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Features

Hartem FFA attends open house at Illinois FFA office

[NOV. 20, 2001]  Four Hartsburg-Emden FFA members and their adviser attended the open house of the new Springfield headquarters of the Illinois Association FFA. Dedication ceremonies were conducted, along with a tour of the new facilities.

Of interest was a display with pictures and other memorabilia of the Illinois FFA and agriculture education from its beginning in the 1920s to the current year.

FFA chapters attending were encouraged to place an item from their chapter in the time capsule.


Pictured standing in front of the new Illinois FFA center are, left to right, Daniel Coers, Nic Coers, Daniel Eeten and Natalie Coers.


TLC for your fresh Christmas tree

[NOV. 19, 2001]  With the Thanksgiving holiday bearing down on us, many people will begin thinking about purchasing their holiday symbol for the Christmas season — the Christmas tree. A freshly cut Christmas tree can be a beautiful sight. With proper selection and care, consumers can safely enjoy a fresh tree throughout the holiday season.

Following is information shared by Extension educators in the horticulture program to help you in the process of selection through care.

Selection

•  Buy Christmas trees early in the season.

•  Consider purchasing Christmas trees from a choose-and-cut farm.

•  The sooner you can get the tree home to a constant source of water, the fresher it will stay.

•  Fresh trees should have pliable needles, a fresh evergreen aroma and firm needle retention.

Transportation

•  Protect the tree on the drive home. Wind rushing through the tree can cause it to lose valuable moisture.

•  Cover trees tied on top of the car or in an open trunk.

 

Preparation

•  If you won't be putting the tree in its stand right away, store it in a place out of the wind and freezing temperatures. Make a fresh cut on the butt by removing 1" of the trunk and place in fresh water.

•  Remove 1 inch of the stump when bringing the tree indoors.

•  Immediately place the tree into a stand that holds at least one-half gallon of water.

Location

•  Avoid standing the tree in front of large windows that expose it to sun and heat.

•  Avoid placing near furnace register vents and fireplaces. This exposes the tree to heat that leads to rapid moisture loss.

Watering

•  Keep the water level above the base of the cut at all times. Check water level daily.

•  A fresh tree will use one-half to two gallons of water the first day it’s brought inside.

 

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•  A fresh tree may soak up a quart or more of water per day.

•  If the cut base dries out, the sap will harden and the tree will not take up any more water.

•  Water additives such as aspirin, sugar or flame retardant are not necessary.

Safety

If you have made a fresh cut on the base and the tree no longer takes up water, it has lost moisture below a critical level and will never regain its freshness. Remove this tree from the house. A tree in this condition will burn.

Horticulture websites

Horticulture is everyone’s agriculture. To help you keep up on some of the current information, here are several links to University of Illinois websites:

The Solutions Series is designed to provide information on topics in foods and nutrition, consumer and family economics, as well as horticulture. Sources of information include the University of Illinois, United States Department of Agriculture and other land grant universities.

http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~robsond/
solutions/solutions.html

For a copy of the Home, Yard & Garden Pest Newsletter, click on http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/cespubs/hyg/

The Hort Corner has lots of good information: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/hort/index.html

Kids Link has horticulture information for children: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/kids/index.html

[John Fulton]


October weather wrap-up
and a look at November

[NOV. 12, 2001]  "October 2001 was the third-wettest October on record in Illinois since 1895, with some severe weather and cooler temperatures than average. August to October also was the ninth-wettest three-month period, and May-October was the 17th-wettest six-month period," says state climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.sws.uiuc.edu), a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

According to the division’s records, precipitation was well above average in October: 6.58 inches compared to an average of 2.78 inches. Monthly totals were highest at Paris (9.87 inches) and Olney (9.75 inches).

Temperatures were 1.5 degrees cooler than the 55-degree average for October in Illinois. Brownstown reported the warmest reading, 87 degrees on Oct. 2, and Freeport reported the coldest reading, 13 degrees on Oct. 17.

