Thank You Farmers
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
THANK A FARMER
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Hard work leads to success Joseph and Maddie Buckley own and operate Hanson Family Meats in Gilman
Photo by Phil Angelo
Joseph and Maddie Buckley own and operate Hanson Family Meats in Gilman.
By PHIL ANGELO
row. This year they have taken a first small step into Wagyu Beef. They have one Wagyu cow. Wagyu is a form of Japanese beef noted for being tender and being marbled with fat. When grilled, the fat melts, creating a distinctive rich, buttery taste. They are also in the beginning stages of getting into the farm fresh egg business. They have acquired two dozen chickens, who will begin to lay in the near future. It seems that the Buckleys were born to bring food to your table. They are a fifth-generation farm family. He’s 27. She’s 25. They will celebrate their second anniversary September 7. Joseph, the son of Greg and Edie Buckley, holds a degree in Ag Management and Production from Joliet Junior College. Maddie has a degree in Ag Business from Lake Land College. They were introduced by a member of Maddie’s family, E.N. Hanson, a sheep farmer. Both were in FFA and 4H in high
school, she at Iroquois West and he at Herscher. Maddie was president of 4H and FFA in high school. Today the couple belong to the Farm Bureau and to the Illinois Beef Association. Maddie was a powerhouse at the Iroquois County Fair, showing the grand champion steer five years in a row. She got as high as fifth overall at the Illinois State Fair. At the age of 21, she had the Grand Champion Market Animal at the World Beef Expo in Wisconsin. Maddie was profiled in The Showtimes, a national show cattle Magazine. When asked what they do for relaxation, well, they work. They perform maintenance on their equipment. They clean. They care for the animals. “We work a lot,” Maddie says. They tend to eat at home. Maddie bakes and cooks, creating pies with fresh fruit. There are homemade soups and stews. They grow vegetables. “We know exactly where our food comes from,” she says.
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3 THANK A FARMER Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Joseph and Maddie Buckley combine the savvy of modern marketing with the old-fashioned values of hard work. Husband-and-wife Joseph and Maddie are the owners and operators of Hanson Family Meats, located in Gilman. Hanson was Maddie’s maiden name. She’s the daughter of Doug and Lisa Hanson. Her dad always wanted to operate a beef business. When the Gilman farm was up for sale, dad recommended Maddie buy it and start selling meat. She did. Joe would come over on weekends to help out while they dated. They then got engaged. After a seven-month engagement, they married and now spend every day working on the farm together. They continue to do that with devotion. They process about 70 animals a year. They’ll sell a whole, a half or a quarter cow. Bigger purchases like that need to be picked up at the
meat locker in Chenoa. They also work with Beans and Barley and Blue Barn Market in Ashkum., but most of their sales come in the form of the cuts of meat ordinary folks expect — like steaks, roasts and ground beef. They have a website and a Facebook page with a store link. Order from them and you’ll get an email confirmation. The purchases can be picked up at their 9-acre Gilman farm or a Danforth location operated by Maddie’s parents. The Buckleys make the point that this is local beef, raised entirely here and fed here. The animals come from the farm of Maddie’s parents. Their feed is locally sourced, hay, corn, and soyhulls (a form of pellet) from Incobrasa. The Buckleys take their time with finishing, going a little slower. The combination of tender care and less travel makes a difference. The result is far tastier, they say. Maddie says they get people who try their steaks for the first time and ask if they can come back tomor-
Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
THANK A FARMER
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Young pumpkin grower wins national FFA vegetable award It all started with an idea from mom
By PHIL ANGELO Five years ago, young Mason Riebe was looking for something to do. Mom Sarah suggested taking an unused plot of the family farm and turning it into a pumpkin patch. Mason was not enthused at first. “Who wants to do that?” he said to himself. But he tried it, persevered and succeeded “beyond his wildest dreams.” Now Mason, 19, and a graduate of Tri-Point High School, is the national FFA champion for vegetable production in the country. Riebe was active in FFA at Tri-Point. He was the chapter’s Sentinel (a form of greeter) in his junior year and the Reporter in his senior year. He holds the coveted designation of Star Farmer in FFA and will receive the top award of American Farmer at the upcoming national FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Riebe’s acre of pumpkins on the family farm in Kempton triumphed over larger vegetable operations from the other 49 states. The judging for top vegetables is not solely based on the volume produced. Rather, a great weight is placed on the difficulties overcome. Mason gets extra credit because he started his pumpkin patch from scratch, rather than