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By BILL LAIRManaging Editor

As bad as the economy has beenin recent years, it could have beenworse without the agriculture sec-tor.

Agriculture has enjoyed“unprecedented” economic prosper-ity in recent years, according tostatewide ag officials.

“Out of the last five years, four ofthem have been really good,” saidDwight Raab of the Illinois FarmBusiness Farm Management Asso-ciation in Champaign-Urbana. “The2008 year was fantastic.”

Total net farm income topped$200,000 per farm, on average, inIllinois in both 2007 and 2008,according to figures from IllinoisFBFM. Even in 2009, the latestyear for which statistics are avail-able, net farm income averaged$84,212 throughout the state.

“The past few years have beenreally good, unprecedented,” Raabsaid. “It’s been counter cyclical tothe general economy.”

Contrast the booming farm econ-omy in the past few years to the

Recent years kind to ag industryState of Illinois Ag StatisticsCategory 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009No. of farms 2,940 2,640 2,748 2,572 2,624Ave. Acres 773 803 818 845 829Corn Yield 148 173 189 194 182Bean Yield 51 52 50 51 50Corn (old crop) $2.12 $2.14 $3.18 $4.37 $3.98Corn (new crop) $1.99 $2.64 $3.38 $4.28 $3.75Bean (new) $5.90 $5.79 $7.07 $10.69 $10.40Bean (old) $5.87 $5.93 $8.64 $10.35 $9.75Cost Per Acre $443.50 $446.57 $526.41 $613.55 $671.96Return Per Acre $11.16 $51.14 $170.38 $167.38 $13.06Net Farm Income $62,940 $103,303 $209.012 $211,890 $84,212

Source: Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association

By BONNIE CLARKStaff Writer

Dick Taylor’s dad always saidraising cattle was a lot of work. “Ifyou don’t want to use a hay balerand a pitchfork, then you’d betterhead to town,” he would tell him.

Apparently, hard work didn’tdeter Taylor, of Oakland, an Angusbreeder, who is continuing a five-generation tradition that began withhis grandfather and father, andwhose sons and grandsons will likely

will continue for decades after he’sno longer in the business.

That may not happen any timesoon, however, for the 79-year-oldTaylor, who is still actively caringfor his herd and anticipating hisnext champions.

Raising and breeding registeredAngus cattle has been a commit-ment of the heart since he boughthis first heifer in 1945. His father,Roschen “Buck” Taylor, and grand-father, Calvin Taylor, owned Angus

cattle, and it was a natural for himas a first 4-H project, he said.

“Dad took me to Milford to aCornbelt Angus Association sale andI bought my first heifer, Black CapK 25,” Taylor said. “I still have the

Long line of champions: Taylor Angus operation approaches fifth generation

By DAWN SCHABBINGStaff Writer

The U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency reported in Septem-ber 2009 that there are more than285,000,000 people living in theUnited States, with less than 1 per-cent who claim farming as theiroccupation.

It reported that there are about2.1 million farms in the U.S. basedon the government’s definition.

But Zynga, a company thatmakes social-networking gamesthat are free and accessibleonline, has its own statistics aboutfarming with a game called “Far-mville.”

In comparison to the 2.1 million“real” farms, Zynga reports 30million farms are in Farmville, avirtual game that lets people plantand harvest crops and trees andbuy and raise livestock, throughportals like Facebook.

Crops on Farmville can beplanted and harvested in only afew days; some cows producechocolate milk; and trees bearfruit rather quickly. But there issomething about this way of farm-ing that keeps people interested.

Crops that aren’t tended to in atimely fashion “wither and die.”

“It’s an awesome game whereyou farm crops, animals, trees —and so much more. I play itbecause it is fun. I used to take itseriously and get mad when mycrops withered and such ... but notso much anymore,” said KarissaAlbin, 22, of Neoga.

Albin recently earned a bache-lor’s degree in chemistry from theFlorida Institute of Technology,and is seeking employment. Butuntil then, she has some free timefor “farming.”

“I play once or twice a day,depending on how much time Ihave and what crops I decided toplant,” she said.

Albin said she doesn’t have atrue farming background, but

Farmville isnot the realMcCoy, but

it sure is fun

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

There are about 2.1 million farms inthe U.S., based on information fromthe EPA, while Zynga reports over 30million farms in their online game.

By HERB MEEKERStaff Writer

The Drake family’s Clydes-dale horses are a big attrac-tion along old Illinois Route316 west of Charleston.

Throughout the year, the group ofhuge horses will draw in vehicles ofcurious horse lovers. The Drakesdon’t mind answering questionsbecause the horses bring back mem-ories of the farming age when horse-power was on the hoof, not underthe hood.

“We have people pull into ourdriveway and stop to ask questionsor see them up close,” said Dr. KyleDrake, a veterinarian who works in

Arthur. “Many people rememberdraft horses used on their grandpar-ents’ farm. They always have a storyto share with us, too.”

They don’t even mind the jokingquestions like, “Where’s the beerwagon?”

The Drakes now own four Clydes-dales, ranging in age from 1 to 8years. Their horses are, listed byyoungest to the adults, Brody, Alle-gro, Major and Jeannie. The Drakesare also a foursome: Kyle, his wife,Emily; and young children, Alexys,7, and Gavin, 4.

Dr. Drake enjoys showing the

This farm’s horsepowerthe real deal

Friday, January 28, 2011 www.jg-tc.com

Drake family’s Clydesdales garner attention at home and on the road

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Dr. Kyle Drake is pictured with two of his Clydesdale horses Alegro, left, Brodie, right, at his residence near Charleston on Thursday. Kyle, along with his wife Emily;and young children, Alexys, 7, and Gavin, 4, own four Clydesdales, ranging in age from 1 to 8 years.

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Dick Taylor is pictured with ConnelyPrestend 297, a 2700-pound bull, at hisfarm near Oakland on Jan. 10.

ECONOMY/2

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FARMVILLE/2

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CHAMPAIGN —In the“report card” for naturalresources, Illinois made thehonor roll, according to datafrom the National ResourcesInventory released lastspring.

The data from the U.S.Department of Agriculture’sNatural Resources Conserva-tion Service indicates themost current status and con-dition of Illinois land, naturalresources and important long-term land use trends.

“The data confirms thatIllinois’ private landownerswork hard to protect our landand natural resources,” saysIllinois NRCS State Conserva-tionist Bill Gradle. “It alsoshows us a few areas wherewe need to focus our attentionand target both state andlocal efforts.

“I’m proud to report thatthe rate of soil erosion on Illi-nois cropland has steadilydeclined over the last 25years,” he said.

Conservation practices andtreatments, such as no-tillplanting, terraces, conserva-tion tillage, strip-cropping,contour farming and conser-vation cover planted on high-

ly erodible ground, are allpart of the reasons behindthis positive trend.

“We can thank Illinois’ con-servation farmers and all ourconservation partners forthese productive and ‘green’trends,” Gradle added.

In 1982, before provisionsof conservation compliancewere required for producersworking with USDA, Illi-nois’ rate of water erosionon cultivated cropland wasmore than 6.2 tons per acreannually. The 2007 data setsa new low — 3.9 tons peracre.

On average, water erosionrates on pastureland declinedby 38 percent since 1982.NRCS can say that soil ero-sion poses little threat tohealthy pastureland produc-tivity statewide.

Illinois is home to ampleacres of prime farmland soils.About 89 percent of theseacres are cropped. Between1982 and 2007, about 495,000acres of prime farmland soilswere converted to non-aguses.

“While this may sound likea small loss, it still indicatesa loss of the best and mostideal use of Illinois’ rare and

productive soils,” Gradle said. Other notable Illinois NRI

data:n About 87 percent of Illi-

nois total surface area, whichis 36,058,700 acres, is privatelyowned land.

n 2 percent of Illinois landis water.

n More than two-thirds ofIllinois is dedicated to crop-land.

n Nearly 11 percent isforestland.

n Land developed from 1982to 2007 increased 760,800acres.

n More than 953,000 acresof pastureland were lost from1982 to 2007 — that’s morethan 38,000 acres lost everyyear.

n During 1982–2001, forest-land in Illinois gained 303,000acres.

n Since 1982, Illinois lost835,100 acres of cropland.

n Illinois ranks fifth for theamount of cropland — Kansasranks first, followed by Iowa,Texas and North Dakota.

n Illinois ranks third forthe acres of prime farmland— Texas ranks first, Kansassecond.

n Illinois ranks No. 1 inprime cropland.

Erosion rates continue declining trend

Skinny pigs and poisonous pork:

China doing battle with farm drugs BEIJING (AP) — It has

shown up frequently in porkbut also in snake dishes insouth China and beef fromthe far western Xinjiangregion, sending diners to thehospital with stomach achesand heart palpitations.

Clenbuterol, known inChina simply as “lean meatpowder,” is a dangerous drugthat’s banned in China yetstubbornly continues to popup in the food supply, lacedinto animal feed by farmersimpatient to get their meat tomarket and turn a profit.

The drug accelerates fatburning and muscle growth,making it an attractive feedadditive, sports performanceenhancer and slimming drug,but overdoses can cause ill-ness and, in rare cases,death. Tour de France cham-pion Alberto Contador isamong the athletes, who havetested positive for the drug,though he disputes theresults, claiming he unknow-ingly ingested the drug byeating tainted filet mignon.

How much of China’s meatsupply is tainted with clen-buterol is not clear. The gov-ernment won’t say how manycases of contaminated meator related illness occur everyyear. But industry watcherssay that, in the countrysideat least, use of the drug isrampant.

In a country with anappetite-killing roster of foodsafety issues — from deadlyinfant formula to honey lacedwith dangerous antimicro-bials and eggs dyed with can-cer-causing pigments — theproblem of clenbuterol-taint-ed pork is widely consideredto be one of China’s biggestfood threats.

“It’s really a big problemin China,” said Pan Chenjun,a senior industry analyst withRabobank in Beijing whofocuses on the business offood in China. “It’s not

reported frequently so peoplesometimes think it’s not a bigissue but actually it’s quitewidespread.”

Pan said improved foodinspection in big cities likeBeijing and Shanghai havemade mass poisonings inurban areas unusual, andtherefore newsworthy, but theproblem is rampant in small-er cities and rural areas.

“I think a lot of people liv-ing in counties or towns mayhave a lot of exposure (toclenbuterol) if they eat streetfood,” Pan said.

Adding clenbuterol to feedcan reduce a pig’s body fat toa very thin layer and makesbutchered skin pinker, givingthe appearance of freshermeat for a longer time.

The appealing look is onereason Chinese meat suppli-ers sometimes demand clen-buterol-treated pork from pigfarmers, said Wen Peng, edi-tor of the Chinese-languageversion of The Pig Site, anonline news aggregator forthe global pork industry.

“When it comes to big largefarms, there isn’t much of aproblem because they can’tafford to be caught but thereare a lot of small farms andthey have a big market,” Wensaid. “And slaughterhouses,they prefer their suppliers,the producers, to use clen-buterol because the meatlooks better and more lean.”

The drug lingers in highestconcentrations in organssuch as liver and lung — andpoisonings appear more fre-quent in south China whereorgan meat is more popular.

In February 2009, 70 peoplewere hospitalized in thesouthern city of Guangzhouwith stomach pains and diar-rhea after eating tainted pigorgans sold in a local market.In 2006, more than 300 peoplein Shanghai were sickened bypig products. Last year, 13people in the coastal city of

Shenzhen near Hong Kongwere hospitalized from eatingclenbuterol-tainted snake.Local media said the snakehad been fed frogs that weregiven clenbuterol — appar-ently to make them growfaster.

Though Chinese regula-tions against “lean meat pow-der” are tough, includingprison terms for those whoproduce or sell tainted foodproducts, enforcement isspotty and offenders canoften get off with a fine or abribe, Wen said.

Government officials toohave expressed frustrationwith the lingering problem. Ina report to China’s congresson Aug. 25, 2009, Wang Yun-long, the head of the legisla-tive committee on agricultureand rural affairs told his fel-low lawmakers that efforts tostop the use of “lean meatpowder” had fallen short inmany areas and called for a“concentrated countrywideeffort to bring it under con-trol.”

China’s Ministry of Agri-culture did not respond to afaxed list of questions aboutthe problem and measuresbeing taken to deal with it.

The majority of poisoningcases in the news haveinvolved pork, which is by farChina’s most popular meat.Nearly 50 million metric tonsof pork are produced andconsumed per year —amounting to about half theglobal supply.

The world’s second largestpork producer, the UnitedStates, harvested 118 millionpigs in 2008. The same year,China produced 463 millionand output is growing.

The sprawling industry isin the midst of a huge trans-formation, from mostly back-yard farms a few years ago toincreasingly large and medi-um sized facilities — a shiftwhich should make it easier

to monitor for illicit feedadditives like clenbuterol.

In 2001, 74 percent ofChina’s pig farms were tiny,with 50 pigs or fewer, buttoday more than half aremedium-sized facilities withup to 3,000 animals, a recentRabobank report said.

But larger farms are noguarantee of quality. In Bei-jing’s southern district ofDaxing, an unlicensed farmwith about 800 pigs lies hid-den behind a metal gate. Ona recent afternoon, a womaninside was stirring a largevat of what looked like mud,bones and garbage but said itwasn’t for the pigs. “It’s forus,” she said. The man incharge, who would only givehis surname, Xu, said he’dnever heard of “lean meatpowder.” He said the farmhad no phone number, busi-ness name or card.

Farmers use clenbuterolbecause it boosts profits intwo ways: It speeds up thegrowth of animals to getthem to market quicker andcreates meat for which con-sumers are willing to payextra.

Chairman Mao Zedong’sfavorite dish is said to havebeen fatty slabs of belly porkbraised in sugar and wine, acholesterol wallop that was awelcome treat in frugal times.But today, relatively well-offand health conscious Chineseprefer lean pork and are will-ing to pay a premium for it.

It’s not clear exactly wherethe clenbuterol comes from— two Chinese chemical fac-tories that advertise clen-buterol on their websitesdenied ever selling it whenreached by telephone.

Whistle-blowing on foodsafety can be dangerous inChina. The government iswary of any kind of grassroots organizing, particularlywhen it deals with sensitivesocial issues.

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By ROB STROUDStaff Writer

OAKLAND — Jeff Coonhad planned to just fill in fora while when he took theagriculture teacher and FFAadvisor post in January 2001at his alma mater — the Oak-land school district.

However, Coon has beenputting his education as ateacher and his agri-businessexperience to work for hisstudents at Oakland eversince then.

“I just kind of fell in lovewith the job. The kids are ablast and the challengeseveryday are interesting,”said Coon, who resides inCharleston.

Coon said one of hisfavorite aspects of being anFFA advisor is taking hissmall town students, some ofwhom may have never trav-eled far from home, to FFAconventions in large cities.

There, Coon said theteenagers might see a majorrodeo, learn the responsibili-ties associated with anextended stay at a hotel,practice table etiquette whiledining at nice restaurants,and have have other experi-ences that are new to them.

“It is just really fun towatch them have those expe-riences in that setting andwatch them mature,” Coonsaid. He added that FFA doesa good job of building theconfidence of students andteaching them strong workethics.

Coon said he also incorpo-rates lessons about workethics into his classes, includ-

ing a six-week lesson on jobinterview skills as part ofagricultural business manage-ment course. He also teachesstudents how to writeresumes and handle job inter-views.

For theses lessons, Coonapplies experiences he gainedwhile working as a DeKalbdistrict sales manager for 15years and running his CoonAgronomy Consulting Servicefor five years.

“The most important thingI can teach them is how to geta job and keep a job,” Coon

said.Another of his priorities is

to teach his FFA membersand his classroom studentslessons about the sciencebehind agriculture.

Coon said his studentsplanted 75 burr oak trees lastyear west of Oakland in theHickory Ridge ConservationArea, natural habitat that willhelp improve water quality inthe area. He said his conser-vation and wildlife manage-ment students regularlycheck the water in the nearbyEmbarras River to see how it

is affected by runoff.In addition, Coon said FFA

members teach younger stu-dents about nutrition labels.He said his nutrition lessonsalso include a pizza partythat highlights the agricultur-al origins of pepperoni,cheese, tomato sauce, crustand other ingredients.

“When they order the pizza,they have to order it by theanimal or plant where itcomes from,” Coon said.

Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Students Bryce Wilson, left, and Michael Gobert, second from left, remove dried corn from the cob asfellow student Brandon Walsh, right, holds the container, as they work on a biomass project from aconverted gas grill, under the direction of Oakland FFA adviser Jeff Coon in Oakland.

Ag education became unexpected passion

for Oakland FFA adviser who was ‘filling in’

Midwest farmland values are on the riseBy The Associated Press

Farmland values havereached all-time highs inIowa as growing globaldemand for America’s agri-culture products have helpedto push commodity prices tolevels farmers can smileabout, agriculture expertssay.

David Oppedahl, a businesseconomist at the FederalReserve Bank of Chicago,said that according to hismost recent study, the per-acre value of farmland inIowa increased 13 percentfrom October 2009 to October2010.

In Illinois the per-acrevalue increased 8 percent, headded.

Oppendahl’s study includedfive states in the 7th FederalReserve District: Illinois,Indiana, Iowa, Michigan andWisconsin.

Overall, farmland valuesrose 10 percent in the 7th Dis-trict, Oppedahl said. Indianasaw an 11 percent increase,while farmland values inMichigan jumped 11 percent.Wisconsin had the lowestincrease with 3 percent.

Iowa State University econ-omist Michael Duffy whorecently completed a full-year study of Iowa’s farm-land values, said prices forgood farming ground in thestate increased 15.9 percentin 2010.

And the higher value offarmland can be good newsfor farmers, said TaylorRidge, Ill., farmer Tom

Mueller.“If you own some property

and you’re wanting to go tothe bank and borrow money,it increases your net worthand can borrow against thehigher land price,” Muellersaid.

The run-up in commodityprices spurred by greaterdemand has helped toincrease the value of landdedicated to farming,Oppedahl said.

Locally, one product thathas helped push demand forcorn is ethanol, he said.

“Demand for ethanol hasbeen rising and that takes upa bigger share of the corncrop,” Oppedahl said.

Greater world demand forAmerica’s farm products alsohas put upward pressure oncommodity prices. However,some of that price pressurehas been aided by the factthat commodity stocks in theU.S. are lower than normal,Oppedahl said.

“The stocks-to use-ratiosare historically low,” he said,adding that this year’s cornand soybean crops were notas large as expected.

According to the U.S.Department of Agriculture,the nation’s 2010 corn croptotaled 12.5 billion bushels,down from 13 billion bushelsin 2009.

According to the U.S.Department of Agriculture,or USDA, Iowa farmers pro-duced 2.1 billion bushels ofcorn in 2010, down from 2.4billion bushels produced in

2009.Illinois farmers produced

1.9 billion bushels of corn in2010, down 2 billion bushelsthe year before.

National soybean produc-tion also was slightly lower:3.329 billion bushels in 2010,down from 3.359 billionbushels in 2009, according tothe USDA.

Iowa’s farmers produced496 million bushels of soy-beans in 2010, down from 486million in 2009.

Illinois farmers produced466 million bushels of soy-beans during the year, upfrom 430 million bushels in2009.

Prices for corn and soy-beans have reflected thegreater demand and tight-ness of the market, Oppedahlsaid.

Corn for March settled at$6.57¼ Friday on the ChicagoMercantile Exchange, whilesoybeans ended the day at$14.12¼.

Mueller said at thoseprices, he wishes he hadsome corn and soybeans leftto sell.

“I’m sure there are somepeople holding some stocks intheir bins,” he said. “Theyare probably smart peoplewho didn’t sell it all last sum-mer like I did.”

Mueller added that com-modity stocks are tight on theworld market, too.

“Argentina has had weath-er problems and they grow abunch of corn and it’s beenvery hot and dry down there,”

he said.The weaker dollar also has

given a boost to agriculturalsales around the world,Oppedahl added.

“We’ve maintained a tradesurplus in agriculture for along time,” he said. “That’sone sector that’s helping theU.S. economy move forward.If the whole economy were asstrong as agriculture hasbeen, we wouldn’t be worriedabout growth.”

Duffy added that there hasbeen a shortage of good farm-land going on the market,and that, too, has spurred arise in farmland values.

“Land sales in 2010 aredown considerably from 2008,and down again from 2009,”he said.

As the price of land rises,so do rents, Duffy said.

“The really interestingthing is, if you look throughJuly of last year, rent waskind of flat,” he said.

Rent prices for good farmground are some the mosttightly guarded secrets thesedays, Mueller said. “A farmeris not telling anyone howmuch he’s paying for itbecause someone may bewilling to pay more for rent-ing that land and call thelandlord with a price.

“There are some placesthat get very competitive andthe landlord will have sealedbids.”

Oppedahl will issue a final2010 farmland prices reportfor the Seventh District nextmonth.

Your Local News Source

Website protects sensitive

crops from pesticide drift SPRINGFIELD (AP) —

Illinois officials are promot-ing an interactive Internettool to help protect the state’ssensitive crops from driftingpesticides.

Organic and specialtygrowers may enter the loca-tions of their fields on the“Driftwatch” site and pesti-cide applicators can use themaps to prevent spread ofnearby chemical applications.

Warren Goetsch is bureauchief for environmental pro-grams for the Illinois Depart-ment of Agriculture. He saysthe project requires “sharedresponsibility” between grow-ers and applicators.

He says farmers must accu-rately register their fields andapplicators must check thesite before spraying pesti-cides.

Purdue University devel-oped “Driftwatch” for use inIndiana. U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency funds paidfor its introduction in Illinois.

Michigan, Minnesota andWisconsin are starting theprogram this year. Ohio willbegin in 2012.

n www.agr.state.il.us

Head to the Web

for breaking news and more, visit us online

www.jg-tc.com

By AMBER LUSVARDIFor the JG-TC

ARCOLA — Despite notgrowing up on a farm, asGrant Eschmann completedhis high school career heknew that he wanted to be anagriculture teacher.

Eschmann grew up in therural Southern Illinois town ofWaterloo, where as a highschool student he happened totake an agriculture class andjoined his high school FFAorganization. Although he didnot have much of a farmingbackground, he fell in lovewith agriculture and FFA.

“It was probably the peoplethat were there, gaining thegood friends” Eschmann saidof the benefits of his FFAprogram.

While in FFA, Eschmannsaid his favorite competitionwas parliamentary proce-dure, where the students holda mock meeting that is runusing Robert’s Rules ofOrder. However, Eschmannwas willing to compete inabout anything, as he enjoyedthe experience of beinginvolved in activities outsideof school.

What made Eschmannreally realize that his ownfuture lay in teaching agricul-ture was the example hisagriculture teachers and FFAadvisers set for him in Water-loo.

“In high school I had someinspiring ag teachers,”Eschmann said.

After high school,Eschmann went on to get adegree in agriculture systemsfrom Southern Illinois Uni-versity at Carbondale and

has now been in Arcola forthree years. Eschmann teach-es junior high and high schoolagriculture and serves as thehigh school FFA adviser.

Thus far, Eschmann hasenjoyed stepping into theshoes of agriculture teacherand adviser, like the peoplewho inspired him in highschool.

“It has been an overall goodexperience, I like the commu-nity and the students,” he

said.Eschmann has been con-

centrating on building up theArcola FFA chapter to getmore students involved andinterested in what agricultureand FFA has to offer.

Currently, Eschmann’s FFAstudents are working on acontest through the FarmBureau to promote agricul-ture careers. Eschmann saidthe students have been work-ing hard on a plan to high-

light agriculture careers inthe Arcola newspaper everyweek, give presentationsabout agriculture careers toelementary school studentsand possibly hold an agricul-ture career fair.

Although Eschmann andhis wife currently live intown, he hopes to somedaylive out some farming aspira-tions of his own by possiblyraising steer and being ableto have some horses as well.

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By HERB MEEKERStaff Writer

WINDSOR — JustinHoward remembers the dayswhen his grandfather taughthim the nuts and bolts offarming.

“He was my teacher. Hetaught me how to work withmy hands from carpentry,welding to fixing a short cir-cuit. He’s my hero,” said theWindsor High School agricul-ture teacher and FFA spon-sor.

