Northern Illinois AgMag - 02-21-2013

AG Mag Northern Illinois

!

Water, Please

Their land thirsty for moisture, Sauk Valley farmers mull options as planting draws near Numbers game: Why data now drives many decisions on today’s farms Cliff notes: How the ‘fiscal cliff’ deal helps and hurts you and your neighbors Wind shift: Opposition to wind farms is now more organized, and more vocal A Publication of Shaw Media

Spring 2013 AG Mag

1

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Message from the Publisher

Local focus makes Northern Illinois Ag Mag stand out

ucts and services area agriculture professionals offer. Those of us working to produce this magazine are especially grateful for our advertisers’ support, for without When we launched the inaugural issue of the Northern it, producing this publication would not Illinois Ag Mag last spring, we set out to create a top-flight be possible. agriculture magazine that would stand out compared to all The second issue of the Ag Mag will the rest. The way we intended to make it stand out was to publish in August. It will examine how make it the most locally focused agriculture publication in Trevis Mayfield the growing season is progressing and Publisher the market, and we are happy to say we did exactly that! take a read on how local growers are The magazine was full of stories about northern Illinois planning to market their grain and livefarmers, local experts and trends. We heard a lot of posistock. It also will feature vacation opportunities and protive feedback from both readers and advertisers, so in file area farmers’ favorite trips.

2013, we have committed to producing three issues, with The final issue of the year will published in December, this being the first. with a two-pronged focus: It will examine how area growInside this issue you will be able to read about the local ers fared in 2013, and then delve into planning for next impact last year’s dry weather had on our area and how year. other growers and agriculture professionals are moving We hope you enjoy this issue, and we hope you have a forward. You will find profiles of local growers, yield statis- great 2013. tics, best practices, technology, and government policies.

You may even see names and photographs of people you know. There are even some tasty recipes for those who not only grow food, but who enjoy eating it, too.

Trevis Mayfield, Aside from the editorial content, this edition is packed publisher full of locally based advertising about the valuable prod-

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Index

AG Mag Northern Illinois

Publisher Trevis Mayfield Advertising Director Jennifer Baratta Editor Larry Lough Magazine Editors Larry Lough, Jeff Rogers, Kathleen Schultz

14

Page Design Jeff Rogers Reporters & Photographers Derek Barichello, Donna Barker, Pam Eggemeier, David Giuliani, Kayla Heimerman, Barb Kromphardt, Philip Marruffo, Alex T. Paschal, Kiran Sood, Nicole Wiegand, and Kyle Wilson Published by Sauk Valley Media 3200 E. Lincolnway Sterling, IL 61081 815-625-3600 Articles and advertisements are the property of Sauk Valley Media. No portion of the Northern Illinois Ag Mag may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of Sauk Valley Media. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate; however, Sauk Valley Media cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. Sauk Valley Media 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.

COVER STORY

Feeling the Heat Farmers fear another year of drought could be devastating if commodity prices fall.

The middle tables At the Amboy Family Restaurant on Main Street, farmers gather for coffee, breakfast and conversation.

31

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FDIC

Index 22

Uncertainty, still, about Farm Bill

36

The “fiscal cliff” deal in the nation’s capital brought some blessings to farmers in Illinois and across the country.

No one is happy that the lawmakers in Washington, once again, have kicked the can down the road on the Farm Bill.

Legislative priorities

25

Blowback on wind energy

40

More and more often, people living near proposed wind farms are presenting opposition.

Farmland assessments may be the biggest agricultural issue to be debated in Springfield. But the state’s fiscal crisis looms large, too.

34

Potential tax burdens lifted

This old farmer David Gusse of Lee County says that while much has changed in agriculture, results still matter the most.

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Technology guides the decisions made on the Book family farm southeast of Dixon.

60 Early days of farming

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heat

Feeling the

Threat of drought through 2013 has farmers worried

BY KAYLA HEIMERMAN For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

R

onald Gerken was hit hard by the drought.

The 74-year-old, along with his son, Terry Gerken, farms 1,800 acres of commercial corn, soybeans and wheat without the help of irrigation just west of Sterling in Whiteside County.

They harvested 60 to 70 percent fewer bushels of corn and 25 percent fewer bushels of soybeans than anticipated last year. Their wheat crop was average. nnn 14 Spring 2013

‘‘

History tells us not to anticipate the situation will correct completely during this year. It tells us to anticipate the problem will continue.

Elwynn Taylor, a professor of agronomy at Iowa State University

The intense 2012 drought parched field crops throughout much of the country, including the top corn-producing states in the Midwest, and delivered a punishing blow to yields across the nation.

Federal crop insurance, coupled with strong corn prices, made up for some of the loss. But the threat of another dry growing season – with agricultural land thirsty for water after fall rains and early winter snows failed to fully recharge soil moisture – has farmers worried.

’’

Gerken, who blames his unfortunate location along a “dry stretch” for his low yields last year, remains hopeful.

“This next year is going to be better,” he predicted.

Gerken, like other farmers in the region, is looking into the latest hybrid seeds, considering those varieties of corn that are most droughtresistant.

Continued on 154

4Continued from 14 The lifelong farmer also could plant a little less corn and a little more soybeans, hoping the crop, with its lower moisture requirement, can survive on little soil recharge.

How bad was the 2012 drought?

The 2012 drought was the most intense and widespread drought to grip the United States since 1988.

It was comparable in severity to the droughts of the mid-1950s, said Elwynn Taylor, a professor of agronomy at Iowa State University and a climatologist for Iowa State University Extension.

More than 50 percent of the country was experiencing some level of drought conditions as of early January, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The 2012 drought crippled corn production after six consecutive years of above-average corn yield, Taylor said.

In 2010, when the drought started, output for the first time in six years fell below the average. And in 2011, it fell even further.

“And in 2012, we were not only below the trend, we were in extreme drought,” Taylor said. “So, we had three consecutive years below the trend, and we’re likely moving into two more years.”

Withered crops limped through the

Alex T. Paschal/Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Ron Gerken (right) and his son Terry farm 1,800 acres of commercial corn, soybeans and wheat west of Sterling. They harvested 60 to 70 percent fewer bushels of corn and 25 percent fewer bushels of soybeans than anticipated last year. Still, Ron says, “this next year is going to be better.” Like other farmers in the region, Gerken is looking into the latest hybrid seeds, considering those varieties of corn that are most drought-resistant. summer on subsoil moisture deep into the ground, Taylor said. But most of that subsoil moisture is gone and has yet to be replaced – a special concern now that the ground has frozen.

“We did not have a full recharge over [the past] winter,” Taylor said. “Some

places had a normal recharge, but half didn’t.”

Irrigated crops did well, said Bob Rosengren, who grows corn and soybeans in Lee and Whiteside counties.

“Anything under water did survive and was a decent crop,” Rosengren said. “We kind of take it out of Mother Nature’s hands because we can make it rain.”

But according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, the most recent survey available, only 2.09 percent of harvested cropland in Illinois is irrigated.

In Iowa, that figure is even smaller: 0.79 percent. Those numbers could increase in a 2012 survey that is being compiled.

Most growers slogged through the drought and made up for their losses with crop insurance, said Emily Pratt, a crop insurance specialist for 1st Farm Credit Services in Rock Falls.

“Those with adequate crop insurance were still able to conduct business as usual and even make plans for the coming year,” Pratt said. “The insurance made them feel secure in knowing that if they did have a loss, then some or all of their investment would be covered.”

Soil moisture still a concern Sarah Brown/Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Cattle close in on Tony Allen of Diagonal, Iowa, as he takes feed to the herd. Allen is concerned what a continued drought through 2013 could mean for the more than 300 cattle he owns. “If it doesn’t rain, livestock will go away,” Allen predicted.

“You could not buy enough hay to keep cows going.”

Most of the country remains in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. continued on 174

AG Mag

15

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4Continued from 15 A three-month drought outlook, released Jan. 3 from the Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, showed easing drought in northern Illinois, continued drought with some improvement in northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa, and persistent or intensified drought throughout much of the rest of the country.

Soil moisture and water levels are at near-record lows – so much so that barge traffic on the Mississippi River has halted – and are not likely to fully recover by spring, said John Eise, a meteorologist for the Central Region of the National Weather Service.

“Even if we received normal precipitation this winter, we would still have a deficit in everything from topsoil moisture to water levels [in ponds, streams and rivers],” Eise said. “Unless we have some good, wet snows that can percolate into the soil and recharge the soil moisture, we’re going to have problems going into the spring.”

Corn and soybeans survived the drought on subsoil moisture. Rooting conditions last year were near ideal, and observed corn and soybean roots were 8 to 9 feet in many places, Taylor said.

That deep rooting provided sufficient water to produce decent crop yields but resulted in moisture-depleted soil.

Many locations now require 16 to 18 inches of precipitation – because each foot of soil has a capacity for 2 inches of plant-available water – from the past October to May to adequately replenish subsoil moisture, Taylor said.

“That is not likely,” he said. “Judging from normal precipitation and history, it’s not likely the soil will be fully recharged.”

Years of scant moisture, or drought

‘‘

‘‘

Those with adequate crop insurance were still able to conduct business as usual and even make plans for the coming year.

Emily Pratt, crop insurance specialist in Rock Falls

years, often lead to an immediately subsequent year of below-average precipitation. After the 1988 and 1956 droughts, for example, 1989 and 1957 saw precipitation “shy of the normal,” Taylor said.

“History tells us not to anticipate the situation will correct completely during this year,” he said. “It tells us to anticipate the problem will continue.”

Forecast is unknown The spring forecast is fuzzy, at best.

Meteorologists look to the temperature of the surface waters in the Pacific Ocean near the equator to predict the weather. Warmer-than-normal waters are known as El Niño, and cooler-thannormal waters are known as La Niña.

The cycle, together called the El Niño/ La Niña–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), influences temperature and precipitation in the United States.

Meteorologists aren’t seeing much, though. Neither El Niño nor La Niña is dictating the weather right now, said Brad Rippey, an agricultural meteorologist with the USDA. “We’re in a neutral situation,” Rippey said. “It’s [ENSO] one of the very few things we have to give us some confidence in a forecast looking out many, many months, and we don’t have it this winter.”

Meteorologists then look elsewhere – at a mish-mosh of factors that affect weather in ways that are much harder to predict.

’’

Even if we received normal precipitation this winter, we would still have a deficit in everything from topsoil moisture to water levels [in ponds, streams and rivers].

John Eise, meteorologist for the National Weather Service

“Krazy Ken, The Farmers Friend”

’’

“We’ve had highly variable weather so far,” Rippey said. “If I had to go out on a limb, that would be my forecast: periods of stormy weather at times ... a lot of extremes, from mild and dry to cold and stormy.

“I’m afraid to venture a guess into the spring.”

Other experts agree.

“We probably will not have a good, reliable outlook until we get to, let’s say the middle of January, or even to be really sure, to early April,” Taylor said.

“Usually by then, we do have weather patterns and a handle on them for what they will be for May through September [the growing season].”

Chuck Rhodenbaugh, who farms 1,600 acres of commercial corn without irrigation in Lee County, is worried less about the persistent dry conditions and more about the falling price of corn.

“I’m worried, yes, that it will be dry and we won’t get the yield we need,” he said.

“But I’m more worried about how much the price is going to drop. ... With the high cost of inputs, if that price gets back down to that $3.50 figure, a lot of farmers are going to go out of business.”

The drought sent corn prices through the roof – to a record-high of about $8.50 a bushel this past summer – but a return to more normal yields this year could send them spiraling downward, said Chris Hurt, an agricultural economist at Purdue University Extension.

