Farm-to-tablle e connection: Locaal l f farrmmeerrs s at t h heeaarrt t of f P Prooud d Ricchaarrdd’s s meennu
INSIIDE: : High demand drives Illinois soybeanpopularity
USDA grants to boost conservationefforts
Dawson/Journal-Courier
Michael Meyer checks lettuce that was growing in a greenhouse on Mueller Family Farm near Bluffs, which he co-owns with his grandmother, Linda Mueller. Meyer has developed a working relationship with Joe Standley, chef and owner of Proud Richard’s.
Modern Farmer
Saturday, April 27, 2024
• Farm-to-table connection: Local farmers at heart of Proud Richard’s menu.2
• High demand drives Illinois soybean
popularity......................5
• Farmers nervously eye farm bill prospects ........................................6
• Hearing-loss prevention a tough seed to plant...........................7
• Specialty crop farming risky but worth it..........................8
• Wheat, soybean farmers encouraged to double crop. 12
• Permits to help farmers battle vultures........................13
• USDA grants to boost conservation efforts............................14
• ‘Legacy’ phosphorus delays water quality improvements. 15
• Farms increasingly reliant on contract workers.........................16
• Three major challenges facing agricultural sector.......17
• Cut-grass smell could be less-toxic pesticide for farmers...................18
Farm-to-table connection
Local farmers at heart of Proud Richard’s menu
By Dave Dawson ASSISTANT EDITOR
When Joe Standley openedProudRichard’sin December 2021, he didn’t intend for it to be categorized as a farm-to-table restaurant.
His original idea was to trytospendmoneylocally. Thanks to a chance encounter, that principle evolved into a commitment to buy local produce and meat whenever possi-
ble.
“We had a vision that we wanted to keep as much money in Jacksonville as we could,” said Standley, who opened Proud Richard’s at the site of the former Lonzerotti’s restaurant,600E.StateSt. “That was a founding principle. If we are a part of the community, let’s keep the money here.
“I didn’t start designing menuswiththatintention, but now that’s how we de-
cidewhatweareserving.I want to serve seasonal foods to our guests.”
Getting to know the region’s farmers has been part of that process.
“We have developed relationships with producers,” Standley said. “We are getting into a rhythm of knowing which vendor will have what produce and when. It’s about having individual relationships.”
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Dave
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Standley regularly buys produce from Mueller Family Farm in Bluffs and chicken from 4 Lees Ranch in Virginia, among others.
“Seasonal dishes may not always feature local food, especially at certain times of the year, but at some point, we will have local produce for that item on the menu,” Standley said.
When Standley moved back to Jacksonville from Chicago — where he had worked in restaurants for 10 years — he met up with a high school friend. Liz Rupel, who works for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, tagged along with the friend.
“I was talking about spending local with the
Michael Meyer (left) delivers fresh lettuce to Joe Standley, chef and owner of Proud Richard's, a farm-to-table restaurant in Jacksonville. Standley is committed to buying local products for his restaurant and has developed a good working relationship with Meyer, who co-owns Mueller Family Farm near Bluffs.
restaurant and finding local products,” Standley said.“Finally,Lizsaid,‘We need to exchange numbers.’”
Rupel is the lead organizer for the alliance, whose mission is to con-
nect local food and farm systems to local farm-totable restaurants.
“She helped me make contacts for local farms,” Standley said. “When I’m looking for specific products, I also use Slow Food
Springfield, which is part of a national network of businesses,farmsanddistributors. Their vision is trying to support sustainable and ethical business practices.Itwenthand-inhandwithourprinciples.”
It was partially through the alliance and partially through his mother, Linda, that Standley met MichaelMeyer,whooperates MuellerFamilyFarmwith his grandmother, Linda Mueller.
Linda Standley mentioned Mueller’s produce while they were at Jacksonville’s County Market, now Hy-Vee, which carried Mueller’s produce. She suggested to her son that he contact Meyer. Through that connection, a partnership blossomed.
“Joe’s mom used to live on Mueller Road next to my grandparents,” Meyer said. “When he came back
to town and moved forward with the restaurant, he spent the first year looking for high-quality local ingredients. I was impressed by that.
“He spent time walking aroundwithustoseewhat we were all about. He knew he needed salad. I can also call Joe and tell him I have an unusual ingredient coming up and when. He will come up with a special item for the menu with that ingredient. That is pretty cool.”
That partnership led to both businesses receiving Slow Food Springfield’s SnailofApprovalawardin
July during a three-course dinner created by Standley. It recognized Proud Richard’s and Mueller for their dedication to using fresh ingredients from local growers and adopting environmentally sustainable farming practices.
Mitch Cave, who operates 4 Lees Farm, met Standley through a mutual friend at a farmers market.
“We hit it off and have the same vision of farmto-table,”Cavesaid.“Joeis creative with what’s available. Sometimes I joke he could make a flip-flop taste good.
“He occasionally buys pork from us, but most of the time it is chicken. We deliver to him about every two weeks. He takes a decent amount of chicken breasts, drumsticks, as well as necks and backs forbroth.I’mstilltryingto get him to buy thighs.”
Besides Mueller and 4 Lees Farm, Standley uses produce from Moon Girl Farm in Pleasant Plains, Oak Tree Farms in AshlandandGregoryOrchard and Gardens in Lynnville, Farm continues on A4
Dave Dawson/Journal-Courier
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andeggsfromBlandFamily Farm in Jacksonville.
Meyer Farms in Arenzville provides Standley withsweetcornduringthe season, and The Soap Co. Coffee House does all of the baking for the restaurant. Standley even has a special recipe ground beef produced by Jones Meat and Locker.
Mueller Family Farm
Meyer,whoco-ownsthe farm with his grandmother,hasexpandedhispatch ofgroundfrom3acresto13 acres.Ifit’sgreen,oddsare good Meyer grows it. He runs the farm with help fromhisgrandmother;his right-hand man, Zach Sigler; and a host of parttime employees.
The list of produce includes all kinds of lettuce, kale, spinach, green onions, zucchini, peppers, beans, cucumbers and peas,nottomentiontomatoes. He’s even taking a shot at raising garlic.
Meyer’s grandparents started the farm more than30yearsagoandtheir main point of sale was farmersmarkets.Afterhis grandfather, Lari Mueller, diedin2014,Meyerstarted to run the farm with his grandmother.
Under Meyer’s leadership, they branched out. Appearances at the farmers markets in Springfield helpedthembroadentheir
market to restaurants.
“We do like selling to restaurantsandwouldlike to do more,” said Meyer who also counts Maldaner’s restaurant in downtownSpringfieldasanothersteadycustomer.“We’re willingtodelivertorestaurants that aren’t in our immediate area.”