Today, Howard applies thebasics that build on a farmingcareer, but also emphasizesthe hands-on experiencethrough ag-shop projects. Hewants his ag students to learnself-reliance because it can bevital in ag-related careers.

“If they can learn to dosomething with their ownhands it’s very important tome. Winning FFA contestsare nice but if you’re able tolive everyday then you canmake it in life,” Howard said.

Howard grew in ClarkCounty where he was activewith the FFA there as well as4-H. “I was with 4-H for 11years and showed cattle, hogsand a horse a couple oftimes,” the young teachersaid.

So he discounts the nega-tive statements that agricul-ture does not offer good jobprospects for the future.

“I’m facing that attitudehere. Some of my studentsonly see corporate farming inthe fields around here. But Itry to explain there are over300 careers in agriculture.

That’s why I bring in guestspeakers and try to have fieldtrips. I had a golf coursemanager come in and heexplained how that is relatedto agriculture,” Howard said.

Sometimes his FFA proj-ects meld into ag lessons.

For example, the WindsorFFA chapter has been sellingpork burgers at high schoolhome basketball games. It ismore than a fundraiser. The

students recently were work-ing on building a smoker grillout of old barrels.

The sparks were flyingfrom a grinder and studentswere talking about how theywould piece together thesmoker grill made out of oldbarrels.

Howard seemed in his ele-ment as he directed littledetails during the work in theshop area.

“You know when we don’thave pork burgers at any ofthe games some people getmad. They’re really thatgood,” Howard said.

Just think. Howard offersag hands-on experience, proj-ect design, teamwork andentrepreneurship all in onebite.

Contact Herb Meeker athmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.

Herb Meeker/Staff

The sparks fly as Windsor High School senior Braden Stremming, left, works a grinder on a cooker grillas FFA sponsor Justin Howard looks on.

Self-reliance key to Howard’s philosophy

Inspiring teachers compel Eschmann to be ag educator

Dairy experts predict modest recovery in 2011 MADISON, Wis. (AP) —

The nation’s dairy farmerscan expect 2011 to be a sec-ond straight year of modestgrowth, according to a reportreleased Wednesday thatoffers a small dose of opti-mism to an industry stillrecovering from a devastat-ing 2009.

Feed costs for dairy cowswill be higher for at least thefirst half of 2011, butincreased milk demand willhelp drive sales and revenue,according to the report byWisconsin researchers. Wis-consin is the No. 2 milk pro-ducer in the nation behindCalifornia.

“I think 2011 could be agood-enough year” for milkprices, said Mark Stephen-son, a dairy expert at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison who contributed tothe report. “I think 2010 wasa treading-water sort of year.There was a lot of equity loston dairy farms across thecountry in 2009. It would takemuch better prices to makeup for that.”

The average dairy farmerneeds to earn about $16 per

100 pounds of milk to breakeven. Prices languished at$12 in 2009, their lowest pointin seven years.

The market began to turnaround in 2010, and U.S.dairy farmers earned anaverage of $16.30. However,the return to profitabilitymeant little to many dairyfarmers who were still strug-gling under a mountain ofdebt.

A second year of growthwill help those producers,even if the growth continuesto be modest, Stephensonsaid.

“I’d say many of them arefeeling cautious but hopeful,”he said.

Milk prices collapsed in2009 because of too muchproduction and not enoughdemand. Dairy producersacross the U.S. responded byslaughtering an average of50,000 dairy cows a weekbecause the glut made itimpossible to sell their milkfor what it cost to produce.

However, as U.S. sales anda sagging export marketbegan to recover in early2010, dairy farmers went in

the other direction. Theybegan to maximize milk pro-duction to help recover theirsubstantial 2009 losses.

The dairy industry endedup producing an estimated192.7 billion pounds of milkin 2010, a 1.8 percentincrease over the previousyear. This year’s productionis expected to be 194.4 billionpounds.

The Wisconsin report saidmilk prices could continue toedge upward this year, butthat this would not translateinto significant profits forfarmers, at least not earlyon, because of a spike in theprice of corn used to feeddairy cows.

Jim Ostrom, a partnerwith Rosendale Dairy ineastern Wisconsin, said cornthat cost $3 to $4 last yearnow costs $6.50.

“We’re very alarmed bythe extremely high cost offeed,” he said.

The increase is likely totake more of a toll on theWest coast producers whobuy most of their feed. Dairyfarmers in the Midwest tendto grow more of their own

feed, insulating them fromprice swings in feed costs.

A stable 2011 is good newsfor the dairy industry inmore ways than one. Notonly does it help producersregain financial stability butit also protects them in theevent that congressionalwrangling over federal budg-ets causes access to federalsubsidies to dry up.

U.S. Agriculture SecretaryTom Vilsack signaled recent-ly that cutbacks are likely asthe aftermath of the GreatRecession pushes U.S. gov-ernment deficits to levelslast seen during World WarII.

U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble ofWisconsin said through aspokesman that a number ofproposals are being draftedfor his House AgricultureCommittee to review, but thefinal result most likely willinvolve spending cutbacks.

“The Agriculture Commit-tee, like everyone, will beasked to tighten its belt tohelp rein in our country’smassive spending problems,”Ribble spokesman BrandonMoody said.

By AMBER LUSVARDIFor the JG-TC

ARTHUR — Wendy Leen-erts still looks back fondly onthe many summers she spentat her grandparents’ farm inWestern Illinois while she wasgrowing up.

Leenerts’ grandparentsowned a small farm in Goldenwith some sheep and cattle,where in the summer shecould take on a little lamb ofher own to care for while shewas there. Her grandfatherwould also work for anotherlocal farmer and Leenertswould spend some days ridingalong with him in the tractor.

Being outside on her grand-parents’ farm always gaveLeenerts a sense of peace.

“It is just like being home,”she said.

This close connection Leen-erts felt to her grandparents’farm throughout her child-hood led her to study agricul-ture at Truman State Univer-

sity, where she was encour-aged by her professors to gether teaching certificate. Leen-erts decided to go to WesternIllinois University to get herteaching certificate in agri-culture education, and whileshe studied at Western IllinoisUniversity she went back andlived at her grandparents’farm once again.

Leenerts is now a teacherof agriculture education andFFA adviser for the Arthurschool district and she sharesnot only her passion for agri-culture with her students, buther knowledge that getting aneducation in agriculture ismore than just working on afarm.

One of the stereotypesLeenerts has had to fightwhile teaching agriculture isthat students should only takeagriculture classes or beinterested in agriculture ifthey live on a farm or plan onbecoming a farmer.

“It is more than just sows,cows, and plows,” Leenertssaid.

In the classroom, Leenertshas been trying to expose herstudents to some differentaspects of the agriculturefield such as horticulture, ani-mal science and businessagriculture.

During one unit, she taughther students about welding,explaining that welding canbe used in the creation offarm implements.

As the FFA adviser inArthur, Leenerts is lookingtowards rebuilding the pro-gram and getting the stu-dents involved in competi-tions. Since some of her FFAstudents do not live on afarm, Leenerts has encour-aged them towards attendingcareer development events.

“FFA can get you so manyopportunities,” Leenerts said.

Outside of going to compe-titions and looking at career

possibilities, Leenerts alsowants her students to havefun. The group recentlydecided to hold a badmintoncompetition as a recreationalactivity for the FFA group.

12 n Friday, January 28, 2011 www.jg-tc.comFARM FOCUS

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By ROB STROUDStaff Writer

KANSAS — When MalloryJenness was a Newton Com-munity High School student adecade ago, she and most ofher fellow FFA chapter mem-bers had parents or grandpar-ents who worked on a farm.

Jenness, who is now theKansas agriculture teacherand FFA adviser, said most ofher FFA students now do nothave any direct ties to farms,but still benefit from learningabout agriculture. She saidFFA draws students by offer-ing hands-on lessons and lifeexperiences that are applica-ble to careers in agricultureand other sectors.

For example, Jenness saidthe national FFA organiza-tion’s parliamentary proce-dure contest teaches partici-pating students how to run ameeting and how to get theirpoint across during a discus-sion. She said these studentsalso learn discipline andresponsibility as they practicefor the contest.

“Those are skills they canuse later on in life,” Jennesssaid. “It gives the kids skillsthey can use to their benefitlater on when they havejobs.”

Jenness said she was anFFA member during all fourof her years as a NewtonCommunity High School stu-dent and attended Lake LandCollege with the goal ofbecoming an agricultureteacher/FFA adviser.

At the University of Illinois,Jenness changed educationaltracks and graduated with abachelor’s in crop scienceagri-business. Jenness saidshe subsequently worked forabout a year in farm supplysales for Illini FS in JasperCounty before deciding thatagriculture education was hercalling.

“I just did not want to bestuck behind a desk everydaywith the same old, same old. Ineeded to be in a classroom

where I could teach,” Jennesssaid. She is now in her thirdyear at Kansas, her first post-ing as an agricultureteacher/FFA adviser.

Jenness said one of herfavorite aspects of being anFFA adviser is showcasingthe program to the rest of thecommunity during FFA Week.She said the chapter has helda children’s tractor pull andother “Agriculture in theGym” activities, organized apetting zoo, offered a teacher

appreciation breakfast, andmore during FFA Week.

In addition, Jenness saidshe appreciates that FFAoffers a positive activity forits students to take part inafter school. She said theFFA chapter is a close-knitgroup of students.

“FFA gives them a home-like structure away fromhome,” Jenness said.

Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Kansas FFA adviser Mallory Jenness works with student Justin Richardson as he builds an Adirondackchair at Kansas Schools in Kansas.

Agricultural upbringing not requirement

for FFA, says Kansas teacher Jenness

Family farm brought Arthur FFA adviser peace as child

V i s i t U s @

w w w. j g - t c . c o m

Lack of rain means winter

wheat crop is in jeopardy CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) —

Warm days and little rainmean the winter wheat cropin eastern New Mexico’s Roo-sevelt and Curry counties is injeopardy.

Farmers in the area say thecrop has suffered badly twomonths into the growing sea-son. If rain doesn’t arrivesoon, much of the crop mayfail.

Rick Ledbetter, a cotton andalfalfa farmer in RooseveltCounty, said the situation withwheat crops is not yet serious.He said if local farmers do notsee precipitation in the nextseveral weeks, the situationcould become dire.

“If we don't get some mois-ture, we won't be able to har-vest the wheat,” Ledbettersaid. “We'll see some effectson our summer crops, too, ifwe don't get some moisture.”

Ledbetter said he can visi-bly see the difference in hisdry land crops versus thoseirrigated, but the dry landwheat is still alive. The youngwheat just isn't growing.

Curry County commissionerand wheat farmer FrankBlackburn said he has neverseen such a dry season in his60 years in the county but thatthere’s time for rain to helpthe crop recover.

“I haven't given up yet,”Blackburn said. “There's stillplenty of time. We need mois-ture by at least April 1...”

Blackburn said his mainconcern is wind erosion,because wheat crops are notlarge enough to withstandharsh, dry winds.

Another Roosevelt Countyfarmer, Kevin Breshears, saidwinter kill is what farmerswill be facing if their wheatcrops do not get moisture.

www.jg-tc.com Friday, January 28, 2011 n 11FARM FOCUS

By AMBER LUSVARDIFor the JG-TC

BETHANY — EmilyPerry’s teenaged studentssometimes marvel at the factthat she gets up at 4 or 5 a.m.each day to feed her cowsbefore heading to school forthe day.

Perry’s entire day, in fact,is devoted to various aspectsof agriculture, from helpingher husband out on their cat-tle ranch to teaching agricul-ture to leading Okaw Valley’sactive FFA organization.Despite the hard work, Perrynever tires of her agriculture-filled schedule.

“Agriculture is my passionand it is my life,” Perry said.“When it is your passion itdoesn’t matter, you just do itall the time.”

Part of the reason whyPerry became interested inagriculture at a young age

was because of her owninvolvement in FFA while shewas a high school studentgrowing up in Shelbyville.Perry became involved inpublic speaking activitiesthrough FFA as well as live-stock judging.

She was also one of the des-ignated students who wouldgo to the middle school to getyounger students excitedabout joining FFA and takingagriculture classes once theyarrived at the high school.