The USDA predicts the midpoint on 2012 corn will be $7.60 a bushel.

If yields are more normal in 2013, the price could fall to $5.50, the largest ever year-to-year drop, Hurt said. But prices won’t move sharply lower until production becomes more assured as the season progresses, he added.

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AG Mag

17

Our Current Home

Original Meeting Hall

201 Lincoln Statue Drive, Dixon

Palmyra Township

Beginning---Chartered in 1865 by a special act of the Illinois General Assembly to write farm property throughout the state, PLN Mutual Insurance Company was founded by area farmers because the eastern insurance companies of the day would not provide affordable insurance to the area.

Benjamin Franklin’s model---The company was founded as a mutual insurance company modeled on the original mutual founded by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1752. The first board of directors of the company were farmers from Palmyra Township, Lee County, and business began under the name of Farmers’ Mutual of Palmyra Township.

Historic farm mutuals---Since 1990, the company has combined with four other historic farm mutuals in the area. Lincoln Mutual of Mt. Morris (founded in 1860), Nashua Mutual of Oregon (founded in 1877), Buffalo Mutual of Polo (founded in 1874), and Lanark Mutual of Lanark (founded in 1874) along with Farmers’ Mutual of Palmyra now comprise the company.

Home Office---Dixon is home to the company. The staff of four employees underwrites and issues the policies, and services the needs of the policyholders and their agents.

Owners---The policyholders are the owners of the company and elect the directors who govern it, keeping the control of the company in our local communities.

Products---Farmowners and homeowners products are written for policyholders in the northern half of Illinois by 27 independent agencies. The company’s mission: to provide insurance coverages at the lowest possible cost, while providing superior personal service to policyholders.

Long tradition---The company takes great pride in its tradition of service and stability to the communities of this area. Dixon has been its headquarters since the presidency of Abraham Lincoln through the presidency of native son Ronald Reagan, and remains the headquarters today.

2002

The company (then known as Palmyra Lincoln Mutual) combined with Nashua Mutual of nearby Oregon to become PLN MUTUAL.

2003

In 2003, PLN Mutual merged with Buffalo Mutual of Polo. The mergers with these two historic farm mutuals (Nashua was founded in 1877 & Buffalo in 1874) added financial strength and writing territory.

2005

In 2005, the company moved into its new home office at 201 Lincoln Statue Drive, Dixon, in our 140th year in business. This building was built in 1955 to house the Dixon branch of USF&G, which later outgrew the space.

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2011 PLN merged with Lanark Mutual, which was founded in Carroll County in 1874.

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Wick Helps Build Many of the Best Farms in Illinois Wick Buildings was proudly founded in 1954.

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Kicking the Can Down the Road, Again

Photo illustration by Alex T. Paschal for Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Uncertainty for farmers remains after another extension of the Farm Bill

by Congress

22 Spring 2013

I

By Pam Eggemeier For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

n a business where uncertainty is a constant occupational hazard, the recent one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill does little to alleviate farmers’ fears of the unknown.

The Farm Bill extension was part of the last-minute “fiscal cliff” deal that was brokered in Congress on New Year’s Day. While more than 35 programs set to expire will now be authorized to operate at last year’s spending levels, farm advocates and legislators say they are disappointed in the inability of Congress to give farmers the security of a new five-year deal that would make it easier for them to plan.

“Uncertainty is the big thing,” said Adam

Nielsen, director of national legislation and policy development for the Illinois Farm Bureau. “Farmers are hoping that we’re not on a treadmill of Farm Bill extensions.”

Newly sworn-in 16th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said the uncertainty that lingers with the extension has been the biggest agricultural concern voiced by farmers in his district.

“Without knowing which insurance programs, or possible new regulations may be placed upon their industry, farmers are left vulnerable when deciding which crops, feed, or investments they should make for years to come,” Kinzinger said. continued on 244

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4Continued from 22 Kinzinger said that the impact of last year’s drought and historically slow economic growth make a five-year Farm Bill even more important.

Nielsen believes the extension is doubly frustrating because much of the heavy lifting for a new bill had been done, and a cash-strapped federal government stood to save a substantial amount of money in farm subsidy concessions. A bill passed by the Senate included savings of about $23 billion over 10 years. Another version in the House contained $35 billion in cuts, but a finished product never made it out of the House.

“Negotiations were taking place in December 2011,” Nielsen said. “We basically had the bill then, but it failed in the supercommittee. Now we’re back to square one.”

Randy Faber of Sublette was one of 14 state farmers to participate in the Illinois Farm Bureau’s Leaders in Washington trip in mid-September. The delegation had the opportunity to talk to legislative leaders one-on-one about the need for a new Farm Bill and participate in a rally at the Capitol. While Faber said it was a productive trip, his excitement was tempered by a healthy dose of reality.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm at the rally, and I was kind of surprised by the optimism by the congressmen,” Faber said.

David Rauch/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Randy Faber, who farms near Sublette in Lee County, said that while he “was kind of surprised by the optimism of congressmen” during an Illinois Farm Bureau Leaders visit with lawmakers in Washington in mid-September, he never expected a new Farm Bill to be passed by the end of 2012.

“I just personally never did think we would get this done by the end of the year.”

Faber said he knew that the proposed cuts to the food stamp program would be a huge roadblock to getting a deal out of the House. The House version of the bill called for $16.5 billion in cuts, over a 10-year period, to the Supple-

mental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP), which makes up more than 75 percent of the Farm Bill budget.

Democrats feared that the cuts would eliminate food stamps for up to three million Americans. continued on 264

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Tax issues at top of legislative agenda

BY PAM EGGEMEIER For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Taxes were the predominant theme for agriculture lobbyists in Washington at the beginning of 2013, and the same holds true in Springfield.

State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, has been spearheading efforts to ensure that taxes on farmland are assessed in a fair manner. Legislation has yet to be introduced, but the Illinois Farm Bureau has been working with the Illinois Department of Revenue in an attempt to keep farmers’ taxes from skyrocketing this year.

The Department of Revenue supports a proposal that would change how farmland values are determined. Since 1977, the taxes have been based on the land’s production rather than its market value. Because of wild fluctuations, in 1986 local governments instituted tax caps to make it easier for them and school districts to budget.

The Farm Bureau is lobbying to make sure the land continues to be taxed based on productivity, but it wants to fix the distortions created by the tax caps, according to Kevin Semlow, Illinois Farm Bureau director Rep. Jim Sacia: of state legislation.

Says farmland “The most important assessment “the thing is to make sure biggest agriculturthe Illinois Farmland al issue in Illinois Assessments law is fair right now” for everyone, and the distortions in the tax rates are addressed,” Semlow said.

The proposal would limit changes in the certified values of soils to 10 percent for Illinois’s medium cropland soil rather than the current 10 percent limit that now applies across the board.

State Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica,

At the Statehouse

has been on the Agriculture and Conservation Committee all 10 years he has served in the General Assembly and serves as House minority spokesman for agriculture. He says that this issue has huge implications for farmers.

“Farmers have seen farmland assessment change dramatically, and I think this is the biggest agriculture issue in Illinois right now,” Sacia said.

While farmland assessments are directly related to taxes, Semlow says the Farm Bureau believes that the state’s budgetary problems, particularly $94 billion in unfunded pensions, also are tax issues that profoundly affect everyone in Illinois.

“This is the biggest issue in the General Assembly, and we [Farm Bureau] have worked closely to bring about true pension reform,” Semlow said. “The pension issue ultimately is about a shift in who pays.”

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4Continued from 24 He also understood the gravity of the fiscal cliff negotiations, which forced the Farm Bill to take a back seat.

“There’s a $16 trillion debt,” Faber said. “You can’t keep kicking the can down the road when no one can tell you when you’re going to hit the wall. All you have to do it look at what’s happened in Greece and the rest of Europe.”

Congress and the ag community agree that the Farm Bill is outdated and the extension merely delays reform efforts.

Most heavily debated in the reform conversation is the funding for safety net programs, which are now extended in their current form for another year.

As crop prices have gone up during the period covered by the 2008 Farm Bill, crop insurance has clearly emerged as the risk management tool of choice in the Midwest. Direct payments have become the poster child of an antiquated Farm Bill.

The main objective for lobbyists in the next bill will be to protect the crop insurance programs that now cost the federal government about $9 billion a year, Nielsen said.

“We’re not pushing for direct payments, but now we have them for another year,” he said.

“It’s a great example of how this bill is out of step with the times. Farm Bureau is focused on preserving and enhancing crop insurance, but this is a symptom of a process that broke down.”

The ag sector booked record profits of $122 billion in 2012, fueling the argument to cut subsidies. Many farmers seem to have accepted the likelihood that direct payments are living on borrowed time. Some would even like to see them disappear.

Jim Schielein, a grain producer in Lee and Ogle counties in northern Illinois, served 10 years on the IFB board. He says he was in favor of doing away with direct payments in the 2008 Farm Bill.

“We could see it coming,” he said.

“Direct payments had their time and place, but they became untenable. With prices recovering as they have, why are we getting these dollars?”

Scott Irwin, professor of agriculture and consumer economics at University of Illinois, agrees that fixed direct supports are “dead on arrival,” but agriculture lobbyists want the next Farm Bill to include a different, more modern sort of safety net system in exchange.

‘‘

AP photo

Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who now serves the 16th District in Illinois, said “farmers are left vulnerable” in decisions about crops, feed and investments because of the uncertainty about the future of the Farm Bill.

‘‘

The lack of certainty puts farmers in Illinois in a difficult position when it comes to planning, and it also impacts investment in agriculture.

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline

“They are proposing replacement programs that work in conjunction with crop insurance and vary with market conditions,” he said. “I think the biggest concern for farmers this year is how robust the safety net will be in the next Farm Bill.

But making concessions during good farm times can be a slippery slope, especially now that the Farm Bill is likely to be drawn up while the debt ceiling deadline and appropriations bill expiration both loom on March 27.

Jerry Quintin, director of the Lee County Farm Service Agency, says the next Farm Bill must not “throw out the baby with the bathwater” just because this year was the first time in 30 years that prices have exceeded production costs. There will always be numerous factors that farmers can’t control.

“We can’t forget the essence of these programs,” he said. “We have to remember the cyclical nature of farming and what we needed to do to get to the good times. We had $5 corn in ’96-’97, and then

’’

Negotiations were taking place in December 2011. We basically had the bill then, but it failed in the supercommittee.

Now we’re back to square one.

Adam Nielsen, director of national legislation and policy development for the Illinois Farm Bureau

26 Spring 2013

’’

$1.40 corn in ’98-’99. Lee County received about $25 million in drought insurance in 1988-’89. We lost a lot of farmers that year, but the insurance saved us.”

Newly elected U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of the 17th District in northwest Illinois, who received an appointment to the House Agriculture Committee, will work with the committee to craft the next Farm Bill. She said she will listen closely to her constituents to gauge their priorities. She said she was disappointed that a long-term bill wasn’t completed in the last Congress, but she understands that reconciling subsidies with the current budgetary crisis will be challenging.

“The lack of certainty puts farmers in Illinois in a difficult position when it comes to planning, and it also impacts investment in agriculture,” Bustos said.

“We need to have subsidy reform, but also need to remember that farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature. They do need some kind of safety net in place, such as a strong crop insurance program.”

Bustos believes there will be an important teaching aspect to her committee work on the Farm Bill.

“It is important to educate Congress about how a Farm Bill is beneficial to everyone – not just those in agricultural districts – because of the impact it has on things like food prices and food safety,” Bustos said.

