Colleges that service westcentral Illinois, including Illinois College and Lincoln Land Community College, have made efforts to modernize agriculture education. (Journal Courier)

Researchers from U of I College of ACES are asking Illinois growers to share basic planting, harvest and yield data with the college to learn from the extraordinary growing conditions experienced this year. “What we have is a giant, unplanned, and involuntary experiment that is being conducted by Illinois farmers this year,” said Emerson Nafziger, professor emeritus. “This experiment can help us understand the ramifications of how planting date and variety maturity affect overall yields.” (Journal Gazette)

Did you know that Halloween is the No. 2 food holiday in the U.S. in terms of total spending? Americans spend a total of $2.6 billion each year on candy at Halloween. (Farm Bureau)

Corn farmers, ethanol producers, refinery representatives, energy traders and state and local officials from the Midwest all blasted away at the Trump administration’s proposed biofuels plan for next year during a public hearing on Wednesday hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (Reuters)

U.S. and Chinese negotiators still aim to finish the “phase one” trade deal by mid-November despite the cancellation of a summit in Chile where President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had planned to sign the pact, says Deputy Agriculture Secretary Steve Censky. (Agri-Pulse)

Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA) is developing a plan in the event of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Illinois. (FarmWeekNow)