Agriculture

BerryView Orchard was one of six Ogle County farms in this year’s stroll

People enjoy an early autumn day on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, doing the McHenry County Farm Stroll, a self-guided tour of 11 family farms in McHenry County that featured demonstrations and products for sale at eleven farms in McHenry County.

DeKalb County Community Gardens has rebranded and will now be known as Rooted For Good, but the organization’s services will remain the same.

Visitors to the Bos Brothers Historical Farm “Old-Fashioned Fall Harvest” on Saturday got a real taste – literally, of what field to table means. A variety of antique farm machinery in a rainbow of colors and styles, descended on the Bos Brothers Historical Farm on Springhill Road, south of Erie, to give visitors a glimpse of how farmers reaped their corn and soybeans before the days of automated, air conditioned combines aided by global positioning for field navigation.

“Managing Tight Crop Profit Margins” is a two-hour seminar designed specifically for producers to help them manage risk associated with the current commodity markets and identify market conditions to capture profit margins through this year into next.

Kalmar Kolors Alpacas, located along U.S. 30 six miles west of Morrison, is listed among the alpaca farms that will be open to visitors during the weekend.

Hosted by University of Illinois Extension, Ag Awareness Days ‘24 took 338 youths on a fast-paced, interactive, guided tour of science, engineering and technology that drive today’s farm operations.

Isabel's restaurant in Woodstock was an early example of farm-to-table dining – in this case from the owners' own farm in Marengo.

Both districts’ growing attention to ag offerings has been spurred by two things, teachers say: the hands-on nature of ag programs and the lessons students can directly apply to their own lives.

The DeKalb Area Agricultural Heritage Association hosted a dedication of a new historical marker Tuesday celebrating the creation of the yield monitor invented by Steve Faivre, Dave Larson and Jim Bassett. Yield monitors are standard combine equipment and give growers data on crop yields.

The University of Illinois Extension will offer anhydrous ammonia certified grower training from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, at Illinois Valley Community College, Room C-316. This certification is essential for growers who use anhydrous ammonia.

Find an apple orchard in and around Geneva, Oswego, Plano, Woodstock, Plainfield, Aurora, Yorkville, McHenry, Union, La Salle, Mt. Morris and Rock Falls.

DeKalb County Community Gardens (DCCG) has received approximately $1.5 million in USDA grant funding, enabling the agency to expand access to healthy and sustainably grown foods and address the root causes of hunger, officials announced Monday,

Farmers should brace for even tighter margins and implement applicable risk management practices based on the latest crop price estimates from the University of Illinois farmdoc team.

It’s been 10 years of the DeKalb County Barn Tour, and organizers have some new additions to the event they’ll roll out Saturday. This year's tour will showcase six barns in Cortland and Sycamore.

The Miss McHenry County pageant took place at the grandstand at the county fair Tuesday. Junior Miss and Teen Miss were also crowned. The fairs runs through Sunday in Woodstock.

The McHenry County opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday in Woodstock.

The event will be from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, at 9317 state Route 84, Savanna.

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County has received a grant from the Chicago Community Trust to support the growth of the local food system.

Classes teach basic dance skills and Tai Chi, stimulate the brain.

The DeKalb County Community Foundation has announced the creation of the Eric J. Gabriel Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund was created by the family of Eric J. Gabriel who died Aug. 2, 2023, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The DeKalb County 4-H Foundation will partner with the University of Illinois Extension to host its annual pork chop drive-thru dinner and Discover 4-H Day.

Event was Saturday at the Ogle County Fairgrounds

When you pick up fresh pork chops from behind the glass at Mariano’s, you can be sure the product came from a farm that does not use gestation crates — metal enclosures so small the pigs kept in them can’t turn around.

The June 1 event begins at noon with antique tractors followed by farm stock classes at 2 p.m., trucks at 4 p.m., and then classes from the MTTPA professional pulling circuit at 7 p.m.

This year, it will be easier for central and northern Illinois residents to get Flamm peaches with the introduction of their new mobile truck that will make stops at designated Tractor Supply Co. locations – including in Geneva and Kankakee.