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4Continued from 25 Semlow says the pension reform proposals that are being discussed are based on one overriding premise – a shift to property taxes.

“A shift to more land-based taxation obviously means that farmers will shoulder more of the burden,” he said.

Farm Bureau’s top stated state legislative priority for 2013 is to push for passage of a budget that preserves current levels of funding for core ag programs without tax increases.

“Ag has been put in a hard spot the last 10 years,” Semlow said. “There have been dramatic cuts to staff in inspections, process permits, soil and conservation districts.

“We know the economy has been tough, but we need to preserve what we have.”

Farmers also are taking a keen interest in energy issues, which promise to be at hot state legislative topic. Sacia says that extracting oil, gas, and even coalbased energy through rock formations, known as hydraulic fracturing, has become a heated issue.

“There is a tremendous push on fracking,” Sacia said. “It’s going to affect the ag community because they own the land, and many environmental groups are getting involved.”

‘‘

Ag has been put in a hard spot the last 10 years. There have been dramatic cuts to staff in inspections, process permits, soil and conservation districts.

Kevin Semlow, Illinois Farm Bureau director of state legislation

’’

Fracking allows gas and oil to be are actually the best environmentalists; extracted from areas previously not they have a long history of taking care thought possible. While supporters of the land.” point to its importance in creating a Semlow doesn’t anticipate any huge more self-sufficient energy policy and changes regarding environmental the jobs it is creating, opponents says issues and says that those issues are there are environmental hazards to primarily handled through the admingroundwater and the air. istrative rule-making process.

Farm Bureau supports legislation to The 98th General Assembly represents a considerable changing of the guard. set regulations for fracking that protect Its 41 new members will have a small the land and water. In the renewable learning curve in dealing with a legislaenergy arena, ag lobbyists also would tive agenda full of critical and contenlike to see legislation passed that brings for tiousproducts issues. Sacia says that shouldn’t consistency to wind power developbe a problem. ment – particularly in how landowners’ “They have to hit the ground runrights are protected. ning,” he said. “Within 6 months, Another problem Illinois farmers and effective legislator; you’re a reasonably face is not a new one. Environmental after a year, you should be speaking up regulations, especially on livestock on issues and in committee.” farmers, will continue to be an issue in Semlow agrees that the high turnover 2013. Sacia, who was born on a dairy shouldn’t slow Starters the process. farm and continues to farm as an “avoLiquid “They catch on quickly, but it will be cation,” believes that the EPA comes Clear Nutrient Solutions interesting to see how the freshmen down too hard on livestock producers. handle it,”Liquid Semlow said. “With the large “This is an ongoing problem,” he said. Specialized Nutrient Blends influx of new people, it should produce “EPA makes it tough on livestock and Micronutrients a lot of new ideas.” dairy, in my opinion overly so. Farmers

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Coffee, breakfast and conversation are doled out liberally during the morning rush at the Amboy Family Restaurant. Two long tables sit in the middle of the restaurant. That’s where the early-morning, pre-dawn crowd typically gathers. When they’re not talking, farmers come to enjoy the eggs, pancakes and breakfast meals served at the restaurant.

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Coffee, conversation and crops on the menu at Amboy Family Restaurant

T

BY KIRAN SOOD For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

he Amboy Family Restaurant doesn’t have a Farmer’s Skillet on its menu, but it does have a lot of farmers.

On an especially cold January morning, the inside of the restaurant on Main Street in Amboy was buzzing with local farmers getting their day started with a cup of coffee.

Almost every morning, farmers from Amboy, Lee Center and elsewhere gather at the local diner to talk about anything and everything.

Near the front counter of the cozy Amboy restaurant were framed photographs, a calendar, a Christmas stocking and even a mini remedy store, complete with Tylenol, Advil and Motrin for sale.

The middle of the restaurant is lined with two long tables. That’s where the earlymorning, pre-dawn crowd typically gathers.

The Family Restaurant is like the town center. Almost any topic is fair game for discussion.

One topic dominated the conversation one recent morning – the severe drought that has hit the area.

“We need water,” Larry Clayton said simply. continued on 324

AG Mag

31

4Continued from 31

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Clayton, 62, lives and farms corn and soybeans in the Harmon area. “If you don’t have water, it’s tough to do anything.”

Clayton said yields on his farm were down as a result of the drought. He called the drought of 2012 larger than the drought of 1988.

“You can’t do anything about the drought; [you’re] at the mercy of the Lord,” he said. “Sometimes it gives you a reality check of who’s boss.”

Clayton sat across the table from friend Bill Eisenberg of Amboy. The two talked about the impact of the drought on consumers. Both sipped coffee. Coffee was not all that Clayton had for breakfast. He was having his regular: peanut butter and jelly on an English muffin.

When he gets to the Family Restaurant, he usually asks Tammy Mezo, the waitress, for a “Hockey puck.” She knows exactly what he means.

Farmers can’t let food prices go to the point where people can’t afford to buy goods, Clayton says.

Although the drought has impacted Clayton and his corn and soybean farm, he said he’s “got no complaints.”

“You get a good year, save it for a bad year,” he said. “You learn to manage money well.”

He was soon joined at the long table by Kenny Shaw. As each farmer enters the restaurant, he gets greeted personally by others at the table.

For Shaw, it was not coffee,

but hot tea in his cup. He spread jam on toast for his breakfast. Shaw, 81, farms corn and hogs and lives in Lee Center Township.

Another farmer, Tom Mead, said the persistent drought has him worrying about the upcoming year. Mead lives west of Amboy, where he farms green beans, lima beans, sweet corn and soybeans.

He said frost would improve the tilth of the soil. Conditions are still very dry, and not just in this area, he said.

Although the conversation focused on the drought, Mead, 64, said the men don’t shy away from any topic.

Alex T. Paschal/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

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Tom Mead (right) of Amboy smiles while catching up with the guys at the Amboy Family Restaurant. Mead, 64, lives west of Amboy and farms green beans, lima beans, sweet corn and soybeans.

They have discussed local politics, the school system, new farm equipment, GPS, and even the recent push for the 1 percent sales tax referendum in Dixon and Lee County, Mead said.

Most farmers seem more focused on coffee and catching up than they are on what’s on the menu. But the Amboy Family Restaurant does have a wide variety of food, including eggs, pancake and breakfast meats.

Through the winter, the restaurant serves two eggs, toast and a choice of bacon or sausage for farmers, Mezo

said. Specialty items include omelettes and skillets.

Mezo has been a waitress at the restaurant for four years. She handles the morning crew on her own until her shift ends at 1 p.m.

As conversation continued at the table, Mezo made her way to each farmer and kept their mugs full.

The farmers often talk about politics, Mezo said before the morning regulars arrived.

Asked whether a conversation has ever gotten heated, Mezo said no.

“More or less they aggravate one another,” she said.

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Larry Clayton, 62, of Harmon listens and chats with the fellas at the Amboy Family Restaurant on a cold Thursday morning in January.

AG Mag

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sk Lee County farmer David Gusse what’s changed since he started farming, and he’ll say “a whole heckuva lot.”

The 72-year-old, who farms corn and soybeans southeast of Dixon, has seen technology improve yields and change the approach and technique of farming that his son will carry into the next generation.

“Why do we do things the

way we do?” the fifth-generation farmer asked to himself.

“Because we can. Almost every decision made in farming has been based on the end result.”

Gusse’s son, Matt, is putting records of his yields in a computer and analyzing the data. Jim uses global positioning systems to determine the exact location of crops, fertilizer and pesticides.

David proudly boasts that the old way of doing things was just as accurate, but concedes one factor.

Photo submitted by David Gusse

David Gusse, a fifth-generation Lee County farmer, poses in front of an Oliver 1600 tractor his father bought in 1963. The tractor was painted by his grandson, Philip Barlow, and still is operational. Gusse used the tractor for many years spraying and planting. can harvest more efficiently “It just took us longer,” said and it’s led to the growth and David, who graduated with size of farms.” an agriculture degree from David said he learned a lot the University of Illinois. “A from working with his father, lot longer, but we’d always be especially from his father’s in range.” experiences.

When David started farm“Dad never went on a ing with his father, they used limb with things,” he said. a four-row corn planter with “I wasn’t that way. I’d take a 40-inch spacing. This past a chance. I had two ways year, Matt used a 24-row, of looking at things; I don’t 30-inch planter. know if I ought to do this, but Back then, harvest time if I do, how are we going to meant corn was picked and make it work?” stored in the crib, fed to pigs David said his mistakes and dairy cows, and if there have taught his son the most, was some left, it would be too. shelled and sold.

“Unfortunately, that’s the Now, corn is harvested with way it goes,” he said. “It’s a combine, yields are higher those big moments that you and the majority of it is sold watch and say, ‘I don’t want as a cash crop. to go down that road.’”

Productive farms used to be There have been some hard 160 acres; now, David said, 1,000-plus acres are needed times for David and his famto make a good living. ily.

“Harvest is the engine that continued on 654 drives farming,” he said. “We

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OUDS LIFTED Farmers score victories in fiscal cliff deal

BY Pam Eggemeier For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

W

ith taxes taking center stage late last year in the looming fiscal cliff negotiations, farmers and their tax planners were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst as 2012 came to a close.

While all the uncertainty over ag-related tax issues made planning difficult, the deal reached late on New Year’s Day not only included a one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill provisions, but some big tax victories that farm lobbyists had pushed hard for in 2012. nnn According to CPA John Berge, the three most important tax changes set for 2012 were a sizable decrease in the Section 179 expense deduction, the expiration of the bonus depreciation allowance, and the anticipation of higher estate taxes. Now none of those changes will come to fruition this year.

“This allows farmers to have more options for 2013 and gives them more flexibility,” Burge said.

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4Continued from 37 Before the fiscal cliff deal, the dollar limit for the Section 179 expense deduction was to drop from $500,000 to $139,000 for 2012, and all the way back to $25,000 for 2013. The 100 percent bonus depreciation allowance applies to qualifying property with a longer shelf life acquired after Sept. 8, 2010.

The 50 percent bonus depreciation allowance applies to qualifying property acquired after Dec. 31, 2007. Both bonus depreciation allowances were to expire in 2012.

Now the maximum Section 179 deduction remains at $500,000 for 2012 and 2013. The 50 percent bonus depreciation allowance is extended through 2013. The ceiling for equipment eligibility also has been lifted to $2 million, instead of the $560,000 asset maximum that had triggered a phase-out of Section 179.

Berge said the extension of those write-offs at their current rates is important in stimulating small business and agriculture.

“Farming is a very capital-intensive business,” he said. “It takes a lot of capital to be successful. We saw a lot of equipment being purchased in 2011, and fewer capital purchases in 2012 because of the possibility of the tax changes. When the tax burden is less,

it’s a real incentive to invest in new technology.”

Illinois Farm Bureau members made federal tax issues a big priority in 2012, and lobbyists turned up the heat on Congress by putting out a legislative action request from Nov. 30 to Dec. 7.

The result was close to 4,000 participants banding together in support of retaining current estate tax and capital gains provisions, and extensions of the Section 179 deduction, as well as extensions of the renewable fuels and energy tax credits.

The estate tax keeps the personal exemption at $5 million for an individual and $10 million for couples. The exemption will be adjusted for inflation, making it $5.12 million in 2012 and about $5.25 million in 2013.

A worst-case scenario had the estate tax exemption falling to $1 million and the tax rate jumping from 35 percent to 55 percent. Earlier in the year, the Obama administration had been leaning toward a lower exemption of $3.5 million and a 40 percent tax rate. The tax rate is bumped to 40 percent, but retaining the permanent $5 million exemption was a big win.

“The fiscal cliff was all about tax issues,” said Adam Nielsen, director of national legislation and policy development for Illinois Farm Bureau. “The estate tax is done and it’s a great out-

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come. We were really afraid the estate tax would drop to three-and-a-half million. We can live with the extra 5 percent on the tax rate.”

Berge believes the $5 million exemption is a fair amount, especially given the way farmland values have been rising.

“If this exemption would have dropped to $1 million, it would have excluded very few people,” Berge said. “The huge run-up in farm values is what was really scaring people.

The increases were far outpacing the exemption.”

Lee County farmer Randy Faber is on the Illinois Beef Association Board and active in Illinois Farm Bureau lobbying efforts. He said that if the $5 million estate tax exemption had been reduced, it would have caught people who thought the tax would never touch them.

“Today’s farmers need at least 700 acres to make a comfortable living,” Faber said. “With land values going up the way they are, 100 acres is worth about $1.4 million. I think congressmen understood the problem.”

Jim Schielein grows corn, beans and wheat in Lee and Ogle counties, and spent 10 years on the Illinois Farm Bureau Board of Directors. He said that tax policy has been at the top of agriculture’s legislative agenda for several years. continued on 494

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Decisions to make at tax time H&R Block franchise owner shares some of her expertise

By Donna Barker For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

With the April 15 tax deadline approaching, Illinois farmers are looking at income and expenses, and what can be done to make the most of both.

Sharon Mercer, owner of 13 H&R Block franchises in north central Illinois, said most farmers come into H&R Block offices during November and December for tax planning – to look at where they stand with all their expenses and income. In Illinois, farmers are not required to file a quarterly estimate, as long as two-thirds of their gross income comes from farming.

When looking at tax planning, Mercer said farmers have the ability to control their level of income by putting some crops in storage and waiting for the new year – and, hopefully, better prices. This year, a lot of farmers sold their crops before the end of the year

because of the uncertainty of what would happen with the country’s “fiscal cliff,” she said.

Mercer said another tax planning consideration is how the farmer will handle the “expensing” Sharon (write-off) of a new Mercer piece of equipment or machinery in the year of purchase. The purchase would have to be made by Dec. 31 of the tax year, but the decision on how to handle the depreciation does not have to be made until the tax return is prepared. Buying a piece of machinery or equipment gives the farmer leeway in helping to control his level of income for the year, she said.

For 2012, a farmer can expense up to 50 percent of the cost of an item up to $139,000, depending on the farmer’s income. Previously, the farmer could expense up to 100 percent of the cost of an item, up to $500,000, again depending on the farmer’s income.

Mercer said another consideration at

tax time is the federal bonus depreciation, which is not based on income.

Since Illinois does not allow for a bonus depreciation, a portion of the federal bonus depreciation is added back on the state return.

It’s also possible for farmers to take advantage of farm income averaging. To qualify for that benefit, Mercer said, a person must be in the farming business in that year as an individual, as a partner in a partnership, or as a shareholder in an agricultural corporation. The income averaging is based on income from the three prior years as well as the current year, though the person did not have to be a farmer in the prior three years.

Looking ahead to the tax filing deadline, Mercer said farmers who do not file quarterly must file a tax return by March 1 and pay any owed balance in full in to avoid a penalty for not filing a quarterly estimate. However, an exception to the March 1 deadline allows the farmer to file one estimate payment

by Jan. 31, giving until April 15 to file a final return. If the farmer does file quarterly, the deadline is April 15 as it is for everyone else, Mercer said.

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The wind

of opportunity?

Shaw Media file photo

An aerial view of the Big Sky wind farm near Ohio. Opposition to such wind farms in Illinois is growing more organized and vocal as those who live near them relate their experiences to others.

Opposition to turbines becomes more organized

W

BY DAVID GIULIANI For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

ind farms go back only a decade in Illinois. The first one was Mendota Hills, near Paw Paw, a small village in the northwestern part of the state.

Lee County officials quickly approved the 63-turbine wind farm. The county’s zoning panel met just one night on the proposal. nnn In the years since, the county has given the green light for other wind farms – with essentially no opposition.

That’s not surprising. As the wind energy industry is quick to point out, poll after poll shows an overwhelming percentage of Americans support alternative energy.

40 Spring 2013

But those who live near wind farms often are unhappy with turbines in their midst. They complain about the noise, shadow flicker and vibrations, among other things.

And they’re relating their experience to others. As a result, opposition to wind farms is becoming more organized – and more vocal.

The latest wind farm in northwestern Illinois – the threecounty Green River project of Ireland-based Mainstream Renewable Energy – was bogged down for much of 2012 with hearings.

Neighbors of the proposed site attended public meetings regularly. But so did people from areas near other wind farms.

They had nothing good to say about living near turbines.

One of those people is Lee County farmer Wesley Englehart, who lives in the middle of a wind farm near the small village of Compton. Five turbines are on his property. continued on 414

4Continued from 40

Alex T. Paschal/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Katherine and Kendall Guither of rural Walnut say the 50 turbines they can count from their property in northern Bureau County have drastically changed their lives. Read their story on Page 42.

He has a little advice for farmers who are approached by wind farm companies: “Run like hell the other way.”

In June, a 72-turbine wind farm – known as Shady Oaks – went online in Lee County’s Brooklyn Township. It started with some fanfare. In late May, Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon climbed up the inside of one of the turbines.

During a brief presentation beforehand, wind farm supporters spoke of the jobs that wind farms bring to a community. And three school superintendents – invited by wind farm companies – touted the benefits of increased preoperty tax revenue from turbines.

“All that good news without mentioning renewable energy,” Simon said.

No wind farm opponents showed up. They hadn’t been invited.

So what does Englehart have against turbines?

They’re noisy, he said. While in his garage, he told a reporter to listen. A humming sound could be heard from nearby turbines.

He also said a turbine across the road will cause shadow flicker for a couple of hours later in the day during winter.

Years ago, Bruce Papiech of nearby Sublette approached Englehart about the wind farm that he was planning for Brooklyn Township.

At the time, Englehart felt comfortable with the idea. He signed a lease.

“I thought we were dealing with a local person,” Englehart said. “Pretty soon, he sold out.” continued on 434

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41

‘We shouldn’t be pushed out’

Alex T. Paschal/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

While Katherine and Kendall Guither don’t have any wind turbines on their farm in northern Bureau County, they have to deal with the flicker and sounds from the more than 50 they can count from their property. Their next-door neighbors – “absentee landlords,” Katherine said – had turbines as part of the Big Sky wind farm.

Farmers upset about nearby turbines

BY DAVID GIULIANI For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

WALNUT – Katherine and Kendall Guither, who have lived on their farm for 35 years, like the quiet in the country. They don’t want to move.

Two years ago, the Big Sky wind farm went up in northern Bureau County.

The Guithers can count 50 turbines from their property.

Their house is at one corner of their farm. Both of the farms next to their house have turbines – one within a quarter of a mile.

The Guithers say the turbines have drastically changed their lives. The noise is constant – either humming or pulsating.

They can’t keep the window open at night because the noise will keep them up, they say. So they have to rely on air

42 Spring 2013

conditioning, which Katherine, in particular, doesn’t like.

The level of the noise varies. It’s louder when it’s foggy and lower when the crops are further along because they absorb the sound, the Guithers say.

The owners of the next-door farms don’t have to worry about the wind farm’s noise. They don’t live there.

“They’re absentee landlords,” Katherine said.

Another wind energy company asked whether the Guithers were interested in having turbines on their property. They were not.

“They [companies] don’t want to talk dollars until you say you’re interested,” Kendall said. “If you’re interested, you have to sign a gag order.”

They admit they once had a more favorable view of wind farms, which often is the case with people who turn into opponents.

They say the nuisance becomes obvious when living next to turbines, something not so apparent to people who merely drive by.

Asked whether they would leave, the Guithers said no. The farm has been in Kendall’s family for generations.

“This is a centennial farm,” he said.

“We like it here. We were here first. We shouldn’t be pushed out.”

The Guithers are among many who have complained about the noise of turbines.

Wes Slaymaker of Madison, Wis.-based Wes Engineering Inc. has been an expert witness for wind energy companies. Yet he concedes the noise can be a bother.

“I own a farm. We go up there in the summer,” he said. “I appreciate the quiet.

If a big wind farm moved in, I would say, ‘Oh, man!’ I wouldn’t be excited.”

At the same time, Slaymaker said, society needs more renewable energy, which is better for the environment.

He said turbines shouldn’t be put too close to residents. Neighbors – those within, say, a third of a mile – should get payments, he said.

“The community needs to share in the benefits,” Slaymaker said.

CONTINUED FROM 41 Mainstream Renewable Power ended up with the project, then sold it to Goldwind USA, a subsidiary of a Chinese company. (One objection to wind farms is that many are foreign-owned.)

For farmers who are interested in having turbines on their properties, Englehart advises them to put the towers farther from their homes. In his case, one turbine is within a quarter mile of his home. Four others are within a half mile.

Landowners, including Englehart, typically enter confidentiality agreements with wind energy companies, which means they are not supposed to reveal what they’re paid. However, he said he understands that his neighbors get the same amount – a flat fee every year.

Farmers ‘thrilled with turbines’ Windustry, a Minneapolis-based wind energy information organization, states on its website that wind lease terms can vary. But the rule of thumb is that landowners are given $2,500 to $5,000 a year for each turbine, the group said. Larger turbines can mean bigger payments.

One industry group estimates an even higher number for farmers’ turbine payments. The Iowa Wind Energy Asso-

‘‘

If the turbines are making a lot of noise, then they’re having a mechanical problem. If a turbine is operating properly, they make very little noise. It’s a very low swoosh.

Harold Prior, executive director of the Iowa Wind Energy Association

ciation says farmers get an average of $6,000 a year for each turbine in the Hawkeye State. Its executive director, Harold Prior, says he knows of a farmer in northwestern Iowa who gets $10,000.

“The farmers I speak with are thrilled with turbines,” he said. “They wished they had more of them.”

Prior estimates that about half of farmers who host turbines live on their farms. Many of their neighbors get “good neighbor” payments from wind energy companies, but he didn’t know how much they received.

As for noise, Prior said, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“If the turbines are making a lot of noise, then they’re having a mechanical problem,” he said. “If a turbine is operating properly, they make very little noise. It’s a very low swoosh. I’ve climbed them five times, been around them dozens of times.”

The opposition in Illinois and other Midwestern states, Prior said, is more organized than in Iowa.

’’

“The mood is pretty darn positive with wind projects in Iowa,” he said.

Northwestern Iowa’s Pocahontas County, for instance, has seen virtually no opposition to wind farms, said Don McLain, the county’s zoning administrator.

Part of the reason is that the county is sparsely populated, he said. Pocahontas County’s population density is 12 per square mile, one-fourth of what it is in Lee County, Illinois.

Pocahontas County has 217 turbines; Lee County has 232.

Pocahontas’ first wind farm was built in 2007.

“The wind farms don’t really go near any towns in our county,” McLain said.

“Our experience has been very good.

The development in our county has been very good, and the associated employment has been very welcome.”

That’s especially beneficial in a county with a declining population, he said.

CONTINUED ON 45

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4Continued from 43 The population dwindled by 15 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census.

Not many wind farms in works Wind energy companies need two things for a successful project – a windy site and nearby access to transmission lines.

“The windiest sites have been built or are under leases,” said David Loomis, director of Illinois State University’s Center for Renewable Energy. “Companies are branching out to sites that are less windy and would need new transmission to be built to unlock the wind.”

He said the industry isn’t planning many more wind farms now.

“We have this pent-up demand” said Loomis, an ISU economics professor in Bloomington. “We have a lot of wind farms that have been issued permits but haven’t been built yet.

“The question remains, Will those get built before the permits expire?

No one wants to go out and do brand-new development until they see more movement on the existing permits.”

David Rauch/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Wesley Englehart, who has five wind turbines on his farm near Compton in Lee County, has advice for farmers who are approached by wind farm companies: “Run like hell the other way.”

Examples of permitted-but-not-yetoperational wind farms are in Bureau and Ogle counties, both next door to Lee County.

As for Shady Oaks, Englehart wishes Goldwind’s plan had received more

scrutiny. He regrets his decision to allow the turbines.

“I will be stuck with them for 25 to 30 years,” Englehart said.

“The turbines weren’t worth the money we’re getting.”

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Unique approach to wind proposals

By Nicole Wiegand For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

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When a handful of companies looked to set up a wind farm in southern Marshall County, Iowa, in 2007, Jeff Heil and his neighbors did something that hadn’t been done before: they drew up a contract with more than 60 landowners to participate in a wind farm that would benefit everyone, regardless of turbine location.

“There were two different brokers that sort of go out and develop the farms before they sell them off,” said Heil, a farmer from Haverhill, Iowa. “A few of us neighbors got together to chat about what was going on, because we didn’t want a checkerboard effect.”

Heil and his neighbors decided to do a bit more research, talking to other wind farmers, attending symposiums, and even contacting the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University.

“We ended up selecting RPM Access to intermediate, get us set up,” Heil said.

“We sort of created a new type of contract that hadn’t been done in the state of Iowa – a contract that allowed everybody in the border to participate financially. continued on 484

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4Continued from 47 “We tried to make a community type of contract instead of an individual one.”

Specifically, the contract outlines a base financial benefit to any landowner within the boundaries of the farm. In addition, landowners are compensated for each wind turbine constructed within the confines of their property.

Upon its completion, the Laurel Wind Farm was purchased by Mid-American Energy and was fully functional as of December 2011. After just a year of living in the shadow of the farm, Heil says his and his neighbors’ decision to lease their land has been a positive one.

“You know, you drive around the state and you see them, you know they look good from a distance, but if you live underneath one you think, What’s the impact?” he said. “Everybody had all these kind of concerns and questions.

“Farming around them is less of an inconvenience than I thought,” said Heil, who has five turbines on his property and two along his property borders. “We were worried about the roads they were putting down, but we use them for access, so it’s been more of a convenience than an inconvenience.

“Overall it’s been a good experience,” he said of the decision to lease

Sarah Brown/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Wind turbines sprinkle the landscape in Bridgewater, Iowa, as part of Rolling Hills wind project in Adair, Adams and Cass counties. It is the largest wind farm in Iowa, with 193 Siemens 2.3-megawatt wind turbines. his land – a decision that led to a visit from President Obama during his 2012 campaign in support of wind energy.

“Going in, we knew the pros and cons.

If we’re going to live within a mile or two [of ideal land], we’re still going to see turbines, so we figured, Why not do something beneficial to everybody?”

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CONTINUED FROM 38 “The estate tax really hits home with farmers,” Schielein said. “If we would have gone down to a $1 million exemption, about 97 percent of farmers would be subjected to the estate tax.”

Schielein said farmers played by the rules and did their estate planning as best they could, but the stress of getting farms from one generation to the next began to mount.

“In Northern Illinois, farmland values were up 22 percent just in the last quarter,” Schielein said. “It took the estate planning we’ve done and thrown it out the window.”

Schielein said his farm was owned by his parents and he helped pay for it. He feels fortunate that his land still is in the family; others have not been so lucky.

“These farms are your heritage, and the sweat and tears you’ve shared as a family,” he said. Unfortunately, because of the estate tax, many farmers have had to sell to move their land on to the next generation.”

Many people mistakenly believe that farm tax returns are due on March 1.

Individual taxpayers have an April 15 deadline. However, if they owe income tax, they may be subject to a penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes.

Farmers have a special provision that allows them to avoid the penalty if they

Farmers receive ‘blessing’ in deal

BY KYLE WILSON For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Farmers, especially family farmers, received a “blessing” Dec. 31, farming consultant Ray Powell says.

Powell has helped southwest Iowa farmers with their business decisions and taxes for the past three decades through his business, Positive Farming Assistance, in Creston, Iowa.

That great blessing, he said, came in the “fiscal cliff” deal, whereby the government permanently extended the federal law on the estate tax.

If that law had not been extended, those who inherit or buy the farm would have had to pay a 55 percent inheritance tax on any value above $1 million. file their return by March 1. A farmer is allowed to make a single estimated tax payment by Jan. 15, basing the payment on their prior year income tax liability. Making this payment extends the filing deadline to April 15.

Berge said the key to planning for farm taxes is understanding the uncertainties involved in the business.

“You have to plan for uneven income – there are good years and bad ones,” Berge said. “When planning taxes, we try to even

Because of the extension, heirs will pay estate taxes only on a farm’s value over $5.12 million.

“There is a very dramatic difference between $5.12 million and $1 million, especially because land Ray values are high right Powell now and several farms are above $1 million in value,” Powell said.

“This was a great blessing for farmers and really is an amazing help to many family farmers. They can breathe a little easier now that the government has made its decision.” out the good and the bad. We prepay expenses in good years and try to maximize within the 10 to 15 percent tax bracket.”

That involves trying to project income as flat as possible, Berge said. That’s where the write-offs become important.

“Doing farm income averaging is a lot harder with less depreciation,” he said.

“We may suggest they not sell something or withhold inventory until the next year, depending on the tax rates for the next year or the income situation.”

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49

From the soil to the grain bin:

Data is driving efficiency

L

By Derek Barichello For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

imitless.

That is how seventh-generation farmer and tractor dealer Adam Henkel describes the range of data available to farmers today.

“What do you want to know?” asks Henkel, who works for Johnson Tractor in Rochelle. “There are sensors that can tell a computer whatever you want, from tillage to planting to spraying to cultivating to erosion, all the way to harvest. You can track every single step of your crop since the moment you plant it, all the way to the grain bin, if you want.” nnn Henkel said the information is derived from a geographical info system, the same device being used in cars to tell drivers how to get from point A to point B. This information gives farmers a window into their crop like they never had before. continued on 524

50 Spring 2013

Photos submitted by Witmer Precision Services

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CONTINUED FROM 50 Some farmers, such as Henkel’s family, who farm in southeastern Lee County, cannot get enough data to make important decisions on crop placement and monitoring. Taking seeds and planting them in the most opportune location, avoiding double planting or skipped rows, and seeing problem areas within their field and analyzing data to see what went wrong.

“My family has never been afraid of trying something new to gain an edge,” Henkel said. “We’ve used it since the 1990s, and it continues to change the face of farming.”

Other farmers, however, see a price tag starting at $7,000 to $20,000 for top-of-the-line equipment and wonder whether it makes enough of a difference in increased yields or decreased costs to turn a profit. Henkel is certain it pays off, but he admits the difference is relative to the individual farmer.

“There are plenty of variables,” Henkel said. “There is a spreadsheet that says this equipment will save you an average of this many bushels, but there’s no guarantee how each farmer will use it. Farmer A may use his data differently than farmer B, and maybe farmer A sees more yield and farmer B uses less fertilizer or spray.

“It all depends on how much data they want and how much they want

Photo submitted by Witmer Precision Services of Mount Morris

A look at the “picket fence” row that is established through precision planting. to use, whatever tells them what they need to know.”

Henkel guesses a little more than 50 percent of farmers are using data-driven technology.

Old farmers like Monty Whipple in

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Photos by Philip Marruffo/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

David Book turns on his GPS unit inside the Challanger tractor on the Book family farm southeast of Dixon. The Book family has farmed for three generations. Book’s son, Aaron, said technology allows the family “to produce as much as you can at a lesser cost.”

Data analysis, by the Books

By DEREK BARICHELLO For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

F

armer Aaron Book is following the lesson of his grandparents.

Although, the means might be beyond what they could have imagined.

Book, a third-generation farmer just southeast of Dixon, uses global positioning systems for precise planting and analyzes the data in an effort to draw the biggest yields for the family farm.

“They’ve always said the goal is to produce as much as you can at a lesser cost,” said Book, who works on the farm with his grandparents, uncle, mother, father and brother.

“That’s what the technology lets us do.”

Book and his family are able to plant crops at exact locations and record them into the satellite equipment. That knowledge prevents duplicate or skipped rows, Book said. It also means laying down less fertilizer and chemicals.

Although the technology has a sticker price well into the thousands, Book said the savings are realized immediately with that precision. contined on 554

A John Deere StarFire iTC receiver sits atop a tractor at the Book family farm. The unit is a 12-channel, dual-frequency GPS receiver that assists farmers in precision planting.

AG Mag

53

CONTINUED FROM 52 The size of ears on the corn, for example, might tell him what area of his field is producing more than another.

“The real question for me is whether the data is telling me something I don’t know,” Whipple said.

The technology could cost as much as a field’s annual yield brings in.

“If a farmer has a system that’s working for them, they may be reluctant to take a risk, especially smaller farmers or hobby farmers,” Whipple explained.

The irony, to those who work closely with data-driven technology, is the risk that the technology seeks to eliminate.

For example, Witmer Precision Services in Mount Morris, provides datadriven technology for planting.

Meters are designed to place a seed out of its planter in a specific location.

Infrared sensors measure the accuracy with a goal of 99 to 100 percent.

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“The equipment is designed for farmers to control their planting before crops come up,” said Kelly Stevens of Witmer Precision Services. “They wouldn’t know they’ve skipped every 10th seed until the crop comes up, and then it’s too late.”

The cost of every skipped row or double seed adds up.

For example, if the equipment is able to rescue 10 bushels to the acre at $6 a bushel, that’s $60 for one acre, $600 for 100 acres and $6,000 for 1,000 acres..

“Farmers want to know how they can increase yields and reduce costs,” said Matt Lillpop, executive director for Whiteside County Farm Bureau. “Data has always driven farming, whether it’s on a monitor in front of them, or figured at the end of the year. Farmers are constantly looking at supply versus cost.”

Henkel said geographical info systems are becoming automatic features on new tractors. Most new tractors are designed to run automatically without a driver, so farmers can observe seed placement and track progress on a computer screen.

“There’s such a demand for them,” Henkel said. “There’s a demand for efficiency.”

While there isn’t as much of a demand for it, Henkel said, satellite trackers on trucks can monitor crops at harvest time from the field to the grain bin.

“Some companies want to measure

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■ Geographical information systems tracking livestock and barn animals.

■ Manufacturers are introducing controllers, drives and shutoff systems with ever-finer resolution and the ability to apply multiple products at variable rates. Controlled traffic systems, such as strip till, also have become a reality. the efficiency there,” Henkel said. “How much is being loaded? How quickly is it arriving? Is there a better way to do it all?

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CONTINUED FROM 53

Philip Marruffo/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

David Book talks about the use of GPS on his John Deere nitrogen applicator at the family farm southeast of Dixon.

That data can be used at harvest time to analyze production, specifically which portions of the field are producing better than others, and lead to the identification of different soil types.

“Based on different rates, you can see what you can do better for next year,” Book said.

