a physical barrier.
Oswald :24 Electric fencing is a psychological barrierÉ
Éon a fence.
ItÕs fear of the voltage running through the fence that keeps the animal in place, not the fence. ItÕs physically not strong enough to hold an animal says Oswald.
Oswald :56 If we donÕt carry a high enough voltage...
Éin order to control livestock with one or two wires.
The high tensile or electric fence has some distinct advantages over others types of livestock fencing. TheyÕre small, even portable to some extent, and can be put up quickly. The electric fence needs fewer postsÉthese can be placed thirty to forty feet apart on flat land. Still, itÕs a psychological and not a true physical barrier, so some attention does need to be paid to that which keeps the animal contained, the electricity.
Oswald :36 You need to have a very good grounding systemÉ
Éand perhaps other lightening arrestors out through your system.
It is also important not to put too much tension on the electric fence. Oswald says it needs to be able to expand and contract with varying temperatures.
CUT 2 The Life Span of a Western Honey Bee
Gene Robinson, Professor of Entomology – University of Illinois
The honeybee lives in a complex society and over its short lifespan takes on many jobs. Todd Gleason files this report on this workhorse of the planetÕs food production system.
The honeybee is largely responsibleÉ
2:17
The honeybee is largely responsible for pollination of many of the foods we humans eat. About one third of human nutrition is directly due to crops grown through bee pollination. So itÕs important to understand something about the honeybee and its society. One of the hallmarks of a complex society is division of labor. Certain individuals do certain jobs. ThatÕs exactly what happens in a honeybee colony says University of Illinois Entomologist Gene Robinson.
02:17:06 Robinson :12 In the honeybee colony this is structuredÉ
Éshe goes outside to collect food.
An adult worker honeybee lives about six weeks. She spends the first two and half to three weeks working inside the hive taking care the baby bees, cleaning the hive, building the wax comb, and protecting the hive.
02:47:29 Robinson :24 And then at about two and half to three weeksÉ
Éand then to later on become a forager.
This pattern of behavioral maturation says the scientist Gene Robinson is regulated by a set of changes in the activity of thousands of genes in the bee brain.
03:25:04 Robinson :23 So when the bee is young and working in the hiveÉ
Éall the different aspects of changing jobs.
It offers up some interesting insights into the human condition; into nature and nurture; the inherited and the environmental affects. The honeybee changes jobs on an inherited schedule, but one that can be moved by the effects of the environment around the colony. Nature and nurture work together in this case and not against each other.
CUT 3 How Many Corn Acres are Needed in 2010
Darrel Good, Ag Economist – University of Illinois
The sharp decline in winter wheat seedings in 2009 has analysts guessing how that acreage will be divided among the spring planted crops. Todd Gleason provides some insight from the ag economists at the University of Illinois.
There are really two questions related to acreageÉ
2:55
There are really two questions related to acreage in 2010; how many acres will get planted to all crops?; and how will that acreage be divided says University of Illinois Ag Economist Darrel Good. He says the 6.2 million acre reduction in winter wheat seedings and the 2.4 million acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts that matured in 2009 and were not extended may or may not all be planted in the spring of 2010.
So, rather than trying to anticipate farmer planting decisions with so many factors unknown, Darrel Good says it might be useful to ask instead how many acres of each crop are needed in 2010. In the case of corn, he says it depends on four factors.
Good :18 One, the magnitude of stocks at the beginning of the yearÉ
Éat the end of the marketing year.
USDA currently projects that stocks of U.S. corn at the end of the marketing year will total 1.764 billion bushels. Good says a comfortable year ending inventory, reflecting neither shortage nor surplus, is probably around 1.5 billion bushels. The difference between the two is 264 million bushels. He works forwards from there to come up with needed corn acres for 2010. Good says consumption should increase 200-300 million next year to produce ethanol from corn, domestic feed use might decline modestly because of the increased availability of distillers dried grains and stable livestock numbers, and that corn exports should increase if world wheat production drops back. He puts consumption at 13.25 billion bushels for 2010/11. Knock off the extra 264 million bushels from this marketing year and round a bit, and you come up with a needed crop size of about 13 billion bushels. HereÕs Darrel Good again.
Good :32 The number of acres needed to produce 13 billionÉ
Éeight-nine and half million acres.
