Chicago company plans wind farm near Solon, Iowa
SOLON, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago company has announced plans to build a wind farm near Solon that could produce enough energy to power 9,000 homes.
PNE Wind USA is looking at construction in 2013. The company’s project developer Keith Kurtz told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that the number of turbines built will be determined by a yet-to-be-done wind study of the area, but he estimates it would be between 10-20 turbines.

Iowa ranks second nationally in wind energy capacity behind Texas, but most of the state’s wind farms are in central and western Iowa. The turbines will be built on more than 3,000 acres near the eastern Iowa community.

USDA awards $5.5 million to tackle childhood hunger
 URBANA, Ill. —  The USDA has awarded $5.5 million to fund research that will help alleviate childhood hunger in the United States. Craig Gundersen of the University of Illinois and James Ziliak of the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research are working together to coordinate  a research program on childhood hunger.

According to Gunderson, an associate professor of ag and consumer economics, limited economic resources in the American household have resulted in less food on the table. This food insecurity has a negative impact on children’s intellectual, physical and emotional development. He said this program will lay the foundation for what will be the next great wave of research into food insecurity and food assistance policy, expanding the nation’s corps of food security researchers.

The program is soliciting external research projects through the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research. When completed, Gundersen and Ziliak will synthesize, summarize and draw out the policy implications of the work.

GROWMARK purchases CF Industries’ fertilizer terminals

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Regional cooperative GROWMARK, Inc. announced it has signed an agreement to acquire three fertilizer storage terminals owned by CF Industries. The facilities, located in Albany and Mapleton, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo., will be used by GROWMARK to serve the needs of the organization’s retail customers that provide fertilizer to farmers.

A GROWMARK subsidiary will purchase the Cincinnati, Ohio terminal, also owned by CF. The Albany, Mapleton, St. Louis and Cincinnati terminals are all strategically located, and will allow GROWMARK the ability to efficiently source plant food by barge and load out to railcars or truck. The size and scope of the facilities will further enhance GROWMARK’s capability to make large-scale purchases of both domestic and offshore fertilizer production.

Overall, the acquisition represents approximately 226,000 tons of dry and liquid plant food storage.

ISU releases list of SDS-resistant varieties for Iowa
ANKENY, Iowa — For many Iowa farmers, the damage done by sudden death syndrome (SDS) in 2010 is all too fresh a memory. A new publication, Sudden Death Syndrome-Resistant Soybean Varieties for Iowa – PM 3009, has been produced by Iowa State University and the Iowa Soybean Assoc.

The publication lists more than 300 commercial soybean varieties resistant to SDS in maturity groups I, II and III. In addition, the publication reviews other factors to consider in the selection process.

The publication is available as a downloadable PDF from ISU extension’s online store at www.extension.iastate.edu/store or from ISA’s Production Research Library online at www.iasoybeans.com/productionresearch/productiontech.html or you may obtain a print copy by calling 800-383-1423.