The technology has allowed Book and his family to focus on specific areas of a population.

He sees the data analysis leading to a day when multiple hybrids are used in a population to cater to the ones that work best with different soil types.

Book, who has used some form of GPS for the past 9 years, said he’s seen the technology grow leaps and bounds from when he first used it.

As a farmer in his 20s, he’s excited to see how technology will grow in his lifetime.

“When it came out, you could plant your row and it would give you a position within 1 or 2 feet,” Book said. “Now it can get it done to within an inch or less.

It’s pretty amazing.”

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AG Mag

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Recipes collected from along the 179-mile Lincoln Highway

BY KAYLA HEIMERMAN For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Recipes are as much a link to yesteryear as handwritten postcards, black-and-white photographs and heirloom trinkets.

“Recipes from the Illinois Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway” is a collection of more than 75 recipes from places along the 179-mile corridor across the state that

evoke the heritage of communities that line the historic highway.

Author, illustrator and publisher David Alan Badger has fond memories of his time in the small towns along the highway.

The self-taught artist, who specializes in drawings of Illinois architecture, put the book together in 2008 as an homage to the storied byway.

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The cookbook “Recipes from the Illinois Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway” is the work of David Alan Badger, who in 2008 collected 75 recipes from places along the historic highway.

“I love the act of discovery while driving through a community to see what it has to offer,” he wrote in the book. “I look at neighborhoods as my museum. I am never disappointed and always find something somewhere to compare to other communities.”

Badger, who grew up in Fulton, the western termi-

nus of the highway, solicited recipes and stories from stores in riverfront towns to historical museums in prairie villages to restaurants and sweet shops in bustling suburbs.

He received not only fodder for a cookbook, but also personal connections to the past.

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AG Mag

57

CONTINUED FROM 57 The recipes give a nod to famous faces and places along the highway, the first successful, all-weather, coastto-coast automobile highway once considered the most famous road in America.

There’s Mary Todd’s vanilla almond cake, and Ronald Reagan’s favorite macaroni and cheese. There’s pie from the diner in Reagan’s birthplace of Tampico, and pickled apples from the general store Abraham Lincoln’s cousin built in Franklin Grove.

But the recipes aren’t all from well known people or establishments; many come from mothers, grandmothers and home cooks of generations past.

There’s a grandmother’s recipe for Dutch apple pie, and another for a garden-fresh salad. There’s a family recipe for chicken noodle soup. And there’s Grandma Jane’s famous root beer float cake.

The simple cake – a boxed white cake mix doctored up with root beer – is moist, delicious and appropriate for just about any special occasion.

It’s no wonder the unique cake is the one most requested from the kitchen of the “official family birthday cake baker.”

Some other recipes for Lincoln Highway favorites include:

“Blue Ribbon” Banana Bread from “de Immigrant” Windmill in Fulton 1/4 cup Crisco shortening 1 egg 1 cup sugar 3 ripe bananas, mashed 1 1/2 cups unsifted wheat flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan and set it aside.

In a large bowl, combine the shortening, egg and sugar and mix well. Add the mashed bananas, flour, salt and baking soda and mix well. Stir in the raisins, cranberries and walnuts, if desired. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Note: The folks at the Windmill Cultural Center recommend soaking the raisins and cranberries in some water for about 15 minutes, then draining and patting them dry before adding them to the batter.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup from the Lincoln-Manahan Home Museum in Sterling 1 lb. ground chuck

Get the cookbook Copies of “Recipes from the Illinois Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway” are available from many of the places featured in the book, including local historical societies, museums and bookstores. Copies also are available from author, illustrator and publisher David Alan Badger at dabadger@casscomm.com.

Books are $18.

3 cups chopped green pepper 1 28-oz. can tomato sauce 1 15-oz. can crushed tomatoes 4 cups water 1 cup rice, uncooked 2 cubes beef bouillon 1/4 cup brown sugar Salt and pepper, to taste In a large stock pot, cook the beef and peppers until the beef is no longer pink.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring the soup to a boil; then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, or until the rice is tender.

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mix the soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese and seasonings.

When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the water. When the broccoli is cooked, drain it.

In a greased 9-by-13-inch casserole dish, arrange the broccoli in a single layer. Sprinkle it generously with Parmesan cheese. Lay the chicken over the broccoli and again sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese. Pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika and bake for 1 hour.

Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad

Alex T. Paschal/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Grandma Jane’s simple root beer float cake is the one most requested from the kitchen of the “official family birthday cake baker,” according to the book.

4Continued from 58 3 whole chicken breasts 2 packages frozen broccoli 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 cup mayonnaise 1 small carton sour cream 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese 1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. curry powder Salt and pepper, to taste Parmesan cheese Paprika, for garnish Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot, cook the chicken in water with a bay leaf. In another pot, cook the broccoli.

In the meantime, in a medium bowl,

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Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat the salad.

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AG Mag

59

A National Voice

for agriculture Lee County farm mom named one of four Faces of Farming

K

BY KAYLA HEIMERMAN For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

atie Pratt cannot describe her passion for agriculture.

“It’s just a thing,” she said. “It’s in my blood. There’s this tie to my family, my legacy, that’s hard to break.

It’s unshakable.”

Pratt, 34, recently was named one of four Faces of Farming and Ranching in a national search for agriculture spokespeople. She was chosen from a pool of nine finalists based on online votes and interviews with a panel of judges from the agriculture community.

The new gig is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for a girl who grew up on a farm east of Amboy and dreamed of being a voice for agriculture. continued on 614

Alex T. Paschal/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Katie Pratt of rural Dixon recently was named one of four Faces of Farming and Ranching in a national search for agriculture spokespeople. Pratt, 34, calls her passion for agriculture “unshakable.”

Our Farmer Mac program has no minimum loan size and has a $10 million maximum secured by real estate. We have the ability to assist farmers in mitigating interest rate risk by offering low, fixed rate mortgages with terms of 10, 15, and 20 years. With potential interest rate increases looming, now is the time to act. See Lori Hillison or Steve Pfeiffer today for all the details on our Farmer Mac Program.

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4Continued from 60 Pratt studied journalism and agriculture economics in college, and even worked for the National FFA Organization, but she settled down before she got too deep into her career.

Pratt married her husband, Andy, in 2001. They raise corn, soybeans and seed corn with his parents, Mike and Sue Pratt, and his brother and his wife, Peter and Emily Pratt, at Grand Prairie Farms southeast of Dixon. They have two children, Ethan, 7, and Natalie, 5.

“When I had my children, I decided to stay home and not have that career,” Pratt said. “Then I was really like, ‘Oh, now I am the wife. I am in the kitchen. I do clean the house.’”

Still, Pratt pursued activities off the farm. She participated in the Adopt-A-Classroom program through Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom and educated Chicago students about life on the farm. She spoke to local organizations. She led tour groups through her farm.

Pratt recently got active with Illinois Farm Families, then threw her name into consideration for the search for agriculture spokespeople through the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.

“I can be content with what I have and what I’m doing now, or I can ask, ‘What if?’” Pratt said. “I had nothing to lose.”

Pratt, along with the other three winners, will act as national spokespeople. They will share their stories and experiences to help answer consumer questions about food.

“We aren’t going to be farmers talking to fellow farmers,” Pratt said. “We’re going to be farmers talking to and listening to the non-farming public ... primarily about food – where it comes from, how it’s raised and the questions associated with that.”

Danelle Burrs, manager of the Lee County Farm Bureau, said Pratt has a passion for farming and an approachable personality that make her an ideal spokesperson for the industry.

“She’s passionate about agriculture,” Burrs said. “She wants to be part of the solution. She wants to tell agriculture’s story.”

Alex T. Paschal/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Katie Pratt also is coordinator for the Lee County Ag in the Classroom program. Here, she gives a brief lesson on how milk is produced before teaching the sixth-grade class at St. Mary School in Dixon how to make cheese.

To get in touch

Requests for appearances by Katie Pratt or any of the other Faces of Farming winners should be directed to Abby Rinne of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance at rinne@usfraonline.org or 636-449-5074.

Burrs said Pratt also is unafraid to roll up her sleeves and get involved. “She’s always been active,” Burrs said. “She’s willing to put the time in for a cause she believes in.”

Pratt plans to draw on her experience as a young farmer, wife and especially as as a mother to lend a unique but necessary perspective to the conversation.

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AG Mag

61

EARLY SETTLERS

COME TO LIFE Dixon Historic Center puts conflicts for land, farming on display

By Derek Barichello For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

DIXON – Out of the sounds of gunfire comes a cow’s moo.

The aftermath of the Black Hawk War brought about a wave of farmers to Northwest Illinois, as is displayed in the Dixon Historic Center’s “The Changing Land.”

The exhibit follows “The Unchanged Land,” which tells the story of the early settlers and their conflict with Black Hawk, and, of course, visitors will know they’ve come to “The Changing Land” when they are greeted with the sound of cows and chickens. continued on 634

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ABOVE: Ronald Reagan biographer Norman Wymbs funded the $1.6 million exhibit in the memory of his wife, Harriet.

LEFT: A young Black Hawk (left) stands next to his father in the “Unchanged Land” exhibit at the Dixon Historic Center. The exhibit tells the story of the early settlers of the region and their conflict with Black Hawk. (Photo by Michael Krabbenhoeft for Northern Illinois Ag Mag)

The $1.6 million exhibits, funded

by Ronald Reagan biographer Norman Wymbs in memory of his wife, Harriet, feature life-size, speaking mannequins, detailed sets and sound effects, creating an experience museum Director Bill Jones said is rarely found outside of metropolitan museums.

Visitors who walk into “The Changing Land” are immediately introduced to the conflicts of farming in the 1830s and 1840s by talking mannequins.

A son tells his father he is scared of natives ambushing him. The father assures him the land is safe and expresses how important the farm is to the family.

Two more mannequins later in the exhibit featuring a mother and a daughter follow a similar theme. The mother says how important it is for the family to get what it can out of the land, and in eggs from its chickens, to survive.

The mannequins were crafted to look as realistic as possible, down to the cracks in each character’s hand, with the hard-working mother showing more stress in her hands than her daughter.

Large murals set the backdrop in several spots in the exhibit. continued on 644

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63

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Visitors to the Dixon Historic Center know they’ve entered “The Changed Land” exhibit when they are greeted with the sound of cows and chickens. The exhibit, among other things, shows that the early settlers wanted land occupied by the Sauk Indians for mining and farming.

4Continued from 63

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A portion of the exhibit puts people into a barn similar to those of the time.

Mirrors are used to create the illusion of being in a full barn. Hay sits in a loft, and tools from the time period are in display cases or hanging on shelves.

Several tablets on the wall throughout the exhibit explain the different farming techniques and tools used by the early settlers.

At the end of the exhibit, visitors are greeted by the sounds of the first tractors, as machines are introduced to agriculture.

A video provided by John Deere brings guests up to date on the latest gadgets and direction of farming technology.

“The idea of the exhibit is to give the history of farming,” said Bill Jones, the museum’s director. “We bring you from the time of

Want to visit?

Where: Dixon Historic Center, 205 W. Fifth St. When: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

More info: Go to www. dixonhistoriccenter.org or call 815-288-5508. the first settlers to the modern day, and give you an idea of how far it’s come.”

The exhibits were organized by 1220 Exhibits Inc. of Nashville, and took 2 years to create. Local historians and documents were used to ensure accuracy.

Jones said many people have complimented him on the various tools displayed and on how realistic the barn looks.

