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Nutrient Manager Megan Dwyer introduced the second annual water testing strip program in honor of National FFA Week. The program sends two water testing strips to every ICGA member and asks them to voluntarily sample water on their farm, whether from a creek, ditch or small stream, and anonymously reports the results. When farmers submit their results they will be asked to designate an Illinois FFA chapter to donate $5 on their behalf. Last year the program raised $635 and aims to have an even higher response rate. Members should keep an eye out for the testing strips in the mail in the coming weeks. Watch Megan Dwyer break down the purpose of this program even more in this one-minute video.

Illinois corn checkoff investment in the U.S. Grains Council has helped build a robust global market for U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) worth more than $2.24 billion in 2019. This important market empowers ethanol plant profitability and maintains ethanol markets for corn, which consume 40 percent of U.S.-grown corn each year. As competition and volume have increased in the ethanol industry, DDGS sales have become an increasingly important profit center as well as a much-demanded feed ingredient by buyers across the globe.

This week, the Illinois Corn Growers Association submitted comments in support of the reregistration of atrazine, an important chemical that empowers farmers to utilize conservation practices on their farms and lower their environmental footprints. “Access to the chemical allows our farmers to control weeds without tilling the earth, to reduce fuel usage and to keep carbon sequestered in the soil. Without access to atrazine, farmers would have to consider additional tillage and additional chemical applications, which increase fuel usage, increase carbon released into the air, and in general do not support the conservation-minded transitions farmers are making to their practices,” said ICGA President Randy DeSutter in his comments.

All members of the Illinois House and Senate received a copy of an Illinois Farm Families “Innovation Grows Here” brochure this week, detailing the innovative ways farmers can be a solution to challenges facing Illinois and our nation. IL Corn saw an opportunity to engage with especially newly elected members of our House and Senate. We hope that this introduction to some of the farmers in Illinois is met with a willingness to learn more. IL Corn remains a part of the Illinois Farm Families coalition, along with the Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Soybean Association, and Midwest Dairy. These Illinois farm organizations use the coalition to help non-farmers understand farmers and their farming practices.