Modern Farmer JJC 032523

Backyard chickens becoming more popular

By Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree R EPORTER

Following a shortage and increase in the price of eggs, the idea of owning chickens is becoming appealing to some who have the space and willingness to put in the work.

Katie Bell, local foods and small farms educator for the University of Illinois Extension, said she has received more inquiries about the process of raising backyard chickens for egg production.

“We did expand our program because there has been a lot of interest,” Bell said. “I think we are seeing a lot more

of the people that were one the fence, that were thinking about raising chickens. I think recent prices and supply have pushed them over.”

Whether purchasing from a farm store or breeder, Bell said it is important to make sure the birds being purchased are the ones needed.

“The first thing is really to research the breeds of chickens that would be the best for your needs,” Bell said.

One chicken will lay, on average, 180-280 eggs per year.

Jacksonville farmer Clint Bland has about 600 chickens under his care, with plans to increase that number in coming years.

“We started with just a few chickens, now we have more than 600,” Bland said. “We keep a constant supply of chickens.”

He said he hopes to expand that to about 1,300 after creating another space for the chickens.

His chickens produce 60 dozen eggs a week.

Bland raises his chickens from chicks, cycling then through his farm. At any time he has babies, hens and geriatric. The hens are the group that produces the most eggs, while the chicks do not produce and the geriatric are at the end of their egg producing years.

Starting out, Bland said he has chicks in the

broader as they grow up. The broader helps keep them warm as they grow feathers.

“It’s a big undertak-

ing,” Bland said. “We put six months into them before they will produce an egg.”

Once they are older,

Bland said they are moved to a coop and will produce eggs for about a year and a half. Once the hens are no longer able to

Photos by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree/Journal-Courier Chickens on Clint Bland's farm roam freely and forage for food.

Modern Farmer

continue laying eggs, Bland said they are processed into chicken broth.

Though he has a constant supply of chickens, he said he has to cycle out the land used by the chickens so the land doesn’t become overused.

Bland said he is often looking at ways to improve his coops for the chickens. There are many different types, whether traditional or something that he is trying, which is a greenhouse­style coop.

Bland is constructing a coop out of a traditional greenhouse frame.

Bland said the increased cost of eggs is beginning to reverse and egg prices are returning to lower prices, however, he said the supply took a hit after many suppliers

lost birds because of Avian flu.

For Bland, he said one of the most important things is the environ­

ment that chickens are raised.

“Our chickens are able to run around and do natural foraging, they go

in and out of the coop as they’d like,” Bland said. “That ability is a key to the flavor in the eggs.

Clint Bland tosses feed for some of the nearly 600 chickens on his farm.

Chickens continues on A18

Samantha McDaniel­Ogletree/Journal­Courier Hundreds of chickens roam free to help

Geography puzzle: Large-animal veterinarians at a premium

By Dave Dawson R EPORTER

The number of veterinarians practicing in rural areas is declining at the same time veterinary schools are turning out more graduates than ever. The result is fewer veterinarians available to care for large farm animals.

“It’s a geography problem,” said Dr. Jim Lowe, an associate professor and interim assistant dean at the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.

“We are seeing the same thing in human medicine. Getting doctors to practice in Jacksonville is harder than getting them in Naperville. They are identical trends,” Lowe said. “It’s an issue of where they grow up. If they grow up in a rural area, they usually return to a rural area.”

When Dr. Joseph Koch started practicing in Jacksonville in 1989, he only tended large farm animals. Now he uses Wednesday, a day he would normally take off, as the day to care for large animals.

“Our business is now

about 10 percent large animal. That’s not an uncommon trend over the last 20 to 30 years,” said Koch who owns Lincoln Land Animal Clinic with his wife, Dr. Colleen Koch.

“We used to do farm calls all day. Now I am seeing small animals all day, except for the one day each week I do large animal calls. We work in emergencies as best we can,” Koch said.

The shortage of foodanimal veterinarians in rural areas is a serious challenge confronting the livestock and poultry industries.

“Veterinarians are a critical link in the food supply chain,” said U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith, RMississippi, in a recent opinion column in the Washington Post. “They are on the front lines of treating and preventing the spread of animal diseases, keeping our food safe and helping ensure that diseases don’t jump

Photos by Dave Dawson/Journal-Courier Dr. James Koch examines a cat at Lincoln Land Animal Clinic in Jacksonville. When Koch started practicing in 1989, all he was seeing were large animals. Now, he spends one day a week tending to farm animals and the practice is 90% devoted to small animals.

from animals to humans.”

Lowe said supplying rural areas with veterinarians is a simple problem with a difficult solu­

are taking a slice of what is there,” Lowe said.

“People tend to migrate back to communities like the ones they grew up in. If we have a lower number of applications from rural areas, it trickles down into fewer people wanting to get into a rural practice,” Lowe said.

For Koch, one of his biggest challenges is looking into the future and trying to get a veterinarian into his practice who is willing to work with both large and small animals.

