Illinois Digest

NIU tracking pest:

Farmers concerned about pests invading their corn crop have a new way to find out if bugs are headed their way. Northern Illinois University has launched a Web site -- www.agweather.niu.edu -- that tracks the location and migration of corn earworm. The pests migrate north during the summer in moth form. Along the way, they lay eggs that hatch into caterpillars and chew on corn. NIU meteorology professor David Changnon and meteorologist Mike Sandstrom maintain the site. Sandstrom says the site's forecasting can tell growers when and where to use pesticide treatments and when they're not necessary. Changnon says the site could be adapted in the future to track other pest migrations as well.

Budget won't affect fair:

There's no state budget, but state officials promise that come next week there will be corn dogs, cotton candy and tilting, spinning rides at the Illinois State Fair. Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke says the fair will open on schedule next Friday in Springfield and run through Aug. 19. Anyone doing work for the fair will be paid when the state has a budget, he said. No one is sure when that will be. The governor and the General Assembly have been at odds for months on the budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. "The fair is going to go on, and we're confident that, by the time the state fair starts, we will have a budget and we will be going on as normal," Hartke said. The State Fair has been held every year since 1853. Last year it drew more than 700,000 people. But, with a budget the state puts at $4.9 million, the fair is expensive to put on.

U.S. House votes no on bill:

The U.S. House voted once more to stop spending money on inspections of horse slaughter plants. The measure, approved late Thursday, was part of a $91 billion spending bill for farm subsidies and nutrition programs. The House approved the overall spending bill 237-18 with 165 mostly Republican lawmakers not voting. President Bush has promised to veto the bill because of its cost. A plant in DeKalb, Ill., continues to operate while owner Cavel International Inc. challenges a state law banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Congress voted two years ago to strip money from the Agriculture Department budget for inspections, and that bill was signed by the president. But the USDA then offered inspections on a fee-for-service basis, allowing the horse slaughter plants to continue to operate. A dispute over the inspections for a fee continues in court. Illinois recently passed a state law prohibiting killing horses so people could eat their meat, along with the import, export or possession of horse meat designated for human consumption. Cavel is challenging that law in federal courts.