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FARM LIFE

Master of Juggling: The Farmer’s Wife

PUBLICATION • WINTER 2022

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Ag Mag – 3

INDEX

Ag Mag

Master of Juggling: The Farmer’s Wife �� 6 Reducing nutrient loss �� 10 Teen turns ‘untouchable’ horse into barrel racer ��13 Tractor Wars ��16 Duvall shares personal struggles at IFB meeting ��18 Illinois Farm Bureau facing tough questions on renewable energy ��21 Ethanol industry clearing pandemic hurdles �� 22 On the cover: Donna Klostermann, along with her daughters Caroline (left) and Rita (right), work next to each other as Donna finishes up some book work and Caroline works on homework. PHOTO/KATLYN SANDEN

Articles are the property of AgriNews. No portion of the North Central Illinois Ag Mag may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of the Bureau County Republican. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate; however, the Bureau County Republican cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. The Bureau County Republican cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by advertisers listed in any portion of this magazine.

Bureau County Republican P.O. Box 340 Princeton, IL 61356-0340 815-220-6948 Publisher Dan Goetz Editor Jim Henry Regional Advertising Director Jeanette Smith jmsmith@shawmedia.com

Writers Martha Blum Tom C. Doran Jeannine Otto Katlyn Sanden Alexa Zollner Photographers Tom C. Doran Earleen Hinton Jeannine Otto Katlyn Sanden Designer Liz Klein Published by: est. 1851

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Ag Mag – 5

Master of Juggling: The Farmer’s Wife By Katlyn Sanden hey say you can take the girl off the farm, but you T can’t take the farm out of the

girl. For some, this rings truer than others, especially for those who grew up on a family farm, showing cattle, playing in the dirt, and breathing in that fresh, country air. Like many farmers who have dreams of continuing the legacy their parents and grandparents have started, Donna Klostermann is making it happen, all while raising a young family. Donna grew up in western Bureau County active in 4-H and FFA. She spent her summers on the show cattle circuit, and from those early moments, she knew she wanted to marry a farmer and spend her days working alongside her family. After graduating with a degree in Ag Business from Iowa State University, and landing a job in grain merchandising, Donna always knew she’d end up back in Bureau County. “I said I want to come home and farm, so I better marry someone who wants to do that,” Donna said, discussing what inspired her to move back to the family farm post college. “I was lucky to find somebody who thought that sounded great. I like that my children are growing up seeing me work. It’s not this mysterious thing that I leave for 8 to 9 hours a day. They see our work and I think that’s

6 – Winter 2022

PHOTO/KATLYN SANDEN

Donna Klostermann and her husband, Cameron, who live on the family farm in western Bureau County, take a minute to hash out the day’s plan on the farm. Their duties vary from day to day. important. That’s the biggest blessing.” Donna married Cameron Klostermann in 2015, and together are raising two daughters, Caroline, who is 4 years old, and 1-year-old Rita on the family farm she grew up on. They also raise both conventional and organic corn and soybeans, as well as hogs. “When working with family, I think we tend to get on each

other’s nerves more than at other workplaces,” Cameron said. “But I can’t imagine doing anything else.” While their specific roles on the farm may vary from day to day, they truly believe teamwork makes the dream work, even when pulled in what feels like five million different directions. “I keep track of all of our grain marketing,” said Donna.

“I pay bills, hire help, do all the organic paperwork. We’re really diversified with row crops and pigs. My mom owns rental properties in Florida, so we’re diverse in that way. Any day I could be doing something with any one of those. It’s a lot of switching gears.” Being able to do a lot of her work from home, Donna considers herself one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to worry about childcare as that is one challenge of living in a rural area. “I just have to be flexible,” said Donna. “The other night I had to do bookwork until 9 because there are days you have so much going on with young children. I definitely have to be amenable to change. What I set out to do may not be what I get done, so I have to get really good at prioritizing. Like anything else, there are times when you’re busier and times when you’re slower, and you have to know the day will go on if I don’t get this done, but this has to happen. Like diaper changes, meals, and snacks. You have to do those things

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Depending on the day, farm wife Donna Klostermann can be juggling the farm’s bookwork or helping out with the family’s vacation rental properties in Florida. Here, the entire family paused for a quick photo on the beach.

