By J. Larry Miller

As summer comes to an end soybeans are in need of some beneficial rainfall.  We are as dry as we have been all summer and soybeans will be reduced if some moisture does become a reality in a few days. That being said it will not be a disaster but we could lose as much as 25 percent of yield without some sun. The window of opportunity will close rapidly in the next two weeks.

Larry Miller, executive director Franklin County Farm Bureau

I have heard of some corn being harvested in Saline County but have no report of yield or moisture content. It will be at least two weeks before any corn will be harvested in Franklin County.  Anticipation of high yields remains but many believe that the cool weather in August will cause some farmers to be a little disappointed. Rather that the best ever – it may only be one of the best. I remain optimistic it is the best on my farm.

A farmer in Central Illinois has corn coming out the field at 32.4 percent moisture and about 215 bushels per acre yield.

Farm shows in the last couple of weeks have been attended in record numbers. This year’s Half Century of Progress Farm Show in Rantoul was the largest ever. The show saw a 14 percent increase at the gate and a 29 percent increase in the amount of machinery brought to the show compared to two years ago.

This year’s Farm Progress Show was a flurry of activity – on Tuesday the morning began with a $70,000 check presentation to Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom from FS and Growmark.  The AITC program is reaching thousands of students and teaching them about agriculture in Illinois.

Melissa Lamczyk, AITC Coordinator from Franklin County was joined by AITC Coordinator Maridy Tso from Saline/Galatin County at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.  On both Thursday and Friday of last week they taught over 450 school children in grades K – 4 about agriculture in the Ag Expo Building.  There was a science experiment, a lesson about cows and many of them children made cow masks.  Everyone involved had a great time and Melissa is looking forward to making the experience even better next year.

Under a new federal law, every driver with a CDL must visit one of 47 state CDL facilities to declare which of four medical card categories is applicable. If someone’s CDL expires before Jan. 30, that individual may take care of the matter while renewing the license, Montalbano said.       Drivers who fail to declare their status by the deadline will have their CDLs suspended. By early August, 71 percent of drivers had declared their status. That still leaves 135,000 drivers at risk of losing their CDLs.

A driver with a CDL who does 100 percent of his transportation duties within the state’s borders would declare his status as “intrastate.”

However, a driver with a CDL who crosses the state border, no matter the distance, would declare his status as “interstate,” according to Montalbano.

The intrastate section offers a nonexcepted category for those subject to federal driver qualification requirements. An “excepted intrastate” category is offered for those who are excepted from all or parts of the state driver qualification requirements, such as the medical card.

“If they have a CDL, they must declare,” Montalbano said. “As farmers, if driving a straight truck, they would be exempt (from the driver qualification requirement) within their 150 miles across state lines doing farming business, etc. So that farmer can either mark EI (excepted interstate) or EA (excepted intrastate), and neither is wrong.

“However, if that same farmer does nonfarm work in the off season and crosses state lines for commercial purposes, he must mark NI (non-excepted interstate) and that covers all transactions,” Montalbano said.

More information on this issue can be found at http://bit.ly/17rtEAn.

Remember, we are farmers working together. If we can help let us know.