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Features
Lincoln FFA members receive recognition at state convention [JUNE 18, 2001] Members of the Lincoln FFA chapter participated in activities at the 73rd annual Illinois State FFA Convention at the Prairie Capital Convention Center June 12-14. Attending from the Lincoln chapter were Emily Bakken, Jackie Bakken, Monica Short, Amanda Davison and John Davison.
The sessions included award presentations, speaking contests, ag fairs and addresses by retiring state officers. Emily, Jackie and Amanda also participated in electing the new major state officers on Wednesday night. Jackie Bakken was installed as the 2001-2002 Section 14 president. The Lincoln group received an award for being a bronze sponsor chapter. John Davison and Breeann Werth received their state degrees, while Brett Conrady and Betsy Bakken were recognized for achieving the American Degree, which they will receive at the national convention at Louisville, Ky., October. Sean Rawlins, Sara Conklen and Matt Davison received plaques for being finalists in the Growmark essay contest. Congratulations to all FFA members who received honors at the convention. [Lincoln FFA news release]


Corn 101 A short course in corn plant development By John Fulton [JUNE 11, 2001] Ever wonder how a corn plant grows and develops during the season? Well, here is my attempt at a "crash course" to bring you up to date.
Farmers start with a seed. A viable seed. This seed contains many parts that are all important. When moisture is available for the seed, the kernel absorbs the moisture, and that triggers enzyme systems in it which digest and move nutrients in the seed into the developing embryo. Growth begins with the emergence of the radicle (root) from the kernel. The plumule (shoot portion) also begins to grow. Once it gets out of the seed, this is called the coleoptile. It usually takes six to 10 days for the tip of this coleoptile to reach the soil surface. The seedling root system will actually help feed the young corn plant until it gets to be about 15-18 inches tall. At this time corn will normally take a "pause" as the root system switches over to the one that will feed it for the remainder of the growing season. Corn will have a new leaf emerge about every three days. A fully grown corn plant will generally have 18-21 leaves. About five weeks after emergence, the plant will have all of its parts developed. This would include the leaves, ear, bud and tassel. This would also be the time when we can see about 10 leaves on the plant. About a month from now, it will be very easy to find the ear shoots, and a plant will often develop about seven of these. One or two are all that usually develop, but the others are present in case something happens to the main shoot. The ear shoot is usually about six nodes below the tassel (around the 13^th leaf on a plant). [to top of second column in this article]	The tassel will come out about 63 days after corn emergence; then the true reproductive stages of corn begin. Silk starts from the ear about six days later, with the silk coming out first from large kernels at the base. The tip kernels come out last. As pollen shed from the tassel hits the silk, it goes down the silk to fertilize each kernel individually. A corn ear may have 700-1,000 kernels on it in an even number of rows. Corn is truly mature about 131 days after it emerges. After this point it just takes about 10 more days before harvest usually begins. Most corn is mature at about 34 percent moisture and the rate of dry-down is greatly affected by the corn hybrid and the weather. Most farmers like to get corn in the lower 20s moisturewise before beginning harvest, in order to avoid excessive cost to dry the crop down to the 15 percent standard for corn. Hopefully this "short course" will give you a new appreciation and understanding of the cornfields you drive by throughout the growing season. [John Fulton]

Armyworms on the march in Logan County [MAY 29, 2001] The big buzz in the state of Illinois Agriculture right now is armyworms. They have really made their presence felt in areas from Logan County to the southern border of the state. Logan County has had sporadic outbreaks the last week, involving everything from pastures to cornfields. So far the outbreaks have been rather limited in number compared to areas to the south and west, but area farmers should definitely keep an eye on things. Armyworms literally devour just about everything in their path, and they do it in a relatively short time.
The armyworm prefers grass plants for food. Included would be small grains like wheat and oats, pasture and hay fields, and corn. If there aren’t grass plants and if soybeans are next up in the path, they will eat the beans. Generally control measures in wheat are warranted when there are six or more nonparasitized worms per foot of row and before head clipping occurs. In seedling corn, treatments should be applied when 25 percent of the plants are damaged. This year, fields that have armyworms really don’t have to have the thresholds applied to them. You treat at the earliest sign or there isn’t anything there to worry about treating in a few days. [to top of second column in this article]	Rather than go into all the details about armyworms, I’ll choose to use the miracle of the "hotlink" and send you to the U of I entomology online fact sheet at http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/ publications/infosheets/armyworm7/ armyworm7.htm. If you have questions or concerns about armyworms, please feel free to contact the office at 732-8289. [John Fulton]

Honors & Awards

Hartem FFA speaker is top in state [JUNE 25, 2001] Kate Wrage, of the Hartsburg-Emden FFA chapter, was named the state winner in the prepared public speaking contest at the 73rd state FFA convention. Her topic centered on biotechnology in crop production. She advances to national competition, which will be in October. Kate also was named the state winner in fruit/vegetable production and will advance to regional competition as well. She was one of the top 10 chapter presidents and also received her state FFA degree.
The Hartem group was recognized as a Silver Emblem chapter for their program of activities. The chapter was the Section 14 winner in the Illinois Farm Bureau Heritage and Cooperative Activities programs. As the Heritage winner, Hartem FFA member Anthony Jones will represent the chapter and section on an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., later this summer. The chapter was also recognized for collecting over $2,000 for the 2000 FFA Foundation drive. Other recognitions included the Sweepstakes and Century Challenge Awards. Hartem FFA member Natalie Coers was a participant in the state FFA band during the convention. The following Hartem FFA members also attended the state convention: Shane Westen, Anthony Jones, Jacob Klokkenga, Kyle Hoerbert, Matt Wrage, Nick Alberts, Kory Leesman and student teacher Nathan Sasse.	[State Proficiency Award winner in fruit/vegetable production is Kate Wrage. Pictured, left to right, are parents Kurt and Lisa Wrage, state FFA secretary Renee Mettler, Kate Wrage and Hartem FFA adviser Betsy Pech.] [Kate Wrage, state winner in prepared public speaking, and her FFA adviser, Betsy Pech.]