Sterling High School’s FFA Farmapalooza event worked to educate 2,000 students on all things agriculture Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Centennial Grade School students were treated to some farm-friendly fun on Friday, May 10, 2024, when they were greeted by piglets, calves, sheep, chickens and even a pony at the Polo High School's FFA Petting Zoo. FFA members and high school agriculture students brought animals and farm machinery to this year's event, held next to the new greenhouse, on the east side of the high school.

A variety of plants offered as fundraiser for programs.

Sterling High School's FFA Farmapalooza event looked to educate 2,000 students on all things agriculture Thursday, May 9, 2024. Students were invited to explore booths about fishing, livestock, tractors, woodworking and much more to see the far-reaching impact of farmers.

Strong winds caused a two-level barn to collapse near Harvard on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, leaving dozens of animals trapped inside. Many were rescued by firefighters and nearby residents who came to help out.

The Rock Falls Chamber of Commerce is celebrating “May Day,” the much awaited spring season, with the opening day of its annual farmer’s market on Wednesday, May 1.

Grade school students learned about farming and animals from FFA students.

Forreston High School students invited grade school students to learn more about agriculture at Forreston FFA’s Ag Day, held on the front lawn of the grade school on a sunny, warm and windy morning Friday, April 12, 2024. Students ventured out from their classrooms in 25-minute intervals to pet the animals and climb on three farm tractors that were also part of the event – all in an effort to learn more about agriculture.

With slow-moving vehicles on roadways this spring, the driving public and farmers should be extra careful to prevent crashes and ensure everyone gets home safely at the end of the day.

Annual event draws farmers from across the region.

The driver of the pickup truck that investigators say failed to stop at an intersection, resulting in the death of his three passengers, was cited for failure to stop and for violating his graduated license restrictions.

A brown bovine from southern Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk.

While the two broods of cicadas will emerge at the same time, there will likely be only a few places in central Illinois, around Springfield, where they will emerge in the same area, according to the University of Illinois Extension.

During the eclipse itself, animals will often react either like it’s sunset or a storm is coming. It might create some confusion for animals outdoors, but animals indoors might not notice the difference, she said.

The structure on fire was located at the end of a long lane, north of Lightsville Road. Firefighters battled strong winds and intermittent rain and snow as they fought the fire.

One person was killed Wednesday morning when the tractor that he was driving was hit by a semitractor-trailer on Route 40 at the intersection of Route 172/Star Road south of Rock Falls, according to a news release from Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker.

An ordinance that would allow up to six chickens to be kept in unincorporated single-family residential areas of Lee County is going before the Planning Commission on April 1.

The Lee County Farm Bureau, in partnership with the Bureau, Marshall-Putnam, Whiteside, and Stark county farm bureaus, Ag View FS and Growmark, are offering pollinator seeds at a reduced price through April 12,

An estimated 35 local school representatives attended the Cultivating Connections in Agriculture symposium March 1 at Tetten’s Grain in Dixon to learn more about the value of agriculture education and hear strategies for creating comprehensive agriculture programs.

“Our farming community would like to thank members of the Ogle County Board for showing their support by adopting this resolution,” said Keith Poole, Ogle County Farm Bureau President.

Nineteen Illinois farms will receive a combined $1.8 million in grants to fund infrastructure projects aimed at developing their ability to produce and distribute food around the state as part of the Local Food and Infrastructure Grant Program.

Over the objections of the city of Sterling, the Whiteside County Board approved issuing a special-use permit to build a 5-megawatt solar farm at Locust Street/state Route 40 and Science Ridge Road.

When suburban farmer Cliff McConville teaches kids about his farm on the Brunner Family Forest Preserve in Carpentersville, where grass-fed cows, pigs and chickens roam freely across 150 acres of pasture, he hopes he’s inspiring not only future consumers but future farmers.

The first meeting was an introduction for members within the group, and an opportunity for them to hear from McCombie on issues relevant in the legislature to farming, agricultural education and funding.