North Central Illinois Ag Mag - Fall 2025

General Manager/ Advertising Director Jeanette Smith jmsmith@shawmedia�com

Editor Jim Henry

Writers Martha Blum Tom C Doran

Photographers Martha Blum Tom C� Doran

Designer Liz Klein

Talking trade

Parker, Bunting conduct meetings with trade groups

By TOM C. DORAN tdoran@shawmedia com

DWIGHT, Ill. — International trade, a national barrow competition and local 4-H and FFA activities have kept Dan Parker on the run since he met with AgriNews a month ago.

In his role as an Illinois Corn Growers Association board member, Parker, along with Art Bunting, of Dwight, a member of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, was in Chicago on Sept. 24 to talk trade and other issues.

“We have a staff member

who organized this meeting that started working for Illinois Corn in February. His previous role was with the U.S. Trade Representative in D.C. So, he has a lot of trade background, and then he relocated to Chicago. We also had another staff member whose focus is on trade and exports who came up, and two farmers, Art and myself, to provide our perspective,” Parker said.

Among the trade topics of the meeting was the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“We met with groups to talk about trade. They’re reviewing the USMCA. The comment period for the trade agreement is open right now. So, we met

with the Canadian consulate and the Mexican consulate and just wanted to see where we could help each other. We’re all pretty much on the same page,” Parker said.

“We all wanted to continue and it’s been a really good thing for agriculture in all three countries. So, we hope that things are going to stay the same and we reiterated the importance of not only the grain, but also the biofuels as part of it. I think we had really good conversations.

“We also met with a food export individual for the Midwest who helps smaller companies, with under 500 employees, take their processed food product to export. They do advertising for them and connect them with buyers and other countries to

4-H, FFA

Dwight’s annual Harvest Days celebration was held Sept. 18-21 and 4-H and FFA members were busy.

The Parkers’ daughter, Sarah, is a Dwight Township High School senior, FFA chapter president and a 4-H member.

“We grow the Indian corn for the Harvest Days 4-H booth at our house and had all the kids come out. They helped pick it and shuck it back,” Parker said.

“Then we have a big meeting on the weekend before Harvest Days and they all come and tie all the Indian corn, we get the pumpkins, we get mums and we get all that stuff ready to haul in. The kids then sell that on Saturday and Sunday during Harvest Days.”

On the FFA side, the DTHS chapter hosted a tractor show for Harvest Days that included about 18 antique tractors.

Dwight’s FFA also recently

From the Fields: Ready to go

Parker

We’re getting our bean head and combine ready to go. We’re also working on the semi, getting it ready to go, greasing everything up and doing one last run-through on everything before we go.

As of Sept. 25, we have a few soybean fields I think we’ll be able to get into this weekend. Our corn’s still a week away.

Dan Parker DWIGHT, ILL

hosted a Farm Safety Day at the chapter’s plot with grade school and high school students in at-

tendance.

“They just showed them all the blind spots to be careful of on semis, auger carts and combines,” Parker said.

“They let them sit up in the combine and see for themselves. We parked the FFA adviser’s car behind the combine, and walking up to it, you could tell it was a little ways away, but when they sat in there, they couldn’t see it at all. I think it helped to teach the kids a lot about farm safety.”

NATIONAL SHOW

In early September, the family went to a national barrow show in Minnesota.

“We took seven pigs total up there. Sarah got to show her four pigs there and the Bunting kids showed three. They did really good. I think they placed from third down to seventh or so in their classes, and Sarah got top 10 in showmanship in her age group. She was pretty excited about that. It was a pretty good accomplishment up at a national show,” Parker said.

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Ag income among top IFB issues

By TOM C. DORAN tdoran@shawmedia com

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Farm income concerns along with state and federal issues continue to be a focus of Illinois Farm Bureau.

Brian Duncan, a grain and livestock farmer near Polo in Ogle County and IFB president, discussed the many issues facing agriculture during an interview at the Illinois State Fair’s Ag Day.

