BCR_Ag Matters 2018 06 28

Ag Matters Summer 2018

• Ag heritage really matters to scores of tractor enthusiasts across Northern Illinois, who gathered June 23 for a 54-mile tractor trek through Bureau and Lee counties — Page 2

A publication of

Summer 2018

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AGRICULTURE HERITAGE

Antique tractor trek grows to 75 participants Annual event raises funds for Agriculture in the Classroom

Glenn Harms of Morris drives his 1960s-era MinneapolisMoline tractor out of the LaMoille Lions Club’s parking lot at the start of last Saturday’s tractor trek sponsored by the Bureau County Farm Bureau Foundation.

BY JIM DUNN jdunn@bcrnews.com LAMOILLE – Take 75 antique tractors of all makes and models, 75 tractor enthusiasts, a beautiful first Saturday of summer, and a 54-mile route through the countryside, and what do you have?

The seventh annual tractor trek sponsored by the Bureau County Farm Bureau Foundation, that’s what.

The event, which started and ended last Saturday at the LaMoille Lions Club’s parking lot, is a fundraiser to support the Ag in the Classroom program.

It’s also a fun time for people who have a passion for the tractors that their dads and grandpas might have driven many years ago.

BCR photo/ Jim Dunn

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And for Jill Frueh, manager of the Bureau County Farm Bureau, it’s simply “a great event.”

As tractors embarked on their journey last Saturday, Frueh said: “This is my favorite Foundation event of the year. Everybody enjoys the tractors, enjoys seeing friends and spending the day together with our tractors.”

Dave Doty of Dover Township, who set up the route that wended its way through the sunny countryside, said he has been involved in the tractor trek for about 16 years.

“We started doing it for the Beef and Ag Days, and then Jill asked us to do it for the Ag in the Classroom program for the youth of Bureau County,” Doty said.

“We’ve got about a 54-mile ride planned today through northeast Bureau County and into Lee County.”

Tractor drivers drove to their lunchtime destination, the Terry Zinke farm north of Sublette, for a bite to eat and also to see Zinke’s collection of Case tractors.

But it was the journey, not just the destination, that participants appreciated.

“It’s all rural roads, just a nice,

leisurely ride. We try to average about 10 mile an hour. Usually we can maintain that real easily,” Doty said.

With tractor enthusiasts from near and far (including places such as Lanark, Freeport and Watseka), “This is one of our biggest rides in quite a number of years,” Doty said.

Tractor rides give collectors and restorers a chance to get out and enjoy driving their antique machines.

“People like to show their antique tractors, like to run them, versus going to an antique tractor show where you just sit there and run through a parade once a day,” Doty said.

“Why, this way you get to go out and drive them and hear ’em run and let ’em work a little bit ... if you’ve got a steep hill or something like that, or someone breaks down and you get to pull ’em a little bit.”

Doty said the tractor collectors are “a great group of people.”

As far as Saturday’s ride went, Doty said, it was nothing new.

“Again, it’s pretty simple — follow the leader, and we just enjoy doing it,” he said.

Rolling through the countryside at a slow pace can be a revelation, Doty said.

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BCR photo/Jim Dunn

Participants in last Saturday’s tractor trek listen as Jill Frueh, manager of the Bureau County Farm Bureau, gives final instructions prior to the start of the 54-mile journey through the countryside on antique tractors.

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AG MATTERS| Summer 2018

“It’s amazing what you see at 10 miles an hour that you don’t see at 55. We get to see a few things that the average person doesn’t see. It’s a good way for the farmers that are along to look at the crops and get a good view of them from the tractor seat rather than from the pickup truck,” he said.

The people who are along for the ride make it a memorable event, too.

“Good camaraderie,” Doty said.

“There’s some wonderful people we’ve met, some great people along the way, and a lot of ’em keep coming back, and bringing friends with them, and that’s how we’ve grown.”

Tractors seen on the ride included Farmalls, John Deeres, Internationals, Minneapolis Molines and a Ford.

“We’ve got a pretty good cross-section of vintage tractors from the ’40s to probably the ’70s,” Doty said.

A lot of the drivers were men, but Kristie Phillips of LaMoille was also there on a 1963 John Deere 3010, following her father, Joe Phillips, on the ride. It’s “a daddy-daughter thing,” Phillips said, smiling.

She said she grew up on tractors and said of the tractor ride, “It’s a good time.”

Phillips brought her dog, Brady, along, who occupied a cage attached

to the back of the John Deere.

