Thursday, March 19, 2009 8:55 PM CDT
COLUMN: Seven Illinois counties top 200 bushels an acre in '08 corn yields
By BILL LAIR, Managing Editor
blair@jg-tc.com
The late radio broadcaster Paul Harvey had a segment he called, “The Rest of the Story.”
We published a news article Thursday on 2008 corn and soybean yields.
The article said Christian County, which is the Pana-Taylorville area, was ninth in the state in corn production last year.
Christian County farmers averaged 193 bushels an acre — the best yield in the area.
But here’s “the rest of the story.”
The average yield in Christian County was 193 bushels an acre and it didn’t even rank among the top 10 countywide yields in the state in 2008!
Christian County’s 193 bushels an acre was tied for the 13th best yield in Illinois.
Twelve counties in the state harvested an average of more than 193 bushels an acre!
Brad Schwab of the Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service told me that the first time any Illinois county hit 200 bushels an acre was in 2004 when Morgan County (Jacksonville area) farmers averaged an even 200 bushels an acre.
The second time any county averaged 200 bushels an acre was in 2007 when Woodford County farmers harvested an average of 204 bushels an acre.
In all the years that Illinois farmers have been raising corn, only twice did any county make an average yield of 2000 bushels an acre for corn.
Until 2008.
Last year, seven counties averaged 200 bushels an acre or more: Warren 207, Woodford and McDonough 206, Stark 203, Peoria 201, and Tazewell and Knox 200.
Last year was no record corn yield in the Coles County area.
Shelby County topped the area at 179 bushels an acre.
One of these years, a nearby county will hit the 200-mark.
“The trend continues to creep up because of the new hybrids,” Schwab said.
How fast? Ten years ago, 1998, Piatt County had the highest corn yield in the state — 170 bushels an acre.
And now, as Paul Harvey would say, “you know ... the rest of the story” about 2008 corn yields.
As part of the yearlong 200th birthday celebration of Abraham Lincoln one company invites all Illinoisans to read a book about Lincoln.
This suggestion follows popular community reads such as Read Across Mattoon.
This project is sponsored in part through a grant by the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and is endorsed by the Illinois Library System Directors’ Organization. Kathryn M. Harris, Library Services director at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and Kay Shelton, doctoral student at Northern Illinois University, are co-directors of the project.
They suggest everyone in Illinois read “Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power” by Richard Carwardine.
Carwardine is the first British author to win the Lincoln Prize awarded by Gettysburg College in 2004 for the book.
“Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power” is appropriate for adults and high school students, and perhaps some very ambitious younger readers.
Carwardine’s book explores subjects such as: How did audiences react to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates? How did Lincoln develop the idea of “A house divided against itself cannot stand”? How did Lincoln cope with people growing impatient as the war dragged on and became less popular? How and why did Lincoln free the slaves?
“Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power” is available at bookstores, online and in public libraries.
As part of the project, Carwardine will visit several Illinois communities during April. Neither Charleston nor Mattoon is on the list.
It doesn’t take much this year for me to read about Lincoln. I’ve already tackled William Herndon’s “Life of Lincoln” and re-read EIU Professor Charles Coleman’s book, “Abraham Lincoln and Coles County, Illinois.”
But I look forward to getting a copy of “Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power.”
Hats off to the Mattoon Area Family YMCA for offering free memberships to families of deployed soldiers.
That is a very generous and, I’m sure, much appreciated gesture.
The local YMCA is participating in the Armed Services YMCA and Department of Defense Outreach Initiative.
It can be tough on families when a loved one is deployed. For some, money is short and it can be tough on the at-home parent who must take care of children alone.
Mom or dad can get in some stress-relieving exercise while the kids can participate in a variety of activities.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Vicki Cline, the Mattoon Y’s membership director.
Cline said the local Y volunteered for the program “because we wanted to make a difference in the lives of these deployed families, as well as the independent duty military.”
With a couple hundred East Central Illinois area men and women currently deployed to Afghanistan with the Illinois Army National Guard, the potential to serve with this YMCA program is considerable.
Regardless of how many participate, it’s a great gesture by the Mattoon Area Family YMCA. It’s a real service to the community.
Thanks to the YMCA for showing their support for the men and women serving us in the military.
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Rohn Gordon wrote on Mar 20, 2009 7:26 PM: