Farming

Exposition Gardens is looking to jump start an agricultural learning space on its acreage.

President Donald Trump has proposed a 33 percent cut to the crop insurance program. That has left area farmers concerned about their ability to weather any storms that could damage their crops. A group of farmers gathered at the Peoria County Farm Bureau Monday and told U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth crop insurance not only should be kept at current levels, it should be expanded to dairy farmers.

A 768-pound pumpkin took home the gold during the weigh-in at the annual Pumpkin Festival in Morton.

Ten years ago, Cindy Bonnet found out she was getting new neighbors in Nora, Illinois: 10,000 cows. It’s what’s known in the industry as a “concentrated animal feeding operation,” or CAFO: basically a big cow warehouse, with a giant trough under it to catch their waste.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have found that reducing the number of leaves on soybean plants can increase crop yield by eight percent.  In replicated trials on the Urbana campus, researchers removed up to one third of the emerging leaves on soybeans to boost yield.

Project lead Praveen Kumar, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the U of I,  says producing more food without using more land is vital.

“We are probably maxed out in terms of available arable lands, so we really need a different strategy to increase productivity.”

The 67th annual HOI Fair starts up this evening.

Roxy Baker helps plan the fair. She says this year’s schedule of events focuses on agribusiness.

“We want the urban setting that we’ve become, we want those people to come in and see what it is, what agribusiness is.”

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - Cover crops are regaining popularity in central Illinois as a way to preserve nutrients in soil and purity in water runoff.

These secondary crops, such as oats, canola and cereal rye, were once planted after the main harvest to provide feed for livestock. But the cover crops are gaining fresh attention for their natural ability to improve soil structure and keep nutrients in place.

PEKIN, Ill. (AP) - Farmers are seeing more insects than normal for this time of year because of warmer weather.

The  early hatch of insects could be welcome news for agriculture because there will be less for insects to eat. 

Tazewell County Farm Bureau Manager Doug Godke says the early hatch could mean insects die off without enough food. Certain types of beetles can eat foliage on soybeans and the silk on corn plants resulting in poor harvests. 

Godke says most farmers are planting insect-resistant crops, which also helps keep insect populations in check.

ROCHELLE, Ill. (AP) - A New York-based farming company has broken ground in northern Illinois on a hydroponic greenhouse that officials say should be operational next year. BrightFarms Inc. on Thursday began construction on a $10 million, 160,000-square-foot greenhouse in Rochelle. The facility will produce more than 1 million pounds of salad greens, tomatoes and basil annually. Mariano's, a division of Milwaukee-based Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. will be the greenhouse's primary customer.

The Illinois Farm Bureau is boosting a year old program to involve Veterans in agriculture. 

As farmers use information technology to grow more with less money, many are being asked to share their data. But they're worried about security, privacy, and other problems that could crop up.