inheriting work that some other family member had started. He also gets credit for marketing. He’s on Facebook and annually has a grand opening weekend in mid- or late-September. He takes Venmo. He’s on Facebook. Most sales, though, once past the opening days, are on an honor system. People pick out their pumpkins and leave payment. It’s a method similar to rural sweetcorn stands from other farmers. Also to his credit, pumpkins are a tough crop to grow. An ordinary onlooker might think that they automatically grow atop the soil without much care. That’s not the case. Pumpkins, it turns out, are tough on the soil, so Mason moves that plot every year. It is now back, in its fifth year, in its original spot. Pumpkins are also susceptible to Rootworm Beetles. Mason combats them with a special pesticide. There is also a pumpkin fungus and a soil blight that can hold down pumpkin growth. 2026, he says, has been one of his roughest years. It’s been Photo by Phil Angelo
Mason Riebe points out an early pumpkin in his Kempton patch. The seeming blotches on the plant are natural and actually desirable.
be used for decoration. They will be on porches and yards throughout the area during the Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving season. He grows an astonishing 90 varieties of pumpkins. We may all think of pumpkins as large orange spheres. All pumpkins start out green, but as they mature the different varieties show themselves. He will have blue pumpkins, pink pumpkins, yellow pumpkins, green pumpkins, red pumpkins and black pumpkins. There are even black pumpkins that get a yellow patch — perfect for Halloween. So Riebe does his pricing according to “looks more than weight.” Some of the pumpkins, he adds, get donated to local nursing homes — “at least a truckload.” So if you see some colorful hallway and lobby decorations at a Ford or Iroquois home, those pumpkins may have started in Riebe’s patch. Mason gives big thanks to mom Sarah and dad Jeff for their support. He is also grateful for his customers, many of whom return from year to
THANK YOU FARMERS From The Guys That Never Wear Ties
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Photo by Phil Angelo
Mason Riebe stands in front of his pumpkin patch in Kempton. He won the national FFA award for vegetable production. year. While a lot of work, the pumpkins are not his fulltime job. He drives a semi for Heritage FS of Gilman. He delivers fertilizer, chemicals, rock and machinery in an area stretching from Watseka to Peoria.
During his first year of growing, Mason used part of his earnings to buy a dirt bike, but he’s more serious now, saving for his future. “I’m going to keep trying to do this,” he says.
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THANK A FARMER Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
a good year for the beetles. Soil blight has also been a problem. And pumpkin farming is hard work. While all farming is hard work, pumpkins, especially in small patches, are done by hand. Riebe plants the seeds by hoe. He says he plants earlier than most pumpkin growers, starting near the end of May. He harvests by hand, too, walking along and picking them. There is a mechanical harvester that can be used for large plots. But those pumpkins, he explains, are grown exclusively for food, destined for cans of pumpkin pie filling. The harvesting machine jostles them around quite a bit and they lose their perfect form and shine. “They may look a little raggedy,” he says. There are upsides, too. By using land on the family farm, Mason starts off with good soil. Pumpkins, too, are hardy when it comes to water. They store water in their leaves and stems, so much so that it is visible. By contrast to many large operations, Riebe’s pumpkins will mostly
Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
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Training, family ties prepare new Farm Bureau Manager
Jayden Mussatto is the new manager of the Kankakee County Farm Bureau tion dust. But she also participated in challenging duties: grant writing seminars, running board meetings Jayden Mussatto is the new manand updating websites. ager of the Kankakee County Farm She also received extra training Bureau. in Ag in the Classroom and MarketMussatto worked with Farm Buing at the main Illinois Farm Bureau reau Managers for nine months in 21 Office. different bureaus across the state as She’s met with legislators, manpart of the County Manager Assoaged Quickbooks and taken the ciates program. It was on-the-job Making Membership Matter training. training as she did a wide variety of She notes that she learned diftasks. There was the mundane work ferent strengths in different farm of handling roof leaks, handing out bureaus. T-shirts and mopping up constric“Effingham showed the value of By PHIL ANGELO
educational ties, while Bond-Fayette taught financial management across two counties. Union focused on organization and marketing, and Knox emphasized professional development. “Pike-Scott offered youth engagement through Ag in the Classroom, and Tazewell highlighted active board involvement. DeKalb showed the power of local collaboration.” The Kankakee County Farm Bureau has an ag educator in Sherry Spencer, and Mussatto learned the importance and fun of ag education.
