SVM Ag Magazine - Summer 2021

The family tree’s roots run deep on a Lee County farm Food nourishes and love heals at The Farm Way animal sanctuary Rock Falls student gives farmers a bird’s-eye view of their land Couple gets a fresh start selling local goods at their new market

Amboy siblings caught the business bug when they were young, and today their homegrown snack food is a hit with customers — and it’s helping make an impact on their community, too

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Magazine editor & Page design Rusty Schrader

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Publisher/Ad Director Jennifer Heintzelman

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A better Way of life

Animals have found a family of friends at The Farm Way sanctuary, where food nourishes and love heals.

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A Fresh start

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One big happy ‘farmily’

Owners of market feel right at home at their new business, and they want their customers to feel that way, too.

Pop-up business Amboy siblings caught the business bug when they were young, and today, their homegrown snack is a hit with customers, and it’s helping their community, too

Lee County family knows the lay of their land pretty well, and they should: They’ve been reaping the rewards of it for nearly 200 years.

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By Cody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

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eople and animals aren’t all that different. We all inhabit the same planet, breathe the same air.

And we all want to be safe and happy.

Meet Nicole Fairchild and Mike Himebaugh: an animal’s best friend. They’ve devoted their lives to giving animals a place where they can live without fear — and we’re not just talking about feeding a few stray cats or adopting a puppy.

They’re giving their guests 84 acres where they can feel at home and stretch their legs, whether they have two or four.

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FARM WAY cont’d from page 5 The couple run The Farm Way, a 84-acre nonprofit sanctuary farmstead in Whiteside County, just a few miles outside of Morrison. Horses, pigs, goats, dog, cats, chickens and more can roam free, surrounded by woods, fields, hills and fresh air — and a sense of safety. The couple give animals – young or old, wounded or unwanted – a new lease on life, with the hope that one day they’ll be taken care of by an owner who will treat them with respect and dignity.

Nicole It’s no small task takFairchild, Mike ing animals under their Himebaugh, and their wing, but Fairchild and son, Tex, are pictured with Himebaugh are up to Maybelle, the newest horse the challenge, and their at The Farm Way. Read 6-year-old son, Tex, more about Maybelle’s lends a hand, too. story on page 11.

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FARM WAY cont’d from page 6 It’s been quite a journey, taking animals from harm’s way to The Farm Way, and it all began with a pair of ponies.

Fairchild grew up in Wisconsin near her grandfather’s farm, and rode horses before she could even walk.

Himebaugh was raised in Michigan and studied veterinary medicine before embarking on a music career. The two met in Chicago and lived there for a while before they decided they wanted “a simpler life,” they said, in the country.

After finding that getaway near the small Bureau County community of Sheffield, the two happened upon a pair of abused ponies, who they named Princess and Geronimo, that needed a better home.

That served as inspiration for the couple to start their sanctuary in 2014.

Today The Farm Way provides a safe haven for animals — primarily horses — that need a helping hand, or hoof or paw, a place where they can live out their remaining days in a safe and loving environment.

Mike gives some treats to a couple of potbelly pigs. Pigs are smarter than most people think, possessing an intelligence similar that of a 4- to 5-year old child.

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FARM WAY cont’d from page 7 The couple takes their cues from nature, from the food they grow and eat to the animals that surround them. They provide healing through harmony, giving their animals love — and getting plenty in return — and helping them learn to trust again. Ag Mag recently conducted an interview with Fairchild and Himebaugh, giving the couple a chance to take about their operation, share the mission, and talk about their philosophy of fur, feathers and friendships.

Nicole works with Pops to help him become more comfortable with human contact.

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What kinds of animals are at the sanctuary?

We currently have 27 horses at the sanctuary. They come from all walks of life and range from a little miniature horse named Charlie all the way up to a Clydesdale named Remington – incidentally these two hang out together quite a bit. Many of the horses came to us right out of “kill lots,” meaning they were headed across the border to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered. Others had injuries or temperaments that were deemed unfit for the typical adoptive family. The Farm Way is their last stop.

We also have nine piggies: seven pot belly piggies — one that is a cross between a potbelly and Hampshire, and one that is a straight up farm pig, a Hampshire-Berkshire cross named Iris. Iris was only a few hours old when she got here, barely the size of an apple. She’s the biggest, sweetest piggy on the farm, tipping the scales at nearly 400 pounds.

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YaYa, Lilo and Firefly grab a bite to eat, and they’re not even butting heads to do it. The animals at The Farm Way have learned to share at feeding time.

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FARM WAY cont’d from page 8 The Farm Way is also home to four goats. One goat arrived last fall, unwanted, and also pregnant, unbeknownst to us. We call her Yaya, and she had twins this spring. We also are home to 14 cats, two dogs, many chickens and a few guineas.

