In Illinois we are not only blessed with fertile soils, we are also blessed to have a great agriculture network of industry professionals to study and share their findings. In some situations, attending meetings is seen as added, unnecessary work or taxing. However, to many progressive growers who want to learn and strive to obtain higher yields and profits while being sustainable, winter meetings are an indispensable resource. Now is the time to learn the lessons from the 2019 challenges, the tools that work and, more importantly, how Illinois soybean producers can sharpen their skills to attack 2020 soybean production.

Many soybean producers may still have beans standing in the field—but it’s never too early to mark your calendar for opportunities to better understand and learn new strategies from the 2019 growing season. These events are packed full of opportunities for Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs). So, plan to come visit with university professors, industry representatives, independent consultants and local Illinois CCAs. Keep your eyes open for registration and official agendas.

In addition to winter meetings, ISA also has a strong group of speakers and topics lined up for the ILSoyAdvisor webinar series. These opportunities are great because they are digitally based so travel is not an issue. Webinar topics are selected based on relevant and actionable information and are presented by some of the best agronomic specialists in the industry.

ISA is looking forward to hosting Matt Montgomery, field agronomist with Pioneer and Jason Carr, technology development representative with Bayer Crop Science for the November and December webinars. Their information will focus on agronomy studies from 2019 along with knowledge gained over the last few years that can be implemented for the 2020 soybean crop. Below is a list of winter meetings and learning opportunities including additional details and links to register.