Delivering to Proud Richard’s brings Meyer full circle; he worked as a cook at Lonzerotti’s before itbecameProudRichard’s.
All of the produce Meyer grows, including the potted plants they sell in the spring, start as seed at the farm.
Meyer is planning to offer potted plants for sale, which can be ordered online, featuring varieties of tomatoes, peppers, vegeta-
bles and herbs. Those orders will be available at Jacksonville Farmers Market, which opens May 4. A full list of their products is available on their website at muellerfamilyfarm.com.
In the meantime, Meyer is trying to expand the growing season in Illinois.
“We go as late as we can into the fall,” he said. “We’ll cover the lettuce in the fall with hoops and a cheesecloth. That extends theseasonandkeepspredators away.
“We start taking things to Joe in March and usuallyhavesomethingthrough December. What we grow inthefieldswepushasfar andaslongaswecan.Produce later in December andearlyintheyearcomes
from the greenhouses.”
4 Lees Farm Cave and his daughter, Devin, raise grass-fed and finished beef, pastured hogs and pastured chickens, along with organic fruitsandvegetables.They don’t use chemicals, and the chickens are raised outside on grass.
“I’m the fourth-generation farmer on this land and my daughter is the fifth generation, so we have been around for a while,” Cave said.
The 160-acre farm near Virginiaincludes100acres in conventional crops and 2 acres for organic produce. The rest is pasture for the animals.
“We concentrate on the animals,” Cave said. “We
sell at farmers markets andworkwithrestaurants including Proud Richard’s, Maldaner’s and Mom and Pop’s in Petersburg.”
DevinCavedealsmostly with the gardens and, when forced, helps with the chickens, Cave said.
He’s been farming full time for 11 years and, before that, held a full-time job while farming part time.
“When I went to fulltime farming, I originally had just cattle,” he said. “That took off. I added pork and it took off. After that, we added Cornish Cross chickens.”
Cornish Cross, a hybrid of Cornish and White Rock, is one of the mostcommon chicken breeds for industrial meat production and is prized for itscompactsizeandrapid, efficient growth.
“Our selling point is we have a clean product,” Cave said. “We don’t use feed that is genetically modified.Weraisethemto be as natural as can be. Comparingittomass-produced chickens is like comparing apples to oranges.”
The taste is the difference, Cave said, noting many customers talk about the chicken being full-flavored.
they go outside to the grass. They are butchered at seven to eight weeks.
The size of the flock depends on the season. At minimum, Cave said, he brings in 200 chicks; at maximum, it is 400 to 450.
“When they go outside, we’ll bring in another batch of chicks,” he said. “So, we are processing birds about once a month. It’s a heavy rotation and lots of work. Time is the enemy.”
Cave is a regular at area farmers markets and uses Facebook quite a bit to promote their fresh product. They post what is available and also have a marketpageonLocalLine, an online sales platform for farms. It can be found at bit.ly/4d5OsFp.
The restaurants with which Cave deals aside from Proud Richard’s have different wants.
“With Maldaner’s, he wants leg quarters,” Cave said. “Mom and Pop’s orderisusuallywholebirds. We deliver as needed, but itendsupbeingclosetoeverytwoweeks.Wedoalocal delivery weekly to Springfield and sometimes go to homes. Other times we have a gathering area we go to.”
CaveadmireshowStandley works with farmers.
“Somepeoplesayeating our chicken is like eating chicken from their childhood,” he said. “It’s full of flavorcomparedtowhatis mass-produced. We have people say the taste reminds them of when their grandma used to cook chicken. Once they’ve had it, they come back.”
The chickens have a short life cycle. Cave buys day-old chicks that go into abrooderhousethatkeeps them dry and warm because they are sensitive to temperature changes. Once the weather is nicer and they are fully feathered,ataboutthreeweeks,
“Joeisprettyimpressive inhowheworkswithallof the places he buys from,” Cave said. “I love his seasonalmenus.Oneofmyfavorites is his chicken and dumplings.It’ssorichand so good.
“He’s highly creative. I can’t say enough good things about Joe.”
Proud Richard’s Standley grew up in Jacksonville and, when he movedawayin2011,downtown was not the thriving center of business it is now, he said.
“I saw all the work that had been done downtown
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Mitch Cave/Provided
Mitch Cave (left), owner and operator of 4 Lees Farm near Virginia, stands with Hannah Tomlin and Ben Banach, who own Moon Girl Farm in Pleasant Plains. Both supply fresh farm goods to Proud Richard's in Jacksonville.
High demand drives Illinois soybean popularity
By Ben Singson REPORTER
When most people picture Illinois fields, they tend to envision towering stalks of corn. Less often dotheyimaginerowupon row of closer-to-theground soybeans.
But those fields have put Illinois head and shouldersabovetherestof the country in soybean production.
Soybeans have become a popular crop for Illinois farmers. In spite of productiondippingslightlyin 2023, the Illinois Soybean Association reported the state still managed to producethemostsoybeansin the United States, with 648.9 million bushels grown on 10.3 million acres of farmland. As for corn, while the state produced 2.27 billion bushels in2023,itstillcameinsecond in the U.S. behind Iowa, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop production report released Jan.12.
West-central Illinois farmers such as Jacob Meyer have been growing soybeans for as long as they have been in agriculture. Meyer, who farms in Morgan, Cass, Scott, Greene and Sangamon counties, said he typically farms at a ratio of twothirds corn to one-third soybeans in a given year on his 6,000 acres of land. That proportion tends to stay pretty consistent, depending on the condition of the ground, he said.
“Usually, the market dictates what we plant,” Meyer said. “We’ve got some pretty highly productive soils and then quite a bit of irrigation, so if the pencil is out to plant corn, we usually plant
Ben Singson/Journal-Courier
Martin Marr of M-D-M Farms in New Berlin holds some soybean seeds the farm will plant this growing season. Growers like M-D-M Farms are helping to keep Illinois in first place for soybean growing.
corn under the pivots and on the better ground. ... We’ll basically rotate thoseacres(between)corn and soybeans every year.”
Soybeans are less risky to grow than corn at the moment,giventheirlower input costs and greater potential for good returns at $13 to $14 a bushel, Meyer said. Other farmers he knows have begun shifting more of their crop towardsoybeans,aswell,he said, noting that it helps protect against disease better than growing corn several years in a row.
“It’s a lot less risk than your corn acres right now,” Meyer said.
Illinois Soybean AssociationChairRonKindred said there is a lot of demand for soybeans, both domestically and internationally. That demand mostly has taken off within the past10 to15 years, a fact he credits to a rising demand in both livestock and oil for biodiesel. Soybeans are a primary component of biodiesel.
“Asyoucrushmoresoybeans for oil, it leads to a lower price for your soybean meal,” he said, “so it
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and I wanted to bring the same mentality to food,” Standley said of his decision to move back to his hometown and his quest to spend locally.
He continues to rely on hisinvolvementwithSlow Food Springfield and the Illinois Stewardship Alliance to expand his ingredient sources.
“We get chicken from 4 Lees Farm,” he said. “All of the chicken dishes we do are with chicken from Mitch. He does some beef and pork, but not quite in the mass quantities we need. But maybe we’ll use his beef for a special event.”
kind of leads to an increase in livestock demand because you have a cheaper protein product to feed them. One kind of fuels the other, I would say.”
Just because they are popular, though, does not mean soybeans are any easier to grow than other crops. Meyer said both soybean and corn need to be monitored equally and corn has a much broader time frame for harvest than soybeans, which is why many farmers would say they prefer to grow corn.
“With soybeans, you’ve got to wait until they dry downjustrightandallthe leaves drop,” Meyer said. “Andthen,ifitrainsalittle bit, you can’t really get on them very quick.”
Soybean farmers also have some other worries. Kindred said farmers are concerned about the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which provides the federal government a framework for protecting endangered animals, including the potential to ban pesticides.
preserves some of it by pickling it.
“We use pickling a lot,” he said. “We puree fruit and preserve it for future use. We have a pickling platethatisavailableyearround.Italsoallowsmeto add it as garnish throughouttheyear.Turnips,radishesandbeetsareeasyto pickle.”
Mueller has some greenhouses that allow them to produce almost year-roundbut,inDecember and January, Standley buys from distributors who bring in produce from outside of Illinois. As much as he can during that period, Standley tries to coordinate with Mueller to use what they might have left over.
Standley also likes Moon Girl Farm because of its specialty produce, particularly strawberries and spinach, and works with Gregory Orchard and Gardens, from which he gets apples and pears. Obviously, it’s tougher to find fresh produce in the winter, so Standley
“Mueller’s lettuce will stay fresher longer because it’s often picked the same day it is delivered,” Standley said. “When you buyfromadistributor,the lettuce has been around for a while.”
A lot of planning goes intotheefforttofindfresh produce. In February and March, Standley stays
busy talking to farmers about what they are going to have for the coming year.Standleysaidhegoes to farmers markets when theyopentofindoutwhat growers have and what they are selling.
“Typically,what’savailable drives the menu,” he said. “We have a certain amount of ability to ask them to grow something. When featuring their products, it shows we are willingtocollaboratewith them.”
The bottom line, though,iscustomers,who were a large part of Standley’s decision to go farmto-table.
“One part of the decision to be a farm-to-table restaurant was the financialprinciple,butthedriving principle is to give guests the highest quality, freshest and brightest ingredients,” Standley said. “To have that means buying it from our neighbors. Whenwegetit,weknowit was in the ground earlier inthedayandhasalonger shelf life. Customers can taste the difference.”
Farmers nervously eye farm bill prospects
By Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree REPORTER
Illinois farmers put a lot ofworkintominimizingthe risks of their job.
Buttheycan’tcontroleverything and, as they face uncertainties stemming from weather conditions, potential crop failures and other agricultural calamities,theytakesomereliefin knowing there are federal programs to help support themandtheworktheydo.
These days, farmers are getting antsy as the farm bill—thefederallegislation that funds those support programs — nears its expiration without a replacement in place.
The2018farmbillissetto expire in September after Congress approved a oneyear extension in 2023.
Jacksonville farmer Dale Hadden said farmers are watching closely because the bill affects the security of their farms. It also provides farmers assistance with exporting goods.
“This doesn’t only impact farmers,” Hadden said. “The farm bill funds so many other programs.”
This isn’t the first time
the bill’s future has been questioned, Hadden said.
“Theytypicallyhavenevernotpassedanewbillorat least an extension,” Haddensaid.“We’vebeentothe brink multiple times.”
According to a United StatesSenateCommitteeon Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry article posted online Feb. 13, the proposed billwouldallocate$1.46trillionduringthe10-yearwindowfromfiscalyear2025to fiscal year 2034.
Of that, about $1.15 trillionwouldfundtheSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other nutrition-based programs; $5 billion would fund trade support programs; $4.7 billion would go to horticulture, research, energy and miscellaneous items; $15 billion would go to commodity credit corporations anddiscretionaryuse;$34.7 billionwouldgototheinflation reduction act; $58 billion would aid conservation;$62billionwouldgoto commodity and related programs; and $124 billion wouldgotocropinsurance.
One of Hadden’s largest concerns is the crop insurance program, he said, notingfarmersrelyoncropin-
Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree/Journal-Courier
Dale Hadden checks his seeds prior to the planting season. Hadden is one of many Illinois farmers watching as Congress discusses the latest farm bill. The current bill was set to expire last year, but an extension to the bill is set to expire in September.
surance to help cover loses during a season in which weather, disease or other factors result in a bad crop.
“A lot of farmers have already signed up for the coming year, so we know our rates,” said Hadden, who is enrolled in the program, too.
Another program en-
courages projects that help limit nutrient runoff via cover crops. Planting cover crops during the off-season can benefit the soil but also can be costly, he said.
“Like everything, you havetoweighyouroptions, the inputs and benefits,” Hadden said. “Incentives producers get to try cover crops don’t function if they’re not being funded.”
Exports also could be affected without a new farm bill in place.
Someprogramshelpcover the cost of exporting goods, which has become a biggersourceofrevenuefor some farmers, Hadden said.
“If someone else buys our grain offshore, that’s demand for our product,” hesaid.“Ifit’snotbeingexportedbecauseitsnotfunded, that’s a problem.”
Farmers need the assurancesofanewbillor,atthe very least, another extension, Hadden said.
Farmers are not the only
billistheSupplementalNutritionAssistanceProgram, which provides food assistance to low-income families.
In the proposed bill, which would expire in 2034, about 79% of the $1.46 trillion budget would be used for the SNAP program.
That program is at the root of much of the debate about the bill.
“Itisoneofthebiggestissues,” Hadden said. “For a lot of urban legislators, the SNAP program is very important to them, versus the rural legislators who want to make sure it is being administered properly. There is a belief that some SNAP funds are being used for nonfood items.”
beneficiaries of the farm bill. Research organizations, conservation programs and other environmental programs also see support under the bill.
“The programs that benefit ag research are funded through the bill,” Hadden said. “When you are doing research, it’s hard to plan when you only have one year of funding.”
That’s a struggle facing many of the programs, he said.
“I think they will at least pass an extension, but it’s better if they pass a fiveyear program so we know where we are,” Hadden said. “These agencies are working year to year, but we don’t know where we are going for the next five years.”
Programs that support conservation efforts, community or urban gardens and other programs also are supported by the farm bill.
A huge part of the farm
In the event that the currentfarmbillisn’textended or a new one passed, some provisionswouldremainin place, but they wouldn’t much benefit farmers today, Hadden said.
“Worst-case scenario is we revert back to the bill from the Depression era,” Hadden said. “We’ve never done that in my 40 years of farming. They’ve always managed to get something done.”
If that were to happen, support prices would be outdated,Haddensaid,noting prices have changed andthecostsoffarmingare different.
“Those support prices for the government are drastically lower than what they are today,” Hadden said.
The bill isn’t a partisan issue and shouldn’t be treated as one, because it impacts people across the board, he said.
“The farm bill doesn’t benefit Republicans or Democrats more than the other,” Hadden said. “They just have to stop playing politics and get it through.”
Hearing-loss prevention a tough seed to plant
By Angela Bauer LIFESTYLES EDITOR
Hearing loss often is considered an invisible disability,ifit’sconsidered a disability at all.
“You can’t really see hearing loss,” said Josie Rudolphi, a University of Illinois Extension specialist and assistant professor of agricultural safety and health who teaches occupational health at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. “It doesn’t typically require immediate medical care the way a traumatic injury would.”
Out of sight doesn’t mean nonexistent, especially among farming communities, Rudolphi said. Estimates indicate around half of all farmers experience some level of noise-induced hearing loss, she said.
“It’s probably more, but they just haven’t been diagnosed yet,” she said.
It’salsonotjustfarmers but farm families.
“We also know that hearing loss is prevalent among agricultural youth,” Rudolphi said. “They have exposure to more noise at a young age.”
Rudolphiworkstoeducate the farming community on the prevalence of hearing loss within its ranks, and to encourage both testing and preventive measures such as the use of noise-canceling headphones or ear plugs.
Part of the focus of her Ph.D. work “was hearing loss and testing and intervention to encourage people to wear things like (noise-canceling headphones) to reduce exposure,” she said.
The thing about hearing loss is there’s no reversing it.
“When it’s gone, it’s
gone,” she said.
While many people may not realize they’re losing their hearing — it’s usually gradual, starting withhigherfrequenciesof sound and working its way down to lower frequencies — or think it’s not a big deal, the ramifications can be, Rudolphi said.
“Therearealotofother health conditions associated with hearing loss,” she said, citing hypertension and high blood pressure. While the connections aren’t entirely clear, the theory is that “people having to stress or strain to hear what’s going on in a conversation can raise their blood pressure.”
“Ifyou’renotabletoengage the world in conversation(italsocanresultin) reduced quality of life and symptoms of depression. Those are comorbidities that are associated with hearing loss,” Rudolphi said.
The challenge of preventinghearinglossinthe farming community has many layers.
For starters, farmers aren’t governed by the same Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules that govern other industries and businesses, Rudolphi said.
OSHA requires employers to make hearing protection“availabletoall employees exposed to an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels or greater,” according to OSHA.gov, but that rule doesn’t apply on the family farm.
“A lot of other work environments have hearing loss,” Rudolphi said. “OSHA has standards in place. There’s no state or federaloversightonfarms telling farmers they need” to use hearing protection.
The work schedule on a farmalsovariesmoreona daily or hourly basis, Rudolphi said.
“In manufacturing, the environment doesn’t vary much during the day,” she said. “In agriculture, you could be jumping from several types of equipment to working with different types of machinery and going into several different environments.”
Ifyou’veeverwondered where you left your car keys, the problem becomes clearer.
“The protection is not always going to be where you need it,” Rudolphi said of noise-canceling headphones. “Perhaps it’s intheshop,oryouleftitin the truck. It’s not where
A farmer and his daughter put on noise-canceling headphones before starting up a tractor on his farm. Hearing protection such as noise-canceling headphones can go a long way toward preventing hearing loss among residents of farming communities. Hearing continues on A9
Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Specialty crop farming risky but worth it
By Eden MacDougall REPORTER
When Regan Joehl and hisfamilystartedgrowing pumpkins in 2016, they hadextras,whichtheyleft on the side of the road for anyone to take.
Joehl soon figured out that people want to pick their own pumpkins. So, from those extra pumpkins came Greene Fields Farm near Greenfield.
People had a desire to get out on the farm and pick things themselves and experience the farm, Joehl said, and sharing thatexperiencewiththem fitinwithwhathewanted to do.
Specialty farmers face unique challenges in growing their crops compared to farmers who raise crops such as corn and soybeans. While crop farming is heavily automated, specialty crops in-
volve more manual labor —andmorefinancialrisk.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines specialtycropsasfruits,vegetables, tree nuts, horticulture and nursery crops.
Joehlgrewupinafarming family, growing corn, soybeans and hay. But he always kept a small garden for himself, to grow whatever he wanted. That small garden is where he and his family started growing pumpkins, he said.
One of the biggest differences between more traditional crop farming and specialty crop farming is how expensive the insurance is. Specialty crops aren’t subsidized like corn and soybeans, Joehl said.
Farmers have more controloverspecialtycrop pricing, but insurance means more traditional crops are a more stable
source of income, said Becky Conrady, who coowns Backwoods Berry Farm near Hettick with her husband, Dale.
Subzero temperatures
that hit this past winter mean the peaches they were planning on won’t have a chance to develop, Conrady said. Backwoods Berry Farm does not have
tractors, but planting and harvesting are done by hand, Bland said.
“We’re basically farming like it was the 1940s,” Bland said.
Thisyear,Blandandhis family plan to plant 40,000 pounds of onions and15,000poundsofpotatoes. They planted garlic inNovemberandwillharvest that this summer.
Despite the challenges, Joehl is able to do more with fewer acres, he said.
“The investment per acre can be 10 times what realcropfarmingis,itcan be 50 times what real crop farming is, but the return kind of follows that same number,” Joehl said.
specialty crop insurance.
“There are always ups and downs because it is a gamble,” she said.
Diversifying specialty crops helps minimize the risks, which is why Joehl grows apples and squash alongside his pumpkins.
Specialty crop farming also requires more forethought because, while corn and soybeans are planted annually, some specialty crops, such as fruitandnuttrees,haveto be planted in advance, Conrady said.