What are the top concerns IFB is focusing on?

Duncan: I think the thing we talk about that’s kind of overarches everything right now is farm income. We’re very concerned as we continue to read the economic reports coming out of the University of Illinois.

Every farm’s got a little bit of a different economic story but, in general, this year, last

year, next year, an awful lot of our members are going to be upside down.

We know the cattle industry is on a roll, and good for them, they deserve it because they had a rough ride before this.

The hog industry, which I’m a part of, is seeing some daylight, but has a big hole to backfill, and row crops, I’m hoping we can find a bottom pretty soon. But farm income is a real concern.

We are grateful for the passage of the ag provisions, that were contained in the budget bill. Those have the potential to be beneficial. We’re grateful of the tax provisions. Those are beneficial.

Is trade an ongoing concern?

Duncan: We are hoping for some significant wins here as trade has become cloudy. Our trade relationships are cloudy. We’re seeing a lot of

frameworks announced and that’s good.

That provides a discussion for further deals, but I keep looking to read specific amounts of Illinois commodities or ethanol that are going to be moving into some of these countries, and it just appears we need to get some meat on the bones on some of these deals.

I try to look at things as challenges and opportunities, and a lot of challenges you can turn into an opportunity with the right work, the right connections and the right communication, and that’s what we’re trying to do as an organization.

There are also some trade wins. I met with the Office of Public Liaison at the White House. I talked about easy wins, low-hanging fruit, such as year-round E15, whole milk back in public schools. There are things here.

The “Make America Healthy Again” report creates some interesting challenges and opportunities. Challenges to our science that we rely on, that we want to make sure we’re using sound science, but maybe opportunities for good farmraised protein to once again be talked about in a positive light.

Our pork or beef, our poultry products, our dairy products, planning their place in schools and in people’s diets. So, again, rising up and meeting the significant needs of farm income.

On the state level, we’re still working hard with stakeholders on getting estate tax relief. That is a battle we are not going to give up on.

We know property taxes have become an increasing concern for our members,

See ISSUES, Page 8

ISSUES

PAGE 7

and we are not taking that issue lightly, either.

Then it’s always watching on both the state and the federal side burdensome regulations that directly impact farm income. It is a full plate. Fortunately we’ve got a great team at Illinois Farm Bureau, and fortunately we’ve got great members that we rely on to help carry the message to the representatives, to their congressmen.

What are some of the things you’d like to see in the mini farm bill?

Duncan: Security for an interstate commerce. It goes beyond Proposition 12. If that is a not fixed it is a precedent that is dangerous for all of agriculture to allow one state to regulate how Illinois farmers grow their products. It’s a bad precedent.

I hope there’s an opportunity to perhaps discuss some of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program dollars. Some of that funding that was maybe not appropriated that we had farmers counting on.

Again, anything that we can do to talk about incentivizing biofuels, the trade title, there’s a ton yet to discuss. Those are a few of the biggies.

Year after year, there’s talk on Capitol Hill about year-round E15, sustainable aviation fuel and other renewable fuel issues, but no concrete action is taken

Brian Duncan, Illinois Farm Bureau president, is interviewed by Roger Ward, WLDS farm director, of Jacksonville, during the Illinois State Fair’s Ag Day media event

by Congress. So, what can be done?

Duncan: We went the tax credits to be right, and we think the extension of the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit is a good step.

And the next-generation biofuels, I think, has a positive story to tell. It takes time to build out infrastructure and we want to make sure the demand is there.

I had U.K. Consul General Richard Hyde at my farm and asked him about the opportunities for sustainable aviation fuel for planes coming from Europe and from the U.K. He says, “We’re all in.”

So, they have to refuel somewhere, right? And we know there’s biofuel producers in this state that are making commitments to produce both renewable

fuels from both corn and soybeans and that’s a positive.

We want to make sure that the tax credits and the infrastructure remains something that we can rely on, because something that’s here today and gone tomorrow makes people very hesitant to invest the kind of dollars that are needed.