What really turned Perry’slife in the permanent direc-tion of working in agriculture,however, was attending theAgriculture Youth Institute inMonticello as a high schoolstudent.

Throughout the course ofthe Institute, Perry said sheand the other participantstoured numerous businesseswhere people with agricul-ture backgrounds could work

and explored the wide rangeof possibilities available topeople with an agricultureeducation.

“It was geared towards allthe opportunities agriculturehas to offer and that is whatpushed me into it,” Perrysaid.

After attending the insti-tute, Perry said she realizedthat she wanted to become anagriculture teacher so shecould show other young peo-ple everything that could bepossible for them with anagriculture education.

And now that is preciselywhat she is doing as both theFFA adviser and agricultureteacher for Okaw Valleyschools. If she teaches herstudents nothing else, Perry

said she wants to show themthe many paths that can beavailable to them in agricul-ture, more than just the obvi-ous job of farming.

“That is what I am allabout, opportunities andopening doors,” she said.

In Okaw Valley, Perry saidthe students are very dedi-cated to the FFA programand the community has beensupportive of it as well.Perry sees part of her roleas FFA adviser as continu-ing to maintain that commit-ment the students have tothe program and its experi-ences.

“I am really proud of mykids,” Perry said. “FFA is thestrongest organization atOkaw Valley.”

10 n Friday, January 28, 2011 www.jg-tc.comFARM FOCUS

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By DAVE FOPAYStaff Writer

CHARLESTON — JulieNiemerg learned long agothat there’s a lot more toagriculture than “just learn-ing how to feed pigs andclean out their stalls.”

It just took her a while tolearn that after growing upon a hog farm near Quincy.Now, the Charleston HighSchool FFA adviser wantsher students to realize thesame thing and that it’s real-ly up to them to find the way.

“I want to make sure theyknow about all that’s avail-able,” Niemerg said. “I lettheir enthusiasm and theirchoices decide what we’regoing to do.”

She admitted that she was-n’t interested in FFA whenshe first started high schoolin Liberty largely because ofher work on her family farmand knowing “I didn’t wantto farm the rest of my life.”But the school’s agricultureteacher and FFA adviserpestered her to the point thatshe signed up during hersophomore year.

“I think the big part wasthat I realized there wasmore to it than scooping pigpoop,” Niemerg said. Shequickly learned to enjoy thevarious competitions FFAparticipation can offer andlearning about the “manage-ment side” of agriculture.

Niemerg said she decidedearly that she wanted to be ateacher. She started collegeat Quincy University major-ing in elementary education,but there were no agricultureclasses there and after oneyear, “I was in withdrawal,”she said.

Transferring to SouthernIllinois University led todegrees in agriculture educa-tion and to her meeting herhusband Mark. She lookedfor jobs in this area becausehe had a position at Lake

Land College, where he stillworks as an agronomyinstructor and farm manag-er. She was offered all threejobs for which she inter-viewed, and started as agri-culture teacher and FFAadviser at Windsor HighSchool in 1998.

She said she had to over-come replacing a popularteacher but “it just tooktime” to build relationshipswith the students. One stu-dent, Kacy Baugher, wasnational FFA secretary andstate FFA president whileNiemerg was there, one ofthe several accomplishmentsfor the chapter during thattime.

In 2004, Niemerg said, shewas ready to move to a larg-er program and a job thatwas closer to home. She took

over the FFA program atCharleston High School thathad largely focused on live-stock judging competitions.While she brought in moreactivities, that meant thechapter had to transition “toeverything,” she said.

“The kids have a broadview of agriculture,”Niemerg said. “It’s kind ofall or nothing with me. Thereis no middle.”

At the time, the chapter’syounger students were excit-ed about the approach, shesaid. It’s paid off the last fewyears with successes such asKiersten Kasey’s term asstate FFA secretary, JustinThomas’ national proficiencyproject championship andKasey’s and Richard Birch’sattaining their AmericanDegree, FFA’s highest honor.

Niemerg said she sees stu-dent record keeping for theirprojects as “a big part ofwhat it means to be an FFAmember” but that’s also partof a “balanced trio” withclass work and other activi-ties. Some of the chapter’ssuccesses should inspireother students to try to dothe same thing or more, shesaid.

“My goal is to get the stu-dents to have a more bal-anced experience, not justpick one thing and run withit,” Niemerg said. “I hopesomebody takes it and runswith it on the leadershipside. It’s exciting. It justtakes the right question forthem to want to step out.”

Contact Dave Fopay atdfopay@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.

Agriculture is ‘all or nothing’ proposition

for Charleston FFA adviser Julie Niemerg

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Charleston FFA advisor Julie Niemerg, center, looks over points scored during a parliamentary proce-dure session with FFA members Cassie Carson, left, and Ben Oakley, right, at Charleston High Schoolin Charleston.

Before school, Okaw-Valley FFA adviser feeds cows

Economist: good time to farmFORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) —

Demands for corn fueledlargely by ethanol have boost-ed prices for farmland andhave made it a good time to bea farmer, Purdue Universityagricultural economists say.

“I just don't see the factorsthat would turn us bearish inthe short run,” Chris Hurt toldthose gathered at the recentFort Wayne Farm Show. “Wedo have a really robust mar-ket. Everything's coming upaces.”

Hurt estimated that cornprices could reach more than$7 a bushel this year, with $15a bushel for soybeans possible.Returns are so strong thatprices of $10,000 an acre arebeing paid for the top farmground, he said.

He thinks the rising pricesof agricultural commoditiescould support significantlyhigher land prices, perhaps

$6,700 to $7,000 for land thatnow costs a little more than$5,000 per acre. That 30 per-cent price increase couldcome by the first half of 2012,he said.

Juan Sesmero, an assistantprofessor of agriculture eco-nomics at Purdue, said thatthe outlook for corn growers isbright because of the crop'suse in making ethanol. Indi-ana farmers produce between4 million to 5 million bushelsof corn for the ethanol indus-try.

James Schriver said thatgives him hope his childrencan join him in the fields.

“It's always been where youwere just barely getting by,but ethanol has changed that,”said Schriver, who owns afarm in Montpelier, about 45miles south of Fort Wayne.“They can actually make a liv-ing at this now.”

By ROB STROUDStaff Writer

CASEY — FFA adviserMark Harris has taken hissmall town Casey-Westfieldstudents to national FFA con-ventions in metropolitanKansas City, Mo.; Louisville,Ky.; and Indianapolis over theyears.

There, Harris said his stu-dents have been exposed toeducational and professionalopportunities availablethroughout the country andmet agriculture students fromthe United States and aroundthe word.

“FFA is just a pretty goodorganization for opening theirminds to the fact that there ismore to the world than ClarkCounty,” Harris said.

Experiences like this arepart of the reason he transi-tioned from working in thefields as a farmer to workingin the classroom as an agri-culture instructor/FFA advi-sor, Harris said.

Harris, who was in FFA atMartinsville High School, hasbeen on the job at Casey-Westfield for 18 years now.Harris said he completed hismaster’s in agriculture educa-tion from Southern IllinoisUniversity in 1995 after yearsof studying while farming and

teaching agri-culture. Hepreviouslytaught at Hut-sonville,Palestine, andRobinson.

At Casey-Westfield,Harris esti-

mated that about one-tenth ofhis approximately 80 agricul-ture students have parents orgrandparents who are farm-ers. He said this reflects thatfewer people are working inthe fields, but added thereare a lot of employmentopportunities in the agricul-tural sector.

Harris said many of hisFFA students have gone on towork in agriculture-relatedbusiness, education, mechan-ics, and production. He addedthat FFA’s lessons, includingforestry and public speaking,also prepare students forother types of careers.

“I think the career develop-ment events are very mean-ingful. They have a lot of lifeskills in them,” Harris said.

Within the Casey-WestfieldFFA chapter, Harris said hestrives to create a placewhere students feel like theybelong and can prepare fortheir lives after high school.He said one of his goals is to

help them develop a varietyof life skills so they will notbe dependent on just onesomeday for a career.

“FFA is an avenue wherekids can develop their skills,

recognize their self worth,and find out they are capa-ble,” Harris said.

Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.

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TOLEDO — Charlie Sap-pington said choosing acareer in agriculture educa-tion was a simple one.

“Being raised on a farmand being very involved in 4-H and FFA, it was an easydecision,” he said. “In life andwork, you have to love whatyou do!”

Sappington, CumberlandHigh School teacher and FFAadviser, has worked in ag edu-cation for 27 years. But hehopes his students learnabout more than agriculture.

“Along with teaching ag sci-ence, welding, small engines,ag business and horticulture,I hope to teach students abouthow to set goals and how tosucceed in life,” he said.

Sappington’s own success-ful career began at Cumber-land High School, from where

he graduated in 1978. While astudent, he was active inFFA, specializing in the areasof parliamentary procedureand livestock.

He went on to earn an asso-ciate degree from Lake LandCollege in 1980, and bache-lor’s and master’s degreesfrom Southern Illinois Univer-sity-Carbondale in 1982 and1988, respectively.

Sappington, 50, still lives onthe family farm, raisingchickens, sheep, goats, llamasand ducks, in addition togrowing alfalfa.

He believes the classes heteaches can help his studentsfind their own career paths.

“So many careers in a ruralcommunity are ag relatedand by taking ag ed classes,finding those careers can beeasier to identify,” he said.

“The FFA can give studentsa hands-on opportunity to

learn new concepts, whetherit is a career in forestry, meatevaluation, agronomy or anynumber of other career path-ways.

“Many of my students findthat FFA is like many thingsin life ... the more work youput into it, the more rewardsthat they will achieve.”

Sappington cites many suc-cess stories during his yearsas an FFA adviser.

“I have been blessed tohave nearly 60 membersreceive their State FFADegree, three AmericanDegree recipients, numerousproficiency award winnersand multiple Career Develop-ment Award winners at thesection and state level.”

Sappington’s dedication toag education doesn’t stopwith his work at the highschool, however. He has heldmany other positions in ag

education, including Section20 chairman, and IllinoisAssociation of VocationalAgriculture Teachers Districtdirector, vice president, presi-dent and past president.

Currently he is serving athree-year term as vice presi-dent of the National Associa-tion of Agricultural EducatorsRegion 4, which covers sixmidwestern states.

It appears that Sapping-ton’s dedication to ag educa-tion will continue in the nextgeneration. His son, Coleman,is currently at junior at SIUC,studying ag education, aswell.

He and his wife, Julia, alsohave a son, Jacob, who is asenior at CHS and is an activemember of the FFA chapter.

Contact Beth Heldebrandt at bhelde-brandt@jg-tc.com or 238-6857.

By BETH HELDEBRANDTFeatures Editor

Justin Parcel of Mar-tinsville has returned to hisalma mater to share his loveof agriculture with today’shigh school students.

Parcel is in his fourth yearas an agriculture educationteacher and FFA adviser atMartinsville High School.

Parcel, 35, graduated fromMHS in 1994 and earned abachelor’s degree in ag edu-cation from Southern IllinoisUniversity-Carbondale in1998.

Agriculture, he said, is inhis blood. He was raised on acorn and soybean farm southof Martinsville. His father,Jerry, and brother, Joey, stillfarm the land.

“I help out when I can,” hesaid.

While a high school studentin Martinsville, he was activein FFA, specializing in hands-on projects such as weldingand mechanics.

Parcel said his ag studentsthis year have been busybuilding a trailer to raffle offat the Martinsville Ag Fairthis summer.

“The last two years we haverestored an antique tractorfor our FFA project,” he said.“The first tractor was donat-ed. The second one we had tobuy.”

The students completed therestoration projects in one

school year.In addition to the tractor-

restoration and trailer-build-ing projects, Parcel said someof the highlights of the yearfor him are attending theNational FFA Convention andFFA competitions with hisstudents.

FFA members compete inareas such as horse judging,

forestry and agronomy.“It’s an extra education for

them,” Parcel said. “Theyspend all their time out ofclass, before and after school,studying for these competi-tions.

“There’s a lot of good mate-rial in these contests that thestudents have to learn, stuffthat you don’t have time to

teach in the classroom,” headded. “There’s a lot of thingsI’d like to spend more time on(in class) but it’s hard to dosometimes.”