“Whenyoudecidetodo this, it’s kind of like, we knowwe’renotgettingincome off this until down the road,” she said.
Specialty crop farming is labor intensive, even moresowhengrowingorganic food, said Clint Bland, owner of Bland Family Farm in Jacksonville.
He does have some equipment, including
The same is true for Bland. His onions are five times as profitable per acre as soybeans, and his saladgreensareatleast25 times as profitable per acre, he said.
Illinois farmers collectively devote more than 100,000 acres to specialty crops that generate about $500 million in sales a year,saidHannahMcGee, Illinois Specialty Crop blockgrantadministrator.
There are more than 3,600 fruit and vegetable farmers in Illinois, said Raghela Scavuzzo, executive director of the Illinois SpecialtyGrowersAssociation.
Genny Six, co-owner of Market Six near Chapin, saidthatthoughtraditional crop and hog farming account for most of their income, specialty crops are worth the effort.
Last year, a storm wrecked part of the hog barn and the family wasn’t able to do anything with its hogs for about six months, but the revenue from the farm’s specialty crops helped make up for that, Six said.
Eden MacDougall/Journal-Courier
Clint Bland looks over his land at Bland Family Farm. He plans to plant 40,000 pounds of onions and 15,000 pounds of potatoes this spring.
SOYBEAN
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“Some of those could be very detrimentaltotheproductivityonourfarms,” he said.
Kindredsaidhedoesn’tknowwhether the market will go up, down or stay where it is. As it stands, Illinois has a “comfortable supply” of soybeans on which it could lean, though market conditions are dependent on how the growing season progresses, he said. He could not see the price of a bushel of soybeans, currentlysittingaround$11.50,according toMarketsInsider,dippingmorethan$1.
“There’s a potential for it to go down a little bit,” Kindred said, “but I believe we have a much higher floor in the soybean market than in past years.”
Meyerissimilarlyoptimisticaboutthe futureofIllinoissoybeans.Thereissome competition coming from South America, but Meyer believes U.S. farmers will be able to keep up, even though they wouldneedtonavigatetradewithChina, as well.
“Ithinktherewillalwaysbeaplacefor soybeans,” he said.
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you need it to be to grab quickly.”
That, in turn, makes it easy to make excuses.
“It’s easy to forget about hearing protection,” Rudolphi said.
“‘I’m only going to run the auger for10 minutes’ or ‘I don’t want to run back to the shop. I don’t have that time to waste.’”
To try to educate those in the farm community about the risks ofnoiseonthefarmandtheways to mitigate it, Rudolphi works through U of I Extension and its AgrAbility program — which helps farmers with disabilities maintain their ability to work on the farm — to coordinate health fairsandsetuphealthscreenings, includinghearingchecks,attrade shows and other places farmers congregate.
“We’re promoting the use of hearing protection devices and handing out earplugs,” she said. “We’re teaching people about
sound levels, about how long you should be working with equipment based on how loud it is.”
It’s something of an uphill battle.
“I see a lot of, oh, yeah, they know they have (hearing loss),” she said. “‘Oh, yeah, I definitely haveit;itcomeswiththejob;Dad had it, Granddad had it, now I have it.’”
While she’s never had anyone straight up tell her they refuse to wear hearing protection, a diagnosis of hearing loss still isn’t the same as some other diagnoses, shesaid,notingadiagnosisofthe eye disease glaucoma usually comes with the advice to see an eye doctor immediately, because quicktreatmentcanslowtheprogression.
“To tell someone, based on our screening, that you have slight hearing loss ... it doesn’t feel like an emergency situation,” Rudolphi said. “At that point, it’s irreversible, what’s done is done. We try to help people maintain what hearing they do have, but …”
CROPS
From page A8
“It’sjustreallyimportanttobediversifiedproducers and not just put all your eggs in one basket,” Six said. “It helps to have multiple revenue streams.”
Conradygrowsspecialtycropsasacomplementto traditional crops and, though it’s profitable, good financial planning is essential to making the business last, she said.
“Ontheyearsthatproducewell,youreallydoneed tomakeanefforttoputmoneybackintothebusiness to improve equipment and things like that and save for the years that are not so good,” she said.
Marketing is particularly important for specialty cropfarmersbecause,iftheyaren’tabletofindamarket and sell all their products, they have to take the losses, Six said.
Makingsurethere’senoughproductalsoisachallenge. If she runs out of pumpkins one year, people aren’t going to come back next year, Six said.
Despite the challenges, what makes it all worthwhileisthecustomers,specialtycropfarmersagree.
Conrady and her husband have been running Backwoods Berry Farm for about 30 years and love the opportunities it gives them to interact with customers face-to-face, she said.
“The relationship with the customers is one of the greatest rewards we get from it,” she said.
Wheat, soybean farmers encouraged to double crop
By Eden MacDougall REPORTER
Farmerslookingforawayto increase crop yields and enrich their soil are being urged to engage in double cropping.
Double cropping is when farmers harvest two sets of cropsinagrowingcycle,using the land year-round instead of leaving it empty for months at a time.
Thepracticeisespeciallybeing promoted by the Illinois Wheat Association and Illinois Soybean Association. That’s because wheat and soybeans often are double croppedtogetherbecauseeach plant leaves behind in the soil nutrients the next crop can pick up as an extra boost.
“You have active growing plants on that acre 10 or 11 monthsoutoftheyearbecause
wheatissowninearlyOctober and harvested in June or July andthedoublecropsareplanted immediately after,” said John Howell, president of the Illinois Wheat Association.
Plenty of farmers already were considering double cropping before the Illinois Wheat Associationstartedpromoting it, Howell said.
Double cropping has grown in popularity in the past 25 years and has become even more profitable in the past 15 years, Howell added.
“They kind of run hand in hand,” Howell said.
Dale Hadden, who farms near Jacksonville, raises wheat, soybeans and corn. He has been double cropping for 15 to 20 years because he doesn’tlikeleavingtheground empty between crop seasons.
mvburling/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The Illinois Wheat Association and Illinois Soybean Association are encouraging farmers to double crop to increase their crop yields. Double continues on A14
Permits to help farmers battle vultures
By Dave Dawson ASSISTANT EDITOR
BLOOMINGTON — Illinois livestock farmers facing with an ever-increasing black vulture population have been given the tools to deal with the predators and protect their herds.
IllinoisFarmBureaurecently secured statewide black vulture depredation permits through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which are in effect until March 31. Black vultures commonly prey on young livestock and birthing mothers, causing significant injuries and death.
The permits are available to livestock farmers facingdepredationofcommercial livestock, which includes cattle, horses, sheep, goats and swine.
