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[OCT. 9, 2001]  Logan County Farm Service Agency is currently searching for individuals representative of the county farmers to serve as nominees for the county committee election, which this year is in the district made up of Orvil, Prairie Creek, Broadwell, West Lincoln, Corwin and Sheridan townships, according to FSA County Executive Director Mark Fricke.

The Logan County FSA administers federal agricultural production, farm loan, conservation and emergency programs annually in Logan County. A locally elected committee of farmers and landowners that serve staggered, three-year terms oversees operation of the county office.

"It is critical to FSA’s future that we ensure that all farmers have an equal opportunity to be a candidate to serve as a member on our county committees," said Fricke. "Employees in the county office will be taking an active role in contacting producers and farm groups, along with leaders of minority, female and under-represented groups, to ensure that they fully understand the role of the county committee."

Individuals of legal voting age with an interest in farmland as an owner, operator, tenant or sharecropper or those who are eligible to participate in any FSA program are eligible to vote in the election and are eligible to serve on the committee if nominated and elected. Spouses are also eligible to vote and serve on the committee if nominated and elected.

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"The locally elected committees shoulder primary responsibility for making national farm programs fit the needs and situations faced by local farmers," Fricke said. "They bring local expertise and knowledge to USDA’s daily delivery of programs and services."

Fricke reminded farmers that for a nomination petition to be valid, it must be limited to one nominee, must include written certification that the nominee is willing to serve if elected and must be signed by one eligible voter in the area holding the election this year. Eligible voters may circulate or sign nomination petitions for as many candidates as they choose.

The deadline to return valid nomination petitions to the local FSA office is Oct. 29.

Minority and female farmers are encouraged to take part in this important nomination process. For more information, contact the local FSA office or USDA service centers.

[News release]

[OCT. 6, 2001]  Logan County 4-H’ers are joining nearly 7 million boys and girls nationwide in the Oct. 7-13 observance of National 4-H Week.

In Logan County, there are over 80 volunteer leaders working with more than 300 4-H members. These volunteers are among the more than 500,000 leaders nationwide who each contributed about 220 hours of service last year.

The 4-H program, conducted by the University of Illinois Extension, is open to boys and girls ages 8-19, wherever they live. Activities are conducted in the 3,150 counties of the United States, the District of Columbia and six territories.

The 4-H thrives because of a unique partnership with the public and private sectors, which contribute at the local, state and national level. Not only does this partnership include financial support, but also many business people volunteer their time and talents to boys and girls. Support at the local level is received through the help of many businesses, financial institutions, civic organizations and service groups.

For more information on how you can become involved in 4-H as a member or volunteer leader, contact the Logan County Extension office at 732-8289. The 4-H program is open to all youth ages 8-19, regardless of race, color or creed.

[News release]

[OCT. 6, 2001]  With fall definitely in the air, many of nature’s own are trying to find shelter for the winter. This group would include crickets, ants, spiders, ladybugs and elm leaf beetles. They are really seeking warmth, and they don’t care if they are on a rock in the sun or in your basement. Once in the home, you must decide whether to use pesticides, the vacuum cleaner or tolerate them.

You can save yourself a great deal of worry over the welfare of children and pets by choosing a non-chemical course of action (the vacuum or tolerance). Another option that keeps pesticides out of the house is to spray a barrier of diazinon on the outside foundation of the house.

Foundation sprays can be reduced to following a five-step program to have good success. Some of the insects and their relatives that can be controlled or reduced would include ants, centipedes, cockroaches, spiders and earwigs. In addition to trying for warmth, some of these are just naturally hanging around in flower beds and lawns outside the house.

Step one is to purchase an emulsifiable concentrate of diazinon (liquid form). Dilute with water to make a .5 percent solution for a foundation spray. The average home requires about three gallons of spray solution, so you will need about eight ounces of 25 percent diazinon concentrate in three gallons of water to get the correct percentage.

Step two is to spray the foundation of the house just to the point of runoff. Spray all the way around the house. Also make sure to spray around the base of door openings.

Step three is to also spray a 10- to 12-inch band of the solution on the adjacent soil. A wider band may give better protection but also has the extra insecticide involved. A wider band may be helpful if there is a flower bed or shrubbery providing for more insects close to the house.

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Step four is to spray behind concrete steps and other structures that join up with the foundation. If you can’t spray behind them, spray over and around them.

Step five is to spray cracks and crevices in the foundation and in concrete slabs (such as driveways) that join the foundation.

The idea is to crate a continuous barrier that insects, spiders, millipedes and other pests have to crawl through to get into your house. Even if they do get in, they won’t last long. Once insects are in the home, you shouldn’t use anything other than aerosol products that are labeled for use in the home. Many of the products just kill things that they come in contact with. A few do have a lasting residual. Remember that the more residual pesticides have, the more chances for accidentally causing poisoning problems.

Any time that you are dealing with pesticides, you should read the label. The label is a legal document that should tell what it controls, how to mix, how to apply, safety precautions and other important information.

Good luck to you as we enter fall and try to keep those nuisance pests out of your home.

[John Fulton]

[OCT. 3, 2001]  The 4-H centennial celebration will be in 2002. It’s not very often that we get to celebrate 100 years, so there will be several special events throughout the year. One of the main goals of the committee at this time is to identify past 4-H members living in the Logan County area.

If you are a past 4-H member living in Logan County, please contact the Extension office for a past member involvement form, so that we may build a record of former members living in the area. The Centennial Committee is considering several activities in the coming year that would involve these former 4-H’ers.

Please contact us by e-mail at logan_co@mail.aces.uiuc.edu, by paper mail at 980 N. Postville Drive, Lincoln, IL 62656 or by phone at (217) 732-8289. If you are one of the past 4-H members from Logan County who lives away from the area, we would also like to hear from you!

[John Fulton]

[SEPT. 25, 2001]  With harvest having begun in earnest this past week, we are having the yield results that everyone expected. That is to say that they are highly variable. Take the corn yields that have been discussed. The range that I have heard has been from 90 to 214 bushels per acre. The 214 seems to be a more isolated yield, with other yields running 20 bushels under that. Most corn yields seem to be running from 120 to 170 bushels per acre, with areas that had rain on the upper end and dryer areas running lower yield averages.

With soybean yields, the range of yields has been from 30 to 74 bushels per acre. Both the top and the bottom yields of the range are extreme. Most soybean yields have been from the low 40s to the low 50s, with rainfall and the relative maturity of the soybean having the major influence on yields. This year the mid to late Group 3 soybeans seem to have a yield advantage because of rains that fell very late in the growing season. The earlier maturing soybeans were already mature when the rains fell. The earlier beans have also had smaller seeds and lesser seed quality on the whole.

As harvest continues, we’ll begin to get a better handle on where the yields will settle. Of course the Illinois Department of Agriculture will provide its county yield estimates in February. But in the end we only tend to focus on our own farms and fields, as they are the ones that have to pay the bills.

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Corn borer survey

The annual ritual of evaluating corn borer damage has begun in the county. In fact, we are about to complete our field assignments. Each year, we are asked to assess corn borer damage and counts in 10 fields. Last year the counts of overwintering corn borers were light in the west area of the county and heavier to the east. This year the counts seem to have averaged out with heavy populations in most areas of the county.

Averages thus far on the survey show about 80 percent plant infestation and about two corn borers present per plant. Some plants that were damaged had no borers currently in them, as the borers had moved on. Other plants had as high as eight borers in one plant.

The results of our county survey will be sent to campus to combine with the other counties conducting surveys. This data collection helps campus specialists with predictions for overwintering numbers and potential damage for next year.

[John Fulton]

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