ILSoyAdvisor Blog

I think one of the most overlooked problems with farmers trying cover crops is not paying enough attention to the herbicide program that was used in the cash crop before the cover crop was planted. We, as farmers, spend a great deal of money to control weeds in our cash crop fields. Over the last several years, many “hard” to control weeds like waterhemp and resistant marestail have pushed many of us to use herbicides that have more residual...

There is no right way to farm, however, there have been many methods of farming that have been tried and tested. When thinking about weed control, our industry once relied heavily on mechanical control, which eventually lead to major erosion and environmental impact. When glyphosate-tolerant soybeans were introduced to the market, they allowed for less tillage, reducing environmental impact. Over the past 10 years, chemical controls alone...

SOYLEIC, patented by the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, is a non-GMO, high-oleic trait available for today’s soybean varieties, which results in high oleic oil and meal.

Through funding from the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), researchers at the University of Illinois are conducting a project focused on the development of high oleic, low linolenic (HOLL) soybean varieties that will be marketed under the SOYLEIC name. This...

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands signup helps Illinois farmers and landowners protect grassland, including rangeland, and pastureland and others, while maintaining the areas as working grazing lands. Protecting grasslands contributes positively to the economy of many regions across the state, promotes biodiversity of plant and animal populations, and also results in carbon sequestration benefits.

USDA’s Farm Service...