What is the overall goal and mission of what you do?

We strive to create what we call a conscious community, a place where there is no competition or chaos, and animals from all walks of life get along. We communicate with the animals in many ways, or rather we listen and we provide what they may need, physically and energetically. We believe that all of us, every horse, every piggy, every animal and person has a mis-

sion, a gift. If you listen closely they’ll tell you what it is.

We’re creating this safe haven where all of life’s best possibilities are encouraged for all of us, four-legged or two.

Just how much work and cost goes into operating The Farm Way? We have to chuckle at this question. We haven’t figured it out yet. We work every day on the farm, morning until night providing care, cleaning, building and fixing. Every day is different, and yet it’s the same.

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FARM WAY cont’d from page 9

Like father, like son ... Mike and Nicole’s son, Tex, 6, grooms BeBe, the lead mare of The Farm Way’s herd. Joining them are Emmy the cat and Firefly the goat.

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While this goes on we’re creating and executing fundraisers that help pay for it. We’re extremely grateful to all of the people that donate, yet there are a few without whom we wouldn’t be here. Jimmy John and Leslie Liautaud helped us get into this location, the forever home of The Farm Way. They are fans of what we are doing and are helping incredibly along the way. Nancy Woehl, the previous owner of the farm, allowed us to purchase the farm in a rather unorthodox way. Our son calls her “Gramma Nancy” and we sure appreciate her. Our neighbors, the Snows and the Bormanns, have gone above and beyond in all the help they’ve given us since we moved in 6 years ago.

We put a lot of effort into the sanctuary. Every day we remind ourselves that we get to do this, and we are grateful for what our life has become. [Tex] is growing up here, and if he chooses to carry on, The Farm Way will be his legacy.

A rather unorthodox way?

Nancy and her husband, Don, built the place back in about 1970. Don passed away in the mid2000s and Nancy cared for the place for about a decade alone. When she finally decided it was time to move to town she contacted a Realtor that we were just starting to work with in looking for a new home for The Farm Way. This place was way too much for our budget, but we went and looked at it anyway, before it was listed. We instantly fell in love, and so will you when you come see it.

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FARM WAY cont’d from page 10 Jimmy John Liautaud and his wife, Leslie, had been big fans of Mike’s music for years. After reading about our plans and goals with The Farm Way they became fans of that also. Our mission reminded Jimmy of the music; it made him feel good. Jimmy is the founder of Jimmy John’s and he and Leslie are some of the most generous people out there. They provided a lump of cash to get The Farm Way in the door and we negotiated a deal with Nancy, where we set up a land contract that actually benefited Nancy as well as The Farm Way.

Editor's note: The following is from an article that appeared in the June 15 Whiteside News Sentinel.

Like her newfound friends at The Farm Way, Maybelle, a wild mustang, is experiencing a new life, but her story is a bit different than the others. She’s the first of her kind to join the What have been some of the biggest chalherd. lenges in maintaining the sanctuary?

Maybelle was captured as a young filly during a roundup Well, as you can imagine, the craziness in the Green Mountains of Wyoming in 2018. She was of the previous year put a damper on our separated from her mother and branded by the Bureau Find The Farm Way sanctuary at fundraisers. We are incredibly fortunate of Land Management. She was then adopted out thefarmway.com, email thefarmway@ through the Training Incentive Program, which that we have a hay provider that delivgmail.com or call 773-332-8953 for more provides a payment of $1,000 to the adoptee, with a information, directions to the farm or to find out ered 80 large round bales with just how to donate the farm. The Farm Way also is on requirement to keep the horse for one year. our word that we will pay him, and we social media at Facebook, YouTube and As so often happens, the year passed and Maystill owe him from last year’s hay. Todd Instagram (@thefarmwaysanctuary). belle went to auction. A young, untrained wild Yarger and his wife are wonderful Want to visit the farm? Email horse has but one fate at auction, and she was people that support our mission.

TheFarmWay@gmail.com to schedule a visit. scheduled to get on a truck bound for a meat proWant to sponsor an animal? Go to cessing plant in Canada or Mexico.

For animals that have come from thefarmway.com/sponsor-an-animal.html But Maybelle’s fate wasn’t sealed. neglected backgrounds, about how for more information.

She was one of the lucky few rescued at the last minPLEASE NOTE: No drop-offs of long does it take for them to improve ute when The Hooved Companion Project in Hebron interunwanted animals are toward normal? vened. The Project’s owners were visiting family in Colorado accepted.

The potbellied piggies are all incredibly smart when they were alerted to the plight of a young filly in a “kill — all pigs are. They get really attached to their family, lot” that happened to be just miles from the home they were much like a dog. So, for some of them it’s a really hard change. We take it slow visiting. and work on their schedule. Then they start to realize that this place has some The Project got Maybelle out of Colorado and to a holding pretty cool advantages. You get to live like a pig! They all have access to some farm in Wisconsin, and later contacted The Farm Way, which took in Maybelle on May 1. nice mud holes and they can graze on grass all day long if they’d like.