Koch became a partner in the practice in the early 1990s. The practice continued to grow, and Jacksonville native Dr. Jennifer Artis joined in 2011, affirming Lowe’s analysis of where people choose to work.

while rural veterinarians are going to see everything from small animals to horses, pigs and cows.

Fewer veterinarians have resulted in producers doing more of their own veterinary care. Lowe said many farmers are doing what veterinarians were doing 40 years ago.

“A lot of the routine care for large animals is being done by producers. They are quite capable of doing that. We give them guidelines to follow so they can raise animals that are safe for the public. We give guidance on medications,” Koch said.

tion.

“It’s demographics. The students we accept into veterinary school mirror the applicant pool, so we

Artis graduated from Jacksonville High School and Illinois College and worked at the clinic before veterinary school. She graduated from the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine and returned to Jacksonville.

Lowe said the urban and suburban practices see mostly small animals,

“We help with programs to set up processing at once so they can get the care needed to go to specific markets. We also handle emergencies such as sick animals,” Koch said.

“The challenge is veterinarians cover a wider area. And now the drive is getting longer because they are covering a wider area. If there is an emergency, it might take an hour to get there instead of just 10 minutes,” Lowe said.

Lowe

There is more training available for producers who want to be less reliant on a veterinarian. There are calf-birthing simulators to train producers, Lowe said, adding most producers have calved a lot of cows, so most already know what they need to do.

Lowe said the struggle with veterinarians is similar to issues such as a dwindling number of grocery stores in smaller communities.

“Where I grew up in Henry County, veterinarians used to be a part of the professional communities like school administrators, bankers and doctors. If you don’t have a veterinarian, you lose a fabric of the community. It’s one of those things that helped keep rural community vibrant,”

Lowe said.

The number of people going to vet school is not the issue. There were 4,500 veterinary school gradu-

ates last year in the U.S. Lowe said class sizes are bigger and schools are producing more veterinarians than ever.

“Just look at pet ownership. The standard of care has increased and the demands on veterinarians have increased. They can’t serve as many pets because the standard has raised. In the suburbs, there are more people willing to pay more to treat pets,” Lowe said.

“You can practice a high level of medicine in an urban area, and it pays very well. As the rural population shrinks, fewer people are going into veterinary practice in rural areas,” Lowe said.

Recruiting efforts are going on, but it’s not the schools doing the recruiting, but rather veterinarians and professional groups for large animals that have been pushing it.

“We are trying to be creative to help students

build relationships early in their veterinary career,” Lowe said. “We’re trying to partner with local practitioners and have them help pay for a student’s final year of tuition if that student works there for a period of time.”

Lowe said his career has gone from doing less and teaching more to help producers solve problems.

“If I’m running a syringe, I’ve done something terribly wrong. We can teach our producers to do

that and ensure they are giving the right shot. It’s a teaching moment, not a doing moment,” Lowe said.

“The veterinarian shortage in rural America is a real deal,” Lowe said. “It’s not just in Illinois, but all over the United States.”

A U.S. Department of Agriculture map at bit.ly/3l2LzyD shows see rural areas in Illinois where the lack of veterinarians is a serious concern.

Jessica Lomelino assists Dr. James Koch while he examines a cat at Lincoln Land Animal Clinic in Jacksonville.

Dr. James Koch checks supplies he uses while tending large animals at Lincoln Land Animal Clinic in Jacksonville.

Orr center continues to grow ag-based partnership

By Angela Bauer R EPORTER

BAYLIS — Walk through the doors at the 24,000-square-foot building at Orr Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center in Pike County and the new-building smell hits you, even though the building has been in use since August.

Walk a bit deeper into the building and turn a corner and the distinct smell of barnyard animals — in this case, recently farrowed pigs — starts to make clear the building’s purpose.

“We’ve always presented ourselves as a handson type of facility,” said Mike Tenhouse, director of agriculture sciences for

John Wood Community College. “With this (building) — with the arena, with the animal care unit — it takes that to the next level.”

The center is a collaborative effort of JWCC, the University of Illinois and Orr Research Center Corp., or Orr Corp.

It got its start in 1977, when a “like-minded group of farmers, business owners and interested parties … felt there was a need for a research farm in western Illinois,” Orr Corp. Chairman Matt Bradshaw said.

JWCC still was finding its way after being established — without an agriculture program — in 1974 and there was some discussion about teaming up,

Bradshaw said.

The University of Illinois also got involved.

Now the three groups, including U of I Extension, work collaboratively on crop and animal re-

search and education.

The new building, officially the The John Wood Community College Agricultural Sciences Complex and Fred L. Bradshaw Learning Center,

joins a neighboring building — opened in 1983 — in providing office space for researchers, faculty and Extension staff.

But it’s far more than office space. Take those

farrowed pigs in the new animal care wing.

“There are plenty of pigs in this area,” Tenhouse said. “But accessing those, for biosecurity reasons and a variety of other things, it’s hard to give all of our students the hands-on experience.”

The animal care space allows JWCC to bring in animals to provide students with hands-on learning in animal husbandry. The value of that is immeasurable, said Bethany Beeler, a member of JWCC’s agriculture faculty.