As migratory birds, blackvulturesareprotected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and can’t be killed or destroyed without a migratory bird depredation permit and a Class B nuisance wildlife controlpermitfromtheIllinois Department of Natural Resources.
“Illinois’ black vulture population has increased significantly in recent years, particularly in the southern portion of the state,” Illinois Farm BureauPresidentBrianDuncan said. “These birds often prey on young livestock, especially in open pastures, and can create major financial losses for farmers. Securing these federal depredation permitsstreamlinestheapplication process and reduces costs to the producer. It is our hope this process helps farmers access the necessary tools as quickly as possible to protect their livestock.”
The farm bureau will work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to issue federal permits to livestock farmers who are experiencing issues with black vultures on their land. The farm bureau alsowillworkwiththeDNR to secure the necessary state permits for farmers.
Black vultures, which have a dark gray head and are aggressive, should not be confused with their larger, less aggressive and red-headed relative, the turkey vulture. Turkey vultures may be found throughout Illinois. Black vultures live in southern regions but are expanding their range farther north, creating depredation problems for farmers.
“The Illinois DepartmentofNaturalResources is continuing to cooperate with the Illinois Farm Bureau and USDA Wildlife Services to develop a simple process for livestock producerstoreceivefederal and state permits for removing black vultures that can be harmful to theiroperations,”DNRdirector Natalie Phelps Finnie said. “I am glad we were able to continue the process created two years ago that provides relief to Illinois stockmen while still meeting our obligation to conserve protected species.”
Approved applicants will be allowed a maximum of three birds, determined after consultation with USDA Wildlife Services.
Interested livestock producers may request a sub-permit application by contacting Tasha Bunting, Illinois Farm Bureau’s associate director of commodity and livestock, at tbunting@ilfb.org.
Getty Images
Illinois livestock farmers now can access new federal and state depredation permits to protect their herds from an increasing threat of black vultures.
USDA grants to boost conservation efforts
By Dave Dawson ASSISTANT EDITOR
CHAMPAIGN —
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture is making $1.5 billion available to support conservation and climate-friendly initiatives.
Secretary of AgricultureTomVilsacksaidthis latest effort also will bring farmers cost savings, new revenue streams and increased productivity.
Project proposals will beacceptedthroughJuly2 for funding that will help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while addressing climate issues.
The new funding will support project grants through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. That program prioritizes climatesmart agriculture, urban agriculture, conservation and environmental justice.
Halfofthegrantmoney will be devoted to the RCPP Classic program.
That initiative works with eligible public entities, nonprofits and organizations willing to partner withtheRCPPonconservation priorities. Potential projects include those addressing production, wildlife habitat, land management, water quality and other priorities.
The remaining grant funding will go to the RCPP Alternative Funding Agreements initiative that work directly with producers to develop innovativeconservationapproaches.
Allnewgrantsaresupported with funds from the farm bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. Project grant amounts willrangefrom$25,000to $250,000.
Unprecedented demand for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program last year illustrates the strong interest in conservation among farmers and ranchers, Vilsack said.
According to USDA data, the Inflation Reduction Acthasprovided$19.5billion to USDA’s conservation programs over five years. That figure in-
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making $1.5 billion
and climate-friendly initiatives.
cludes $4.95 billion for RCPP.
“Through the increase infundingfromtheInflation Reduction Act, we’re
able to invest even more thisyearinthisimportant program, increasing our impact across the landscape,” Vilsack said.
DOUBLE
From page A12
“It’s a good way to get the wheat ground back into soybean residue to make it easier to strip till our anhydrous for next year’s corn,” Hadden said.
Double cropping can be expensive if there isn’t enough rain and the crops fail but, overall, it’s worth it, Hadden said.
“We like the idea of having something growing on that ground
“We’re looking forward to seeing what the more streamlined and customer-oriented RegionalConservationPartnership Program can do to get more conservation onthegroundinthecoming months and years,” Vilsack said.
instead of just wheat,” he said.
Planting new crops whileharvestingtheold is difficult and timeconsuming but Morgan County farmer Adam York has no plans to stop double cropping.
“The more diversity thatwecanuseinacrop rotation, the more benefit we’re going to have,” York said.
York has been farming since 2001and started double cropping in October because he wants to diversify his crops, make some extra
money and improve the soil’s health.
“It’s a good way to break up a rotation of corn and soybeans,” York said.
Double cropping can be good for soil health because crops protect the soil from wind and water erosion, accordingtoaU.S.Department of Agriculture report.
However, double cropping may require more pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that can have a negative environmental impact, according to the USDA.
pixdeluxe/Getty Images
available to support conservation
‘Legacy’ phosphorus delays water quality improvements
By Lois Yoksoulian
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
The same phosphorous that fertilizes the thriving agriculture of the Midwest is also responsible for a vast “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico near the Mississippi Delta.
Efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorus that enters the Mississippi River system are under way, but research led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that remnantsofthecontaminant are left behind in riverbeds for years after introduction and pose an overlooked – and lingering – problem.
Phosphorus from wastewater and agricultural runoff flows downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, where it unintentionally fertilizes plankton. As the plankton eventually die and decompose, the process depletestheGulf’swater of oxygen – a condition calledhypoxia–andcreates a dead zone for sea creatures like fish and shrimp.
The federal Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force aims to achieve a 25% reduction in phosphorus flows to the Gulf by 2025. This target relies on individual states to achieve a 25% reduction and assumes that those reductions will quickly lead to the desired outcome.
The study by civil and environmental engineering professor Ximing Cai, former Illinois graduate student Kevin Wallington and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Margaret Kalcic questions how
remnants of phosphorus that entered the Mississippi River system in the past but remain buried in waterway sediments – called legacy phosphorus – may delay phosphorus reductions at the Gulf of Mexico, long after Midwest states have met their discharge-reduction goals.
The findings are published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
“Our watershed model simulates how phosphorus travels through rivers. But what makes our study different is that it also accounts for how phosphorus can interact with river beds at large spatial scales,” Cai said. “We capture the processes that cause phosphorus to repeatedly stop in some river locations and start traveling downstream again at some point in the future. This process could result in long periods before old phosphorus can flush out of the river system, especially for large rivers.”
Using their model, the researchers investigated a hypothetical future where a wastewater treatment plant along the Sangamon River in Decatur stops discharging phosphorus into the river.
“WechoseDecaturbecause it is located in a very typical Midwestern
agro-industrial watershed, making it an ideal case study for our model,” Wallington said. “Additionally, the location is actively exploring plans for large-scale phosphorus removal from its waste streams.”
