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ICGA members who received special water testing strips in the mail this past spring should consider taking a brief moment to give their thoughts on the program. IL Corn is evaluating the best way to help spread awareness and provide information around potential nitrogen loss coming from farm fields. The three-question survey should take no longer than five minutes to complete and helps guide the organization in actions to take in the future. The survey can be found below. Your feedback is appreciated.

IL Corn hosted grain buyers from Nonghyup Feed Inc. (NOFI) on June 3, 2021, primarily to showcase Illinois’s corn crop. NOFI is the largest cooperative feed mill in South Korea. Their main goals were to examine crop conditions as well as communicate with local farmers and company representatives regarding the changes in supply and demand of corn. It also sparked the opportunity to build closer business relationships with U.S. feed and food grain industry professionals. NOFI is the world’s 8th largest cooperative with 2.4 million farmer members and is based in Seoul, South Korea. The company operates as a subsidiary of NongHyup Agribusiness Group Inc. NOFI is a crucial business unit of the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation (NACF). The company, including the NACF, bought 2,597 thousand-metric-tons of corn in 2020, with 100% of the corn being imported. That is roughly 102,000,000 bushels of corn.

Corn farmers have a lot of opportunities to gain expertise and minimize financial risk when they try cover crops in 2021. Farmers that planted a cover crop in the fall of 2020 and terminated it prior to your 2021 cash crop or seeded a cover crop on 2021 prevent plant acres may be eligible for a $5 per acre reduction on their crop insurance premium from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The deadline to file a 578 form with the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to gain access to this premium credit is June 15! For more information on what is needed to apply, click here, and be sure to call a local FSA office because additional information may be required.

Precision Conservation Management (PCM), a farmer service program led by the Illinois Corn Growers Association and Illinois Soybean Association, and supported by a non-profit technology partner, Heartland Science and Technology Group, released their 2021 Business Case for Conservation this week, providing financial and environmental data on common Illinois farm practices. Among the recommendations, PCM experts report that seventy percent of the most profitable corn fields in the PCM dataset were managed with an in-season nitrogen application strategy – either pre-plant, sidedress, or a combination. The majority of these most profitable fields also applied nitrogen fertilizer at a rate that equaled 1.0 lb. N/bushel corn or less.

Paul Taylor of Esmond, IL is the recipient of the Illinois Corn Growers Association’s (ICGA) top award. Though the award is typically presented at the ICGA Annual Meeting in November, the association opted to give the award this week at their first in-person meeting instead of during the virtual November meeting. The World of Corn Award goes to individuals, organizations, or businesses for making significant contributions to the corn industry. The special award, now in its 31th year, was created to recognize the global importance of corn, and specifically honor individual pacesetters that have made Illinois a leader in the corn industry. “Paul Taylor is one of those farmer leaders that you can put in any situation and know that he will come through for Illinois farmers,” said Randy DeSutter, family farmer and ICGA President. “He is intelligent and well-spoken, listens with intention, and most importantly, he always shows up.”