Her name means The Beautiful One, a fitting name, says The horses take some time too. Some horses come right out of “stall life” Nicole Fairchild. and they are faced with the daunting challenge of being around more than 20 “Every horse, every piggy, every animal and person has horses and having 80 acres to roam. We listen to the horses and let them set a mission, a gift,” she said. “Maybelle’s gift is inspiration, the pace. Some go into the herd within days. Some are still working on it after and she inspires you to live a life in truth. When you can find a year. We have a couple horses who would still rather not be touched too beauty in yourself and the world around you, you will find much and we respect that. your truth, your purpose. In that truth is the Beautiful One.” Maybelle was easily accepted into the herd now 27 strong, Obviously it can be disappointing to hear about the back stories of and she is learning to run the land with them. The Green neglected animals, but if you had the power to prevent the neglect from Mountain horses are known for being stocky and sturdy, and happening, what would you tell to people who do this that what they are Maybelle embodies those physical qualities. She’s taking her doing is wrong? time getting used to her new environment and is sometimes There are things that go on in all walks of life that are out of balance. We startled by high winds, stemming from the trauma of the understand this. We practice “personal responsibility’” in all aspects of our helicopter roundup. She’s becoming a part of what Mike and life, and we do it as well as we can. If we take in an animal it is our personal Nicole call a conscious community – a place where there is no responsibility for the rest of its life. competition or chaos, and all the animals get along.

— Sarah Ford for Shaw Media

MORE INFO

How can people help in the operation of the sanctuary? Money? Supplies? Anything else?

We are always grateful for any kind of donation: hay, feed, money, supplies, you name it. We have volunteer days when people can come in and help with a project. This spring we had a group come in from Wisconsin and help build a round pen. We’d like to explore more of these ideas with community clubs in the area.

We need shelters for the horses and for hay storage. We also would really like to involve our community more. We see a community building or barn in our future where lots of different things can happen, from barn dances to equine therapy for our vets and kids. Kids are the future for all of us.

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By Brian Weidman | bweidman@shawmedia.com

or Denny and Edy Pfeiffer of rural Ashton, something good came out of the COVID-19 pandemic – a brand new country store with an old-style feel to it.

The Pfeiffers live at 2511 Reynolds Road, 8 miles southeast of Ashton, and farm about 3,800 acres. They raise corn, soybeans and hay, as well as about 400 head of cattle – and now, they’re running their own store, too: Pfeiffer Farms Fresh Market.

It was when taking some of their cattle to market a year ago the Pfeiffers saw a need for a change in the way they do business.

“We sold some cattle a year ago, and we took quite a loss on it because of the pandemic,” Denny said. “The workers in the processing plant were sick and they didn’t want our cattle, but they were big enough they had to go somewhere. We got to thinking after that maybe we should start trying to market our own beef.”

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PFEIFFERS cont’d from page 13

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Edy Pfeiffer talks about some of the goods that the store stocks. When she and husband Denny decided to go into business, they knew they wanted the focus to be on local goods. “We want to have people come here for more than just beef. We want other things that are local,” Denny said.

“People support local and it’s fresher than what you buy in the store.”

They’ve lived on Reynolds Road for 10 years, and next to the house was an old machine shed full of, in Denny’s words, “stuff,” left over from the previous owner, as well as items the Pfeiffers stored there.

They decided the shed and its contents had to go.

“Edy put it on Facebook and Marketplace, and I thought, ‘Well, if we can sell this stuff, we can probably sell beef,’” Denny said.

“A lot of this stuff, we probably would have junked. People came from Elgin. People came from Belvidere. People came from all over and bought this stuff. We didn’t get rich off of it, but we got something out of what we thought was nothing.”

PFEIFFERS cont’d to page 15

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PFEIFFERS cont’d from page 14 Once the corn was planted last spring, they tore down the shed and had Ross Construction of Ashton build Pfeiffer Farms Fresh Market. They couldn’t be happier with the result.

“Sometimes you build stuff and it didn’t turn out like you wanted, but this did,” Denny said.

Once the building was done, the couple went about adding a little flavor: a down-home country feel.

“I want it to be comfortable,” Edy said. “We’re using antique furniture for displays, like the sewing machine that was Denny’s mother’s.”

“My goal for the first impression is to be ‘Wow!’,” Denny said. “I want people to say they’ll be back” — and so far, they’ve succeeded. The store opened April 8, and business has steadily picked up since then.

“There’s been a lot of community support,” Edy said.

“Every weekend we’re a little busier.” She said customers have come from all over the Sauk Valley, and some from as far away as Peoria and Bloomington.

