The following is a letter sent by WASA Executive Director John Petty to Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson on July 27, following a face-to-face meeting with his staff regarding service problems on the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad.

Since this letter was sent, the WSOR has made additional efforts and has leased six locomotives along with crews to help alleviate the issues. They are looking to eventually have a total of eight to nine additional locomotives in their system compared to earlier this year. Hopefully this means the "bottom has been reached" regarding these service problems. Only time and the upcoming harvest will tell. There also still exist some longer-term, fundamental infrastructure issues regarding Wisconsin rail lines that need to be addressed if commercial ag in this state is to continue to grow.

Your Association has been very active in the spotlighting of these short- and long-term problems to the appropriate governmental agencies and representatives and will continue to do so. We’ll keep you informed and up-to-date on any further developments.

Ever wondered how the corn and soybeans you ship to the rivers travels? WASA, along with the Wisconsin Corn Growers and the Wisconsin Soybean Program and others, is sponsoring the second year of barge tours on both the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The Illinois River tour was held earlier this month and was a big success with over 90 participants from Wisconsin making the trip from LaSalle/Peru to Ottawa. The tour gives you and producers a chance to see firsthand the need to maintain an efficient system of locks and dams to replace the current system built in the 1930’s. In addition, to highlight the need for improvements, legislators and members of the media will also be on the tour. This is a great chance to get commercial ag’s story told.

Your second chance for a trip is set for August 30 on the Mississippi at LaCrosse. A double-decked river tour boat will take the tour participants on a three-hour trip through a lock including lunch. The tour is scheduled to leave the dock at 9AM in LaCrosse.

This really is a unique opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. There is no charge, but space is limited and registration is on a first come, first served basis. For further information and details, call the WASA office or the Wisconsin Corn Growers at (262) 495-2232.

State Representative Al Ott (R- Forest Junction), Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair, announced that an Agriculture Subcommittee will hold four listening sessions throughout the state during the end of August. These sessions will search out the crisis that is occurring within the agricultural community.

The goal of the listening sessions is to bring attention to the current agricultural price crisis and to allow the agriculture industry the opportunity to express their concerns. Additionally, the Subcommittee hopes that this effort will generate ideas and suggestions on how to deal with the mounting problems that the industry is facing.

"We understand that at the state level our hands are tied as to what we can officially do to alleviate the situation. However, as a committee we feel that it is important to go on the road to see for ourselves what is happening within Wisconsin’s agricultural community. To get a complete picture of what is going on, we hope to draw individuals from all spectrums of the industry including farmers, processors, suppliers, cooperatives, implement dealers, feed mills, bankers, etc. We want to listen to whoever is being affected," Ott said.

The Subcommittee listening sessions will be held in the following locations:

• August 24 at 9:00 a.m. – Richland Center

• August 28 at 10:30 a.m. – Durand

Spindler Dairy, Inc. - W4714 County Road B

• August 29 at 9:00 a.m. – Johnson Creek

• August 31 at 9:00 a.m. – Reedsville

For more information or directions to any of the locations, please contact the office of State Representative Al Ott. Madison office phone number: (608) 266-5831 or (888) 534-0003 toll free. E-mail address: Rep.Ott@legis.state.wi.us.

There have been a couple stories in the news regarding soybeans of which you may not have been aware. First off, a new soybean pest has been recently discovered and it’s prime location so far appears to be Wisconsin. Infestations of the Chinese soybean aphid, which have never before been reported in the United States, have been found north of I-80 in Illinois and south of Manitowoc in Wisconsin. Infestations are particularly heavy in Rock, Dane and Jefferson counties, but UW-Extension entomologists have said virtually every field south of Manitowoc they have visited have some level of infestation. Some reports put the infestations so high that field scouts’ clothing is literally soaked with the "honeydew" produced by the aphids. The aphids produce the "honeydew" by literally sucking the moisture out of the plant. The only effect observed so far by the aphid infestations is a drought–like stress on the plants, which includes yellowing and cupping of leaves. This can severely impact the plant’s health, reduce bean size and therefore, yield. Whether the aphid attacks on the soybean plants also leave the plants vulnerable to other plant diseases is unknown at this point. UW-Extension scientists will be looking at test plot fields that have been infested to see what the longer-term effects, if any, might be.

Soybean fields that were planted in the normal planting season of late April to mid-May appear to have maturity or vitality that appears to thwart the aphid attacks. Double-cropped soybeans, following peas near Lomira and wheat in the southern tier counties, appear to be the most detrimentally impacted. UW-Extension is unsure as to why the double-cropped beans are the worst faring of the infested fields, but the early guess is it may be related to vitality as stated above.

Although this pest is very common in China there are no specifically approved pesticides in the US, although there are anecdotal reports of producers using soybean-approved products on infested fields. The efficacy of spraying is questionable due to the fact that aphids tend to populate the underside of plant leaves and would not be touched by all but the most through coverage. Such heavy spraying, as would be required, may even impact the field populations of the aphid’s enemies, such as ladybugs. This level of coverage needs to be evaluated in terms of cost and benefit to determine its value. Right now, the problem is so new appropriate management plans have not been developed. We’ll keep you updated on this situation as we learn more.

The other news item relates to a change in the soybean moisture discount schedule for the first time in at least 15 years. At least one major soybean processor has changed their schedule to reflect higher energy costs. The moisture discount has been one percent of the contract price for each half percent of moisture from 13.1% to 15.0%. The new schedule is 1.15% of the contract price for each half percent in the range listed above. We’ll now wait and see if the rest of the trade follows suit and this becomes the industry standard. It’s not much of a rise and beans have come in fairly dry the last few years, so the assumption is this may not affect too many folks. But, it’s certainly a good idea not to be surprised if you do deliver a load and get hit with the change. Check with your local delivery markets to see if they have instituted the change.