Beeler noted that similar experiences when she was a student showed her, for example, that she really loves swine but hates sheep.

“Giving them that experience is huge,” she said. “A well-rounded education is crucial.”

Luke Merritt seconded Beeler’s assessment, noting that he once applied for an internship in an entirely different agriculture area, only to have it fall through at the last minute. He ended up interning in crop sciences and realized he loved it.

So much so that Merritt, a research specialist with U of I’s crop sciences department, now manages the Orr center’s crop research.

That’s no small task. The Orr center has just shy of 200 acres of land — around 100 acres of which is tillable — dedicated to crops.

The land is used for research trials involving, among other things, soybeans, corn, fertilizer and soil types.

“We’ve got 13 different types of soil at this one location,” Merritt said. “We can have a trial on one part of the farm and re-

Photos by Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier

The John Wood Community College Agricultural Sciences Complex and Fred L. Bradshaw Learning Center share a 24,000-square-foot space at the Orr Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center in Pike County.

peat it on the other side. Does it work on one type of soil? Does it work on both?”

Along with running the crop research, Merritt also teaches at the center, as does Wes Chapple, who manages the beef research portion of the center.

The beef center, which has around 200 head of cattle on around 200 acres of land, focuses its research on winter cow feeding, reproduction, cattle management, grazing and pasture management.

“They actually have students at the center,” Merritt said. “We teach ag classes. Kids can be in the classroom and learn, travel to the beef farm. … The students, it makes them very employable, because they’ve seen (everything) firsthand.”

Merritt and Chapple also see the advantages of having Extension involved at the site.

Amy Lefringhouse is a natural resources, environment and energy educator for Extension in Adams, Brown, Hancock, Pike and Schuyler coun­

ties. She has used the center’s pond and native prairie area and worked with those on the agricultural side of the program on conservation­related issues, Merritt said.

“Some of the research we’ve done in the past has come directly from producers” in the community who came to Travis Meteer, a commercial agriculture Extension educator, with questions, Chapple said. “Having Extension here helps create a source of research top­

ics.”

Research ideas also come from U of I’s main campus in UrbanaChampaign, including faculty members and graduate students.

Along with research, classes and hands­on experiences, those at the center continue to find new uses for the facility, particularly the new space and especially in how it benefits the surrounding community, Bradshaw said.

“It has been beyond our

expectations,” he said. “We knew at the time we helped build this facility that there were uses and needs for it that were beyond what we could recognize at the time. It’s a huge next chapter in the research and education conducted here.”

The center recently hosted an Extension­led livestock judging clinic for youths and has a pig sale upcoming.

“Students in (FFA and

4­H) are our future,” Merritt said. “So anything we can do to encourage learning is never a bad thing.”

With the new, $2.5 million building just shy of being paid off — all using private funding — those involved are looking ahead, even while being amazed at how far the center has come. The center started with the crop research program. There was a purchase option —

but no available funding — for the additional acres needed for the beef center. And no building to speak of.

“They literally had a trailer and one shed that they worked out of” when the effort began 46 years ago, Merritt said. “The fact that the new building was completely paid for with private funding and private donations speaks to” the high value of the work being done.

A cow pauses to greet a visitor at Orr Beef Research Center in Pike County.

Luke Merritt, a research specialist in the University of Illinois' crop sciences department, manages crop research at Orr Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center in Pike County.

Organic farming, food growing in popularity

By Ben Singson R EPORTER

Clint Bland is not trying to feed the whole country with his farm.

What he is trying to do is provide local customers with food grown with organic methods, something that both farmers and consumers are turning their interest towards.

“I’m a huge proponent of regional food and regional producers,” he said, “so my interest is just feeding the people here in the central Illinois area.”

Bland opened his Jacksonville organic farm, Bland Family Farms, alongside his wife in 2016, though he only became a full­time farmer about nine months ago. The farm raises eggs, pasture­raised birds, grassfed beef and chemical­free vegetables.

Bland’s farm is part of a wider growth of organic farming in the United States. A 2019 article from

Pew Research Center found that between 2011 and 2016, the number of organic farms in the country jumped 56% to over 14,000. In the same time frame, sales of certified organic goods more than doubled, from $3.5 billion in 2011 to almost $7.6 billion in 2016.

Organic farming is more intensive than traditional farming, Bland said. For vegetables, he said the differences came down to things like weed management, which avoided the use of chemicals in favor of things like covering crops in straw or black landscape fabric to keep them free from weeds. It also required him to be more on top of things, particularly because they could not rely on herbicide.

“You let a weed get away and get too big? Now you have a gigantic root base,” he said. “You’re not going to get that thing out of the ground unless you take your hand and pull it out.”

John French (left) and Clint Bland of Bland Family Farms pick up the remains of a chicken coop destroyed by wind to take to the scrap heap. Bland Family Farms is one of thousands of organic farms that have appeared in the U.S. over the past decade.

As for livestock animals, Bland said his farm allows its chickens to roam and eat bugs, rather than keeping them sequestered in coops

and only giving them feed.