Frueh said the tractor drivers pay a $50 entry fee to the Farm Bureau Foundation to participate, and that money supports the Bureau County Farm Bureau’s educational efforts.

The Foundation does the book work, manages registrations, and solicits sponsors for the lunch.

Frueh explained: “The Far m Bureau Foundation is the non-profit that we have along with the Farm Bureau. The Foundation supports scholarships and Ag in the Classroom efforts throughout the county.”

With 80 tractors registered, and 75 drivers showing up for the event, “That’s probably almost double what we’ve had in the last couple of years,” Frueh said.

“We do have the LaMoille Police Department, the Bureau County Sheriff ’s Department and the Lee County Sheriff ’s Department help us cross the major roads that we are on,” she said.

There were also tractor drive committee members on the front and back to flag people through to make sure everyone got through the intersections safely, Frueh said.

As the last of the tractors drove out of the LaMoille Lions Club’s parking lot, Frueh’s job wasn’t finished.

“We’re following the route,” she said. “We’re kind of the lag driver so if anybody breaks down, we’ll make sure that we stop and give them a ride and call for help.”

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AG MATTERS| Summer 2018

BCR photos/Jim Dunn

Antique tractors depart the parking lot of the LaMoille Lions Club last Saturday on a 54-mile tractor trek through northeastern Bureau County into Lee County and back again. The fundraiser for Ag in the Classroom was sponsored by the Bureau County Farm Bureau Foundation.

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AG MATTERS| Summer 2018 BCR photo/Jim Dunn

Kristie Phillips poses on a 1963 John Deere 3010. She had company on last Saturday’s tractor trek: her father, Joe Phillips, on the tractor ahead of her, and her dog, Brady, who occupied a cage behind her.

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Summer 2018

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LIVESTOCK

Pork industry expecting to face large losses Combination of factors will strain farmers’ finances U OF I EXTENSION

URBANA — Large pork supplies, rising costs, and potential trade retaliation from both Mexico and China continue to cast a shadow over the U.S. pork industry. Losses are expected for the rest of 2018 and 2019.

According to Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt, losses will be small this summer, but then the bottom will fall out. Losses of more than $25 per head are estimated for the last quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.

“There is a lot of pork. Production so far this year is up nearly 4 percent with the number of head coming to market about 3 percent higher and weights up near 1 percent,” Hurt said.

“Domestic demand and export

demand have been good this year but not strong enough to offset the higher supplies. As a result, live hog prices have been down 3 percent.”

In the January to May period of 2017, the live hog price for 51 to 52 percent lean carcasses averaged $48.74. This year, the price was about $1.75 lower, around $47.

Hurt said trade concerns continue, but exports have remained favorable in the data that is available so far this year, which shows pork exports growing by almost 6 percent. This is on-track with current USDA estimates for pork exports to grow by 5 percent for the entire year.

Retail demand also appears to be positive with data released for this year. Retailers are selling pork at $3.75 per retail pound compared to $3.69 for the same period one year ago. The ability to sell a higher volume of pork at higher prices is an indication that consumer demand has strengthened.

According to Hurt, a smaller portion of those retail dollars are getting to pork producers as marketing margins have widened, especially

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Hurt said that the pork industry is caught up in trade disputes.

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“For steel and aluminum imports, the U.S. has moved beyond threats and implemented actual tariffs. The EU, Mexico and Canada recently lost their exemptions as allies of the U.S. China has always been a target of the steel and aluminum tariffs,” he said.

With the U.S. tariffs on imports of foreign metals in place, retaliation has come from the EU, Mexico, Canada and China in the form of tariffs on U.S. exports to their countries.

For pork, the gravest concerns are Mexico, which purchased 32 percent of U.S. pork export volume in 2017.

Canada and China each purchased 9 percent of U.S. pork exports last year. Those three countries pur-

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“Each of these countries remain in discussions with U.S. trade authorities,” Hurt said.

“This means there is still hope that differences can be resolved. The bottom line is that exports represent the market for 22 percent of U.S. pork production. The industry is already facing substantial losses in 2018 and 2019, and thus is in a vulnerable position if these trade differences should reduce pork exports.”

Looking forward, Hurt said pork supplies are expected to continue to be 4 percent higher for the rest of the year and may moderate to a growth rate of about 3 percent next winter. Hog prices are expected to average near $50 in the second quarter this year, in the low $50s in the third quarter, and around $43 in the final quarter. That will provide an annual 2018 price of $48 compared to $50.50 last year.

According to Hurt, costs are expected to rise as well in 2018 in terms of labor, interest, fuel, machinery and feed.

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Summer 2018

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