(for the kids), so you’re just trying to fit everything else around it all the time.” During planting and harvest, it’s not uncommon to see Donna juggling kids, farm work, and going on the unex-

pected parts run at any time of the day. But juggling all the things is worth it to be able to raise her daughters on the family farm. “My children know quite a bit about farming,” she said.

“They understand what their dad does (driving equipment) and then they see what I’m doing. They see the person who is planting the seed or See WIFE page 8

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Ag Mag – 7

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Wife

FROM PAGE 7

harvesting the seed, and the person who is crunching numbers are all important. It’s important for my kids to see me working and to understand what it takes on both sides.” While living and working on the family farm is the dream, it does come with its own set of challenges. “When you work with family, you don’t really feel like you have a work-life balance,” Donna said. “When my dad comes over for dinner, we talk about farming. I like that there’s transparency and we talk about things; it’s just there’s not a separation. You’re never really away from it, but I think that’s just farming in general. And, of course, working with family, everything is personal. You know exactly how to push each other’s button, but at the end of the day we’re on the same team.” What keeps her fueled, even on the stressful days,

are her workouts and a quiet hour in the evening. “I work out first thing (in the morning) at Cornerstone because they have childcare,” Donna said. “That way, I have a little bit of time to myself because trying to get to everything with a little one is tough. I try to not have to work after my kids go to bed. When your kids go to bed, you need that time to just read a book, take a bath, watch TV, whatever that looks like for you. It’s important. You’re a mom, but you’re also a human being.” When looking around the agriculture industry in general, Donna is proud of the role she plays and what she brings to the table, both literally and figuratively. “When you look at our generation of farm wives, a lot of us had careers prior to getting married and having children,” said Donna. “We want to be part of the business. These women are professionals, educated, and want to be involved. I think that’s really cool.”

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Ag Mag – 9

The 2015 Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy established a goal to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in Illinois waterways by 45%, with interim reduction goals of 15% nitrate-nitrogen and 25% total phosphorus by 2025.

Reducing nutrient loss Report highlights farmer-led efforts By Tom C. Doran

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council recently released a report highlighting farmer-led efforts to reduce nutrient loss in the Mississippi River Basin. The report, presented at the Environmental Protection Agency Hypoxia Task Force meeting, provides federal regulators an in-depth look at efforts to improve water quality across 16 states, including Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Some of these efforts are being done solely by the agriculture trade associations at their own expense. Others are supported with public funding from state or federal agencies or private funding from non-governmental organizations and industry partners, while others are in close partnership with universities or municipalities. Lauren Lurkins, Illinois Farm Bureau environmental policy director, serves as ANPC president. “ANPC’s primary goal with this report is to bring to the at10 – Winter 2022

tention of the federal agencies and the public the positive and focused investment in nutrient reduction practices and Lurkins programming that has been — and continues to be made — by farmers, their trade associations and the associations of the service industries that work alongside farmers,” Lurkins said. “American agriculture is deeply committed to the success of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy process in the Mississippi River Basin and very much wants to work with our federal and state partners and stakeholders to sustain this amount of effort,” the report noted. ILLINOIS KEY FINDINGS The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy calls for 45% reduction in both total phosphorus and total nitrogen to the Gulf of Mexico. This includes interim milestones of 15% for total nitrogen and 25% for total

phosphorus by 2025. NLRS implementation is supported by a mixture of federal and state level public funds and private funds. USDA conservation program funding provides the bulk of the public funds. State level funding also comes from the Partners for Conservation Program, wherein the state Department of Agriculture, with assistance from Soil and Water Conservation Districts, administer a cost-share program. State-level funding also is provided at the watershed level through Illinois EPA’s Section 319 program. Private investment ranges from approximately $4.5 million to $7 million annually, not including private money spent by farmers on the farm scale. Efforts in the Prairie State are spearheaded by the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council; Illinois Corn Growers Association/ Illinois Soybean Association’s Precision Conservation Management program; Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association’s Keep it 4R Crop; Cover Crop Premium Discount through Department of Agriculture; Sustainable Ag Partnership; and Illinois Farm

Bureau’s Nutrient Stewardship Grant Program. According to the SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes tool, the 2012 SPARROW mapper, Illinois delivers 17% of the agriculture nitrogen and 12% of agriculture phosphorus to the Gulf of Mexico. INDIANA KEY FINDINGS The Indiana State Nutrient Reduction Strategy has narrative water quality standards that prohibit the discharge of substances that will create or contribute to the growth of aquatic plants or algae to such degree as to create a nuisance, be unsightly or otherwise impair the designated uses. The state is using nutrient benchmarks to comply with this narrative criterion that includes a total phosphorus benchmark of 0.3 milligrams per liter. The Clean Water Indiana program supports local match requirements for grant programs and provides grants for conservation programs. Practices that improve soil health are promoted statewide. Overall improvements in soil health are encouraged with specific practices to result in reductions in nutrient and sediment loading to

streams and rivers. Annual spring tillage surveys are conducted to evaluate conservation programs throughout the state. A recent survey indicated approximately 1 million acres of cover crops annually. These ongoing efforts are led by various partnerships including the Indiana Agriculture Alliance, Indiana Conservation Partnership and Agribusiness Council of Indiana. The Agribusiness Council of Indiana, a member of IANA, launched its statewide 4R Certification Program for nutrient service providers in 2020. According to the 2012 SPARROW mapper, Indiana delivers 14% of the agricultural nitrogen and 7% of the agricultural phosphorus to the Gulf of Mexico. IOWA KEY FINDINGS The Iowa Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy sets a goal of reducing statewide inputs of both nitrogen and phosphorus by 45%. Non-point source target load reductions are 41% for total nitrogen and 29% for

A recent report from the Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council shows farmers welcome federal partnerships to protect water quality. total phosphorus. Initial phosphorus control was largely funded by farmers and landowners. In recent years funding from public-private funders, Senate File 512 and the state revolving loan fund. Iowa farmers are taking steps to improve conservation practices on their land to help meet INRS goals. Outreach

efforts by partner agencies have increased throughout the state. The current in-field practices to reduce phosphorus loss are focused on retaining sediment on the fields. These practices are primarily conservation tillage, terraces, pond dams and sediment basins. Iowa agriculture has achieved at least a 22% reduc-

tion in total phosphorus. The most effective practices to reduce nitrogen loss have yet to be determined. Cover cropping is the only on-field practice currently promoted to address nitrogen. It is anticipated that the practices currently in place achieve a 10% to 15% reduction in nitrogen loss. Organizations and initiatives working toward implementing practices include the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council; the Iowa Agricultural Water Alliance formed by Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Pork Producers Association; and Agriculture’s Clean Water Alliance. According to the 2012 SPARROW mapper, Iowa delivers 19% of the agricultural nitrogen and 13% of the agricultural phosphorus to the Gulf of Mexico. Tom C. Doran can be reached at 815-410-2256 or tdoran@shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at: @ AgNews_Doran.

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Teen turns ‘untouchable’ horse into barrel racer

By Alexa Zollner

SAUK VALLEY MEDIA

DIXON, Ill. (AP) — Day after day, 14-year-old Molly Weinzierl sat in the sand, a pile of hay on her lap, waiting for the perpetually spooked horse resting nearby to get hungry enough to come over. “He was terrified of men in cowboy hats and damn near untouchable,” said Weinzierl, now 18 and a senior at Dixon High School. She recalled multiples times Reno — an American quarter horse with the scars to prove past mistreatment — became so frightened that he ripped out the hitching post and took off toward the nearby road, dragging the roughly 4-footlong log with him. Weinzierl believes a past owner tried to train Reno to barrel race and beat him in an attempt get him to turn in the proper direction, Sauk Valley Media reported. Aggression and terror are about the worst mixture one can get in a horse, said Weinzierl, who lives in Dixon Township. She, along with Sally Cooper, helps care for Reno and her other animals. Cooper is a family friend and is the one who bought Reno for her. It was an unexpected purchase, as Weinzierl had gone with her to the sale barn to look for tack, not a new horse. But the moment she saw Reno, she knew he would be hers. She affectionately calls Reno by his nickname, Bear. The person selling Reno had pulled him and another horse out of the auction when they didn’t go for a good enough price, Weinzierl said. If she hadn’t bought him, there’s a chance Reno could have gone to slaughter. “I knew that he was going to end up being a good horse,” she said. “But there was something off about him. I knew

SHAW MEDIA PHOTO/EARLEEN HINTON

Molly Weinzierl, a member of the Ogle County 4-H Horse Drill Team, rides her horse, Reno, around a barrel during the Poles and Barrels competition at the Spooktacular Horse Expo and Fun Show at the Ogle County Fairgrounds. Reno, 16, was slated to be slaughtered before being rescued by Weinzierl. that there was something kind of deeper going on. And they almost seemed too calm, to a point where we think, I don’t know 100% for sure, but we think that they might have been drugged.” The horses’ behavior changed drastically following a few days of quarantine back at Cooper’s, Weinzierl said. The other horse couldn’t be saddled without bucking and

ended up being resold as a bronc, while Reno’s fear and aggression came out. It took several months to earn Reno’s trust, Weinzierl said. But today, she can put the 3-year-old neighbor on Reno and he’ll carry the girl around like a crate of eggs. “(I was) just waiting for him to finally kind of click and start seeing some gears turn in his head, because he really

was stubborn and he wanted to be his own thing,” she said. “But, from the beginning, I knew that there was something about him that was just going to be so awesome once I finally got his trust, and that’s how it has been.” Weinzierl started riding in December 2016 and, by Day Three, was out riding by herself. As soon as she realized See Weinzierl page 14 Ag Mag – 13

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Weinzierl FROM PAGE 13

how much she enjoyed the sport, Weinzierl learned everything she could about horses and horseback riding. “It’s a huge passion of mine, and I hope that I can do it for as long as possible,” she said. Weinzierl is part of the Palmyra Hillbillies 4-H group in Lee County, as well as a member of the Ogle County 4-H Horse Drill Team. She and Reno joined the drill team after seeing it perform at the 2019 Autumn on Parade’s Harvest Time Parade. Lee County doesn’t have a horse drill team, so 4-H members from surrounding counties can be part of the Ogle County team, Weinzierl explained. The Ogle County 4-H Horse Drill Team is a group of 4-H members ages 8 to 18 who perform “with classic drill team precision while promoting good horse etiquette and riding skills,” according to an informational flyer from the Ogle County Extension office. “It’s like a dance team, but on horses,” Weinzierl said. “It’s definitely something that I was like, ‘What is this?’ But it sounded like so much fun because it does have a speed aspect to it.” The horse drill team didn’t practice or meet up in 2020, so it wasn’t until this year that she got a chance to know her four teammates. They practice at the Ogle County Fairgrounds and took part in some exhibitions and parades in 2021, but didn’t participate in any competitions, Weinzierl said. “The parades are a totally different ballgame,” she said. “You’re walking through crowds of screaming children, which was definitely a challenge for Reno at first. But now he’s just like, ‘OK, whatever. We’re just going to walk this way. All right, that’s fine.”’ Reno, whose registered name is Ebs Little Reno, is just like Sam Elliott’s character in the show “The Ranch,” Weinzierl said. She likens the 16-year-old horse, at 14.1 hands tall, to a “burly grandpa” until it’s time to take part in speed events. “Then he gets all excited