Theresearchersfound that it would take up to nineyearsfortheSangamon River to return to pre-contaminant, or baseline, phosphorus levels.
“Our model indicates that it takes much longer to recover at locations further downstream fromthepointofremediation,” Wallington said. “It would only take two to three years to recover atalocation5kilometers downstream from the Decatur treatment plant, but it would take nine years to recover at a point 70 kilometers downstream.
The Gulf of Mexico is 2,640 kilometers downstream, so the reductions there might lag far behind remediation efforts.”
However, the researchers acknowledge that their results, which only extend 70 kilometersdownstream,cannot be directly extrapolated all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and further research is needed at the scale of the entire Mississippi River basin.
“One of the primary goals of this study is to inform the public and regulators that even when states like Illinois meet their phosphorus remediation goals, it could be years, even decades, before the same results are seen in the Gulf,” Cai said.
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
Lynn Betts/University of Illinois
Unprotected farm fields yield topsoil as well as farm fertilizers and other potential pollutants when heavy rains occur.
Cai
Wallington
Farms increasingly reliant on contract workers
By Melina Walling ASSOCIATED PRESS
Six years ago, Illinois farmer John Ackerman didn’t hire any contract workers at all. Now he typically hires about 22 every yearthroughalocalcoordinator that helps farmers hirecrewsofagriculturally skilled, often Latino workers. Those teams handweed the soybeans Ackerman grows alongside the pumpkinandcorncropshe uses for his primarily fallfocusedagrotourismoutfit.
He still hires about the same number of locals, around 25 part-time workersinthefall,manyofthem teenagers or young adults, to run sales and pick pumpkins. He enjoys mentoring young people, but says it’s felt harder lately to justify hiring inexperienced workers when contract workers do the same hard, physical jobs faster and better.
“I worry about the day that comes where it’s a better choice to have contract laborers come and help me” year-round, he said.
A higher proportion of U.S. farms are now using contract workers, according to the most recent U.S. agricultural census data, out last month with a fiveyearupdatefromtheprevious 2017 data. Because of the terms of their employment, those laborers have
specific challenges voicing concernsabouttheirworking conditions, and are more likely to be on the front lines of climate change, facing increasing heat and extreme weather. Climate change affects all farm workers, but advocates and researchers say thisisareasontofocusparticularly on these workers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines contract labor as including contractors, crew leaders, cooperatives, or any other organization hired to furnish a crew to do a job for one or more agricultural operations.TheUSDAdata showed an uptick in the number of farms using migrant labor, both within farms that already hired contract workers and overall.
Contract workers hired by an agency may work hundreds of miles from where they live, and may move from place to place, making it harder to keep farmers accountable for labor abuses, explained Alexis Guild, vice president of strategy and programs at the nonprofit Farmworker Justice. Some contracting agencies also employ undocumented workers, who may remain silent for fear of being deported. And though some steps are being taken at the federal level to protect migrant workers with H-2A
visas for seasonal farm jobs,thoseregulationshave vocal opponents.
Since the immigration statusofmanyH-2Aworkers is tied to a single job, theymayfeeltheyhaveless agency to voice concerns about their workplaces, added Rebecca Young, director of programs at Farmworker Justice. She said these workers can be isolatedfromtheircommunities due to language barriers and their living arrangements, often on the same farms where they work. Resources like
healthcare and counseling can be out of reach.
“I worry about some of our most vulnerable populations who have contract jobs that don’t have very good protections in place being more exposed to worse conditions,” said Jennifer Vanos, an associate professor at Arizona State University who studies climate and health with a focus on extreme heat. She emphasized that it’s “a scary situation because people die and that’s just not okay.”
Some states have patch-
visorswon’tletthemtalkto him. “A lot of farmers, they usetheexcuse,‘Idon’thave no workers’ because they want an expanded H-2A,” hesays,because“theywant to have power.”
A former H-2A worker in North Carolina who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation confirmed Jimenez’s sentiment. He described workingforhoursinsweetpotato fields without overtime pay and without rest or access to shade in extreme heat. Now he has a work permit through a program for workers in labor disputes. But for many, “there’s no other option,” he said, speaking in Spanish. “People with an H-2A visa have to come to work, they have to comply with theirworkandtheyhaveto do their work.”
work heat regulations in placeforfarmworkers,but there are no federal rules about heat exposure in the U.S. And making a formal complaint can be fraught, though it’s a legal right, saidAbigailKerfoot,senior staff attorney at Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, a nonprofit organization providing assistance to farmworkers.“Mostworkers, particularly migrant workers on temporary visas,findit,unfortunately,a difficult decision to make,” she said.
That’ssomethingLuisJimenez, a New York dairy worker, hopes to change. He’s one of the leaders of Alianza Agrícola, a grassrootsorganizationadvocating for immigrant farmworkers.Jimenezsaiddairies typically can’t hire H-2A workers because the work isn’t seasonal, but many farmers want to change that. That worries him. He’s tried reaching H-2A workers on nearby farms,butsaystheirsuper-
Some farmers say they see little interest from domestic workers in the jobs they post. Jed Clark, a Kentucky grain farmer, said in the 20 years he’s hired H-2A workers, for about10 positions on the farm each year,onlyabout10localstotal have ever shown up to inquire about an open job.
“The number of people that want to farm for a living actively is going down. And with the farms growing larger and larger, we’re going to have to have help to operate,” he said. He added that some row crop taskscanbeshelteredfrom theelements,likeoperating farm equipment with airconditioned cabs.
Reforming the H-2A program is a high priority for many farmers, but while they wait for that to happen, many are having todecidewhethertoswitch tolesslaborintensivecrops or try to mechanize their operations, said Stephanie McBath, director of public
Joshua A. Bickel/AP
Fernando Osorio Loya, a contract worker from Veracruz, Mexico, dumps soil into a seeding machine as Miguel Angel, also a contract worker from Veracruz, prepares trays for seeds at a farm in Crofton, Kentucky. The latest U.S. agricultural census data shows an increase in the proportion of farms utilizing contract labor compared to those hiring labor overall.
Three major challenges facing agricultural sector
BY JOURNAL-COURIER
Since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic in early 2020, businesses big and small have faced significant challenges. Though the pandemic has ended, many sectors — including the agricultural industry —stillarefacingchallenges both familiar and unfamiliar.
The agricultural sector is crucial to the survival and health of billions of people across the globe. Though it’s obvious that modern agriculture is vitaltofeedingaglobalpopulation that was greater than8billionpeopleatthe dawn of 2024, the United Nations notes that agriculture also boosts prosperity and economies by providing jobs.
Thatrealityonlyunderscores the notion that the challenges facing the agricultural sector are facing everyone, even those whose livelihoods are not directly linked to the industry.