The end result of that extra work, Bland said, were products that maintained the health of the land that it

was grown on while also being more dense in nutrients than food grown with standard farming methods. Modern, traditionally­

grown food has been noted to be less nutritious than food in the past by multiple researchers. A 2004 study found that between 1950 and 1999, 43 different garden crops showed noticeable declines in six different nutrients, including protein, calcium and iron.

“We’re having to consume more vegetables, more things, to get the same amount of nutrients as what they got 80 years ago,” Bland said.

Bland Family Farms came about due to Bland’s own fascination with growing his own food for his family, he said. He wanted to be able to look at a plate and know that “90% of what we just ate was produced by us,” he said. To that end, Bland and his family started gardening before expanding their scope to livestock.

“It came to a point where I just fell in love with the idea of growing food,” he said, “and then being able

Photos by Ben Singson/Journal-Courier

to provide people in my community and the area that same food.”

That desire to know more about the food they are eating is also fueling the growing public interest in organic farming, Bland said. Many people were curious about where their food came from, he said, and they wanted to that it was farmed “They care about how those animals are raised,” Bland said. “They care about what was put on that food because they don’t want to ingest something in their bodies that’s going to give them cancer.”

Bland hoped that more organic farms began showing up across the country, though he was worried that a lack of available land and a cost-prohibitive barrier to entry may drive away potential growers. He said many smaller farms get their land bought up by larger entities after their owners die and that it was “extremely capital-intensive” to become a farmer the way he did.

“You can’t just be a good farmer,” Bland said. “You have to be a good business-

man. You’re running a business here, you have to have profitability in mind. Oth-

erwise, you’re just a homesteader. You’re a hobby farmer.”

In spite of the roadblocks and uncertainties, Bland said being able to provide organically-grown food to his customers built up his self-esteem

“I’m doing something good,” he said. “I’m doing something not necessarily altruistic, but I’m doing something I feel good about. Knowing that I’m

giving them something that’s not laden with chemicals, that’s going to be good for them and their family? You just feel good about that.”

Chickens at Bland Family Farm are allowed to roam freely and eat bugs, mice and other things they find on the ground, which co-owner Clint Bland says leads to a more nutrient-dense product.

Grass-fed beef is one of several organically produced products that Bland Family Farm in Jacksonville raises. Co-owner Clint Bland said he started the farm because he wanted to be able to trust the food on his plate.

WishingallAreaFarmers ASafe&SuccessfulSeason

Mental health crisis hitting rural regions hard

By Ben Singson R EPORTER

The whole of Illinois is going through a mental health crisis, but it is hitting the rural parts of the state the hardest. Now, experts are trying to bring more attention to how it is impacting rural residents.

Though improvements are being made, Illinois mental health advocates are calling for continued improvements to the availability of mental health services in the rural regions.

Mental health services in rural Illinois were lacking even before the COVID­19 pandemic be­

gan. A 2019 report from the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center found that 93.7% of rural hospitals were in designated mental health shortage areas.

NAMI Illinois Executive Director Andy Wade added that 81 out of 102 Illinois counties had no child psychiatrists working in them.

Wade said that these service shortages had been going on for at least two decades, though they were exacerbated by the pandemic. Providers mostly served urban and suburban regions, he said.

“It’s not that people are suddenly different as

human beings,” he said. “It’s that years of neglect in the health system have begun to catch up. Plus, we are in a uniquely stressful time.”

Heritage Behavioral Health Center CEO Mary Garrison said mental health practitioners were disincentivized from working in rural areas because urban areas offered better pay, as well as the isolation from other professionals that working in a rural area could bring. Accessibility was one of “four As” Garrison said were critical to mitigating the mental health crisis — the others being availability, affordability and

Ariel Skelley/Getty Images Experts say a lack of availability and a cultural stigma surrounding mental health resources are why Illinois' mental health crisis is hitting rural regions the hardest.

acceptability, which she said was the biggest piece of it.

people into the peer workforce would come to rural parts of the state.

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“Even though COVID brought it into light and everyone says, ‘hey, it’s okay to not be okay’... there’s still a stigma about going in and getting the services,” she said.

However, Wade and Garrison both said that work was being done to help assuage the crisis in rural Illinois.

Wade said the existence of networks like Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Farm Family Resource Initiative, which provides free telehealth services to rural families, represented “a major step forward” in tackling the crisis. There also had been a significant expansion of the peer workforce, or people who suffered from mental illness becoming practitioners themselves, he said. Wade hoped that programs helping usher

“The talent is already there,” he said, “(but) do we have the opportunities to sort of get people in to one position and support them as they move in to their next career step and go back to school, and all of that?”

Garrison, meanwhile, said there were a crop of awareness campaigns from groups like NAMI Illinois and the Kennedy Forum to bring attention to mental health in the downstate region, though overcoming the stigma of receiving help for mental illness was still the largest obstacle for getting people help.

“We’d love to have the problem (that) there’s so many people coming forward and... now we’ve got to find them services,” she said. “But people still are feeling like maybe they can’t accept the help. They’ll figure it out on their own.”