and acts like a 5-year-old (human),” she said. Both of them are fans of speed, Weinzierl said, so when searching for a riding event in which to take part, that factor was a must. They tried to do mounted shooting, but Reno was too distracted when the balloons disappeared, she said. In the end, they landed on barrel racing. A barrel race is an electronically timed event during which horses and their riders circle around three identical barrels set in a cloverleaf pattern. The barrels are not weighted. Participants must race around the barrels without knocking them over. “Going almost 30 miles an hour on the back of a 1,000pound animal? Oh, yeah, let’s just go do that for fun,” joked Weinzierl, a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie. “It’s definitely an interesting hobby. On top of that, knowing how close Reno and I are now, kind of just our bond and knowing that it’s something that he loves, that then makes me happy too.” Weinzierl said she looked through some of the videos she has from when she trained Reno to barrel race and the difference between then and now is “night and day.” “It was really cool to see kind of the flip, the way he kind of turned his gears in his head and he was, ‘Oh, OK, this is kind of cool. She’s kind of cool. We’re going to hang out with her,”’ she said. By 2019, they were ready to perform and compete in rodeos and 4-H fairs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic kept them from doing so. They went to their first barrel race in July, and Reno “did better than I could have ever asked him for,” Weinzierl said. She plans to take part in competitions with Reno next year, although they do have some kinks to work out before then. It doesn’t really matter to her what kind of event they do, Weinzierl said. If Reno chose to do dressage one day, that’s what they’d do, she said. “Whatever makes him happy is kind of where I’m going,” she said. “I don’t care what it is. As long as my Bear is happy, I’m good with that.”

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Ag Mag – 15

Tractor Wars Power struggle in transition to modern farming

By Martha Blum

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

MOLINE, Ill. — The origin of the farm tractor and the transition from horsepower to power farming is the focus of a new book, “Tractor Wars: John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester, and the Birth of Modern Agriculture.” “The story is told through the lens of these three companies,” said Neil Dahlstrom, author of the book and manager of archives and history at John Deere. “The early tractor story is not what people think it is,” said Dahlstrom about the book that is now available wherever books are sold. “My book is based on a lot of information most people have never seen before that comes out of corporate archives,” said Dahlstrom, who has worked for John Deere for the past 20 years. “It is full of surprises and people that are new or who are reintroduced to people.” Dahlstrom’s idea to write the book started when the company celebrated the 100th anniversary of the John Deere tractor, which debuted in 1918. “We started doing research for that in 2016 and I kept picking up things along the way that weren’t relevant to what we were doing that I found interesting,” he recalled. “So, I stashed those away.” During the early 20th century, Henry Ford was quite interested in farm tractors. “The book is built around Ford’s announcement that he was going to build a farm tractor in 1908 and then his first exit from the tractor business in 1928,” Dahlstrom said. “All these other people try to build tractors and try to figure out how to deal with Henry Ford who doesn’t have any tractors to sell.” 16 – Winter 2022

H e n r y Ford and John Deere had a relationship and the two companies w o r k e d together, Dahlstrom said. Dahlstrom “That’s where I spent the first couple of years, learning about Ford and what became his Fordson tractors,” Dahlstrom said. “I kept running into dead ends, and when I run into dead ends that makes me curious, so I kept following leads.” Dahlstrom spent about five years researching and writing “Tractor Wars.” “It was probably three years of research before I thought to myself maybe I would turn this into a book of some sort,” he said. Some people are surprised that the John Deere company was almost 70 years old when the first John Deere tractor was made. “That’s one of the things that drew me to this story — how to introduce an entirely new machine that’s unfamiliar to most people and then market and support it,” Dahlstrom said. “Then throw someone like Henry Ford into the mix, who’s got seemingly limitless financial resources and his objectives and approach were entirely different than a company like John Deere or the market leader at the time, International Harvester,” he said. “It really got my curiosity going about how an industry goes from five or six manufacturers to over 100, eight years later.” Henry Ford’s lifelong dream was to build a farm tractor, Dahlstrom said. “He first saw a steam engine on wheels when he was