Parcel and his wife, Megan,have two children, Jackson, 5;and Hayden, 3.

Contact Beth Heldebrandt at bhelde-brandt@jg-tc.com or 238-6857.

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Martinsville FFA adviser Justin Parcel, right, instructs student Aaron Thomson on building a ramp for atrailer at Martinsville High School.

Justin Parcel returns to Martinsville H.S.

to share love of agriculture with students

Cumberland ag instructor teaches students life skills

Casey’s Harris knows FFA opens up windows to world

Harris

Advertise: JG/T-C

www.jg-tc.com Friday, January 28, 2011 n 9FARM FOCUS

By DAWN SCHABBINGStaff Writer

NEOGA — Derek Light ofTeutopolis has an apprecia-tion for agriculture and saidhe enjoys sharing that as ateacher and FFA adviser.

The vocational agricultureteacher and FFA adviser atNeoga High School was raisedon a small farm in Cumber-land County. He said his highschool agriculture teacher atCumberland High Schoolhelped guide his career path.

“Mr. Sappington was a hugeinspiration in my choosing tobecome an agricultureteacher. Being a teacher, I getto touch on so many differenttopics, in a single day,” saidLight.

His ag-related experiencesincluded growing up on asmall grain and livestockfarm near Toledo; participat-ing in FFA as a high schoolstudent; and entering intolivestock judging and otherag-related contests.

With 6 years of teaching onhis resume, he first beganteaching in Patoka, and cameto Neoga 3½ years ago.

“I hope to make all of mystudents productive citizensthat are able to better theircommunities. I try to focusmainly on agriculturemechanics, so that students

are able to fix and repairthings on their own,” Lightsaid.

He said watching the stu-dents grow and mature fromfreshmen to seniors isrewarding.

“I enjoy the interactionwith the kids day-to-day, andseeing them grow,” saidLight.

He said not every studentwill end up working on thefamily farm, but there are afew who will. Others will

work in an ag-related indus-try or away from the farm.But, the lessons learned willstill benefit each student.

“I believe it is important toteach agriculture to studentsbecause it is a huge industrythat is ever-growing. We havethe safest and cheapest foodsupply in the world, andeveryone has a right to knowwhere it comes from.

“Our country was foundedby farmers and we are slowlyloosing family farms, so it is

important to know where wecame from, so we knowwhere we are going,” saidLight.

Neoga’s FFA programboasts a first-place award inthe county for its Envirothon.

The FFA now holds a FarmSafety Day each year at theNeoga Middle School, and ithas had an increased mem-bership and participation inthe FFA program at the highschool, under his leadership.

Among other duties, Lightis a staff sponsor for theClass of 2013.

As a vocational agricultureinstructor Light believes heis making a difference.

“I can teach these kidsabout how different crops dounder different circum-stances. We have test plotsand we can compare theyields. I can teach them howto weld. Some of them mightwant to become professionalwelders, and now they have achance at it,” he said.

Light, 28, is a graduate ofCumberland High School,Lake Land College and South-ern Illinois University at Car-bondale.

He and his wife, Katy, havea daughter, Emma, 2.

Contact Dawn Schabbing at dsch-abbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.

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Wildman focuses on sweat equity with studentsBy DAWN JAMES

Staff Writer

STRASBURG — As a child,Mark Wildman always had anan interest in teaching.

He said he was fortunate tohave a lot of teachers whowere good role models, andhe enjoyed helping them inthe classroom. Having grownup on a 400-acre farm raisingcattle and owning Dorsetsheep, he was active in FFAand 4-H projects in his youthas well.

At Lovington High School,his passion for ag grew. Heserved as the FFA treasurerfor more than three years. Hewas also a member of theSunnyside Flea Flickers 4-HClub and Moultrie County 4-HFederation. His favoriteactivities were livestock judg-ing and public speaking con-tests.

Also, during high school,his guidance counselorhelped him as he prepared togo to the University of Illi-nois, Wilsman said.

At the U of I, he was activein agricultural clubs andactivities that solidified hisaspirations of becoming anag education teacher, a pro-

fession he has been in for 31years. Wildman is the agteacher, work study supervi-sor and FFA adviser at Stew-Stras.

He said it is important toteach the youth about ag forthe following reason: “AsAmericans we are the stew-ards of the land. We are thebreadbasket for the world.The population of the world

will double in the next 20years or so, and each yearthe amount of available farmground decreases 2 percentper year; therefore, we mustproduce more food on lessground.

“The FFA motto,” he said,“‘Learning to Do, Doing toLearn, Earning to Live, Liv-ing to Serve,’ says a lot aboutwho we are and what we try

to accomplish.”Wildman’s goal is to instill

in his ag students that “theycan accomplish whateverthey want if they put in thework ethic,” he said. Hewants them to know thatthere are careers in agricul-ture that “can take themwherever they want to go.”

Some highlights for Wild-man are when his studentsreceive a blue ribbon at theFFA fair, first place at a con-test or the American FFADegree, he said.

In teaching his students, helikes to focus on what theyare interested in.

“I feel it is important forstudents to be able to be pub-lic speakers,” Wildman said.The students like Quiz Bowl,soil evaluation, public speak-ing, livestock and dairy con-tests, he said.

He and his wife Jeanne, apatient accounts employee atSt. Anthony’s Memorial Hos-pital in Effingham, have fourchildren: Lauren (Luke)Wetherall; Nicole; Alecia;and Shalyn. He also has fourgrandchildren: Tyler, 5,Dylan 3, Wyatt, 18 months,and Karly, 5 months.

Submitted Photo

Stewardson-Strasburg ag teacher Mark Wildman discusses automo-tive maintenance with students during a shop class.

Totten says FFA is excellent leadership opportunityBy DAWN JAMES

Staff Writer

SHELBYVILLE — Havinghad four different ag teachersin high school and missingout on some wonderful FFAopportunities that more con-sistent instruction might haveoffered, created a desire inMandy Totten to become anagriculture teacher and FFAadvisor.

“I wanted to be an agricul-ture teacher and allow everystudent ample opportunitiesthat are available in the agri-culture industry,” said Totten.

For the past four years, shehas taught a wealth of agri-cultural classes at ShelbyvilleHigh School and serves as theFFA advisor there. Prior tothat, she taught at Clay CityHigh School for six years,serving as an ag educationteacher and FFA advisor.

At Shelbyville, she teacheseverything from ag mechan-ics, horticulture and farmmanagement to agriculturalscience.

Growing up, she wasinvolved in Cumberland Coun-ty 4-H for 12 years raising andshowing beef cattle andsheep. In high school, she wasa member of the Casey-West-field FFA for four years and

was active in career develop-ment activities such as creed,agronomy, public speaking,livestock judging and dairyjudging, she said.

Totten feels honored to bethe advisor for the ShelbyvilleFFA program and said she isblessed with amazing stu-dents who always give 110percent when representingthe chapter, school and com-munity.

Her students have excelledin many areas earning sec-tion, district and state

awards. Some students havealso advanced to the nationallevel, she said.

“I hope that each and everystudent gains hands-on skillsand knowledge that they canapply to the endeavors thatthey embark on within theirlife,” she said. “FFA is anexcellent opportunity for stu-dents to gain premiere leader-ship, personal growth, andcareer success.”

She said her optimum goalis to see her students reachtheir potential and capture

their dreams.Currently she said she has

six students that will be com-peting for the FFA Americandegree, which is the highestdegree. She said to have sixstudents competing for thatis a good representation ofthe program.

She said her students workbefore school, after schooland often at lunch time.

Her students are preparingfor an upcoming poultryjudging competition. She saidtwo years ago they advancedto the national level in thatarea. Other upcoming con-tests are in ag mechanicsand dairy and livestock judg-ing.

“We are definitely blessedwith a lot of talent,” she said.Johnny Eloe, a junior, whowon the state competition injob interviewing last yearhas advanced to state againand will compete Feb. 12, shesaid.

Totten, 32, was raised inCasey and earned an associ-ates degree from Lake LandCollege and bachelor andmasters degrees of science inagriculture education fromSIUC.

Contact Dawn James at djames@jg-tc.com or 238-6866.

Dawn Schabbing/Staff

Neoga High School students Matt Hall and Jonathan Atwell getinstructions about welding from Derek Light, a vocational agricul-ture teacher and FFA adviser at Neoga High School.

Derek Light hopes to make his students citizens

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www.jg-tc.com Friday, January 28, 2011 n 7FARM FOCUS

By ROB STROUDStaff Writer

MARSHALL — Growing upon the family farm, StephenRobinson heard his fathercounsel that conservation isimportant because “they arenot making any more” farm-land.

Stephen Robinson and hisbrother, Greg, have taken onthe responsibilities of helpingtheir mother, Carolyn, runthe family farm southeast ofMarshall following the deathof their brother Mike in atruck accident in 2008 andtheir father, Gerald, passingaway in 2000. Their responsi-bilities include conservingthe land for future genera-tions.

“You have got to take careof what you got, so conserva-tion is a top priority,”Stephen Robinson said.

Recently, the Robinsonswere presented with the 2011Conservation Family Awardfrom the Clark County Soiland Water Conservation Dis-trict Board. The district ispart of the U.S. NaturalResources Conservation Ser-vice.

District conservationistJason Conner said the Robin-sons have enrolled 180 acresinto the Flood Plain Ease-ment Program, restoring wet-land habitat in the Big CreekBottoms and increasingwater quality in the area.This program is funded bythe American Recovery Act.

Conner said some of thefamily’s other conservationmeasures have includedenrolling more than 20 acresof native prairie grasses and10 acres of bottom land treesinto the ConservationReserve Program.

“They use best manage-ment practices in their otherfarming endeavors and arevery responsive to correctingsoil erosion problems. It hasbeen a joy to work with Car-olyn and her family and wehope to continue a good rela-tionship and help themachieve their conservationgoals,” Conner said.

Stephen Robinson said thecost-sharing Flood PlainEasement Program was agreat opportunity for his fam-ily because it provided for the

hiring of a contractor to planttrees in 180 acres along BigCreek, where the soil is vul-nerable to flooding.

Working such a large proj-ect around his and his broth-er’s full-time work schedulesas engineers with the IllinoisDepartment of Transporta-tion in Paris would have beenimpossible, Stephen Robinsonsaid.

“We are doing the best wecan with the time we have todevote to it. There is notmuch downtime, that is for

sure,” Stephen Robinsonsaid, adding they devotemuch of their IDOT vacationtime to the spring plantingand fall harvest. “You haveto make your time on thefarm as enjoyable as you canbecause that is part of yourvacation.”

Carolyn Robinson said shehas been glad to see her twosons, as well as her grand-sons, carry on their family’sfarming tradition. She saidfamily helping each other isan important part of farmlife. She grew up helping herfather on their farm, workedthe fields alongside her hus-band, and has always donethe bookkeeping for herfarm.

“I have been a jack of alltrades and a master of none,”Carolyn Robinson said.“Sometimes I think I couldwrite a book.”

With pride in her voice,Carolyn Robinson noted thather sons have constructeddiversion ditches, dry damsand other conservation meas-ures on the farm. She saidher son, Greg, once placedout more than 100 tons of ero-sion-prevention stones byhand.

Greg Robinson said he hastaken his experience design-ing conservation measuresfor IDOT and applied it to thefamily farm. He said he hasalso appreciated gettingadvice from their farm neigh-bors on which measures workand which do not.

“You can take the boy outof the farm, but you cannottake the farm out of the boy,”Greg Robinson said. “You donot stop being a farmer whenyou become an engineer.”

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District conservationfamily of the year pictured from left, Greg, Carolyn and Steve Robin-son.

Farming like vacation for IDOT engineers,

Clark conservation award-winning family

Mixing city wisdom downstate in SullivanBy HERB MEEKER

Staff Writer

SULLIVAN — For a down-state high school agricultureteacher, Don Lockwood camefrom a different neck of thewoods.

His hometown wasEvanston in the suburb beltof Chicago.

“Yes, I’m originally fromEvanston and I’ve beenteaching at Sullivan for 23years now,” said the 48-year-old teacher and Future Farm-ers of American sponsor of 68members. “I’m what you’dconsider your non-traditionalag teacher.”