According to Earth.org, anorganizationthatoffers environmental news, data analysis, research, and policy solutions, the fol-
WORKERS
From page A16
policy for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. But for many types of crops, that isn’t possible: USDA research shows that demand for H-2A workers boomed from 2010-2019 in sectors like fruit and vegetableproduction,whichrequire hand labor that isn’t easily mechanized.
“I think fundamentally (farmers) just want to have somebody show up and do
lowing are three sizable challenges facing modern agriculture.
Climate change
Perhaps no challenge is greater for humanity in the 21st century than climatechange,andtheagricultural sector is no exception.
Climate change has caused shifting weather patterns marked by unpredictability and potentially disastrous developments like prolonged drought.
Estimates from NASA indicate corn yields may decrease by 24% by the end of this century, a potentially dangerous development linked to a host of factors, including a shifting climate and elevated surface carbon dioxide concentrationsthatcanbe traced to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
Population growth
The booming global population is attributable to numerous factors, including longer life expectancies in developed nations because of medical advancements. How to keeptheglobalpopulation
a day’s work and be able to pay them a fair wage,” McBath said. But with strong increases in the cost oflaboroverthepastseveral years, “it’s really just a bottom line business decision for them.”
Bruce Cline, a grain and tobacco farmer in Crofton, Kentucky, has been hiring H-2A workers for over 30 yearsandsaidhe’swatched all his neighbors follow him since then. For industries like construction and agriculture, “it’s tough to operatewithoutmigrantlabor,” he said. And Scott
Though the pandemic has ended, many sectors — including the agricultural industry — are facing challenges both familiar and unfamiliar.
fed at a time when the climateisadverselyaffecting crop yields is a significant challenge facing both humanity and the agricultural sector.
As the population grows,so,too,doesthedemand for water, which also must be used to grow crops. Navigating this challenge will be significant, and how it’s managed could affect the eco-
Kuegel, who farms about an hour away near Owensboro, says local labor became scarce in his community because, as he puts it, farmworkis“hot,it’sdirty, or it’s cold, and wet, and nasty.”
Asclimatechangemakes conditions nastier, advocateshopeworkerswillfeel empowered to make their voices heard. But many contract workers “can’t advocate for rights, because if they do it, the next year or nextseason,thefarmerjust (won’t)bringthesamepeople,” Jimenez said.
nomicstabilityoftheagricultural industry in the decades to come.
Investment
Perhaps no industry is
more vital to human survival than agriculture. Earth.orgnotesthatcountries with strong agricultural sectors often boast higher standards of living
and health than nations with a less productive agricultural industry. Despite that, Earth.org notes that investment in the agricultural sector is not commensurate with the growing population.
Supporting measures to invest more heavily in the agricultural sector could reduce food shortages in the decades to come and ensure the agricultural sector is better positioned to address the manychallengesitalready is confronting in the 21st century.
The challenges facing the agricultural sector affectthosewhoworkinthe industrybutalsotheglobal population as a whole. Recognition of that reality may compel more people to support measures designed to ensure theagriculturalsectorcan thrive and help the world to overcome potentially devastating challenges in the decades ahead.
MCGOnline
Cut-grass smell could be less-toxic pesticide for farmers
By Sasimonthakan Tanarsuwongkul THE CONVERSATION/ UNIVERSITY
Have you ever wondered about that sharp, green note that hits your nose when you mow the lawnorcutflowerstems?
Those are green leaf volatiles, or GLVs, easily evaporated oils that plants use to communicate with other plants and defend themselves against herbivores or pathogens like bacteria or fungi.
Almost every green plantcanquicklysynthesize and release GLVs when attacked, both directlywardingoffattackersandindirectlyattracting predators of herbivores like insects and priming the plant’s other defensemechanisms.Researchers know that GLVs play an important role in protecting plants, but how they work remains unclear.
Iamabiochemistryresearcher, and through a collaboration between the Wang Lab and Stratmann Lab of the Univer-
sity of South Carolina, my colleagues and I study how plant cells deploy green leaf volatiles.
Inourrecentlypublished research, we identified the potential signaling pathwaysGLVsusetoinduce defense responses in tomato cells. Our ultimate goal is to figure out ways to use GLVs to control agricultural pests for cleaner farming.
Defense systems in plants
Plants employ many defense systems to protect themselves. The first line of defense involves detecting microbial invaders and the presence ofdamageusingdamageassociated molecular patterns, or DAMPs, which are molecules releasedbydamagedordying cells.
Whenacellidentifiesa DAMP, it triggers an immune response and promotes repair mechanisms. It also leads to changes in calcium ion concentration, further activating immune-related genes and proteins.
DAMPsalsoturnonproteins common in many
Green leaf volatiles, or GLVs, are easily evaporated oils that plants use to communicate with other plants and defend themselves against herbivores or pathogens like bacteria or fungi.
stress-signaling pathways that activate other defense responses.
Many studies have shown that the effects of GLVs are similar to DAMPs. Therefore, my team and I wanted to prove whether GLVs also may act as DAMPs.
To do this, we studied which proteins are
turnedonoroffintomato cells. Chemically changingthestructureofaprotein through a process called phosphorylation turns it on or off. Protein phosphorylation plays a central role in regulating agreatnumberofcellular processes and involves many signal transmission pathways. Studying
thephosphoproteome,or all the proteins that are phosphorylated in one system, of tomato cells could help us compare thesignalingpathwaysof GLVs and DAMPs.
We found that many of the proteins involved in green leaf volatile signaling pathways were involved in regulating
stress. These included many components of DAMP signaling pathways,supportingourhypothesis that GLVs function like DAMPs in activating defense responses.
Using GLVs in agriculture
Agriculture often places significant pressure on natural resources and the environment. For example, the use of conventional pesticides can lead to environmental degradation and pest resistance.
Biopesticides are risinginpopularityasaless toxic alternative. These are naturally occurring organisms or compoundsthatsuppressthe growth and spread of pests. For example, volatile organic compounds from plants are a type of biopesticide that have been proven to allow for reduced use of synthetic insecticides to manage pests in stored food grains.
Therefore, GLVs also may be effective biopesticides in farming. One study has shown that GLVs can attract a plant pest, the Apion miniatum beetle, to feed on an invasive and difficult to control weed, Rumex confertus
In addition, field studiesonwildtobaccoplants found that releasing GLVscanattractenemies of herbivores. The presence of these herbivore competitors not only can control insect pests but also increase the production of infested plants. With further research, we believe GLVs have the potential to naturally control pests and support sustainable agriculture.