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Seed buying steady, despite earlier plantings

By Angela Bauer

L IFESTYLES EDITOR

A pandemic­inspired trend in backyard gardening that has pushed seed­buying season’s start from mid­February to early January hasn’t carried over to the rowcrop planting seen on west­central Illinois farms, according to Tim Greene, president of Burrus Brothers and Associated Growers, the selling arm of Burrus Seed.

That stems, in large part, from the fact that farmers typically shop early to begin with, he said.

“One of the reasons farmer­growers purchase early in the season — I mean people who or­

der (seeds for next season) before they get their crops out the previous year, in August or September” — comes down to wanting the discounts offered on early orders and, in some cases, trying to secure specific hybrids, Greene said.

It’s also rarely a matter of trying to beat Mother Nature at her own weather game.

“Normal planting time around here is going to be the first part of April,” Greene said. “We start capturing orders (for seed) in mid­ to late August or September. They order eight to nine months ahead of when they’re going to put that in the ground.”

That’s not to say there aren’t some relative late­

comers.

“The bulk of the orders (are placed) in fall and … approximately 85% of the product we’re going to sell to that farmer­grower is going to be on order by Jan. 10,” he said.

Even if they’re not ordering seed earlier, some farmers are planting just a bit earlier, in part because while “weather is always a critical factor,” technological advances in seed production help offset the damage caused by a too­rainy season or a too­dry season, Greene said.

“It allows growers to plant a little earlier,” he said. “More growers are attempting to plant earlier … especially soybean. They’re trying to plant

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soybean at the same time they plant their corn.”

Corn traditionally has been planted in early April, with growers then waiting until the end of April or early May to plant soybean. Planting earlier allows for both maximum growing time and an earlier harvest, which then gives farmers more time in the fall to prepare their fields for winter, Greene said.

“It’s really changed over the last few years,” he said. “ It’s moved up that soybean planting by several weeks. That’s really just an effort to capture more yield, because studies have shown planting earlier — getting the crop up and established — captures more yield through (al­

amenic181/Getty Images/iStockphoto A pandemic­inspired trend in backyard gardening that has pushed seed­buying season’s start from mid­February to early January doesn't seem to have carried over to the row­crop planting seen on west­central Illinois farms.

lowing) more growing days.”

The earlier planting may seem relatively minor, but it has huge results, Greene said.

“As the world popula­

tion grows and there is less and less farmland, we need to increase our yield,” he said. “We’re always looking for different things that can help us increase our yield.”

Animal care standards a part of 4-H exhibiting

By Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree R EPORTER

Treatment of animals is a top priority for those that are raising and showing animals at county fairs throughout the state.

The Youth for the Quality Care of Animals is a course that teaches care of animals and life skills to the students in 4­H and is a required course each year.

Emily Sidwell, 4­H Extension Program coordinator, said it is a required online or in­person course and certification program that all students in the program receive.

“It covers the ethics and etiquette and how to care for animals properly,” Sidwell said. “The

program was recently changed and overlooks all species of animals. All counties in the state of Illinois require exhibitors to complete the course if they are participating in animal projects.”

During the 2019­20 showing year, the state began requiring the program’s completion prior to any entries for any livestock shows.

From the training, health, food and treatment of the animals, Sidwell said each student who is showcasing an animal must learn how to properly care for it.

This is a reoccurring program, however, Sidwell said there are other programs that students can take in addition to this one that are one­time programs that deal with smaller animal species.

“The state sets this require­

ment, but I think it is important to understand the role you play in the agricultural industry,” Sidwell said. “If you are going to show animals, you have to understand why it’s important to show care and respect to the animals.”

Though the course is to help teach student exhibitors about the safety and care of the animal, Sidwell said it also helps ensures the safety of food production.

“There are three main areas: animal wellbeing, food safety and life skills,” Sidwell said. “This year we are covering vet care.”

The documentation and proper care of an animal is necessary to ensure the safety of the animal, but also to make sure there are no unknown chemicals or medicines in the animal that could be unsafe

to humans during consumption.

“It goes over what to do when an animal gets sick, the importance of reading the label and understanding the medicine they are using,” Sidwell said.

The life skills portion of the program also teaches the telling of the student’s and animal’s story.

“It talks about the ‘elevator pitch’ and sharing the member’s

story, advocating for yourself and the animal,” Sidwell said.

Sidwell said it is important for 4­Hers and other to learn these skills, even if they go on to nonagriculture­related jobs.

“We work with them on how they present themselves, which is important when you are sharing your goals,” Sidwell said. “That transitions into other things.”

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree/Journal-Courier Any animal exhibitors in the state are required to complete the Youth for the Quality Care of Animals course each year.

Economic climate to keep grain prices volatile

By Dave Dawson R EPORTER

A tight grain supply will cause prices in 2023 to be volatile, experts say, but grain prices don’t affect consumer prices as much as people think.

“Only about 15% of retail food prices at the grocery store are represented by raw commodity costs,” said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois.

“This means other factors are driving food price inflation, such as wages and energy costs,” Irwin said. Raw commodity prices at the farm level have contributed to food price inflation but not nearly to the degree as the previously mentioned factors.”

