Corn and Soybean Management Discussed at Northwest Illinois Agronomy Summit

Jan 10, 2025

The last three seasons have brought various challenges for corn and soybean production, with unique weather situations and a wide range of planting and harvest windows. At the Northwest Illinois Agronomy Summit, Dr. Connor Sible, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, will review the key corn and soybean considerations related to fertilizer management, row spacing, seeding rates, and foliar protection for specific scenarios, and which management decisions proved most consistent across the different environments.

The Northwest Illinois Agronomy Summit will be hosted by the University of Illinois Extension on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will take place at the Highland Community College Student Conference Center in Freeport, IL. Register online.

Other topics discussed at the Northwest Illinois Agronomy Summit include P & K management, weed management, biologicals, and a research update from Highland Community College Agriculture.

Attendees can earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 1 in nutrient management, 2 in crop management, and 1 in Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

About Extension

University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.

Source : illinois.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.