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"This is an educational event for new,
beginning and experienced shepherds interested in learning more
about lambing and the events leading up to and following it," said
Richard Cobb, U of I Extension sheep specialist.
Topics covered include nutrition of the
ewe, lambing barn preparation and obstetrics, grafting methods,
raising orphan lambs, docking, and identification.
"The school is designed for maximum
‘hands-on’ experience and informal questions and answers," said
Cobb.
Joining Cobb as an instructor will be
Cliff Shipley, a clinical practitioner specialist with the U of I
College of Veterinary Medicine.
The cost is $30 per person ($20 for
each additional family member) and includes morning coffee and
donuts, noon meal, and educational materials.
Registration information is available
by contacting Cobb at 128 ASL, 1207 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL
61801; phone (217) 333-7351; e-mail
arcobb@uiuc.edu.
Information
is also available on the Web at Illini SheepNet:
http://sheepnet.outreach.uiuc.edu.
[U
of I news release]
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"The USDA’s August Crop Production
report will provide the starting point for refining these
expectations, but confidence in production prospects may be delayed
until the September or October report," said Darrel Good.
"History for those years when a small
crop occurs, or is expected, suggests that prices will experience an
early peak this year. The high may have already occurred, or it
could come as late as November, underscoring the difficulty of
making pricing decisions.
"I have advocated the use of an
averaging strategy on a portion of expected production to ensure
that at least some of the crop gets priced in the window of
opportunity for high prices."
Good’s comments came as he reviewed the
commodity markets and the potential size of the 2002 crops. Weather
conditions, weather forecast and production prospects continue to
dominate the corn and soybean markets. Last week’s price action was
dominated by talk of "irreversible" damage to the corn crop and
prospects for continued hot, dry weather over a large part of the
Midwest.
December 2002 corn futures traded to
the highest level for the summer and within 65 cents of the contract
high. November soybean futures regained much of the loss experienced
between July 23 and July 29 but remained well below the contract
high of $5.65 established on July 23. Weekend precipitation in Iowa
and parts of the upper Midwest, along with forecasts of cooler
temperatures, suggested that prices would start this week on a
weaker tone.
"Summer weather conditions often
provide volatility to the corn and soybean market, but the almost
daily ‘yo-yo’ pattern of prices this year is a little unusual," said
Good. "There are at least two fundamental reasons for the pattern of
quick price reversals experienced this year. First, there is a
significant difference of opinion about yield potential for the 2002
crop."
Good said that forecasts by those
quoted in the press vary by as much as 15 bushels per acre for corn
and four bushels per acre for soybeans. For corn, the difference in
yield expectation represents about one billion bushels of
production. For soybeans, the range in expectations represents about
360 million bushels of production. The wide range of expectation
reflects the fact that crop stress had continued into the
reproductive stage of crop development.
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article]
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"A second reason for the large daily
price changes is that U.S. and world stocks of grains and oilseeds
are small enough that changes in 2002 production prospects have
significant implications for the magnitude of price that is
necessary to clear the market during the year ahead," said Good.
"Year-ending stocks of U.S. soybeans will be especially small, and
corn inventories will represent less than a two-month supply.
"There is little cushion for a
shortfall in production in 2002. The current situation is one that
has been anticipated for several years. Markets have become
accustomed to small inventories, and production has been large for
six consecutive years. However, market analysts have generally
warned that low inventories would translate into volatile prices if
and when production was threatened."
For corn, harvested acreage for grain
is expected to be near 72 million acres this year. At the low end of
yield expectations, about 120 bushels, the crop would total 8.64
billion bushels. Last month, the USDA projected a market for 9.96
billion bushels of corn during the 2002-03 marketing year if prices
averaged near $2.
"That combination of production and
consumption would project to year-ending stocks of about 300 million
bushels," said Good. "Inventories cannot be reduced to such a low
level, so prices would have to increase enough to reduce consumption
by 300 to 400 million bushels. The strength of demand would
determine how high prices would have to be to accomplish the
reduction.
"At the high end of yield expectations,
about 135 bushels, the crop would total about 9.72 billon bushels,
resulting in ample carryover stocks of about 1.4 billion bushels.
Under this scenario, the average price would not likely be much
above the $1.90 average of the current year."
Harvested acreage of soybeans is also
expected to be near 72 million acres. A yield near the low end of
expectations, about 35 bushels, would produce a crop of 2.52 billion
bushels. A crop of that size would require consumption to be about
250 million bushels less than projected by the USDA last month.
"An average
yield of 39 bushels would produce a crop of just over 2.8 billion
bushels," said Good. "A crop of that size would result in further
reduction in inventories, but would allow use to be at the level
projected by the USDA. These two scenarios have very different price
implications."
[U
of I news release]
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Mike Rahe, sustainable agriculture
representative with the Illinois Department of Agriculture will
present information on fee hunting enterprises such as whitetail
deer and turkey and "put and take" pheasant and quail hunting.
Much like stocking a lake with trout
for fishermen, "put and take" refers to stocking an area of land
with birds like pheasant and quail for hunting. The birds are
removed from a holding pen and released, or "put," into a hunting
area. Then the hunters go to that area to hunt the birds, or "take"
them, the same day.
Those who attend the field trip will
learn the management techniques used to establish and maintain a
successful fee hunting enterprise. Information on harvest
strategies, habitat development, economics and marketing will be
included. Farmers, farm managers, hunters and private consultants
will pick up some pointers on everything from stand placement and
food plot usage to deer densities and altering deer movement.
How is fee hunting related to
sustainable agriculture? "It provides another alternative income
source from an often underutilized resource found on a farm, namely
wildlife," said Rahe. "It also adds value to the farm operation and
the community through agri-tourism opportunities."
The field trip is free and registration
is not required. For more information, contact Mike Rahe at (217)
785-5594;
mrahe@agr.state.il.us.
To find Spring View Acres, from
Pittsfield go east on Route 106 approximately 5 miles to Newburg
Corner and turn left (north) on gravel road 3450 E. Continue 1 mile
on gravel and turn left (west) onto 1600 N at mailbox that reads
"Tripod Farms." Go past the house to the bottom of the hill, which
dead-ends at the cabins.
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The fee hunting field trip is part of
the 2002 Sustainable Agriculture Tours, sponsored by the
Agroecology/Sustainable Agriculture Program at the University of
Illinois, the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Professional Development Program and the
Illinois Small Farm Task Force.
"The tours will give people a chance to
see a variety of sustainable agriculture operations in action," said
Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, research specialist at the University of
Illinois in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental
Sciences.
"Then, in November, we’ll be offering
two identical workshops, on the 13th in Effingham and on the 14th in
Peoria, that will look at the big picture and try to assimilate the
practices presented on the summer tours. But each of the tours and
the workshops stand alone, so people can attend one or all of them."
Cavanaugh-Grant said that the last
field trip in the series, on agri-tourism, will be Oct. 11 at Apple
Basket Farms in Barry.
Visit
http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/asap/ for more information or contact
Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant at (217) 968-5512; e-mail:
cvnghgrn@uiuc.edu.
[U
of I news release]
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