12 years old, it captivated him and it was something he kept going back to,” he said. “Ford’s ambitions, motivations and his approach to business were really fascinating.” John Deere, Ford and International Harvester had three unique approaches, Dahlstrom said. “Their business models and what they are hoping to accomplish — they all approached it in an entirely different ways,” Dahlstrom said. “Ford was really impressed with John Deere plows, so Deere engineers started to go visit Ford and his engineers to start the development of a two-bottom plow specifically for the Fordson tractor,” he said. “The two companies were seen together so often that at one point in 1919 there was speculation that Ford was going to buy John Deere.” There was a lot of overlap between farm equipment manufacturers and automobile manufacturers during this time. “By the mid-1920s, Ford had almost 75% market share of the tractor business, but it wasn’t profitable,” Dahlstrom said. “That’s where the story gets interesting because you have short-term versus longterm views of the world and these three companies have different perspectives.” Context is important, Dahlstrom said, to tell the story of “Tractor Wars.” “You can’t talk about the tractor business without talking about the automobile business,” he said. “And you can’t talk about this era without talking about World War I. There are so many other drivers that impact people and decision-making because none of this is done in a vacuum.” Dahlstrom’s goal of “Tractor Wars” is to write a story-driven book.

The “Tractor Wars” book is the result of about five years of research and writing by Neil Dahlstrom. He focuses on the period from 1908 to 1928 and highlights three companies that were involved in developing tractors during this time frame and how other factors impacted decision-making by the companies. “I want people to learn about the ups and downs and the people that were involved,” he said. “There are a lot of myths that I hope are debunked. There are a lot of urban legends around equipment including why a product line was cancelled or why a certain product was named.” The author is looking forward to discussions that develop with readers of “Tractor Wars.” “I see a book as the foundation that sparks a conversation,” he said. “I look forward to talking and meeting with people to get their perspective.” To order a copy of the book, go to www.neildahlstrom.com. Martha Blum can be reached at 815-410-2254, or mblum@ shawmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_ Blum.

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Duvall shares personal struggles at IFB meeting Highlights State of Mind program By Jeannine Otto

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

CHICAGO — The leader of the American Farm Bureau Federation highlighted the organization’s farm and agricultural mental health initiative by sharing his own personal struggles with an audience at the Illinois Farm Bureau’s annual meeting. “After losing my wife, I went through that difficult time,” said Zippy Duvall, the president of the AFBF, who hails from Georgia. His wife, Bonnie, died on Jan. 18, 2018, after a battle with cancer. Duvall said it was a question from a reporter that made him realize that he had kept much of the emotion and grief from his loss inside. It also made him realize the importance of having someone to talk to about what he was feeling. “Because he was willing to sit there and listen to me, I started healing that day. It was just amazing. I discovered it’s OK to say, ‘I’m not OK.’ I discovered to just look for people who were willing to help me,” said Duvall, who related that neighbors helping neighbors can also extend to mental health. To assist farmers and farm families in recognizing mental health issues and in finding local and regional mental healthcare resources, the AFBF launched Farm State of Mind, a directory that includes information for recognizing signs of mental health issues and resources that can help. Duvall also emphasized 18 – Winter 2022

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall talked at the Illinois Farm Bureau’s annual meeting about farm stress, how he copes with stress and how the Farm Bureau resource, Farm State of Mind, can help farmers get through tough times. the importance of removing the stigma from mental health. “We have to get rid of the stigma that goes along with mental stress because they’re our family and we have got to take care of them,” he said. The AFBF president, who welcomed former President Donald Trump onto the stage of AFBF annual meetings in 2018, 2019 and 2020, discussed the changed political atmosphere in Washington, D.C. “We have found a way to work with whoever the voters send to Washington, D.C. Whether you like the politics or not, we’re bipartisan. Whoever the president, whatever the party they come from, we try to find a way to work with them. I will tell you, though, Washington is different. Because

all of my life, we could always find bipartisanship in the ag committees and we can’t even find that today. So, it’s a different world we work in, more challenging to build those relationships,” Duvall said. Duvall urged the members of the Illinois Farm Bureau to consider the seeds they plant, in the ground and in their communities and among the public. “I want you to ask yourself what kind of seeds you planted spiritually. When you go to the store to get a biscuit in the morning or you go to the elevator office and you meet people, what kind of seeds are you planting? Are you planting seeds of happiness or sadness on people? Are you planting the seeds of success or failure?

