Motor vehicle accidents top the list of insurance claims in farming in agribusiness. A statement from Nationwide Insurance says that accidents, workers compensation and misapplication of chemicals or drift issues, have accounted for more than 50,000 claims over the last three years. However, over the past three years, motor vehicles accidents have accounted for more than 20,000 total commercial agribusiness claims. Nationwide, which calls itself the number one farm insurer in the United States, say that by sharing the data, the company hopes "to help agribusiness owners recognize areas of their operation that may need increased safety precautions." Other top agribusiness claims include falls, food-related claims, animal bites, glass breakage, weather damage and fire or loss.

More of America’s grocery carts were filled with organic products in 2017. The Organic Trade Association’s 2018 Industry Survey shows consumers were buying everything from organic produce and organic ice cream to organic fresh juices and organic dried beans. U.S. organic sales totaled a new record of $49.4 billion in 2017, up 6.4 percent from the previous year. That total also reflects new sales of nearly $3.5 billion. Sales of organic non-food products also rose to $4.2 billion, rising 7.4 percent higher to set a new benchmark. The growth rate of organic food sales was below the nine percent pace in 2016. It was impacted heavily by markedly slower growth in the big organic dairy and egg category. However, the pace was still well above that of the overall food market, which was 1.1 percent. Organic increased its penetration into the total food market, now making up 5.5 percent of all food sold in the retail channel. Laura Batcha, Organic Trade Association President, says, “Organic has arrived and everyone is paying attention. Consumers are loving organic and now we’re able to make organic choices in just about every aisle in the grocery store.”

Victoria Elizabeth Wilson of Clinton, IL has accepted membership in The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).  

"NSCS is more than just a symbol of academic achievement.  Membership gives students access to a number of amazing benefits including career and networking resources, scholarships, travel, and service projects both on campus and in the community," says Stephen E. Loflin, NSCS Founder and Cheif Executive Officer.  

NSCS is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is the nation's only interdisciplinary honors organization for first-year and second-year college students.  Membership is by invitation only, based on grade point average and class standing.  NSCS has over one million lifetime members and 300 chapters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.    

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced today the reopening of lanes where possible for the busy Memorial Day weekend to minimize travel disruption. Non-emergency roadwork will be suspended from 3 p.m. Friday, May 25, through 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, May 29.

Work zone speed limits will remain in effect where posted. Motorists should be alert, as lane closures in the following locations will remain in place during the holiday weekend:

District 5

Champaign County

• I-74 westbound between mileposts 188 and 186; lane reductions continue.

District 7

Macon County

• U.S. 36 over U.S. 51 at the U.S. 36/U.S.51 interchange west of Decatur; closed, detour posted.
• Cantrell Road over U.S. 51 west of Decatur; lane reductions continue, controlled by traffic signals.

Syngenta and plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the company have announced a $1.51 billion settlement to resolve class actions and individual cases regarding Agrisure Viptersa. The cases allege that Syngenta sold its "Agrisure Viptera" and "Agrisure Duracade" corn seeds before it should have because new insect-resistant genetic traits in those seeds had not yet received import approval in China. The lawsuits argued that China rejected shipments of U.S. corn because the genetic traits were not yet approved there, causing the U.S. corn industry to lose access to the Chinese market and resulting in lower corn prices. Syngenta denies that it did anything wrong. If the United States District Court of the District of Kansas approves the settlement, then Syngenta will pay $1.51 billion into a Settlement Fund to pay corn farmers, grain handling facilities, and ethanol production facilities who submitted eligible claims. The court will hold a hearing in November to consider whether to approve the settlement.

Farm income and credit conditions continued to weaken in the first quarter of 2018, but at a slower pace than in previous quarters. According to the Tenth District Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions, compiled by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, reduced farm income contributed to intensifying cash-flow concerns and tightening lending standards. Cash-flow shortages continued to limit the availability of working capital, and financing needs continued to rise. The report released last week says the decline in the first quarter makes 2018 the fifth consecutive year that bankers have reported lower farm income than the year before. The report says reduced farm income also restricted cash flow and contributed to more farm loan denials than in recent years. In the first quarter, more than eight percent of farm loan requests were denied because of customer cash-flow shortages. And, despite a recent uptick in commodity prices, cash-flow shortages have reinforced concerns about liquidity in agricultural lending.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the DeWitt County Board meeting has been moved from Thursday, May 24 to Wednesday, May 30 at 5:30 pm.