Eighty-nine and half million acres of corn to adequately meet expected consumption in the coming marketing year. ItÕs about three million acres more than were planted in 2009. The USDA will release the results of its survey of farmer planting intentions on March 31.
CUT 4 Yield Increases on Illinois Crops: Questions for the Future
Gary Schnitkey, Extension Farm Management Specialist, University of Illinois
Over time, yields of crops grown in Illinois have increased due to technological advances. The ag economists at the University of Illinois have explored these relationships and released some data on the growth rates and developed some questions as to how those rates have changed.
The article, which can be found onÉ
4:21
The article, which can be found on the FarmDOC website at www.FarmDOC.illinois.edu, examines growth rates for the four crops with the largest number of acres in Illinois: corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa. Of the four crops, University of Illinois Farm Management Specialist Gary Schnitkey says corn has the highest growth rate from 1960 through 2009. In the most recent decade, corn growth rates have exceeded the 1960-2009 average while soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa growth rates have been below that 40-year average.
LetÕs start out with some numbers. Over time, a constant percent growth rate implies that trend bushel increase is rising. For example, corn has a 1.9 percent growth rate over the 1960 through 2009 period. During the 1960s, corn yields averaged 87 bushels. A 1.9 percent growth rate implies a 1.7-bushel increase. Average corn yield during the 2000s is 162 bushels and a 1.9 percent increase yields a 3.1-bushel yearly increase, 1.4 bushels higher than the 1960s trend.
Here are what Schnitkey terms the geometric averages of growth rates from 1960 through 2009: 1.9 percent for corn, 1.1 percent for soybeans, 1.5 percent for wheat, and 0.8 percent for alfalfa.
Over the entire 1960 through 2009 time period, Schnitkey says corn had the highest growth rate, followed by wheat, soybeans, and then alfalfa. Consequently, corn then had a higher relative yield than the other three crops during the 2000s.
He illustrates it this way.
Schnitkey :38 Corn yields during the decade of the 2000ÕsÉ
Ébecause of that higher growth rate.
Schnitkey divvied the growth rates up by crop and decade, too. While not statistically different, several features of growth rates by decade do stand out he says. The first is that the highest decade growth rates for all crops occurred during the 1960s. During the 1960s, average growth rates are 4.3 percent for corn, 2.7 percent for soybeans, 3.9 percent for wheat, and 2.5 percent for alfalfa. Except for corn, all crops have average 2000s growth rates that were below the long-term average from 160-2009. Soybeans were .7% for the 2000s as compared to 1.1% .Wheat averaged -.7 percent for the 2000s compared to 1.5 percent for 1960-2009. Alfalfa averaged -.5 percent for the 2000s compared to .8 percent over the long-term.
Schnitkey :34 Recent relative growth ratesÉ
Élonger term influences.
For example says Schnitkey public – research, development and education - emphasis has moved away from increasing productivity to placing more emphasis on environmental and other societal concerns. That along with intense development of hybrid corn in the private sector could be driving the spread between the yield gains, but itÕs too early to tell. He says more observations on yields in the future will be needed provide evidence of whether yield productivity is or is not changing over time.
CUT 5 Horseradish; More than Just a Condiment
Mosbah Kushad, Associate Professor – University of Illinois ACES/NRES
Pronouncer: mows-bah COO-shod
Horseradish! ItÕs pungent. ItÕs grown in Illinois. And as Todd Gleason repots itÕs healthy for you.
Illinois is the number horseradishÉ
1:58
Illinois is the number horseradish producer on the world stage. ItÕs a pretty small stage, but one horseradish growers would like to make bigger. As it turns out, horseradish is good for you. Mosbah Kushad works for the University of Illinois, and with horseradish. He explains why people might give the pungent plant a healthy look.
Kushad :28 Being a crucifer crop, it is of the same family as broccoliÉ
Éas those found in broccoli.
A class of naturally occurring chemicals known to help prevent cancer. Horseradish is a rich source of the chemical.
Kushad :45 And this familyÉ
Éand the growers are really happy with the results.
The horseradish plant, in its raw state, produces an enzyme that frees up the beneficial chemicals. It not only does this for horseradish, but when combined with other plants – say broccoli – it provides a similar boost.