She loved seeing children understand, she says, that chocolate milk does not come from brown cows. She has a goal, in Kankakee County, she says, of creating more Farm Bureau events. “I want to have more community engagement,” she says, “to let people know that we are here.” Mussatto replaces Korbin Collins, who served for three years. Collins left May 15 and is now the Communications Liaison at the Illinois Farm Bureau home office in Bloomington. Mussatto says she has a “passion
THANK A FARMER We promote agri-business through education, leadership, and legislation to enhance the economic future of our communities.
www.HeritageFS.com
SM-CL2343477
1380 S Crescent St., Gilman, IL (815) 265-4712 kacie@fifarmbureau.com
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for agriculture.” Working for the Farm Bureau, she says, “allows you to connect with incredible people.” “This is a huge opportunity,” she says. “I am beyond thankful to the Kankakee County Farm Bureau.” Mussatto, 24, earned a degree in business administration and management from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville after getting her associates degree from Illinois Valley Community College. A friend recommended the Farm Bureau as a possible career choice for Mussatto. She investigated it and found it to her liking. She originally grew up in Marseilles in LaSalle County. She’s a graduate of Ottawa Township High School where she was a cheerleader and threw both the discus and the shot put for the track team. She’s the daughter of Josh and Kelly Mussatto. Her dad was involved in both 4-H and FFA. But her ag and outdoor roots really go back further. Grandparents Terry and Therese Mussatto raised bunnies and were active in barrel racing. On the other side, grandparents Larry and Debbie Higdon operate a hunt club in Seneca. Her great grandmother Carol Mussatto, Jayden explains, had a lifelong career with the United States Department of Agriculture.
Jayden has a younger sister Paige and a younger brother, Cooper. Jayden’s significant other, Hueston Wilson, farms in Ottawa. The couple is expecting their first child in December. The couple also has an ag link. Mussatto has always wanted to own livestock. When she communicated that to Hueston, he said he would make that happen. So they are now the proud owners of Gilbert the Jersey. Gilbert was bought at an auction in Arthur. Gilbert is now housed on the Maierhofer farm in Ottawa. The Maierhofers are known as sheep farmers and they are also sellers of mums. Although Mussatto is still fairly new to the job, she did arrive in time to participate in the Kankakee County Fair. She met with the 4-Hers, met the Farm Bureau Young Leaders and passed out much appreciated popsicles in the barns. For relaxation she’s a craft person. She makes turkey mount fans, a display of turkey feathers. She also creates jewelry, Permanently You by Jayden. That effort makes bracelets for your wrist that stay on without a clasp. She has two Australian sheepdogs, Stetson and Moose. Mussatto likes the small town rural life. She’s thinking of more livestock in the future and she’s moving to Seneca.
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THANK A FARMER Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Photo provided
Jayden Mussatto, the new manager of the Kankakee County Farm Bureau.
Daily Journal / shawlocal.com/daily-journal • Wednesday, August 26, 2026
THANK A FARMER
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RICH HANSEN
E-mail: RHansen972@aol.com Cell: 815-383-4558 Fax: 815-933-4558
Designated Managing Broker Licensed in Illinois and Indiana
During Harvest, Farmers give up meals at their table so we can have meals at ours.
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