Are you planting seeds of opportunity or challenges? I don’t know about you, but I choose to plant the seed of hope,” said Duvall, who shared a positive bit of personal news. “Life is hard sometimes. It throws you curves. It threw me a curve. It took the love of my life. And I never thought I’d love again,” said Duvall, his voice breaking slightly. “Let me tell you, I’m standing here to witness to you. God is good. I miss Bonnie every day, but God chose another woman to put in my life, and in two weeks, we will be married.” Jeannine Otto can be reached at 815-410-2258, or jotto@ shawmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_ Otto.

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Illinois Farm Bureau facing tough questions on renewable energy By Jeannine Otto

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CHICAGO — What happens when a core value of an organization runs up against the wishes of its own members? The Illinois Farm Bureau will be trying to find a way to ensure that one of its core values — protecting the right of property owners to do what they want with their property — can co-exist with the desire of members to preserve and protect prime farmland in the state. “We have a lot of folks that are very concerned about prime farmland being put into these projects,” said Mark Gebhards. Gebhards, IFB’s director of governmental affairs and commodities, spoke at a press conference following the IFB’s annual meeting and the close of the delegate session that saw delegates finish up their business in almost record time. Renewable energy projects and how those projects, particularly solar farms, are affecting and could affect prime farmland was toward the top of a list of concerns that delegates debated during that session. Illinois has become a magnet for solar farm development. In November, a proposed 100,000panel solar installation on 223 acres of farmland near Washburn in Marshall County was announced. Other large-scale solar farms are either under construction or

have been proposed all across the state, from Saline County, to Sangamon County, to DeKalb County. Also in November, Gebhards a proposed 3,800-acre solar farm in Lee County was approved by the Lee County Zoning Board of Appeals. That project would lease ground from 25 landowners and 89% of the land for that installation currently is in row crops, according to a report from SaukValley.com. Gebhards said that those projects and the questions and concerns surrounding the land use and land impacts of them were at the top of his priority list for the coming year. “I see an increase in the number and scope of these projects. One thing we haven’t talked about, but it was part of the discussion or the debate around renewable energy, is farmland preservation,” he said. One of the big questions that IFB officials and members will face is how does the organization walk the fine line between protecting private property rights, a core value of the organization, and at the same time advocating that landowners should be able to use their private property as they wish?

“There are a host of things that I think our membership wants to see. The message I heard from the delegate body is, yes, we need this sort of overall umbrella of some statewide standards, but our counties or local government entities do want to have the ability to make sure they can protect their respective areas as much as possible,” Gebhards said. An IFB policy submittal that would have limited how much farmland in a county can be used for renewable energy projects failed. “It didn’t pass because, again, it goes back to private property rights. It goes back to how can we tell Roger Ward (farm director at WLDS Radio in Jacksonville) that he can or cannot do something on his land, if he so chooses, that he wants to do?” Gebhards said. Gebhards said the delegate body discussed the need for statewide standards for renewable energy projects or even to move control of renewable energy projects to the local level — a move that could have implications in other areas of agriculture. “We talked a lot about whether we should or shouldn’t have statewide standards. There are implications for other aspects of agriculture. We talked about the livestock industry and the Livestock Management Facilities Act and how that may or may not be impacted if you start advocating for local stan-

dards or local control versus statewide standards. The Livestock Management Facilities Act is the statewide standard, the statewide regulations, that we (use) to operate, not only run our livestock farms, but to site new farms or expand our current farms. So, it’s very important to find that balance,” Gebhards said. Working with Soil and Water Conservation Districts on the drainage and soil conservation issues that are always a part of installing renewable energy projects, from wind to solar to transmission lines to carry the electricity generated by those projects, also was part of that discussion, according to Gebhards. Gebhards said one common theme was to find a way to partner with organizations like SWCDs, with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and with local drainage districts. “We have talked with Soil and Water Conservation Districts. We’ve talked with NRCS. We’ve talked with the drainage districts out there. I do think the key thing here is that there does need to be a partnership approach. I think agriculture needs to find a way forward to try to look for these solutions, whether it’s drainage or other issues,” he said. Jeannine Otto can be reached at 815-410-2258, or jotto@ shawmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Otto.