“It’s fascinating how they were able to put all of it together,” Jones said of the barn. “You can even hear the animals.”

W. Travis Meteer, MS Beef Extension Educator, University of Illinois

Time and thought are worthwhile in bull selection

H

ave you ever looked beside the recliner of a cattleman during bull sale season? Catalogs stacked deep and scattered in every direction, pages saved, lot numbers circled, EPDs highlighted, and a dozen empty coffee cups littering the scene. Bull selection can be a consuming task, but cattlemen realize future profitability is very dependent on the next herdsire.

It is important to make sound, informed decisions when buying bulls. A bull has more genetic contribution to the herd than a cow. A bull will sire 10 to 30 progeny, where a cow has only one calf. With the average herd size at 40 cows, a bull can sire up to 75 percent of the calves in an average-sized operation. A mistake in bull buying can result in calves that are undesirable to an operation or even the industry.

On the other hand, a good purchase can yield quality replacements and profitable, industry-relevant cattle.

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continued on 754

happen, and then there’s that good feeling you get For instance, the drought of when you harvest a good 1988 was the worst he’s ever crop.” seen; much worse, he says, Even though David admits than last summer. farming is a risky business, He also was hit hard by a he is proud of his son for taksharp rise in interest rates ing up the family tradition. from the 1970s to the 1980s.

“Seeing my son as interDavid stuck by his mantra. ested in it as he is, after “Things have a tendency to remembering him pushing work out,” he said. “Farming a toy tractor in sand boxes isn’t all doom and gloom, and out in the grass,” David there’s always the stress started, “that’s the highlight thinking about what could of my day.”

4Continued from 35

AG Mag

65

Saying no to leasing to Clean Line

By Barb Kromphardt For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Barb Kromphardt/For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Joe Myers has several problems with a proposed Rock Island Clean Line energy transmission project. An initial route proposal would have cut directly through his farm near Mendota. But he and many of his neighboring landowners still are protesting the project after a different route was chosen.

When Joe Myers first heard about the proposed Rock Island Clean Line energy transmission project, one of the proposed routes would have cut directly through his farm near Mendota.

“It was going to cut this farm in half,” Myers said. “The neighbor and I have been in the process for the last two years of putting an irrigator in here, and this was going to go right where the irrigator was going to be.”

Clean Line Energy Partners has since announced an alternative preferred route for the overhead transmission line, which would carry electricity produced from wind farms in the Midwest though Illinois and eastward.

But Myers and many of his neighboring landowners still are protesting the project.

“That kind of cleared us up here, but that ain’t the end of it,” he said. “We’re still involved in it.”

Myers has several problems with the project. continued on 674

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Where Farm Bureau stands on RICL of approximately 500 miles of overhead, high-voltage direct current transmission lines, transmitting up to 3,500 megawatts of wind energy from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota and terminating at a conversion station in Grundy County.

According to its website, www.rockislandcleanline. com, the project is owned by Clean Line Energy, which is a private company founded

by Michael Skelly, who led the development efforts at Horizon Wind Energy.

4Continued from 66

amount of land out of production, Myers is skeptical.

“I’d like to see you try to farm around a pole out in the middle of the field and all you lose is the 3-foot concrete base,” he said. “It’s kind of impossible.”

There also are financial risks. Myers spoke with his insurance agent, who told him he would be liable for any damage to the pole, and he couldn’t insure it.

“If we would happen to hit that thing out in the middle of the field, we’re liable for it,” he said. “We’re liable for the repairs; we’re liable for any down time; and we’re liable to the person on the other end if they lose business because we knocked the power out.”

Myers said land values would go down if the line is approved.

“I know if I was going to buy a farm, I would try not to buy one with one of these things on it,” he said.

Myers and other area farmers raise a lot of specialty crops, and they talked with the seed corn company they work for. A lot of what they grow is sprayed by crop dusters, and Myers said the airplanes would not go anywhere near the transmission towers.

“Without them coming out and saying it, we would probably lose these contracts for our specialty crops,” he said.

Another problem is with the lease, which includes a permanent 200-foot easement.

“They basically would own the land, except I’m paying the taxes on it,” Myers said.

“That land would be theirs to do whatever they want to with.”

Myers also is concerned about the transmission pole itself. While a single pole is supposed to take only a small

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‘‘

Given the concerns ... and the strong opposition the proposed project has generated with farmland owners in Rock Island, Whiteside, Henry, Bureau, LaSalle and Grundy counties, the Illinois Farm Bureau Board voted to oppose the Rock Island Clean Line transmission line project and work to have the Illinois Commerce Commission deny ... the petition. ...

’’

4Continued from 67 The company develops high voltage, long-haul transmission lines connecting the best renewable resources in North American to communities that need power.

On Oct. 29, the Farm Bureau co-hosted an informational meeting with other neighboring county Farm Bureaus in Hooppole in order to inform concerned landowners who might be impacted by the proposed project.

At the meeting, Farm Bureau staff updated the crowd of close to 140 people about the status of the project and informed landowners of their legal rights while sharing information they should know before they consider signing an easement agreement if the project moves forward.

So, where is the project today? The private company is petitioning for an order granting Rock Island Clean Line LLC a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity pursuant to Section 8-406 of the Public Utilities Act as a Transmission Public Utility and to Construct, Operate and Maintain an Electric Transmission Line and Authorizing and Directing Rock Island Clean Line pursuant to Section 8-503 of the Public Utilities Act to Construct an Electric Transmission Line. If approved the company can proceed with plans for the project.

In October the Illinois Farm Bureau filed to intervene in the Clean Line case before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). The main arguments in the ICC case are:

• Clean Line is a private entity and should be denied public utility status as the company requests.

• Clean Line should be denied eminent domain authority.

• If permitted to construct: the company should be required to use mono-pole structures, the company should build the transmission line adjacent to the Interstate 80 right-ofway or following property lines, rather than following a route that cuts diagonally across open farmland.

Given the concerns outlined above, and the strong opposition the proposed project has generated with farmland owners in Rock Island, Whiteside, Henry, Bureau, LaSalle and Grundy counties, the Illinois Farm Bureau Board voted to oppose the Rock Island Clean Line transmission line project and work to have the Illinois Commerce Commission deny the company’s petition to construct a transmission line in Illinois.

At its November board meeting, the Bureau County Farm Bureau voted to support the Illinois Farm Bureau position on RICL with the exception of following Interstate 80’s right of way. Farm Bureau continues to monitor the progress of the project.

Wondering what you can do? If you have a concern with the project, we strongly encourage you to submit public comment to the ICC. Contact the Bureau County Farm Bureau for more information or printed instructions on how you can post public comments to the docket.

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Ag ambassador to next generation Klein an FFA student with class, literally

A

BY KAYLA HEIMERMAN For Northern Illinois Ag Mag

ndrew Klein wants to be an agriculture teacher.

Scratch that.

The 17-year-old senior at Amboy High School already is an ag teacher.

Klein almost single-handedly started a Discovery FFA program for eighthgraders at the nearby junior high school. He creates all his own lesson plans, and teaches classes four days a week.

“I was sick and tired of seeing kids fall through the cracks – getting into seventh and eighth grade and not knowing what group they belong to,” Klein said.

“I wanted to provide an opportunity for kids to get involved in something before high school, something for them to grab onto and cling to, so that when they get to high school ... they have a place.” continued on 704

Alex T. Paschal/Northern Illinois Ag Mag

Amboy High School senior Andrew Klein creates lesson plans and teaches classes four days a week in the Discovery FFA program he almost single-handedly started. The program introduces eighth-graders to the “wideness” of agriculture, Klein said.

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CONTINUED FROM 69 Klein does not come from a typical farm family: His father and grandfather work in machinery. His family has a few cows and chickens. And he has a small plot of corn and soybeans in his backyard for his senior project.

But Klein feels his nontraditional ag background – that is, an upbringing not centered on crops or livestock – helps him relate to students, many of whom also do not come from the farm backgrounds of yesteryear.

“It helps me see it from a non-farm kid’s point of view,” Klein said. “So many kids don’t come from a farm background, from that country farm life. It helps me think in their shoes.”

Klein actually was unsure about getting into agriculture; he already was involved in sports and other activities.

But he took an introductory agriculture course and concurrently joined FFA his freshman year.

Klein since has taken the proverbial reins: He’s the president of his school chapter and vice president of his section. He’s got not one, but two supervised agriculture experiences (SAEs), or final projects. And he’s a teacher – an ambassador, really – to the next generation of agriculture professionals.

Klein tries to communicate to the eighth-graders the “wideness” of the

agriculture industry – that it’s “more than farming.” He pulls lesson material from his own classes, from the Agriculture in the Classroom program and from other resources. He designs a fair share of the hands-on activities on his own.

Sarah Landers, ag teacher at Amboy High School, said Klein has the makings of an excellent educator.

“He’s very energetic and ... he likes to be in front of people and share what he knows,” Landers said. “I’ll teach something in one of my classes, and he’ll want to turn around and teach it to [his eighth-graders] within a couple days.

“He just gets really excited about it.”

Klein, shaped by his experiences in high school, next year will attend Iowa State University and study agriculture education.

“My high school experiences have really molded me. ... FFA, through all of its different aspects, provides a good, solid base for anything you want to do,” Klein said. “It’s a huge reason I’m even considering ag education as a career.”

Landers is thrilled that one of her students will expose the next generation of students to the wonders of agriculture.

“We need people like him,” she said, “who are going to have the knowledge and interest in the subject ... and are able to be mentors and good role models.”

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FFA activities: Amboy FFA chapter president, Illinois FFA Section 2 president, and member of Amboy FFA parliamentary procedure team; top-10 finisher in the agronomy career development event (CDE) the past two years.

Supervised agriculture experiences (SAEs) include working for father’s tree-trimming business; testing effects of nitrogen on corn and soybeans; and leading Discovery FFA program at Amboy Junior High School.

Academic activities: President of National Honor Society; president of Spanish Honor Society; maintained a 4.0 grade-point average through high school Sports: On the football, wrestling (captain) and baseball teams Family: Father, Terry Klein; mother and stepfather, Laura and Mark Hicks; sisters Allison Hicks, 13, and Lyndsay Hicks, 20

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Switching to an energy crop?

Now, you can calculate whether you’ll break even or turn a profit

By Debra Levey Larson University of Illinois Extension

Along with the growing interest in biomass energy crops as renewable alternatives to fossil fuels comes a growing list of questions from corn and soybean farmers about what it will cost them to switch.

University of Illinois agricultural economist Madhu Khanna developed a customizable online calculator to eliminate some of the guesswork and help farmers make the decision.

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CONTINUED FROM 71 “We’ve been doing calculations on what it would cost to produce energy crops in Illinois and other states for quite some time, and we realized that it could be useful to people who want to be able to calculate what these costs would be on their own farm,” Khanna said.

“We wanted to create a calculator so farmers would be able to make their own assessment.”

The feedstock cost and profitability calculator can be found at miscanthus. ebi.berkeley.edu/Biofuel/.

“It’s an information dissemination tool,” Khanna said. “The calculator allows farmers to put in their own parameters.

“They can customize the costs based on what their current farming operation looks like, what their current returns are on the land that they are thinking about converting, and learn what it would cost to grow an energy crop on it instead. They can decide at what price it might be feasible for them to produce an energy crop. What is the minimum price they would need in order to make it worthwhile?”

After selecting a baseline crop that they are currently farming, users provide specific information about their

Sauk Valley Media file photo

Farmers stack bales of corn stover on an October afternoon as research and development continues for a corn energy plant planned for Rock Falls. The company wants the plant to take in cornstalk and other plant leftovers and convert the materials into fuel. expenses, yields, and inputs.

