Excel votes to join Co-Alliance
MONTICELLO, Ind. — Effective March 1, Excel Co-op in Monticello will join Co-Alliance LLP. The decision to do so comes after more than 18 months of research conducted by the local Excel Co-op board, and was approved by a vote of membership on Jan. 29.

Co-Alliance was previously four partners – Midland Co-op, IMPACT Cooperative, La Porte County Co-op and Frontier Co-op – working together to serve energy, agronomy, grain marketing and swine/animal nutrition needs of local growers. With the addition of Excel, the partnership now represents five locally owned and controlled businesses.

For more information about Co-Alliance, contact a local branch or visit www.co-alliance.com

Weed  research grants available
URBANA, Ill. — The University of Illinois extension is looking for organic and sustainable farmers with weed problems to participate in on-farm research.

“In 2008, seven farmers were chosen to participate in the project – five in Illinois, one in Wisconsin and one in Missouri,” said Dan Anderson, extension specialist. “We visited their farms, helped them identify weed-management issues and developed some strategies to help solve the problem.”

This year Anderson hopes to have a total of 20 participants. Eligible farmers must be farming in Illinois or in neighboring states within close proximity of the Illinois border.

All applicants will receive a packet of material on a number of ideas for integrated management approaches to controlling perennial weeds in crop and vegetable farming systems. These might include cover crops, tillage, soil balance, flaming, scouting/early removal (by hand or tillage), rotations, mowing/fallow or hay rotation, livestock/rotation, sprays (organic), biological control (release of beneficial, predatory insects or organisms) and optimizing competition from growing crop.

To apply, visit http://asap.sustainability .uiuc.edu/org-ag scroll down and click on “Mini-Grants Apply Now,” or contact Dan Anderson at 217-333-1588 or by e-mailing aslan@uiuc.edu

ASA lauds funds for rust monitor

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The American Soybean Assoc. (ASA) welcomes the USDA announcement to continue the Asian Soybean Rust Pest Information Platform for Education and Extension (PIPE).

“ASA is pleased that USDA will be providing over $750,000 in funding for the soybean rust sentinel plot and diagnostic network in fiscal year 2009,” said ASA Chairman John Hoffman. “These USDA funds will be leveraged with approximately $500,000 in federal and state checkoff investments and available state funding to maintain a scaled-down soybean rust sentinel plot and diagnostic network.”
ASA has been working with USDA and Congress to secure federal funding for PIPE because the system helps protect the U.S.
soybean crop and saves soybean producers millions of dollars annually. As a result, PIPE has been funded with more than $2 million of federal money for each of the last four years.

PIPE is a coordinated framework that helps growers make informed decisions about fungicide application. The system includes a surveillance and monitoring network, a Web-based information management system, criteria for deciding when to apply fungicides, predictive modeling and outreach.

USDA’s Economic Research Service found PIPE rust management saved farmers an estimated $299 million in 2005. Surveys conducted by land grant universities estimate a $299 million savings in 2006 and another $209 million in 2007. PIPE is administered by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).

For more information about PIPE, visit www.sbrusa.net