Irwin expects price volatility to continue in 2023 given the ongoing war in Ukraine and tight global grain markets.

Joe Janzen, an assistant professor in the department of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana­Champaign, agrees with Irwin.

“We have seen almost three years of tight supply and demand conditions for corn and soybeans. When supplies are tight, prices are high, and markets are more volatile,” Janzen said.

“Prices will have a downward bias,” Irwin said. “The risk factors in my mind are weighted toward lower prices compared to today’s levels.”

Current price levels with old­crop corn above $6 per bushel and soybeans above $15 per bushel are much higher than long­run average levels. In these conditions, Janzen said, every bit of news about changes in supply

and demand tend to have a bigger impact on price.

Geopolitical events like Ukraine, extreme weather in South America and turmoil in China affect balance sheets and how much corn and beans are left in the country, said Seth Coats, a grain originator and safety manager for Western Grain Marketing in Virginia and Arenzville.

“We have done a really good job of chewing through the bushels we have in the United States. We had a great program last year. Ethanol used a lot. We saw high demand for corn. Southwest had drought and when they did not produce, the rest of the country filled the demand and it went to where there was no corn,” Coats said.

“The market is in the process of lowering its expectations for corn and soybeans in 2023. Some of this is based on an expected return to average yields and production in the U.S. Even though Illinois produced large crops in 2022, total U.S. yield and production was down last year for both corn and soybeans,” Janzen said.

“Lower prices in 2023 than in 2022 is mainly a reflection of the fact that high prices tend not to last forever. Eventually production responds and prices return to more normal levels,” Janzen said.

Several factors drive grain prices and weather is always a major factor. For the first time since 2020, the entire state of Illinois is free of drought, according to a February report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

“We expect U.S. production to rebound in 2023, but another significant weather event like the drought seen in the Kan­

sas, Nebraska, and elsewhere in 2022 could change that forecast,” Janzen said.

“Export markets and South American production are the other major drivers at the moment. Brazil is expected to harvest a large crop. Meanwhile Argentina is suffering from its worst drought in 60 years,” Janzen said.

“In February, everyone was expecting a dry year. Now we are eyeing delayed planting because of wet fields. The eastern corn belt looks great. Oklahoma in rough shape,” Coats said. “But we look to have the moisture to have a decent planning season. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature.”

The prospect of greater competition for U.S. grain

in major export destinations like China has caused some concern about limited export markets, especially for corn.

Fears about the Ukraine­Russian war continue to weigh on prices and an escalation in the conflict could have a major impact on global markets.

“Corn and wheat, the two commodities most important in terms of Ukraine’s exports to the world, have returned to price levels seen just before the war started last February. Many of the worst fears about Ukrainian production and exports were not realized; Ukraine has muddled through a difficult situation and remained an important source of the world’s corn and wheat supplies,” Jan­

zen said.

“The effect of war in Ukraine is hard to assess. The difficultly is the risk of the war escalating and spreading beyond Ukraine. The market has to factor that into prices,” Irwin said.

Even with unpredictable grain prices, current University of Illinois crop budgets suggest profit margins are positive in 2023, though lower than 2021 and 2022. Janzen and Coats both advised farmers to take profit when it is available.

“Farmers have been blessed with great yields and great prices for the last two years, getting between $6 and $7.50 for corn. All sales were above cost of production. This year, there is a little sticker

shock with input costs, equipment and other costs of production rising. Now it is a little closer to break even. It’s hard to sell $5.50 corn when you’ve sold for a dollar higher,” Coats said.

“We are approaching 2023 with a focus on break­evens. We are telling them to know their costs and don’t be afraid to make any sales above those break­even levels. Use crop insurance as a safety net. Make some early sales as a guard against what could happen throughout the year is advisable,” Coats said.

“Farmers can only take advantage of the current market situation by being proactive and pricing some portion of their expected 2023 production ahead of harvest,” Janzen said.

“Prices are historically high at the present time and crop insurance represents an unusually high safety net this year. I lean toward having more downside price protection than a farmer might normally carry,” Irwin said.

The bottom line is events will cause prices to fluctuate.

“We’re a long way from putting a crop in the bin and a lot can happen between now and then,” Coats said.

Andy Sacks/Getty Images

A tight grain supply will cause prices in 2023 to be volatile, experts say, but grain prices don't affect consumer prices as much as people think.

Consumers connect to food chain by picking their own

By David Blanchette C ONTRIBUTOR

You can’t get closer to your food source than when you pick it yourself, and many consumers are doing just that at you­pick produce operations that will bloom again with the growing season’s arrival.

Small, local farms where fruits and vegetables can be selected, purchased and taken home directly from the grower have been gaining in popularity since the COVID­19 pandemic raised people’s awareness of food supply safety. But now in addition to safety it’s also about freshness, flavor and supporting local farmers.

Central Illinois features several you­pick operations where consumers can harvest their own berries in the spring or apples and pumpkins in the fall, and there are also outlets

where you can purchase produce that has been locally grown and delivered at the peak of freshness.

