Wednesday Morning, January 9

All sessions in Illini Rooms A, B, and C

(Requested: 1.0 CCA credit in Professional Development)

8:30 am

Welcome and Opening Remarks, Mike Gray

8:40 am

Preventing Poly Tanks from Cracking Like an Egg, Fred Whitford

9:30-9:45 am

Break, South Lounge

Symposium: High-Production Soybean Management

(Requested: 1.0 CCA credit in Crop Management and 1.0 CCA credit in Integrated Pest Management)

With more corn and less soybean acreage in 2007 and perhaps the near future, high-yielding soybean fields are important to help meet demand. Will new genetics, different production practices, and pest and disease management tools help soybean producers meet the demand? This symposium will focus on managing the soybean crop, pests, and diseases to achieve high-yielding and high-quality soybean.

9:45 am

Soybean Management for Maximum Yields AND Profits, Seth Naeve

10:10 am

Managing Soybean Cyst Nematode for Maximum Soybean Productivity, Greg Tylka

10:35 am

Foliar Fungicides and Fungicide Seed Treatments: Getting that Return on Investment, Anne Dorrance

11:00 am

Managing Insects in High- Production Soybeans: Forethought or Afterthought? Kevin Steffey

11:15 am

Future Soybean Oil and Meal Traits, Dennis Byron

11:35-12:00

Questions and Answers

12:00 noon-1:00 pm

Lunch, on your own

Symposium: Managing Nutrients and Water Quality--A Balancing Act

(Requested: 1.5 CCA credits in Soil and Water Management and 0.5 CCA credit in Nutrient Management)

Nutrients: It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. This Charles Dickens analogy is quite fitting. We face great opportunities in the fertilizer sector given the increased corn acres and higher commodity prices. We also face serious challenges with the government hypoxia report calling for significant reductions in nitrate losses from the Upper Midwest, pointing a finger at the practice of fall-applied nitrogen. The speakers will discuss the issues, the latest research regarding nutrient losses, and what you can do to balance crop production and water quality objectives. Can we take the best and worst and make it all good?

1:00 pm

Developing Nutrient Standards for Illinois: Connecting Regulators with Researchers, George Czapar

1:20 pm

Gulf Hypoxia: The Saga Continues, Dennis McKenna

1:40 pm

Considerations for Managing Nitrogen When Switching from Corn/Soybean to Corn/Corn Rotations, T. Scott Murrell

2:05 pm

Hypoxia and the Upper Mississippi River Basin: How Can We Reduce Nutrient Losses from Agriculture? Mark David

2:35 pm

Questions and Answers

2:55-3:15 pm

Break, South Lounge

Symposium: Pest Resistance and Resistance Management: IPM vs. IRM

(Requested: 2.0 CCA credits in Integrated Pest Management)

The rapid increase in the use of transgenic plants has greatly affected how producers manage a broad sprectrum of pests. Is the traditional view of IPM relevant in the current agricultural landscape of corn and soybean production? What are the current perspectives on refuge compliance and its relationship to resistance management? Will refuges be required in the future as we "integrate" multiple transgenes in corn and soybean plants? These and other questions will serve as the focus for this symposium and our panel discussion.

3:15 pm

Mechanisms of Fungicide Resistance and a Case Study of Fungicide Resistance in Potato Production, Neil Gudmestad

3:35 pm

Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds: Yes It Can Happen, Even When You Think You Know How to Kill Weeds, Bill Johnson

3:55 pm

Insecticide Resistance in Western Corn Rootworm: What Can We Learn from Previous Mistakes? Blair Siegfried

4:15 pm

Refuge Compliance and Future Requirements--Panel Discussion, Mike Gray, Moderator

IRM Refuge Compliance, Scott Baucum

Increasing Corn Acres and Prophylactic use of Bt Hybrids: Implications for IPM and IRM, David Onstad

5:15-6:30 pm

IFCA-Sponsored Mixer South Lounge

This mixer is sponsored by the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association. It is intended for everyone to meet with speakers, sponsors, and committee members in an informal atmosphere.

Thursday Morning, January 10

All sessions in Illini Rooms A, B, and C

Symposium: IPM in the Crosshairs

(Requested: 2.0 CCA credits in Integrated Pest Management)

The demands for higher yields of corn and soybeans and the availability of extremely effective pest-control technologies have placed significant pressure on integrated pest management (IPM) practices. In fact, some people are beginning to question the relevance of some IPM principles in the context of modern agriculture. Has IPM run its course? This symposium will shed some light on the effects of modern pest management practices on agricultural ecology and the potential role of IPM in the future.

8:00 am

Managing the Consequences of Long-Term Weed Control, Aaron Hager

8:20 am

Fungicides on Disease-Free Corn: The Case from 2007, Emerson Nafziger

8:40 am

Fungicides: Do They Adversely Affect Beneficial Insect Pathogens in Multiple Cropping Systems? David Ragsdale

9:00 am

How to Lose Money Despite High Crop Prices or Misuses, Misapplications, and Mistakes with Insect Thresholds, Leon Higley

9:30 am

Questions and Answers

9:50-10:10 am

Break, South Lounge

Symposium: High-Production Corn Management

(Requested: 1.0 CCA credit in Crop Management and 1.0 CCA credit in Integrated Pest Management)

Corn market prices were at or near an all-time high in 2007. The cost of producing high-yielding corn is also on the rise, with a nearly bewildering array of inputs and their associated costs. Will the escalating demand for ethanol and the continuing demand for food change the way we manage the most widely grown crop in North America? This symposium will focus on managing the corn crop and its associated pests to achieve higher yields while preserving environmental integrity.

10:10 am

Tillage and Fertility Placement Aspects of Root Zone Optimization for Corn, Tony Vyn

10:30 am

Agronomics for Corn: Have We Exhausted the Easy Options? Roger Elmore

10:50 am

Corn Nematode Management, Terry Niblack

11:10 am

Foliar Fungicides in Corn Production: A Look at Local and Regional Data, Carl Bradley

11:30 am

The Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World, Fred Below

11:55 am

Questions and Answers

12:15 pm

Adjourn