The University of Illinoisgraduate came to Sullivanwith a knowledge of urbanagriculture. He had knowl-edge in small-animal care,landscaping and gardening.He was moving into a down-state community two decadesago where teaching agricul-ture meant concentrating onfarm productivity and othertraditions.

“When I came here then mybackground definitely raisedsome eyebrows. I had to provemyself. I had gained experi-enced in productivity agricul-ture from my work with mygrandparents and the U of I.It was a transition,” Lock-wood recalled.

But Lockwood soon realizedhe had many students withouttraditional farming back-grounds. So he applied someof his urban ag lessons to theclassroom and that matched

how agriculture education hasevolved over the years. Thelessons of agriculture applythe same to hundreds of acresof grain crops to helping peo-ple produce masterpiece gar-dens. And they can both pro-duce rewarding careers aswell.

“I wouldn’t have had muchof an audience if I had onlyconcentrated on productivityagriculture in my classes.

Right now, only 10 to 15 per-cent of my students have thatbackground through theirfamilies. I think I’ve beeneffective because I can sharedifferent kinds of agricultureexperiences with them,”Lockwood said.

Technology and alternativeenergy lessons get many ofhis students and FFA chaptermembers charged up thesedays — ranging from ethanol

efficiency ratings to windpower.

“I’m finding there definite-ly is an interest there. Youhave to be creative in teach-ing,” Lockwood said.

So Lockwood and his wife,Marta, consider Sullivanhome and a place where thecity mixed well with the coun-try.

Contact Herb Meeker athmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.

Ken Trevarthan/Staff Photographer

Sullivan High School FFA teacher Don Lockwood (on right) and his students check on the state of thefish in their fish farm project Jan. 18 at the school in Sullivan.

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Drought has hit more thanhalf of the land in theprovince normally used togrow wheat — about 5 millionacres (2 million hectares) —and that number is rising,according to a notice posted

Monday on the provincialwater bureau's website.

Many areas have seen noprecipitation in four months,and 872,263 acres (353,000hectares) of spring wheat hasalready dried up or is begin-ning to fail, it said. More than240,000 people and 107,000head of livestock alreadyhave lost access to drinkingwater and are forced to relyon deliveries from fire trucks.

Unusually dry conditionshave spread across much of

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Dry weather and higher-than-average temperaturesare forecast well into spring.Scientists say it is a result ofthe La Nina effect that is alsoresponsible for the harshwinter weather.

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Ken Niemerg of Dieterichsaid “the world isn’t gettingany bigger,” so finding waysto conserve soil is the onlyway to help future genera-tions in agriculture.

The Niemerg family farmwas recognized in 2010 for itsquasquicentennial, marking125 years as a family opera-tion.

In 1994, his sons, Darin andDuane Niemerg, began a part-nership and named the opera-tion, “Harvestore Acres.”

The farm is located about1½ miles southwest ofDieterich, in EffinghamCounty.

Recently, the EffinghamCounty Soil and Water Con-servation District recognizedHarvestore Acres, as the“Outstanding ConservationFarm Family for 2010.”

Today, Ken Niemerg, 81, isretired, but much of his lifehas involved working on thefarm.

“I was born and raised onthis farm. Over the years, wegradually went into soil con-servation practices, includingno-till,” said Ken Niemerg.

One early conservationpractice began almost sixdecades ago on the Niemergfarm.

“In 1954, we had a dry year,and we built a lake and start-ed irrigating. This was thefirst irrigation set-up in Eff-ingham County, at that time,”said Ken Niemerg.

Duane Niemerg, 49, ofDieterich said his relativesalso began building somegrassed waterways about thatsame time, in an attempt tosave the soil.

In those earlier days, con-servation practices were lesscommon.

“In this area, with somerolling hills, we had to find away — especially in thespring time with the heavyrains — to keep the soil fromeroding into the MississippiRiver,” said Ken Niemerg.

Darin Niemerg said someof the practices in placetoday include tiling, grassed

waterways and terraces. Allare used to reduce soil ero-sion.

The family applied forfunding to help with the proj-ects through the Environ-mental Quality IncentivesProgram.

EQIP offers technicalexpertise in planning conser-vation practices, which helpprotect the water, air, andland — and more.

The program offers a cost-share plan in order to makethe project affordable for thefarmers, according to theUSDA Natural ResourcesConservation Service website.

“We applied for and wasawarded EQIP funding forupgrades. Once awarded wehad a year to complete theproject,” said Darin Niemerg,44, Teutopolis.

Effingham County SWCDAdministrative CoordinatorDenise Willenborg said theagency recognized the prac-tices that Harvestore Acreshas put into place.

Harveststore Acres wereawarded EQIP funds last

year and again more recent-ly, and were able to repairsome waterways and repairsome terraces, through thissame program, she said.

“Harvestore Acres epito-mizes what it means to cou-ple conservation programs,proper management and per-sonal initiatives in a farmingoperation to maintain andimprove its naturalresources,” said Willenborg.

Darin Niemerg said about75 acres of the 250 the broth-ers farm, are consideredhighly erodible land.

“We have made severalupgrades to existing water-ways and terraces. We arehelping the water flow byharvesting the grass off thewaterways, which means lessdebris build up,” he said.

The brothers also seed theditches with wheat or rye, sothese areas don’t wash out,as badly.

“We use cover crop onsome of the highly erodableground and no-till or mini-mum till, whenever we can,”said Darin Niemerg.

The brothers each work off

the farm as well. Darin, who is married to

Lisa, is a father of five, andworks at Effingham Equity;Duane, who is married toAnnette, who is also a fatherof five, works at EffinghamClay Service Company.

“I would think if we get allthese practices in place, ourkids will continue to followthem,” said Darin Niemerg.

Their farm work includesbaling hay and selling it tolocal livestock producers.Their spring and summerseasons usually involveworking seven-days a week toaccomplish all their respon-sibilities.

Ken Niemerg and his wife,Lou Ann, are the parents ofseven children including a setof triplets, reflected on thechanges he’s seen, especiallyconcerning conservationpractices.

“In my lifetime farminghas changed a lot. We used toplow it, disc it, harrow it, andthen plant. Now, it is no-till.”

Contact Dawn Schabbing at dsch-abbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.

By DAWN SCHABBINGStaff Writer

TOLEDO — Lewis Clark Jr.of Toledo doesn’t believe thatretirement equates to doingnothing, especially when itcomes to farming.

Named the 2010 Outstand-ing Conservationist by theCumberland County Soil andWater Conservation District,Clark said he believes in con-serving the soil for futuregenerations.

His involvement with theConservation Reserve Pro-gram and many practicesover the years caught theattention of the SWCD.

Randy Hurt, resource con-servationist with CumberlandCounty SWCD, said Clark hasused the no-till practice on hisfields for years.

“He gets out there prettyearly and gets it done, andgets it done consistently.He’s a very conservation-minded gentleman,” saidHurt.

Clark has participated inthe Bobwhite Quail HabitatProgram, where he set aside10 acres in field borders toenhance the wildlife, forexample. He has some acresof filter strips to improvewater quality, and has addedgrass waterways and gradestabilization structures tohelp reduce soil erosion.

“I’ve been farming forabout 60 years. We startedwhen we rented a farm westof Toledo, starting in about

1950,” he said, with his wife of62 years, Wilma, at his side.

The newlyweds startingrenting the farm from MaudeHuffman Flood, but whenClark’s father, Lewis Clark,died in 1951, they began totake over the family farmsoon thereafter.

The family farm is locatedabout five miles north of Tole-do.

Clark, 82, said he “officiallyretired” in 1988, but he contin-ues to stay active and works

with his son-in-law, RonMathenia, on the family farm.

He once had livestock, butin 1976, Clark became strictlya grain farmer.

“We’ve been 100 percent no-till on corn for I don’t knowhow many years. We are no-till on beans anytime wecan,” Clark said.

Mrs. Clark said her hus-band continues to work manyhours during the summers,even though he is retired.He’s been involved in farming

all of his life, except from1948-1950, when he servedwith the U.S. Navy.

Hurt said Clark is alwayswilling to do whatever it takesto do things the right way inorder to protect the soil.

“He still does a lot of workby himself. He’s not aboutfancy equipment and he iswilling to work with what hehas. He is just a good guy,”said Hurt.

He is a member of the Tole-do United Methodist Churchand has served as chairmanof its Administrative Council,and on its Board of Trustees.He is a member of the FarmBureau, and past member ofFarmers Home Administra-tion. He was on a bowlingteam for nearly 50 years, andstill enjoys a game now andthen.

His spare time is oftendevoted to his family: wife,Wilma; daughter and son-in-law, Jill Clark (Ron) Mathe-nia; and his grandchildren,Reilly, 12, and Reid, 10.

Clark said he believes hisefforts to be conservation-minded have paid off for thegenerations to come.

“I do what I can. A lot ofpeople ask me, ‘When yougonna quit?’ But I tell them,‘Probably when the good Lordcalls me — and they throwdirt in my face.’”

Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschab-bing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.

Harvestore Acres near Dieterich recognized

for Niemerg family’s conservation practices

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

From left, Darin, Kenneth and Duane Niemerg are seen at their farm near Dieterich on Jan. 15. TheNiemerg family farm is celebrating 125 years of operation.

Lewis Clark Jr. named 2010 Outstanding Conservationist

in Cumberland County by Soil and Water Cons. District

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Cumberland County Conservation Farmer of the Year Lewis Clark athis residence in Toledo Jan. 7.

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CHARLESTON — Withmore than 25 years experi-ence in the field, Jim Looft,county extension director,says he loves working withpeople, especially rural peo-ple.

Growing up, his parents,Harold and Geneva Looft,farmed in LaSalle County.

“I have always had aninterest in agriculture andloved working with farmers,”he said.

Looft has a wealth of expe-rience in the field serving fornine years as an Illinois coun-ty director; 13 years in Ten-nessee as a farm manage-ment and marketing educa-tor; and four years in Ken-tucky also as a farm manage-ment and marketing educa-tor.

He is currently leadingthree counties — Coles, Cum-berland and Shelby — andthat will be expanded toinclude Douglas and Moultriecounties July 1.

Throughout the years, hehas seen change in parentorganization(s) due in part tothe decrease in state funding.He said this is a problemnationwide not just in thisstate.

The cutbacks have beenmade “in spite of researchand reviews that state exten-sion has been successful andthat it is still a model for out-reach programs,” he said.

Other challenges Looft hasexperienced along with thestruggles with funding arechanging social dynamics andhaving enough time to do thethings that need to be done.

He has enjoyed watchingfamilies grow and learn

together and has receivedsatisfaction from impactingsomeone’s life while workingwith the families as a team,he said.

In his current role, hewould like to bring newopportunities with the exten-sion programs. Within thepast year, the state extensionprogram has been reorgan-ized.

“Extension is about helpingpeople learn and growthroughout their lives,” hesaid. “My hope is that thisreorganization will enable usto provide the type of learn-ing experiences and activities

that will provide more oppor-tunities to engage people inlifelong learning.”

He said with the changeseducators have been assignedto the local unit that will“offer programming that hasnot been readily available fora long time.”

With more than six million4-H members in the nationand more than 23,000 in thestate, the extension plans tokeep 4-H as a priority pro-gram and to expand youthprograms to focus on leader-ship, workforce skills andspecial interest type clubs, hesaid.

He also said with thenewly reorganized unit,teamwork and volunteerismwill remain to be very impor-tant.

“It is my belief that thereorganization has creatednew and wider doors, notonly for youth but for all.”

Looft has a bachelor of sci-ence degree in plant and soilscience from Southern Illi-nois University, a master ofscience degree in agribusi-ness economics from SIU,and has completed worktoward a doctorate in agri-cultural economics at Vir-ginia Tech.

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Abill pending before the stateSenate would authorize theraising of geneticallyenhanced deer on breedingfarms in Mississippi.

The bill, approved lastweek by the Senate WildlifeCommittee, would allow theimport and export of farm-raised white-tailed deer, it'ssemen, ova, and embryos.

Sen. Tommy Gollott, aRepublican from Biloxi, tellsWLBT-TV in Jackson that the

practice could bring millionsto the state annually.