4-H’ers receive Kiwanis honors [JUNE 25, 2001] The Lincoln Kiwanis club honored representatives from seven 4-H clubs on June 19.
Each year Kiwanis honors outstanding members nominated by 4-H club leaders, and the overall winner this year was John Davison of the Wide-A-Wake Club. He received the Armin Fricke Award. Other club winners were Brook Wibben, Marty Oltmanns, Andrew Fulton, Aaron Uphoff, Jeff Jones and Heather Osborn.	[Winners from the 4-H clubs were (left to right) Brook Wibben, Marty Oltmanns, Andrew Fulton, John Davison and Aaron Uphoff. Not pictured were Jeff Jones and Heather Osborn.]

Lincoln High School FFA wraps up year [MAY 10, 2001] The Lincoln Community High School FFA Chapter had their end-of-year honors and awards banquet Tuesday evening, May 8, at the high school.
Chapter members who received awards and honors in the past year were recognized as follows: State FFA degree recipients John Davison Breeann Werth American FFA degree recipients Betsy Bakken Brett Conrady National convention delegates Emily Bakken Jackie Bakken Sara Conklen Amanda Davison John Davison Adam Freeman Jeff Jones Monica Short Winners of Chapter Foundation Awards Jackie Bakken — Diversified Agriculture Production Emily Bakken — Diversified Horticulture-Production Jeff Jones — Diversified Horticulture Placement Jackie Bakken — Diversified Livestock Production Breeann Werth — Equine Placement Jackie Bakken — Forage Crop Production John Davison — Mechanics Monica Short — Sheep Production Adam Freeman — Small Animal Care Jackie Bakken — Specialty Animal Production Sara Conklen — Swine Production Geoff Brown — Swine Placement Winners of Section Foundation Awards Emily Bakken — Diversified Horticulture Production Breeann Werth — Equine Placement Monica Short — Sheep Production Adam Freeman — Small Animal Care Jackie Bakken — Specialty Animal Production Sara Conklen — Swine Production Team placings at contests Section 14 Land-Use — 2^nd-place team Blackhawk Land-Use State Invitational — 9^th-place team ISU Crops State Invitational — 1^st-place team Section 14 Crops — 4^th-place team Lincoln Land Crops Invitational — 2^nd-place team Section 14 Parliamentary Procedure — 2^nd-place team (advanced to district competition) Section 14 Livestock — 7^th-place team Lincoln Land Livestock Invitational — 6^th-place team State Livestock and Dairy — No results yet Chapter officers for 2000-2001 Jackie Bakken, president John Davison, vice president Amanda Davison, reporter Adam Freeman, secretary Sara Conklen, treasurer Jeff Jones, sentinel Emily Bakken, historian Zac Tibbs, student adviser Monica Short, chaplain Breeann Werth, parliamentarian Mr. Nordstrom, adviser [to top of second column in this article]	Chapter members for 2000-2001 Brandon Babbs Emily Bakken Jackie Bakken Jason Blanford Geoff Brown Austin Charron Reid Conklen Sara Conklen Amanda Davison John Davison Matt Davison Miles Ellegood Adam Freeman Michael Gasparini Luke Gerardot Corey Hassebrock Jonathon Hinkle Corey Holmes Brittany Ingram Kyle Janssen Paul Johnson Jeff Jones Sara Koehne Matt May Devon Nicholas Emily Patrick Sean Rawlins Monica Short Amy Springer Shane Steinberg Andrea Swinford Zac Tibbs Breeann Werth Foundation sponsors for 2000-2001 Croft Fertilizer Service Al and Eileen Huelskoetter G & D Four Farming, Inc. Beason Ag Center Taloma Farmers Grain Company Marcia May Tri-Pork, Inc. Harold and Rosemary Apel Gene and MaryAnn Apel Darren Bakken Leonard and Rita Bakken Harold Begolka Best Friends Animal Hospital Bock & Associates-Realty Bill and Pat Bree Charron's Radiator & Auto Repair Contractor's Ready Mix Coy's Car Comer Ed Hassebrock Ralph and Joyce Eimer Eugene Hassebrock Frontier Mutual Insurance Graue Pharmacy Heritage Pork Farm, Inc. Janet Henrichsmeyer Jerry's Electric Charles and Carol Jones Woody Jones-State Farm Insurance Kim Koehne Bob and Sandy Meinershagen Don and Rose Miller Paulus Farms, Inc. Kent and Lynn Paulus Pegram Welding Herman Schwantz Sloan’s Fertilizer Service State Bank of Lincoln Town & Country Bank Earl and Nancy Boyer Mr. and Mrs. David Deters William and Mary Jo Janssen Don and Donna Wilson Irwin and Lila Conklen Rod and Pam Conklen Ethelene White Quint and Linda Harnacke C.C. Hawes Implement Company Mr. and Mrs. Rick Holmes Michael and Janet Patrick Lynn and Donna Miller Mr. and Mrs. James Sheley Jim White John L. White Ag Land FS

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