The granddaddy of all area you­pick operations is Jefferies Orchard in Sangamon County, which has been offering consumerharvested strawberries since the 1940s.

“Because we’ve been doing this so long we hear grandparents tell their grandchildren, ‘I picked strawberries here when I was a kid,’” said Pam Jefferies, who co­owns Jefferies Orchard with her husband Dale. “We were one of the first you­pick strawberry farms in Illinois.”

The you­pick strawberry season at Jefferies generally starts around Memorial Day and lasts about two weeks, but can be as early as the middle of May to the first few weeks of June because it depends on the spring weather. Jefferies al­

so offers you­pick blueberries.

“You pick the berries when they’re pretty ripe and they are only being handled once, by the actual consumer of the fruit,” Jefferies said. “They are totally different varieties than what you see at the grocery store that are from Califor­

nia, Florida and South America that are specifically bred to travel. You can tell the difference when you cut into them.”

Jefferies Orchard also grows “everything from asparagus to zucchini” on their 300­acre farm, and the market that is part of the operation sells in­sea­

son produce that is growerpicked and ready for purchase. The farm is not certified organic but it’s close, and “we scout for pests and don’t apply any chemicals if we don’t need to, so 99 percent of the time those plants haven’t had anything applied to them,” Jefferies said.

Visit jefferies­orchard.com to monitor when you­pick strawberry season begins, or to find out what fresh pre­picked produce is available in their market.

The new you­pick kid on the block is Greene Fields Farm near Greenfield, which started with youpick pumpkins in 2016 and added you­pick apples in 2019. Their 1,000 apple trees and more than 180 varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squash continue to be a fall­season draw for visitors, and for the past two years Greene Fields Farm has offered flowers as well, with zinnias and sunflowers ready for picking.

“We really focus on youpick, that is what really drives our whole farm from the wagons we give people, how we lay out the fields and where we put things,” said Regan Joehl, who co­owns the operation with his wife Christie. “We

want people to have that experience, that connection to the land, picking something right off the vine or branch and taking it with them.”

During picking season the farm offers children’s activities and concessions featuring treats made from their products, such as caramel apples. There are also some ready­picked apples and pumpkins for those who don’t want to venture into the field to pick their own. But the main focus at the farm remains on getting people back to the land.

“That connection people want to have to the land, not to get their pumpkin out of a bin at a supermarket but to cut it off the vine and take it with them,” Joehl said. “They are finding something, that rooted connection to the land. For them to discover that, even for a couple of days a year, is an awesome thing.”

“One of my favorite things is going out in the patch on a Sunday afternoon when we are open in the fall and just listening to people,” Joehl said. “They are laughing, giggling, there’s all generations, just seeing the joy that they have coming out and doing it together.”

David Blanchette/Journal-Courier

Regan and Christie Joehl and their five sons stand by Greene Field Farms' you­pick apple orchard trees.

Farm continues on A17

Jefferies Orchard/Provided You­pick customers choose strawberries last spring at Jefferies Orchard.

Pig-to-pavement project gets seven-figure USDA grant

By Ethan Simmons N EWS­GAZETTE

A USDA­backed University of Illinois research project will test whether farmers can eventually profit from pig waste — by processing it to help bind pavement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s competitive Bioproduct Pilot Program is investing $9.5 million in three proposals to develop practical, sustainable uses for agricultural products that keep economic benefits in their areas.

“If we’re going to revitalize the rural economy, we need to make it more circular,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “We need those processing opportunities to take place closer to home.”

The winning pitch from UI professor Yuanhui Zhang, founder of the Environment­Enhancing Energy Laboratory, uses hydrothermal processing to convert locally sourced swine manure and food waste into “biobinders” for asphalt in roads and roofing shingles.

The project will get a $2.5 million grant over three years, drawing waste from partners like Carlyle­based pork producer The Maschhoffs, UI Housing Services and the Champaign school district, Zhang said.

UI Facilities and Services will help facilitate the project, while the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment conducts a technical analysis of the technique, he said. The funding originates from the Infrastruc­

ture Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in November 2021, and comes through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

“This grant is going to be more like a demonstration,” Zhang said. “We’ll be reducing the greenhouse emissions; it’s both an energy and environment enhancement using waste materials.”

Hydrothermal processing heats waste at high pressure, creating energy­dense byproducts such as crude oil. Zhang’s E2­Energy Lab specializes in the technique, which is similar to how the earth develops fossil fuels — only far, far faster.

In this case, the heavier components from the biocrude oil produced from local waste will be used to raise the quality of recycled asphalt. By the end of the three­year grant, Zhang wants to have a clear picture of the commerciality of the proposal.

Reducing waste in farms and cafeterias can have a marked environmental impact. Selling off manure can prevent overapplication and the runoff that comes with it; less food waste means less methane coming from landfills.

“There is an education component, we want our young generations to know about this — school kids are very much interested in climate change and environmental issues,” Zhang said. “We always want to have a broader impact by reaching out to the general public.”

two other awardees were plucked from a pool of 28 applicants, per the USDA. Virginia Tech proposed to convert food waste into biodegradable bioplastics. Soylei Innovations of Ames, Iowa, seeks to convert soybean oil into pavement rubber.