He says Texas, Louisiana,Florida, and Alabamaalready engage in this buy-ing, selling, and hunting ofwhite-tailed deer.

"It will allow the smallfarms to have enclosureswhere they can raise thesedeer, sell the deer, buy deerfrom outside the state of Mis-sissippi," Gollott said.

The Mississippi WildlifeFederation is against the

practice saying it could causecontamination.

"It's happened in otherstates where they have pinraised deer where you havethings like chronic wastingdisease that can be passed toour native white-tailed deer,"said MWF director KathyShropshire.

Gollott said the state vet-erinarian would oversee eachoperation, which would berequired to buy an annuallicense.

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University Extension’s Looft has seen many

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LEETOWN, W.Va. (AP) —The 20 or so horses that roamCarousel Farm off Darke Laneare huge, gentle beasts thatcome in colors from black togray to white.

One of those horses, Excal-ibur, a big, black 7-year-oldPercheron stallion, is a primeexample of the draft horsebreed that farm owner JimMcGowen has been raisingsince 1984.

A big stallion can stretch18.2 hands high and weigh upto 2,500 pounds, he said. ManyPercherons weigh more than aton.

McGowen began breedingPercherons in Calhoun Coun-ty, W.Va., and moved to his 90-acre Jefferson County spreadin 1986. His current herd isfifth generation.

The sturdy, docile horseoriginated in the Perche Val-ley area of northern France.Early on, Percherons werefavored by knights to carrythem and their heavy armorinto battle. During the Cru-sades, Percherons were cross-bred with Arabian horses,McGowen said.

Percherons, because of theirsize, stamina and demeanor,were favored among drafthorse breeds for pulling largewagons and carriages, evencity trolleys.

He hitches his horses to afour-passenger fancy carriagehe had made in 1989. He rents

the rig and horses out for wed-dings, social events, weddingsand similar events.

Percherons, which foundfavor with American farmersin the days before tractors, arebecoming popular again onsmall acreage and vegetablefarms.

“They’re environmentallyfriendly,” McGowen said.

He said he breeds his horsesfor size, refinement and tem-perament.

“You don’t want these bighorses to be mean,” he said.

The breed had lost its popu-larity in America around theearly 1950s, McGowen said.

“They were nearly extinct,”he said. “In the beginning ofthe ‘70s, you could buy aPercheron for $500. By the endof the ‘90s, they were $3,500 to$4,000.”

He sells his horses to buyersaround the country.

McGowen sometimes cross-breeds his Percherons withthoroughbreds to produce stilllarge, but lighter horses foruse in events like cross-coun-try racing, dressage and stadi-um jumping.

They are also popularamong fox hunters, he said.

“They’re sturdy and canjump a 4 1/2-foot fence,” hesaid.

“Genetically, Percheronscome in black, gray and whitewith gray being the dominantcolor. Grays often turn white

as they get older,” McGowensaid.

“That’s why it’s hard tomaintain a matched team ofgrays,” he said. “One of themwill always turn white. Ifthey’re born black, they don’tchange color, but grays do.You can’t breed for color. It’sthe luck of the draw.”

At one point during arecent afternoon visit, therewas a blur of black, gray andwhite, pounding hooves andshrieking whinnies when ahalf-dozen Percherons graz-ing on a hillside raced acrossthe field to greet a mare thatMcGowen had just turned out.

“They get along well,” hesaid.

In addition to breeding andselling Percherons, McGowensells a leather-protectionproduct interchangeablycalled Leather Honey andHarness Honey, depending onwhether it’s for home or com-mercial use.

The formula, still a secret,was developed by his father,Dan McGowen, for use onleather soles. It was found tobe useful on all leather prod-ucts, from harnesses and sad-dles to furniture and clothing,he said.

Kryssie Ward, who worksfor McGowen, spends hertime packaging and shippingmore than 100 orders a day,all of which come in over theInternet.

Percheron horses gaining popularity

on small farms as tractor alternative

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By BONNIE CLARKStaff Writer

Perhaps no one over theyears has been more sur-prised to be named ColesCounty Farm Bureau’s Out-standing Member of the Yearthan Paul Hurst of Loxa.

Hurst received a plaquehonoring him Jan. 17, at theFarm Bureau annual meet-ing.

“I didn’t think I was eligiblefor it, I guess,” he said. “Itjust never occurred to me.I’ve always been a member,but I wasn’t as active untilafter the kids were grown.

“Glenda knew about theaward and she had me outlooking for new clothes. Ithought it was just because Ineed them, not for anythingspecial,” Hurst said. “But itturned out we didn’t find any-thing.”

Hurst, 72, owns and oper-ates Hurst Farms Inc., withhis wife, Glenda, assisted bytheir son, John.

The couple graduated fromCharleston High School in1956. They started dating dur-ing their senior year in highschool. Their first date, a hayride and weiner roast hostedby Eloise Buffenmeyer for thebusiness club.

While he grew up helpinghis dad farm, Hurst didn’tstart farming until about fiveyears after the couple mar-ried in August 1957.

He worked for Bob Mooreat Moore Building Co., rightafter their marriage.

“Then Dad needed somehelp and I started farmingwith him in the early 1960s.”

Hurst said he has lived onLoxa Road, “The Loxa Turn-pike” he calls it, all his life.

“I haven’t strayed very far.When we were first married,we lived in a little house nearhere and my uncle farmedthis place,” he said.

“The house was little andwe didn’t have much,” Mrs.Hurst said, “but those weresome of the happiest times.”

“The house where we raisedthe kids was a green housedown the road,” Hurst said.“It’s not there any more. Itwas cold and we sat on thespace heater most of thetime. When this place becameavailable we started farminghere and bought it when wehad the chance.”

Like most farm boys in thelate 1940s and early 1950s,

Hurst helped out on the farmat an early age, and wasproud to be able to drive thetruck or tractor.

“I’d drive along and dadwould throw hay on thetruck,” he said. “And Iremember once he let me godisc a field down by the gradeschool by myself. It was a bigdeal to me. I don’t rememberhow old I was, but it wasbefore I was in junior highschool.”

He was a founding memberof the Kickapoo Ramblerswhen he was young, and hascontinued to support 4-H live-stock programs.

Hurst, working with hisson, John, has a grain opera-tion.

“We used to raise hogs, butwe don’t do that anymore,” hesaid. “And, I used to be a seeddealer, too, but I don’t do thatanymore either.”

Throughout his career,Hurst has embraced the latestinnovations in the seed indus-try, and hosted a corn hybridplot for many years.

Mike Stanfield, Coles Coun-ty Farm Bureau president,when announcing Hurst’saward, said he is a past FarmBureau director, served on the

executive committee, and hasalso served as a drainage dis-trict commissioner in severalwatershed districts for morethan 25 years.

“He was among the first togo “all in” on geneticallymodified seed,” he said.

“Paul also participated infarm studies 30 years agowhich found the use of soilinsecticides to be economi-cally justified.”

The Hurst farm, Stanfieldsaid, “also drew attentionacross this part of the statefor a soybean plot which didyield comparisons betweendifferent soybean herbicidesprior to the widespread useof Round-Up Ready soy-beans.”

Hurst was surprised to bejoined at the dinner meetingby his four children: PaulaMoore of Brighten, Mich., aminister’s wife; Susan Laley,a Mahomet teacher; Johnand wife Melissa, and Dar-ren, a Morton high schoolteacher, and wife Jill.

The couple has 10 grand-children, and four great-grandchildren, with anotheron the way.

The Hursts said they didn’thave a very restful nightafter he received his award.

“We couldn’t go to sleepjust thinking and wonderinghow we got to this point,”Hurst said. “It has all goneby so fast.

“I wouldn’t have had theopportunity to farm if itweren’t for my parents andgrandparents. People havehelped us all along the way.And, we’re thankful.”

Staff Report

MATTOON — Whetherjudging beef cattle, swine orsheep, the Lake Land Collegelivestock judging team knowshow to make award-winningdecisions.

This season the team wonthe champion team titles atthe Purdue Block and BridleJudging Contest, Western Illi-nois University Hoof andHorn Show, NACTA LivestockJudging Contest, the TulsaState Fair Junior Intercolle-giate Livestock Judging Con-test, the National BarrowShow and the AmericanRoyal.

They won Third High Teamat the North American Inter-national Livestock ExpoJunior Intercollegiate Live-stock Judging Contest andFourth High Team at theNational Western Stock Show.

“The students worked hardthis year both academicallyand with their extracurricu-lar activities, and it paid off.They earned their awards asa team, as well as many indi-vidual accomplishments,”Coach Jon Althaus said. Thiswas Althaus’ 19th and finalyear of coaching, as he hasaccepted the position of divi-sion chair of agriculture.

“One of the awards to the

champion team at the Ameri-can Royal is the ‘BronzeBull.’ This is a traveling tro-phy sponsored by the Live-stock Marketing Association.It will be on display in thecollege’s West Building tro-phy case for one year,”Althaus said.

Team members are Dillon

Garver, Paris; Carly Wesner,Chalmers, Ind.; Cody Lamle,Columbia City, Ind.; JustinSchaal, Farina; Caleb Klin-genberg, Hamilton, Mich.;Jordan Rauch, Montrose;Clay Zwilling, Sherrard;James Schinbeckler, Colum-bia City, Ind.; and Kurt Berg,Dieterich.

4 n Friday, January 28, 2011 www.jg-tc.comFARM FOCUS

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Submitted Photo

Lake Land College livestock judging team members are, in front, from left, Dillon Garver, Carly Wesner,Cody Lamle, Justin Schaal and Caleb Klingenberg. In back, from left, are Jordan Rauch, Clay Zwilling,James Schinbeckler, Kurt Berg and Coach Jon Althaus.

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By DAVE FOPAYStaff Writer

MATTOON — Ryan Wild-man has helped two highschool FFA chapters getstarted, taking a lifelonginterest in agriculture anddeveloping a philosophy shethinks is best for students.

Early on, she spent a lotof time on “the basics”before things got going tothe point where herapproach could change. TheMattoon High School FFAadviser now tries to puts thestudents in a position thatlets them succeed.

“I realized that if I do itall, the students aren’tlearning anything,” Wildmansaid. “I can help them, butin the end it has to be theirdesire to do well.”

She grew up on a smallfarm near Lovington. Herhigh school didn’t have anagriculture program but shetook classes and participatedin FFA through an exchangeprogram with Sullivan HighSchool. She was a chapterofficer and finished secondin the state parliamentaryprocedure competition hersenior year, and after that“something in ag” was heronly career thought.

“I always had an interestin agriculture and workingwith people,” she said. Aftertransferring to Southern Illi-nois University from LakeLand College, her planswere “something with ag,”deciding on teachingbecause of job possibilitiesin the area she loved.

She was a student teacherfor Charleston High SchoolFFA advisor Julie Niemergwhen Niemerg was in theWindsor school district, andthen hired to start an agricul-ture program and an FFAchapter at Tuscola HighSchool. During her six yearsthere, the chapter was “reallysuccessful” for one just start-ing, with several state contestqualifiers and finalists.

“I had to take everything I

knew and go with it,” Wild-man said. Part of it was get-ting advice from Niemerg,Sullivan High School FFAadviser Don Lockwood andothers, she said.

“You learn from the peopleclosest toyou,” shesaid. “If itweren’t forthem, I prob-ably wouldn’tbe teaching.”

She startedat MHS in2007, attract-ed by thelocation andthe chance tostart another,larger FFAprogram.FFA hadbeen absentat Mattoonfor a fewyears, andWildman said she wantedstudents “actively becominginvolved.” The chapter isstill small but has “a lotmore students becomingactive,” she said.

She said she tries toencourage participation with“fun activities,” such as thefarm animal petting zoo thechapter’s conducted the lastthree years. The zoo exposes

the public as well as otherMHS students to the agricul-ture program and lets FFAmembers “show off theirprojects” and learn how tobe “ambassadors for agri-culture,” she said.

The chap-ter hasalreadyreceivedrecognitionat the nation-al FFA con-vention andwon competi-tions, andmember DJShirleyearned herstate degreein her FFAproject.Wildmansaid she“wouldn’thavethought” the

chapter would be this suc-cessful this early but that’sstill balanced with what shethinks it might accomplish.

