Congratulations to David Ruppert of Montgomery County, who received the Dairy Industry Service Award at the Illinois Milk Producers Association annual meeting. “I’ve been so blessed,” said Ruppert, a Master Farmer. “It’s been great with family, faith and friends in the dairy industry.” Scheidairy Farm of Stephenson County received the Sustainability Award and said the farm’s employees are key. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to carry out our farm’s mission,” he said. READ MORE    

U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Amy Klobuchar introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022, which would permit nationwide summer sales of E15 and other higher ethanol blend fuels. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are among the bill’s cosponsors. READ MORE  

Illinois Farm Bureau’s Mark Gebhards talks with RFD Radio’s Rita Frazer about state and national issues affecting Illinois agriculture, including legislation to prevent a rail strike, a Senate bill on SEC emission rules and a looming government funding deadline. He also shares details on IFB’s Annual Meeting and policies to be considered by delegates. LISTEN HERE

“Our fiscal year started in September, so pretty much it’s been all new-crop. This is the most we’ve ever done. We’ve loaded 18 trains so far.” — Scott Sims, Western Grain Marketing   Several western Corn Belt states came up short of their corn expectations, leaving many end users scrambling to find adequate supplies. Scott Sims of Western Grain Marketing says he’s shipping mostly new-crop corn domestically. “We’ve even shipped some to western Kansas this year. This is the first time we’ve ever done that because their crop has been short enough,” he said. “And probably there’s only been three

The U.S. House passed a joint resolution that would force 12 rail labor unions to adopt a tentative agreement brokered this fall by the Biden administration, reducing the chances of a Dec. 9 nationwide strike. It now heads to the Senate, where rules require 60 votes for the resolution to pass. “Without the certainty of a final vote to avoid a shutdown this week, railroads will begin to halt the movement of critical materials like chemicals to clean our drinking water as soon as this weekend,” said President Joe Biden. READ MORE

“On the upside, refining cracks are at a record high in the U.S. and globally,” said Tim Abel, GROWMARK’s energy manager, supply & trading-refined fuels. But with Europe operating well below capacity, and the EU energy supply being hampered by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, undue pressure will continue to be put on the U.S. to help supplement for the world shortfall. READ MORE