Report shows dual impact of state livestock

By TOM C. DORAN tdoran@shawmedia com

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A new economic impact report shows there’s more to Illinois farms than just corn, soybeans and wheat along the highways.

The Dual Impact — Environmental Stewardship and Economic Value of the Illinois Livestock Industry report was released by the Illinois Pork Producers Association and Illinois Beef Association.

“Agriculture is one of Illinois’ largest industries. Livestock farms have often been operating in Illinois for generations, with communities building around them,” the report said.

“Livestock adds value to existing agriculture in our local communities and provides significant income and jobs in Illinois. The livestock industry, which includes raising livestock, processing meat and dairy, and producing animal feed, is an economic engine in Illinois.

“In 2024, the state’s livestock industry accounted for $7.8 billion in value added, 69,826 jobs, $27 billion in total sales and $4.9 billon in labor income.”

The report also looked at sustainability in both pork and beef production.

“For hog production, an industry-funded life cycle analysis of pork production between 1960 and 2015 demonstrated that pig farmers reduced their land, water and energy use by 75%, 25% and 7%, respectively, resulting in a nearly 8% smaller environmental footprint,” according to the report.

“Furthermore, data released by the EPA in April 2021 attributes only 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to agriculture, of which the pork industry is responsible for about 0.4%.

“For beef production, from 1961 to 2021, the U.S. beef industry reduced the carbon footprint of beef by 42.76%. EPA data from 2022 also notes that raising beef accounts for just 2.3% of all U.S. GHG emissions.”

“We did the impact report on what the livestock means to Illinois. It’s really a good report, and I’m glad we were able to team up with the beef producers to do that,” said Cheryl Walsh, of Princeville, IPPA immediate past president.

The economic impact report helped bring to light the data that those in urban areas may not be aware of.

“We’re able to produce more with using less resources every day on the beef and pork side of it,” said Walsh in an interview during the Illinois State Fair’s Ag Day.

Walsh, a fourth-generation producer, operates Cowser Inc., which includes a sow farm, hay and a cow-calf operation. All the weaned pigs from the farm are sold directly to customers.

She also operates a sister company, Cowser Field and Feedlot, which grows corn and soybeans and helps produce some of the products that are fed to the sows.

PORK UPDATE

“It’s been a great year for us producers. Production’s up. Profitability is up a little bit more. Some of our input costs are down a little bit more, and that’s just helped all of us in general,” Walsh said.

“The prices are within the profit margins. It’s a lot better than it was a few years ago.

We’re not bleeding red. To do this you have to enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, there’s no way you can do it.”

From an IPPA policy standpoint, members hope for a new farm bill and strong exports and have continued concerns regarding Proposition 12 that forbids the sale of whole pork meat in California from hogs born of sows not housed in conformity with that state’s law.

Walsh said there are efforts to address Prop 12 in the new farm bill.

“We’re still kind of in the back-and-forth process of getting it written into the farm bill in different phases and things like that,” she said.

“U.S. Rep. GT Thompson serves as House Agriculture Committee chair. He is a huge advocate for the pork industry. He’s a very good advocate for us, and we have some other really good advocates that understand our reasoning behind why we need a fix on this, and then there’s some that are screaming ‘states rights’ and it’s OK. We just have to explain what’s going on to some of them and then they start to understand why we’re doing things the way we are and why things are the way they are.”

IPPA is also advocating for increased exports.

“Exports are extremely important to our industry and the cattle industry. A lot of the meat and other things that are exported to other countries are products that we wouldn’t use here,” Walsh said.

“One big thing for the pork industry is ham. A lot of hams get exported to Mexico. It is huge and there’s a huge potential there for us for even more, and it adds a lot of value to the animal with that export market.”

Family farm evolves into agritainment destination

By TOM C. DORAN tdoran@shawmedia com

SPEER, Ill. — The Tanner family’s interest in raising apples goes back to Walde, Switzerland, where Rudolph Tanner ran his family orchard until 1906 when he immigrated to the United States.