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Ag Mag – 21

Ethanol industry clearing pandemic hurdles recovery from COVID, but more so than that uncertainty around the Renewable Fuel Standard and around other federal regulations and policies. “E15 was a big one. Back in July we had the D.C. Circuit Court overturn the regulation that we had worked so hard to secure that finally allowed yearround sales of E15 across the country. The court sided with the oil refiners and overturned that regulation. “That put us back into a situation where retailers in twothirds of the county will not be by COVID. How were the exports able to sell E15 in the summer months next summer unless in 2021? we get this situation remedied. “We’re projecting we will That was a big setback and export slightly less in 2021 negative news in 2021 on the than we did in 2020 even domestic front. with COVID. We think that’s because other countries “We also did see some around the world have been positive news. Small refinery much slower to recover from exemptions were certainly a COVID. There are a lot of mar- challenge that our industry kets around the globe that just has been dealing with the last haven’t returned to the roadfew years. Early in 2021 we ways quite as quickly as we’ve got word from EPA they were done in the U.S. We also are continuing to battle trade barriers, tariffs, tariff freight quotas and other policy barriers in certain markets that in the past have been robust export markets for the U.S. At the top of that list is Brazil. “In past years, Brazil has been our top export market. We’ve sent a lot of product to that country, but in 2021 we sent very little ethanol to Brazil because of their 20% tariff on U.S. ethanol imports. We face similar barriers still in China, and we have some barriers in place in India, Columbia and other places that have been major markets in the past. “So, trade was not quite as exciting and not quite as optimistic for our industry in 2021 and we clearly have a lot of work to do on that front as we move into 2022.”

at certain points in the fall as the ELLISVILLE, Mo. — After industry was falling to a seven-year producreally trying tion low in 2020, the ethanol to meet surgindustry is bouncing back. ing demand. “The ethanol industry really “That part made great strides in 2021 in of 2021 was terms of recovering from the good for the COVID pandemic,” said Geoff Cooper industry and Cooper, Renewable Fuels Assoit’s great to ciation president and CEO. see the industry getting back Cooper reflected on the past on its feet after an awful year two years of challenges and op- in 2020 and frankly not a very portunities in a RFA-sponsored good year in 2019.” Ethanol Report, produced by ZimmComm. Ethanol exports were impacted AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

Where are we today compared to a year ago in terms of recovery from COVID with ethanol production and demand after that devastating drop in 2020 due to the pandemic restrictions that kept people off the road? “2020 was a terrible year for the industry in terms of production and demand because of COVID. We saw ethanol production slump to about 13.9 billion gallons in 2020 because of COVID. That was a seven-year low. We don’t have the final numbers for 2021 yet, but we’re expecting somewhere around 15 billion gallons of production in 2021 and a very strong rebound in demand, especially domestically. “We saw a nice bounce in demand coming out of COVID. Ethanol demand really did well in the back half of this year and is still doing well as we head into winter which is typically a period of lower demand and less driving, but we really haven’t seen that. “When you compare the last few months of fuel consumption and vehicle travel to comparable pre-COVID levels in 2019 and 2018 we’re actually seeing very strong demand and it looks like that’s going to continue as we head into 2022. “Overall, 2021 was a recovery year for the industry. We saw a lot of those facilities come back to normal operating conditions that had been either completely shut down or running at below normal operating capacity and actually touched some record levels of output 22 – Winter 2022

going to change the way they approached SREs. They said they were going to stop granting so many SREs and their rationale for doing that was really the 10th Circuit Court decision in a case that we brought against EPA. “We were pleased to see that and pleased to hear that commitment from EPA in March, but then we didn’t see any follow-up or any implementation of that commitment until just in the last few weeks when EPA finally followed through with a formal proposal to deny all of those remaining pending small refinery exemptions. “We’re talking about 3 billion gallons of renewable fuel blending requirements that sort of hang in the balance with those pending petitions. So, we were very pleased to see EPA proposing to deny those petitions and we’re going to strongly support that proposed denial and hope that EPA moves quickly to finalize those denials early in 2022.”

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