Farm

Members of the Vandalia FFA Chapter attended the national FFA organization’s 212 Degree conference at the Doubletree Hotel in Collinsville on Jan. 28-29. Members in attendance from Vandalia included Brad Jenner, Jacob Rau and Nate Elam.
The two-day personal development program helped students determine personal virtues and values, while creating personal action plans for achieving their goals. The conference also focused on good decision-making and accountability.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct the sorghum referendum on the continuation of the Sorghum Checkoff Program from Feb. 1-28 at the Fayette County FSA office.
For the program to continue, the Sorghum Promotion, Research and Information Order requires that a referendum be conducted no later than three years after the start of assessments, which began July 1, 2008.
The order requires a simple majority vote.
Ballots may be obtained from the FSA office, located at 301 S. Third St. in Vandalia, or on the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/sorghumpage.

"Dividing the approval of E15 among model year segments has the potential to make fueling decisions unnecessarily confusing at the pump, especially considering the labels that EPA has proposed," said Illinois Corn Growers Association president and corn farmer Jim Reed.

Starting in January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact farmers and ranchers across the nation to conduct the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). This survey will provide farmers and ranchers with an opportunity to provide accurate, real-world data that will help shape the policies, programs and issues that affect them.