Today, the corner of Illinois Routes 17 and 40 where Rudolph’s son, John, eventually settled draws thousands of visitors each fall to Tanners Orchard, an 80-acre family-run agritainment farm destination.

“It was originally a farm. My grandfather had row crops, hogs, cattle, horses, goats, pigs and all that regular stuff back in the 1940s,” said Craig Tanner who, along with his sister, Jennifer, are the third generation to own the business.

Craig and Jennifer’s parents, Richard and Marilyn, are now retired, but continue to be part of life on the farm.

“My grandfather farmed with his dad in Goodfield and then Deer Creek, and he wanted to move. He bought this 80 acres, and there were already some apple trees here when he bought this in 1947,” Craig Tanner said.

“Over the years, they developed the orchard and kind of let everything else go to the side. The market has evolved over the years, as well, and our business is now the apple orchard, the farm market and all the agritainment that goes with it.”

The farm continued to transition and diversify over the years.

“In the late 1980s, early

1990s, we added our bakery, started doing more doughnuts, caramel apples, then fritters, turnovers, and started selling lunch and other food items, and that has really expanded over the years,” Tanner said.

“We added more gifts, more canned goods, preserves, jams, jellies, canned peaches, pickles, different pickled things. So, that has all grown. We started selling cheese. We have cheese from Ropp Jersey Cheese. They’re good friends of ours. We’ve gotten to know them over the years.

“Then we just expanded doing more agritainment, the u-pick operation, u-pick apples, u-pick pumpkins. That has really grown over the years in popularity.”

As visitors’ purchasing trends changed, the family continues to look to new ways to “agritain.”

“People are not buying as much fruit as they used to. When I was a kid, they would come out and buy bushels and bushels. They’d load their car up and drive home with 10 bushels, and now they drive home with a peck of apples, 10 pounds. But they bring the whole family out and they spend the afternoon walking around the orchard and people really enjoy that,” Tanner said.

“Our whole playground has agritainment stuff. We call it the Back 40 Fun Acres and people love to do that. We’ve got the farm animals. They feed the goats, sheep and llama. That has grown.

“We also have pony rides, a barrel train ride and different fun things on the Back 40 Fun Acres.”

Four family members are involved in the day-to-day operation, including Craig, his sister and her daughter and son.

“We’re trying to bring in my children, too. It’s always the goal to find a good spot for them,” the orchardist said.

FESTIVALS

The weekends in September and October “are basically a

“People are not buying as much fruit as they used to. When I was a kid, they would come out and buy bushels and bushels.”

Craig Tanner TANNERS ORCHARD

festival for us,” Tanner said.

“If you come the last couple weeks in September, the first three weeks of October, it’s a zoo. It’s crazy. Early in September, it’s a lot easier to get around. There’s not as many apple varieties ready to pick, but there is stuff to do. Everything’s open. There’s just fewer people, and it’s more fun, but you run into hotter weather and that’s kind of turns people off, I think. Once the weather gets cool, people come out.

“On a busy day, like, say, the first weekend in October, if the weather’s nice, sunny and it’s maybe 65 or 70 degrees that day, I would expect that we’re going to get close to 7,000 people on a Saturday or Sunday.”

Visitors of all ages can check out the corn maze, sunflower field, farm animals, games, fresh-baked goods, daily lunch and dinner specials, and many

other activities.

The caramel apples are Tanner’s favorite.

SUSTAINABILITY

Maintaining the diversity on the farm have kept the business sustainable for the Tanner family since the late 1940s.

“The whole farm is only 80 acres. If we were doing regular crops, it wouldn’t support the family. It’d be barely enough for one guy with a part-time job here,” Tanner said.

“Doing apples, the farm market and everything, it’s a different story. If we were doing just apples, just produce, even with 80 acres, I don’t think would be enough to support what we have. But because of the market, because of the agritainment, being kind of a destination, and everything retail here, it’s a different story.”

Groundbreaking at college to expand agricultural program

By MARTHA BLUM mblum@shawmedia com

OGLESBY, Ill. — Agricultural students at Illinois Valley Community College will have the opportunity to study in the new Dr. Alfred E. Wisgoski Agricultural Education Center.

“This state-of-the-art facility will feature an innovation lab and it will have the best views surrounded by fields of crops,” said Tracy Morris, president of IVCC during a groundbreaking event for the new facility.

The $7.6 million, 10,250- squarefoot center, will be located just south of the main campus and will include conference rooms, lounge areas and flexible classroom space, as well as an area for a future

greenhouse.

Wisgoski served as president of the college from 1974 to 1996, the longest tenure in the history of IVCC.

Funding for the new facility has come from several sources, including a $3.5 million U.S. Department of Economic Development Administration grant and a $240,000 Illinois Department of Co-mmerce and Economic Opportunity grant.

In addition, the Wisgoski family donated $1 million toward the development of the center.

“This is my 10th year of teaching here at IVCC, and when I started, the goal was to revitalize the IVCC ag program,” said Willard Mott, agricultural instructor and program

co-coordinator at IVCC. “We are committed to the future of agriculture.”

The agriculture program at the college, Mott said, continues to grow.

“This is so exciting because we are planting the seeds of progress to construct a home for ag students,” he said. “Future ag careers will come alive to students by the way we teach our courses.”

The new center, located near the 153-acre test plots at the college, is scheduled to be completed in 2027.

“We are going to make this center inviting, welcoming, engaging and uplifting by using natural materials to provide open views of the agricultural surroundings,” said Dominick Demonica, project architect.

‘Shark Farmer’ shares life lessons

By TOM C. DORAN tdoran@shawmedia�com

MENDOTA, Ill. — An Illinois grain farmer and popular host of podcasts, radio and television shows was the guest speaker at Eureka Savings Bank’s recent inaugural ag event.

Rob Sharkey, a fifth-generation farmer growing corn and soybeans just outside of Bradford, also known as Shark Farmer, spoke frankly of growing up on the family farm and his life’s experiences that guided him along the way.

Sharkey has been on Sirius XM Rural Radio since 2018, hosting a daily show during the week and a special weekend show, and hosts multiple TV shows in RFD-TV and PBS, as well as a regular podcast, focusing on farming and rural life through interviews. He also owns a white-tailed deer hunting outfitter.

He opened his talk by sharing his experiences returning to the family farm after graduating from

Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

“I basically was a hired hand for dad. That’s kind of how a lot of the kids that come back are. But after a couple years, I’m like, I’m fifth generation and four generations before me built a farm, made it better, made a place for me to come back. Well, I better get going on my own, and I’m not going to do that just working for dad,” he said.

“Dad raised hogs and he raised a lot of them. I knew how to do that. So, I decided that’s what I was going to do. I was going to rent some buildings, I was going to buy a bunch of feeder pigs, and that was in the fall of 1998.

“Anybody here have hogs in 1998? So, right off the bat, I was broke, and it was bad, too, because dad was in the same boat. He had hogs, too, so he didn’t have anything.”

The bank where Sharkey had the operating loan eventually called, and the future Shark Farmer was hoping the banker

would provide him and his new wife, Emily, with some options.

“We go in his office, he’s got this beautiful wooden desk, and he’s sitting in front of this beautiful arched window, and we sit down,” Sharkey recalled.

“He’s looking at his papers, and then he looks up, and he goes, ‘Look, you blew it. My advice? You’re young, file bankruptcy.’

“That just hit me like a ton of bricks because I thought we were going to go on there and say, ‘Hey, you messed up, but here’s option A, B, C.’ No, none of that.”

That evening, the Sharkeys talked long into the night about what their next step would be. The next morning, Emily said, “We’re not going to file for bankruptcy.”

“I didn’t know what to say, because here is this banker that knows what he’s doing, saying, ‘We have to.’ And here’s my wife saying, ‘We’re not going to do it,’” he said.