“Unlike corn and soybeans, where we’ve had years of experience and people have developed recommended, standardized application rates and planting techniques, these bioenergy crops are still very experimental,” Khanna said.

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4Continued from 72 Before using the calculator, Khanna recommends that farmers gather some key information about their current operating expenditures. For example, one line item on the calculator requires the discount rate.

“If farmers are thinking of growing energy crops purely as an investment decision, then they would be interested in getting the same return from their investment in an energy crop over time as they would get if they were to put this money in the bank.

That’s the discount rate they should use when discounting future returns to compare them to the upfront investment that would be needed to establish an energy crop,” Khanna said. “If the bank is going to give them 4 percent, then they should at least get a 4 percent return on growing an energy crop instead.”

Khanna said that although the calculator has been internally tested, it hasn’t been tested by real users. She would welcome feedback from farmers about the calculator. Are there aspects of the calculator that need more explanation? What problems arise? Is the calculator easy to use?

Khanna hopes to use feedback to create a list of frequently asked questions.

“There is a clickable link on the website

‘‘

If farmers are thinking of growing energy crops purely as an investment decision, then they would be interested in getting the same return from their investment in an energy crop over time as they would get if they were to put this money in the bank.

Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois agricultural economist

to submit questions. We hope to get input from users so that we can update the information as it becomes available,” she said.

Although Khanna has data for all rain-fed states in the United States, this first version of the online calculator includes data for only Illinois, Michigan, and Oklahoma.

“We presented these three states as illustrative,” Khanna said. “We looked at poplar, Miscanthus, switchgrass, prairie grass, and stover. They behave differently in different parts of the country, so this initial calculator shows the contrast between three very different climate and rainfall regions.”

The calculator includes costs for converting both currently cropped land and marginal land.

“Land cost is a significant part of the cost of producing energy crops,” Khanna said. “One reason for looking at marginal or less productive crop-

’’

land is to show that the cost of producing these energy crops is expected to be significantly lower on land that is less productive for growing row crops but could be used productively to grow energy crops.

“If you have land that’s currently not being put to any economic use, then you might be able to get high yields from energy crops. Miscanthus doesn’t seem to require very high-quality crop land to begin with, although that is still being studied through field experiments. It’s not affected adversely by low soil quality and nutrient values.

“So, in southern Illinois, for example, corn yields may be low compared with central Illinois, but Miscanthus could be more productive,” Khanna said.

For more information, an in-depth explanation of how the categories and calculations were developed is available at www.farmdoc.illinois.edu/manage/ newsletters/fefo11_06/fefo11_06.pdf .

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Free app

promotes careers in agriculture Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education (FCAE) partnered with AgCareers.com to develop the Ag Career Finder app for iPhones, iPads and Android devices. The Ag Career Finder app allows students or the general public to explore core agricultural careers or those that are considered to have a critical need shortage in terms of candidates.

App users may browse 58 careers by the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources career pathways – Plant Science, Animal Science, Agricultural Mechanics, Agricultural Business, Environmental Services, Food Science and Natural Resources.

Each of the 58 career profiles

include an overview of the career, suggested high school courses, experience needed, degrees required, potential employers, salary range, employment outlook and trends, and professional organizations. Additionally, each of the career profiles are linked to current job openings at AgCareers.com.

“STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related agricultural careers are in very high demand both nationally and internationally,” said Luke Allen, District 2 and Urban FCAE program advisor. “The Ag Career Explorer app allows students to browse these careers that they may not realize existed.” continued on 754

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4Continued from 74 To learn more about this application and to download it, search Ag Career Finder at the Google Play store or for apple products go to: https://itunes. apple.com/us/app/ag-career-finder/ id573754647?mt=8/.

This project was funded as part of a grant through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportu-

4Continued from 65 This helps improve the accuracy of EPDs sooner in an animal’s life.

Previously, we have had to wait for one or two calf crops to justify the values.

Now, we can make confident breeding decisions with younger bulls that supply fresher genetics. The EPDs provided to producers in 2013 are more reliable than ever before. Use these genetic predictors as the foundation to bull selection.

Dollar values and multi-trait indexes also help simplify selection. These figures help weigh and emphasize economically important traits into a single value. All essential breeds have developed these values. For example $W and $B (Angus), API and TI (Simmental), $BMI and $CHB (Hereford). These values blend numbers and economics

nity and the Illinois Community College Board.

The statewide agricultural education team includes the Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education, the Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education, Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education, Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois FFA, Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers, Illinois Associa-

tion Community College Agriculture Instructors, and Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom.

The team works to help ensure a successful social, economic and environmental future for the state with kindergarten through adult education programs in support of Illinois’ largest industry, agriculture. For more information, visit www.agriculturaleducation.org.

‘‘

Previously, we have had to wait for one or two calf crops to justify the values. Now, we can make confident breeding decisions with younger bulls that supply fresher genetics.

to help illustrate how an animal can impact the bottom line. Visit respective breed association websites for further explanation on indexes.

No matter where you decide to put your emphasis when selecting bulls, DO NOT single-trait select. It is important to realize that when improvement is made in one trait, a decline in another trait is likely. If you select to increase growth traits, you’re inevitably increasing mature cow size and nutrient requirements of daughters from this mating.

Progress can be made in several differ-

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While you are sorting through bull sale catalogs, remember that your selection has great impact. Find bulls that work for your operation. Invest in these bulls.

Don’t let your selection be dependent upon price. Good times are ahead for the cow/calf producer. An investment in good genetics will pay dividends and benefit you for years to come.

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Illinois Farm Families a bridge between farmers, consumers

P

roviding consumers with agriculture information is as easy as logging on to Facebook Farming is difficult. Paid time off is hard to come by, hours can range from sunup to sun-down, and Mother Nature isn’t always the most understanding supervisor.

But wild hours and weather aren’t the only obstacles farmers face today. In today’s information age, consumers can log onto Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, or with a simple search engine query, find the answer to nearly any question in a matter of minutes.

But are consumers receiving the best answers to their agriculture-related questions? It’s no secret that agriculture has been the target of some pretty tough – even unfair and downright wrong – accusations. And, most of those accusations – and the “evidence” to back them up – are plastered all over the internet. With just a few keystrokes and a few seconds on Google, consumers have all of that wrong information at their fingertips.

So what can farmers do to ensure that consumers are getting correct and honest answers to the questions they have a right to ask? Farmers can be the ones to provide information to consumers.

Enter Illinois Farm Families. As representatives from the Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association, and Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Farm Families are committed to having meaningful conversations with consumers and sharing what really happens on today’s family farms, without any filters.

Last year, nine Field Moms — Chicago-area moms who had questions about food and farming, but no experience in production agriculture — toured five Illinois farms, learning about everything from livestock and dairy production to the ins and outs of corn and soybean production.

This year, Illinois Farm Families are upping the ante, hoping to line up at least 30 Field Moms to participate in six tours on farms across the state. This year’s activities will include tours of a hog farm, dairy farm, specialty crop farm, a planting tour,

‘‘

Philip Nelson

President and Executive Officer Illinois Farm Bureau harvest tour and even a “Mom’s Choice” tour.

During the tours, the Field Moms have the opportunity to talk with real farmers and their families about important topics in agriculture, including gestation stalls, biotechnology and animal welfare — and anything else with which they’re concerned.

Farmers interested in supporting Illinois Farm Families can help by doing what they do best — talking about what they love most. Use your own Facebook and Twitter accounts to tell your friends and followers about your day. Or get creative and post a video to YouTube. Research tells us that consumers like farmers and farming, but are concerned about farming practices. So listen to their concerns and answer their questions authentically.

Did you prepare for spring planting? How about work cattle? Perhaps you were repairing some of your equipment or maybe you were applying fertilizer. Whatever it was, talk about it. And answer questions. Remember to use words and phrases that consumers who aren’t familiar with farming will understand, like “farmers” rather than “producers” and “grown and raised” rather than “produced.”

Or refer friends to the Illinois Farm Families website at www.watchusgrow.org. There, they get their questions answered, meet the Field Moms and farmers, read blogs and follow the Field Moms on their tours. They can also follow Illinois Farm Families on Facebook and Twitter.

It doesn’t matter whether consumers get information on our Facebook page or yours. The only thing that matters is they get the right information.

So what can farmers do to ensure that consumers are getting correct and honest answers to the questions they have a right to ask? Farmers can be the ones to provide information to consumers.

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n an age of political-correctness overload, it’s downright hypnotic to hear someone speak without filter or fear. But, then again, Temple Grandin always has been a trailblazer.

A designer of livestock handling facilities and a Colorado State University professor of animal science, Grandin has long been recognized as an expert by livestock farmers and meat processing folks; but it was the HBO movie about her life, starring Claire Danes, that made her a celebrity with consumers.

She uses her international fame to do a job that makes others shudder in their cowboy boots. No, I’m not talking about bull castration, pig wrangling or heavy-lifting. (She does those, too, no doubt.) What Temple advocates is ... deep breath! ... speaking out.

Speak up!

Step Forward!

Be Bold!

Share!

Temple says farmers need to get better at that, because the good news of farming is being hijacked by fear mongers who have a “bone to pick” with progress.

Grandin spoke to Iowa farmers at the 94th Iowa Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. Her progressive, “straight talk” keynote was delivered like a shot across the bow of a battleship; more than a thousand Iowa farmers sat in rapt attention as she talked about the public’s thirst for farming knowledge.

“I talked to one student at the University of Colorado-Boulder that thought if beef cattle went to Whole Foods they were born on pasture, and if they went to Safeway or Kroger or someplace like that, they were born in a feed yard,” Grandin said. “I explained to them that no beef cattle are born in a feed yard.

The most basic things people just don’t know. It’s kind of appalling.”

Grandin says the majority of farmers and consumers she talks to are receptive.

“The public is who we need to be talking to,” she said. “Because one of the big problems we’ve got today is [that] the Internet increases the voice of radicals.

“I don’t care what the issue is: if you’ve got a big, fat mouth, you can make a big, huge splash on the Internet. Well, the people that we need to be

Shaw News Service file photo

Temple Grandin admires a model cattle truck designed by Randall Witmer of Dixon during a tour of Dale Pfundstein’s farm in rural Sterling in July 2010. Grandin says farmers need to get better at speaking out and being advocates for themselves and their industry.

‘‘

But, the true message we all need to embrace is the need for being there to answer questions, share a story, listen to consumers, and provide choices. Speaking out actually is easy, once you get started.

communicating with are the people in the middle, the public.”

Grandin acknowledged that while there are things the public needs to learn about farming, there also are certain things that are harder for them to embrace because sometimes the scale and innovation of farming and food production surprises consumers.

“But, they need to know that big isn’t bad. Small isn’t necessarily good.”

But, the true message we all need to embrace is the need for being there to answer questions, share a story, listen to consumers, and provide choices. Speaking out actually is easy, once you get started.

Whether it’s done through fun chan-

’’

nels, like on You Tube, or simply by taking a little extra time to chat about where bacon comes from while you’re in the checkout aisle at the grocery store, the stage is yours.

You don’t have to be a celebrity. You don’t need a college degree. You just need passion. And that, my friends, is one thing today’s responsible Iowa farmers have, in spades.

Now, wouldn’t Temple be proud?

“Between the Lines” is written by Iowa Farm Bureau Public Relations Manager Laurie Johns and examines rural life and the role agriculture plays in the lives of all Iowans and Midwesterners.

AG Mag

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