“Most of the time, if yougive students a job they’llaccomplish it,” she said. “I’dsay our biggest accomplish-ments are still coming.”

Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.

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Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

Mattoon High School FFA advisor Ryan Wildman, right, uses a Smartboard while teaching FFA students, from left, Dalton Manning, CarterJones and Gabe Stoll, about identification of meat cuts at the school in Mattoon on Wednesday.

“I realized that if I do it all, the students aren’t

learning anything. I can help them, but in the end it has to be their

desire to do well.”Ryan Wildman

RECYCLEPlease

your newspaper

registration papers for her.“I showed her successfully

for two years. She was cham-pion every place she wasshown.

“Most of the offspring Ikept to start my own herd,”he said. “And, while I was inthe Army, Dad took care ofthem for me.”

When Taylor came homefrom Korea in 1954, hereturned to Oakland, got mar-ried, took his cows with him,and started farming on hisown.

That’s when he began usingthe name Accent AngusFarm, which he has used eversince, and which has gar-nered respect not limited tothe local community.

Jerry Cassady, regionalmanager for the AmericanAngus Association, hasknown Taylor for 20 years. Hedescribed him as “a likeableguy who is very professional.

“He’s always willing to dothe homework, legwork andthe traveling it takes to stayup to speed, stay at the top ofhis game,” Cassady said.“He’s been a good promoterof Angus as long as I’veknown him.”

The continuity of quality toconsumers is just one of thereasons Taylor has such highpraise for the breed.

“When you go to buy apiece of steak, if it’s certifiedAngus beef, you know it’sgoing to be good. But, it hasto say ‘certified,’” Taylor said.“Angus is known for beingsweet and tender with goodmarbling. You eat that steakand you’re going to want tobuy another.”

Taylor said in the 1950s, theAmerican Angus people werelooking at cattle that wereshort and fat — carrying toomuch fat.

“It was a time we called the

‘Fatty 50s,’ and it lasted awhile,” he said.

“In the 1960s the only placeyou could go to get a bull thatwould increase the size ofyour cattle was Canada, andthat’s what I did.

“I went there to buy Coal-bridge Marshall 25 in Albertain 1970, but I couldn’t get thejob done. He was bought by aman from Sullivan, Mo. Hebought two-thirds interest andthe other third was kept bythe breeder in Canada.

“When I got home, I wasable to talk the breeder intoselling his third to me, but Ihad to guarantee him somany ampules of semen peryear. That was when theywere getting started usingartificial insemination.

“After we bought him, thatwas the beginning of the real-ly good cattle we’ve had onthe farm. He was the begin-ning of the line.”

Taylor said there are manyconsiderations when buyingcattle, and Angus breeders’detailed record keepingmakes all the difference.

“There’s a lot more to buythan four legs and a hide,” hesaid. “EPD (Expected Proge-ny Difference), you’ve got tohave that along with the otherrecords. It tells you if there’sa light birthweight; the wean-ing weight at 205 days; mater-nal, how well the mother isproviding milk; and the year-ling weight, which should be1,100 to 1,200 pounds.

“If you have all those, youhave a pretty good idea whatyour future herd will be,” hesaid.

Taylor became partnerswith Max and Fred Miller ofOakland in the early 1970s.

“We each had 50 percent ofthe herd,” he said, “and ourherd sire was CoalbridgeMarshall.”

The men began having pro-duction sales that were heldevery year for nine years onIllinois Route 133 betweenOakland and Hindsboro.

“People came from all overthe country, everywhere,”Taylor said. “In fact, we soldto a lot of people from Cana-da who knew the breeding ofCoalbridge Marshall 25.

“After we quit having thesales, it was time to end ourpartnership because, andonly because, the boys (theirsons) were coming homefrom college and wanted tofarm.”

Splitting up the herd was noproblem, he said. The part-ners just flipped a coin to seewho went first and then tookturns choosing from the cowsand 2-year-old heifers. Bothkept an interest in the bulls.

“I had used the name‘Accent Farms’ before thepartnership, so naturally Ikept the name.”

Accent Miss Rosebud 60,sired by Coalbridge Marshall,came along after Taylor wason his own again.

“She was the heifer thatwas never defeated in 1980,”he said. “She was also grandchampion at the IndianaState Fair.

“I bred the grand championsteer in 1967 that was shownby our oldest son, Brad. Wesold it in the 4-H sale for 60cents a pound. I think cattleat the time were about aquarter a pound at the stock-yards.

“In 1972, Craig, our otherson, showed another steer webred and owned and hebrought $1.60 a pound, an all-time record at the sale atthat time. Now they sell forabout twice that.

“Craig was the nationalheifer award winner in 1977.He also came in second outof 72 in 1977, at the NationalJunior Angus Show inLouisville, Ky.”

Today, Craig and his son,Luke, handle the grain farm-

ing.The Taylors’ daughter,

Andrea, also won awardsshowing Angus, however, Tay-lor said he feels bad that he“never got a champion bredfor her to show.”

Craig’s twin sons, Matthewand Jonathan, 11, will be

showing this year, Taylorsaid.

Champion herd sires bredand raised by Taylor haveincluded Accent Marshall 191,the son of Coalbridge Mar-shall; Accent Mr. Noble; andConnealy Predest, which Tay-lor purchased at a sale inNebraska. He weighs 2,500 to2,700 pounds and is the cur-rent herd sire.

“He has five heifers outthere now that look realpromising,” Taylor said. “Ithink they’re good enoughthat we can take a couple tothe National Heifer Show.”

The cattle business has pro-vided a good life for Taylorand his family, he said.

“It teaches responsibility toyour children,” he said. “Itteaches values and character,and some of the nicest peopleyou’ll meet in the world arelivestock people. We’ve madesome wonderful friends.”

His wife, Jane, said Taylordidn’t tell her before theywere married that they weregoing to “get this involved inraising cattle. He may havehad it in mind, but he didn’tshare it with me,” she said.

The Taylors have been mar-ried for 56 years. “I must bedoing OK,” he said. “She’sstill smiling at me.”

Contact Bonnie Clark atbclark@jg-tc.com or 238-6847.

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general economy with increas-ing unemployment, mortgageforeclosures and governmentbailouts of the financial andauto sectors. Across the Unit-ed States, the unemploymentrate doubled from 5.0 percentin January 2008 to 10.0 percentin December 2009.

Coles County experienced asimilar increase, jumpingfrom 6.1 percent in Jan. 2008to 10.3 percent unemploymentin December 2009.

“When the regular economydoes poor, the farm economydoes well,” said RichardThomas of the FBFM officein Chrisman, which workswith eastern Illinois farmers.

“The last three years wereprobably the most profitableyears in history,” saidThomas, who has been withthe FBFM office for 15 years.

Farmers struggled some

from 2000 to 2004, but in 2005,net farm income in Illinoisincreased to $62,940. Net farmincome topped $100,000 in 2006and then climbed above the$200,000 mark for two yearsbefore dropping to $84,212 perfarm in 2009.

Those are statewide aver-ages after expenses, Raabstressed. Some farmers didbetter; some did worse.

“The ones able to keep theircash rents in line and whohave done a good job of mar-keting are doing well,” saidRon Krukewitt, who handlesag business at People’s Bankof Charleston.

“Borrowing is up but theyare paying back more, too.That’s the good part,” Kruke-witt said.

Darrel Good, ag economicsprofessor emeritus at the Uni-versity of Illinois, said farm-ers specializing in grain farm-ing “have fared very well thelast couple years.

“The livestock sector,maybe not so much,” he said.

“They have been paying high-er prices (for feed) and theprices they receive are justnow catching up.

“On average, though, it’sbeen good for agriculture. It’sa bright spot,” Good added.“It hasn’t always been thatway for agriculture.”

The figures for 2010 will notbe available for another cou-ple of months, but Raab sees a“near-average year” statewide.

While the number of peoplewho farm in Coles County andthe region may be small, ag’simpact still is felt.

“It certainly helps,”Thomas added. “Farmers buypickup trucks and groceriestoo.”

“It has propped the econo-my up,” Raab said of ColesCounty’s ag sector. “I wouldimagine agriculture and East-ern Illinois University are biginsulators there from the restof the economy.”

Contact Bill Lair at blair@jg-tc.comor 238-6865.

ECONOMYContinued from 1

horses that compete nation-ally from June through Octo-ber. He takes pride that oneof his mares is now in Cana-da and rated as the top ofher class in North America.

“We just show them. Theyare bred differently from thepulling horses. But somepeople use draft horses forhobby farming with cutting

hay and harvesting crops.Draft horses were used onmany American farms upthrough the second worldwar,” Drake said.

He said his daughter andson help with some of thechores related to the horses.That can amount to heavywork just to keep the ani-mals fed and watered.

Though this horse breedhails from the Clyde Rivervalley in Scotland, a Clydes-dale owner cannot be frugalon the feed and water. Grow-

ing Clydesdales will con-sume 6 to 8 pounds of graindaily. Twenty to 30 pounds ofhay are chewed up per day.The daily water intake ofthese horses is about 15 gal-lons.

“Younger horses eat a lotmore than the older onesdo,” Drake said.

That is part of the reasonwhy the Drakes caution visi-tors from petting the horseswith their magnificentmanes and “feathering” ontheir hoofs.

“We don’t want people pet-ting them because thesehorses will nibble and chewthings,” Drake said.

But the horses are friendlyto all creatures great andsmall. When a black cat wasabandoned at the Drake resi-dence, the female feline tooka liking to the horses. Today,“Midnight” is as much a partof the Drake family as theClydesdales.

Contact Herb Meeker athmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.

POWERContinued from 1

ANGUSContinued from 1

growing up in a small com-munity, it was all around her.

“There is no comparison.Farmville is fun. Real farm-ing is not,” she said.

Another Farmville fan grewup on a dairy farm and saidthere is little to compare Far-mville to a real farm. Mostvariables that go into farm-ing, such as weather, are nota part of the game.

“Farmville is obviously lessof a gamble than real farm-ing,” said Carol Libby ofUrbana. “(In real farming)there is always the challengeof the weather and mechani-cal difficulties.”

Libby, 45, said her farmingexperiences include working365 days a year on a dairyfarm in Wisconsin, where shegrew up.

She recalled her summerswere “super busy” includingharvesting hay three times,harvesting grain and thencorn; plus doing all the thingsfor the dairy operation that

needed done on a day-to-daybasis, she said.

“I would hesitate to evencompare Farmville to farmingfor real. The only exception isthat when it’s time to harvest,it’s time to harvest, and thatis about the only thing that issimilar,” she said.

Libby now works at Rock-well Automation in Cham-paign, after attending theUniversity of Wisconsin atEau Claire for two years andRed Wing Vocational Collegefor one year.

“I started playing (Far-mville) out of peer pressure.Some of my Facebook friendswere playing and wanted meto join them so that theycould have more friends,” shesaid. “It is kind of challengingto get everything done in atimely manner, but I mostlydo it, because it is somethingto do. It is also fun to deco-rate the way that I want toand change things around. Ijust think that it is fun.”

Zynga, headquartered in SanFrancisco, reports on its web-site that Farmville players aredoing more than having fun.They are also helping the world.

Within days after therecord-setting earthquake hitHaiti, one of the poorest coun-tries in the Western hemi-sphere, Zynga game playersgot busy lending a hand. OnJan. 20, 2010, Zynga reportedin a press release that about300,000 players raised morethan $1.5 million for Haitirelief in five days.

Gamers purchased “virtualsocial goods” to support therelief efforts in Haiti. Far-mville players alone generat-ed $1 million, while Fishville,Mafia Wars and Zynga Pokerplayers also contributed.

Through Zynga.org, playershave raised more than $3 mil-lion for world social causes,according to its website datedNov. 3, 2010.

Players can enjoy Far-mville at no cost, and canmake “money” by “selling”harvested crops.

This virtual income can beused to buy farm supplies,seeds, buildings, equipmentand fuel and eventually morefarmland.

Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschab-bing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.

FARMVILLEContinued from 1

Kevin Kilhoffer/Staff Photographer

A registration certificate of Dick Taylor’s first heifer in 1945 for a 4-H project is pictured at Taylor’shome near Oakland on Jan. 10.