“So, 9 o’clock came, I called the bank, and I said, I don’t know how, but we’re going to pay this off. Now, I’ve been called a lot of names in my life. We all have, right? But the banker, I remember, he said, ‘You’re an idiot for doing this.’

“That’s not the worst name in the world, but I remember how bad that hurt, and it hurt because I believed it. I truly believed I was an idiot for trying to figure this out.

“It took seven years to pay off that debt, but we did it and professionally it’s one of the things I’m most proud of that we’ve done. It wasn’t easy, but we figured it out.

“It was tough, but we made it work. I think at one point we had seven businesses that we were filing taxes on. I was pressure washing hog barns for other farms, just whatever it took.”

During that period, Sharkey started the white-tailed deer hunting outfitter business, unique to the area at the time, that eventually became successful after some early growing pains and lessons.

SHARK FARMER BEGINS

The idea of Shark Farmer was the result of what transpired during a power outage that started on Christmas and ended on New Year’s Day when he was messaging on Twitter, now X.

“Back then, Emily and I just had like a little red Honda generator that would run maybe the furnace and the refrigerator and my phone charger. It couldn’t handle more. Emily took the kids to her folks and for a week, I sat and watched this little generator and I filled it up every three hours with fuel, because that’s all I could do. That’s all I did for a week,” Sharkey said.

“I started messaging Ameren

CILCO relentlessly. I posted, ‘My dog needed an operation. No, I’m not saying this is entirely your fault, but my dog didn’t need an operation when I had electricity.’ That’s what trended on Twitter back then. And when you trended back then, you trended globally. The whole world was seeing this stupidity. I went from like 500 followers to 10,000 followers in a week just because of this. That’s kind of what sparked the whole Shark Farmer thing.”

PODCAST BEGINNINGS

The podcast idea started with a conversation Sharkey had with a hunter who had her own podcast in 2016.

“The more she talked about it, the more I’m like, this could be kind of fun, because I had a notebook full of stories, stupid stuff that my hunters had did. I’m like, this will be hilarious,” he said.

Unlike today, there were few podcasters in 2016. She recommended starting with five stories for the podcast.

“I did three with hunting stories, and two where I interviewed farmers. Well, the two I interviewed with farmers, they just took right off. What I learned with the three hunter interviews is if you weren’t there at the hunting lodge, you don’t know people and you don’t know the inside jokes. It was the worst 30 minutes of audio that you’ve ever heard in your life. We violated people’s ears with those first ones,” Sharkey said.

“So, we pivoted, and we started interviewing farmers, and we made a conscious choice. We’re not going to be interviewing secretary of agriculture, we’re not going to be interviewing presidents of Farm Bureau. We’re just going to be interviewing average people in agriculture — farmers, salesmen, mechanics. We just wanted to get

those stories out there.”

He shared other stories of his early podcasts of interviews and the reactions they received from listeners.

The popularity of the podcasts eventually led to a meeting with the Hefty Brothers — Brian and Darren — that was the beginning of Shark Radio.

Sharkey then had an idea for a television show that he wanted to pitch to Patrick Gottsch, who owned Rural Media Group, which also includes RFD-TV.

Gottsch was onboard with the idea. Gottsch’s daughters, Raquel and Gatsby, continue to support the RFD-TV program.

“Then we get a call from PBS. We’ve been amazed with this. The RFD show is a national show, but we feel, honestly, there was a lot more feedback from this show than the national one. It’s amazing to be walking in a Walmart in Peoria and some lady that has nothing to do with agriculture starts talking about corn and soybeans and stuff like that. It’s kind of a dumbfounding when you think about it,” Sharkey said.

“We recently did a live show at a barn theater and it’s just incredible the people that showed up. It wasn’t just farmers. So, we’re getting outside of the agriculture bubble and we’re trying to bring people into our side because they’re voting on politicians that will eventually make rules for us.”

Other topics Sharkey covered during his presentation included planting mistakes, farm succession, and father-son relationships.

FAMILY SUPPORT

“I failed a lot in my life, a lot, but I don’t consider myself a failure, and I don’t think anybody should if they’re able to learn

See LESSONS, Page 20

Banking for the Busy Farmer

LESSONS

PAGE 19

from what they failed on,” Sharkey said.

When he was considering to start the outfitter business, he admitted he had low self-confidence.

“I was so worried about trying something new, because I just failed at pigs. So, I’m going through hogs and dad comes in and goes, ‘Tell me what this whole outfitter thing is.’ And when he did it, I mean, my heart just sank because I didn’t want to tell him because he’s gonna make fun or whatever,” he said.

“I told him the whole idea, and the whole time he’s looking at the ground. I get done, he looks up, and he goes, ‘I don’t get it. I don’t get what you’re trying to do.’ As my heart starts racing, he goes, ‘But I’ll help you.’”

“That meant everything to me because, looking back, I guarantee, if he would have

laughed at me, if he would have told me it was a dumb idea, I don’t think I would have done it, and I wouldn’t still be farming. This whole Shark Farmer thing wouldn’t have happened.

“Think about that, if my dad had chose to laugh at me at that one moment, it would have altered everything.”

Now as a father, Sharkey pays that support forward to his son.

“I farm with my son. I try to be like my dad. I try to say something sort of creativity or something to help him. And I always say, ‘If this is what you want to do, I will do my best to help.’ I’ll never forget that with my dad. I just won’t.

“I hope that story maybe could impact some relationship you have with farming or whatever going down the road, because it’s awful easy to be the smart aleck and just laugh and say it’s a dumb idea. But you never know where the other person is.

“So, if there’s anything I leave you with that, because

if my son decides to go with these ideas, and if he fails, that’s going to be a better lesson than I ever teach him. But if he goes with these ideas and he succeeds, that’s what it’s all about.”

INAUGURAL AG EVENT

This marked the first ag event for Eureka Savings Bank, which is celebrating its 140th year. The bank’s headquarters is in La Salle, and it also has locations in Peru, Oglesby, Mendota and Wenona.

“We are committed to the area, we’ve been around, and the ag piece of this is relatively new to us. We got into the commercial business about nine years ago and about four years ago we acquired Wenona State Bank and they had a nice ag portfolio,” said John McCormick, Eureka Savings Bank president and CEO.

“We thought this is a nice way for us to continue to provide services to our customers and our communities that people can benefit from. So, we’ve

embarked on this program.

“This is our first ag event and we’re excited to have it. We’ve got a couple of lenders who are full-time bankers and also full-time farmers. They both have family farms that they farm.

“I think that experience gives them authenticity when it comes to dealing with customers. They get it. Not only do they talk the talk, they walk the walk. They’ve lived some of the things that their customers are going through. So, they understand and that’s so important.

“We want our customers to know that we understand them. The numbers are what the numbers are, but we need to understand what they want to accomplish, so we can help them accomplish it.

“If your goal is to rent your farm ground, that’s great. We can help with that. If it’s to help pass it on to the next generation, we can have advice and help, and we can play a part in that.”

HEARING LOSS AND FARMERS

Helpline for farm families

Mental

health resources, agrelated support

By TOM C. DORAN tdoran@shawmedia com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — A confidential helpline service is available for all Illinois farm families offering specialized assistance, including mental health resources and ag-related support.

The Farm Family Resource Initiative Helpline is a 24/7 service. Individuals can receive comprehensive support at no cost from trained professionals who understand the unique challenges faced by those in the agricultural sector.

In addition to the helpline, the initiative, led by the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Services Development, provides tele-health counseling services with SIU Medicine counselors, offering up to six sessions for individuals, couples, or groups.

Karen Leavitt Stallman is FFRI project coordinator. She also farms with her husband in Randolph County.

“I would encourage people to reach out, not wait until you enter a crisis situation, but know that there are resources there for you,” she said.

“I like to tell people that it’s OK not to be OK. Farmers do a real good job of working on their equipment and keeping their equipment in good shape, checking their crops, keeping an eye on our livestock, but oftentimes we don’t take good care of ourselves, and the farmer is the most important asset on that farm.

