Over the last couple of days, IFCA has been in contact with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) regarding the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to ag essential workers.  If you've seen IFCA's past alerts, ag essential workers are in Phase 1B of the state's plan.  IEMA informed IFCA today that Phase 1B will begin on January 25th.  &...more

One of the impacts of canceled conferences, shows, field days, and meetings has been the shortage of CEU opportunities for Crop Advisors. If you are a Certified Crop Advisor in need of CEU's, or just interested in attending online conferences or webinars providing information impacting our industry, we encourage you to go through the document below that contains information and ...more

The UI and IDA have announced on-line training and testing, with the opportunity for some in-person testing after January 1. Click on the heading above to be directed to the UI's Pesticide Training & Testing website for more information about training/testing opportunities.  

With the rollout of the COVID vaccines, the Illinois Department of Public Health created a "Frequently Asked Questions" document.  Within the document you will find answers to questions regarding vaccine availability, requirements/mandates, safety, and other common questions.  Please click the PDF below to learn more.

On October 27, USEPA announced it has issued new registrations for XtendiMax and Engenia, two dicamba products whose labels were cancelled last July 31, 2020.  The Agency also extended the registration for Tavium; therefore, all these labels now expire in 2025.  No news on the registration for FeXapan yet, but registration for this product would be possible since the XtendiMax registration has been approved.  ...more

New rules in Illinois require farmers or those working on their behalf to be certified in order to transport, apply or work on ammonia equipment.  The rules, frequently asked questions and qualifcations for trainers are below.  Contact IFCA with questions.    

The State of Illinois has implemented new covid mitigations effective Nov 20, 2020.  Click the heading above to see the guidelines.  Below are other resources on how essential industries such as agriculture can continue to function.  Contact IFCA with questions.  

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) has an informative checklist for growers to serve as a reminder to keep safety in mind when handling anhydrous ammonia.

Paraquat labels in 2020 require anyone who "uses" or applies the products to be certified applicators and also take paraquat label training.  Syngenta explains the requirement in the document below.  To access the on-line paraquat training program, click on the title of this story.  To learn more about classroom training options see the document below.  

NREC recently updated its Cover Crop Guide, including more guidance based on research performed on Illinois farms.  Please click on the link provided to read over the new version of the cover crop guide, "Considering Cover Crops? - Let this guide be your guide to success"

There are several important compliance requirements for Illinois ammonia facilities and nurse tanks that go into effect on December 31, 2020. Click below to view the NH3 Rules Compliance Guide or to download the regulations (8 IL Adm Code Part 215).

On November 2015 USEPA revised the worker protection standards to implement more protection for agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. Most of the revised WPS standards became effective on January 2018.  The WPS requires commercial pesticide handler employers to provide specific information and protections to workers, handlers when WPS-labeled pesticide products are used on agricultural establishments in the production of agricultural plants.  Additional resources on Worker ...more

There may be some confusion on markings on nurse tanks that are enrolled into the NTIP program.  The DOT-SP 13554 is no longer required as a marking on the side of the nurse tanks.  Click below for examples of current markings that are acceptable and markings that would be considered a violation.