The latest monthly tractor and combine sales report from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers shows increased combine sales. U.S. retail sales of combines jumped almost 59 percent last month, compared to April of 2017. However, total tractor sales in the U.S. rose less than one percent, versus this time last year. AEM Senior Vice President of Ag Services Curt Blades notes that the downward trend in net farm income “obviously is a concern” since it is such a big factor in equipment sales. He says there is still a lot of uncertainty with the year one-third over. The report goes on to show that while sales of tractors over 100 horsepower jumped almost 18 percent in Canada, they fell about seven percent in the U.S., compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, Canadian retail sales of combined didn’t fare quite as well as the U.S., as they rose just 9.2 percent, compared to a year ago.

The National Farmers Union says many farmers and ranchers are coping with alarming levels of stress, and that farmers and ranchers commit suicide at a rate five times that of the general population. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, NFU President Roger Johnson urged the Department of Agriculture to “develop a response to the farm suicide crisis.” Johnson noted that financial risk, volatile markets, unpredictable weather, social isolation, and heavy workloads can all place significant strain on farmers’ and ranchers’ mental and emotional well-being. Johnson highlighted USDA’s vast network, including more than 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices that interact with farmers and ranchers on a daily basis. He proposed that USDA develops training materials to help FSA personnel better identify and respond to the signs of mental stress, and assess the causes of mental stress in farmers and ranchers, and identify best practices in responding to that stress.

Farm income declined in the first quarter of 2018, the 17th-consecutive quarter of lower income numbers. The latest Agricultural Finance Monitor, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, shows quality farmland values and cash rents were also slightly lower than in 217. The St. Louis Fed surveyed 24 agricultural banks in the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes several Midwest and Mid-South States. The majority of the bankers reported income declines compared to a year ago. Quality farmland values were 1.4 percent lower than in the first quarter of last year. That’s the first decline since the second quarter of 2017. Ranchland or pastureland values rose sharply for the second consecutive quarter. In similar fashion, cash rents for quality farmland dropped slightly in the first quarter of this year when compared to 2017. Cash rents for pastureland or ranchland increased. Other questions in the survey included the number of farmers using off-farm income to maintain cash flow. 41 percent of the banks said that 25 percent of their farmer-customers had off-farm income. More than half of the banks said that a quarter of their farmer-clients were in severe financial difficulty.

A man confronted a Dixon police officer at Dixon High School just after 8 o'clock (this) Wednesday morning.  The suspect fired shots at the officer, who then returned fire.  Dixon Police say the man was injured and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.  The police officer was not injured, and no students or staff were injured. 

Dixon High School and all Dixon Public Schools were on lockdown as a result of the incident.    Dixon is located in northern Illinois, about 2 hours west of Chicago.

Dixon Police believe the suspect acted alone.

The suspect's name has not been released.

A heavy rain Tuesday afternoon caused some problems at Clinton's Warner Hospital.

C-E-O Paul Skowron told Regional Radio News that some 3 inches of rain came down in that area of the city.  The storm sewers couldn't handle that much rain in a short time, so the drains outside the main entrance, and the drain outside the emergency room door, all turned into gushers.

As a result, water seeped into both the reception area and the emergency room.

Hospital crews were able to begin clean-up immediately after the rain ended, and ServPro of Clinton was then called into do the heavy clean-up and de-humidify the area.

Skowron hopes that all will be back to normal in that area of Warner Hospital in a few days.  Both the reception area and the emergency room continue to function as normal.

The Miller Media Group's Kaskaskia Broadcasting, Incorporated in Clinton, has announced that the Federal Communications Commission has approved its application to build a new FM signal at 106-point-5 in Lincoln, for its Central Illinois newstalk and agriculture station WHOW.

Company president Randal J. Miller is hopeful that the new signal will go on the air this summer.

The new Lincoln FM signal for WHOW will cover all of Logan County, so that listeners there can hear WHOW's local news and sports coverage, over 6 hours a day of agriculture programming, and weekend sports programming from the CBS Sports Radio Network.

WHOW at 106-point-5 FM in Lincoln will operate 24 hours a day, and join another FM signal WHOW has at 92-point-3 in Clinton, and the BIG 1520 AM signal that covers Central Illinois.

Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, says Congress will take up the farm bill debate sometime within the week. The House schedule has the week’s session running from Tuesday through Friday. The House Rules Committee has issued a notice that it expects to “grant a rule that may provide a structured amendment process for floor consideration of H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018.” The Hagstrom Report says it’s not clear yet if Republicans have the required 215 Republican votes they’ll need to pass the bill. House Democrats say no Democrat will vote for the bill because of the changes it would make to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.