Thunderstorms in northwestern Illinois resulted in at least 22 reports of hail, ranging in size from 0.25 to 1.75 inches, on Oct. 23. More severe weather on Oct. 24 resulted in 43 reports of hail, 14 reports of wind damage and a confirmed tornado in Monticello, with no deaths or serious injuries reported. Long-term records show that only 1 percent to 2 percent of tornadoes in Illinois occur in October.

 

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"Cool, wet conditions in October were good for replenishing soil moisture but did slow down harvest operations and construction. November temperatures are typically much cooler, with average highs from the mid-40s (north) to the mid-50s (south) and average lows from the upper 20s (north) to the upper 30s (south). Average November precipitation ranges from 2.8 inches (north) to 4.4 inches (south). Heating degree days measure heating demand and range from 800 degree days (north) to 550 degree days (south). This month there’s also a high likelihood of seeing the season’s first measurable snowfall, with monthly averages ranging from 2.5 inches (northwest) to 0.5 inches (far south)," says Angel.

[Illinois State Water Survey news release]


Results from local commercial corn plot

[NOV. 12, 2001]  The chart below is provided by John Fulton of the University of Illinois Extension.

2001 Logan County Commercial Corn Plot

University of Illinois Extension, State Bank of Lincoln, Fort Trust Farms, and Scott Wurth, and participating seed companies cooperating

From west
12-row border  

Wet weight

Moisture

Yield at 15%

Yield +
Check

Sun Prairie 2642

1660

19.7

178.37

- 9.99

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1740

19.1

188.36

 

Sun Prairie 2687

1930

18.9

209.45

+21.09

DeKalb C60-08YG

1705

17.8

187.54

-11.30

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1830

18.8

198.84

 

Asgrow RX708

1760

18.3

192.41

- 6.43

Horizon 7390

1850

18.6

201.51

+ 4.12

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1810

18.5

197.39

 

Horizon 7379

1620

20.6

172.12

-25.27

FS 6552

1565

18.4

170.88

-23.30

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1740

18.6

194.18

 

FS 6871

1690

18.6

184.08

-10.10

Stine 9614

1770

19.0

191.85

+ 6.64

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1690

18.1

185.21

 

Stine 9803

1880

19.5

202.51

+17.30

Dairyland 1515

1690

18.3

184.76

-10.45

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1790

18.5

195.21

 

Dairyland 1609

1790

18.4

195.45

+ 0.24

NK 6569

1700

19.1

184.03

+1.99

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1655

17.8

182.04

 

NK 7239

2080

18.6

226.57

+44.53

Wyffels 5540

1680

18.0

184.34

-17.06

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1840

18.2

201.40

 

Wyffels 730

1720

18.0

188.73

-12.67

BoJac 5777

1750

18.2

191.55

+10.28

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1640

17.4

181.27

 

BoJac 9901Bt

1780

18.8

193.41

+12.14

Diener 1091

1895

19.4

204.38

+13.63

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1730

17.6

190.75

 

Diener 1157

1665

18.2

182.25

- 8.50

Campbell 6670

1780

18.0

195.31

+8.82

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1710

18.5

186.49

 

Campbell 6475

1840

18.2

201.40

+14.91

Golden Harvest H8877

1630

17.2

180.60

-8.93

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1740

18.6

189.53

 

Golden Harvest H9229

1640

17.3

181.49

-8.04

Trisler 5322

1730

18.7

188.20

+9.24

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1645

18.7

178.96

 

Trisler 5255

1550

18.6

168.83

-10.13

Lewis 4830

1505

18.9

163.32

-47.51

Check (Golden Harvest H9345)

1950

19.2

210.83

 

Lewis 4920

1490

19.5

160.50

-50.33

 

 

Planted 5/1/01/harvested 10/24/01

Fertility     175-92-150

4 rows of each hybrid

Herbicide   Topnotch/Hornet/Accent

planted population of 30,000

Row Length Harvested 680 feet Acres/plot .157

           


Honors & Awards

Ewe owned by Aaron Steffens wins honors in Kentucky

[NOV. 14, 2001]   A yearling ewe owned by Aaron Steffens of rural Lincoln was named reserve grand champion ewe of the 2001 National Hampshire Show held in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Ky., on Monday, Nov. 12.

In August, the same ewe had been named champion Hampshire ewe at the Illinois State Fair.ce


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