Proposals were judged on a variety of criteria, Vilsack said, including feasibility, climate impact and commercial benefits like job creation and potential profitability.

“I think there’s a growing recognition that we’ve got to develop more ways for farmers, ranchers and producers to be able to make a living and generate income from the farming operation,” Vilsack said.

Whether by selling ag waste or reaping the ben­

FARM

From page A16

Visit greenefieldsfarm.com to plan your fall trip to their apple and pumpkin patches.

The UI’s proposal and

efits of “climate­smart” farming tactics, more revenue streams protect against sudden changes in the farming market, Vilsack said, such as export restrictions caused by the Russia­Ukraine war.

President Joe Biden “and those who supported the infrastructure law understood that we needed to continue working to convert our rural economy, which for far too long has been an extraction economy, where things are taken off the land and processed far away,” said Vilsack, who served as Iowa governor from 1999 to 2007.

“These proposals are going to generate more farm revenue for producers and better­paying jobs in rural places.”

Some consumers may not want to pick their own produce but appreciate having fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. That where Ackles Farm Market near Pittsfield comes in. The family­run business picks the best offerings from different growers and offers them for sale at their

store, including such delicacies as Calhoun County peaches and Beardstown watermelons.

“We are about as close to you­pick as you can get, but we don’t pretend that we grow the produce,” said Michael Lister, one of the owner­operators of Ackles. “It’s more of a you grow, we show type of thing.”

Ackles has been in business since 1967. Many area residents remember picking apples at Ackles Apple Acres years ago, and although that orchard no longer exists, the business continues to have a large following of people who appreciate where their food comes from.

“There is more concern with the consumers, what they are buying, what they are eating, where and how it was grown,” Lister said. “We try to find the best quality locally and get that here at the best price for the consumer. We pick the best from anybody and everybody around.”

Ackles Farm Market is on Facebook.

Jefferies Orchard/Provided A basket full of strawberries picked last spring at Jefferies Orchard.

Illinois counties among leaders in corn, soybean production

By Kevin Bessler

Several Illinois counties dominated the national rankings in terms of corn and soybean production last year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released its county production totals for 2022. Crop statistician Mark Schleusener said in terms of corn production, one central Illinois county led the nation.

“McLean County ranked first across the entire U.S. with nearly 71 million bushels of corn produced last year,” Schleusener said. “Additionally, Illinois had the top five counties in the country for total corn production.”

Those other counties included Iroquois, Livingston, LaSalle and

Champaign counties. Stark County had the highest yield in Illinois at over 240 bushels per acre, followed by Woodford and Ogle counties.

Iowa led the nation in total corn

production in 2022, followed by Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Illinois is home to several counties that ranked in the top ten for soybean production as well. McLean County led the nation, followed by two counties in Mississippi and North Dakota.

“Following those two, the next four highest soybean producing counties were all in Illinois,” said Schleusener. “Iroquois, Champaign, Livingston and LaSalle counties ranked fourth through seventh nationally.”

Illinois led the nation in soybean production last year, followed by Iowa and Minnesota.

Illinois soybean farmers export about 50% of their crop, with China, Mexico and Canada being the top three markets.

CHICKENS

From page A3

They are able to peck around as they please.”

Chickens will eat pretty much anything, Bland said, whether it be plants, bugs, grains.

“Chickens are like nature’s garbage disposal,” Bland said. “Basically any table scraps, carrots, bits of vegetables, chickens love that stuff.”

For those that are looking into getting chicken of their own, Bland said it is important to do the research and know what to do before starting.

Whether it be on the coop, medicine or feed, Bland said it’s important to look at the treatment and care for the chickens before moving forward with getting chickens.

Then there is the ongoing upkeep and protection of the chickens.

“For us, a big thing is predators,” Bland said. “Hawks will swoop down and take one, or coyotes will try to grab one. The worse thing for us is to raise them up and then have them killed.”

Bell said the first thing to look at is the available space and the structure to house the chickens.

“You need a secure

structure for the chickens to come in and roost at night,” Bell said. “

To start chickens from the beginning is a lot of work, Bland said. There are very strict necessities for younger birds.

He said for those just starting out, it could be wise for them to purchase other birds.

Though geriatric hens are at the end of their egg producing, he said they will often produce a few a week. He said sometimes he will sell them to people who would like a chicken or two to produce eggs for their own household.

For those starting out, Bell said she recommends following the strict diets and usually purchasing the necessary foods. Once a chicken owner is more experienced, she said they can adapt or create their own foods.

Bell said though the popularity in backyard chickens seems to be on the rise, it isn’t something that is going to make a person a lot of money.

“Raising chickens is a rewarding experience and you learn so much,” Bell said. “You won’t save money with all the reoccurring costs, but it is a great experience and a lot of fun.”

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree/Journal-Courier

Clint Bland raises about 600 chickens on his farm to help produce eggs.

John Fedele/Getty Images

Several Illinois counties dominated the national rankings in terms of corn and soybean production last year.

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