“Without that farmer, that farm does not exist, or doesn’t function very well. So, we’ve got to understand that we have to take care of ourselves.”

The free services are available

seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

“I could be disking on Saturday night and decide that I need somebody to talk to, and I could call there. It’s totally confidential,” Stallman said.

“The only time you have to give your name is that the mental health professional that you’re talking to on the other end of the line is going to ask if you’d like some additional help, some additional counseling, through our SIU School of Medicine counselors.

“We offer up to six tele-health counseling sessions for individuals or groups or couples. That is also at no charge, but of course you’d have to give your name to be able to connect with the counselor. But otherwise you can remain totally anonymous.

“It’s very, very difficult for anybody to pick up the phone and call a stranger, but it’s particularly difficult for a farmer to pick up the phone and call somebody. We purposely named it a helpline and not a hotline because we really encourage people that you don’t have to be in a crisis situation to call.

“If you are in a crisis situation, the professionals at the helpline can certainly handle that, but sometimes we just need somebody to talk to, maybe a different perspective, maybe some advice on a problem that we’re having. So, that’s why we named it and call it a helpline.

“We contract with Memorial Behavioral Health in Springfield, who answers the calls to its Suicide Lifeline 988. So, when a call comes in on that FFRI number, then they know that it’s in some kind of an agriculture-related phone call.”

Being a farmer herself, Stallman knows the ag-related stresses that go along with it.

“We think about those prices every day and, as farmers, we have so many things that we can’t control. Where I live, we’re now considered in a severe drought. We had very, very little rain. Our yields aren’t where they need to be,” she said.

“So, we’ve got input costs that are so expensive. We’ve got

weather that we can’t control. We’ve got commodity prices that we can’t control. I call that the chronic drip, drip, drip of stress. We have all these kinds of things that we can’t control.

“And when you have those things that you can’t control over a period of time, they can cause things like anxiety and depression. Eventually, that could lead to suicide, in some cases.

“So, the program is so important to have some resources available for farmers online, anonymous, at no charge, the helpline, the counseling opportunities. I don’t have to drive in town and have my truck parked at the local counselor where somebody might see me, if that’s an additional stigma.

“We try to make it as convenient as possible. They can get online at any time on the website and maybe want to see a video, look at a webinar. But it’s very important because we need to have people and resources that we can reach out to, so we feel like we can have some control and then learn how to deal with those stressors that we can’t control.”

The initiative started in 2019 through legislation introduced by the late state Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign.

The joint pilot program through the SIU School of Medicine and Illinois Department of Agriculture initially started with six Illinois counties. It has since been expanded to all 102 counties.

“Sen. Bennett was a strong advocate for agriculture. He recognized the need to do some outreach for Illinois farm families. Another strong advocate is Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II,” Stallman noted.

Program funding is provided through the Illinois General Assembly.

1-833-FARM-SOS

Contact the Farm Family Resource Initiative Helpline by calling 1-833-FARM-SOS — 1-833-327-6767 — or email FarmFamilyResourceHelpline@ mhsil�com�

Did you know?

Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicates the significance of farms in relation to the gross domestic product of the United States economy In 2023, farms contributed $222 3 billion, or roughly 0 8 percent of the nation’s GDP� Though that’s a significant contribution in its own right, it only tells a small part of the role farms and farmers play in establishing a healthy national economy Additional sectors, such as the food and beverage industry and textiles, apparel and leather products, rely on the agricultural sector to contribute to their own success Without a thriving agricultural sector, those industries would falter, thus creating a domino effect that could prove devastating to the nation’s economy That link is why the BEA estimates the agricultural sector is an even bigger contributor to the nation’s GDP than it may seem Indeed, the BEA indicates the agricultural sector, in conjunction with food and related industries, contributed around $1�54 trillion to the U�S� economy in 2023, a contribution that accounts for roughly 5 5 percent of the nation’s GDP TF253873