Three or four times a month, Denny takes cattle and hogs to Johnson Processing in Chadwick. Some are for private sales, for people who have specially ordered a quarter or half a beef, while others are to stock the meat case at Pfeiffer Farms Fresh Market.

“We feed our steers what we grow, and we don’t use implants or growth hormones,” Denny said.

The Pfeiffers will host a Craft, Vendor and Farmers Market on their farm from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 14. “We are inviting local people to set up outside and maybe this will be an annual event,” Edy said. “I’ve had people express interest and I didn’t even know they made or grew things.” Denny is planning to park his two Super M tractors in front of the store. “They were my dad’s tractors and when I was growing up they were our main tractors,” he said. “My dad ran one and I ran one.”

The tractors were used to pull equipment such as a 14-foot disk or a four-row planter.

“We were really farming,” Denny said.

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PFEIFFERS cont’d from page 15

Among the locally produced goods at Pfeiffers’ store are soaps and lotions, honey, and, of course, Pfeiffer Farms’ fresh meat. Cheese is available from area producers, and you can wash it all down with a cold pop and some pleasant memories.

The store stocks a line of vintage pops. “It’s the pop I grew up on, like Dad’s Root Beer, Green River, Dr. Pepper and vanilla cream,” Denny said.

The pork is from Denny’s cousin, Mike Pfeiffer, a lifelong pork producer.

A wide variety of beef and pork products are available at the shop, in just about any cut you can think of. Beef-lovers will find ribeyes, T-bones, New York strips, fillets, porterhouse, skirt steaks, tenderized round steaks, flank steaks, chuck roasts, arm roasts, round roasts, rump roasts, ground beef, patties. If you’re looking for “the other white meat,” you’ll find bone-in pork chops, butterfly pork chops, bacon, ground pork, sausage links, bratwursts, Italian sausage, hams, and ham steaks.

“Three weeks ago that was a steer,” Denny said, pointing to his meat case. “That’s how fresh the stuff is.”

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PFEIFFERS cont’d to page 17

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the same company that supplied their calibrated scale, so Edy was able to be trained on both.

Fresh meat is only part of what the Pfeiffers offer at their “I’m learning every day,” she said with a smile. “This is all store. Customers also will find farm-raised chicken, as well new.” as and eggs; honey from Metzger Meadows in Rochelle; fresh Denny, 68, has no immediate plans to stop farming. He flowers from Wiley Flower Company in Dixon; cheese from began helping his father on the farm nearly six decades ago, farmers Todd Aves and Brian Gerloff, near Belvidere; baked and went out on his own more than four decades ago. Farming goods from Sandra Cargill in Franklin Grove; firewood still will fill a lot of his work hours, but he also will from Richard Delp, a Lanark farmer; dog treats relish his time in the new family store, greetfrom Diggity Dawg Bakery in Dixon; CBD ing customers at the front door with a products from local hemp farmer smile and a handshake.

Mark Peters; soaps and lotions from “I love farming, but as you go Toni Larimore in Paw Paw; knitthrough you think, ‘Boy, if you ted and crocheted items from could only sell your own prodLisa Anderson, also in Paw Pfeiffer uct, you could get so much Farms Paw; and a cooler stocked more.’ That’s what we’re findFresh Market with soda, some made the ing out,” he said.

2511 Reynolds Road, Ashton. old-fashioned way: with real “In life you need a purHours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday sugar. and Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. pose and in my previous “We decided we wanted Saturday. As produce is available, the profession I didn’t know store will also add Sunday hours from people to come here for there was a purpose,” Edy noon to 3 p.m. For more information, more than just beef, and said.

“Here you see the satcall 815-761-6074, or find Pfeiffer we’re finding out people isfaction of people that are Farms Fresh Market Inc. on appreciate local, fresh prodgetting food, they appreciFacebook, or go to ucts,” Denny said. “We’ve pfeifferfarms.com. ate it and that makes you feel found that out the first three good.” weekends here.”

“When we’re selling stuff, As the growing season prowe can give the customers a gresses, the store will feature progood deal, and we get a good deal duce from the Pfeiffers’ garden, includourselves because we’re cutting the ing green beans, tomatoes, raspberries, middleman out. It is more work for us, I and, come fall, pumpkins. understand that, but it’s fun work. To me, farm“We want to have people come here for more than ing is fun. … This here is also fun. When people come in just beef. We want other things that are local,” Denny said. and you can make them happy, like, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect this,’ “People support local and it’s fresher than what you buy in the that’s fun.” store.”

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun work,” Denny said. “When you Edy will be thr friendly face behind the counter that people can put a smile on people’s faces when they leave the store, that’s what you want.” will see most often, and she’s been learning on the job. For — Martha Blum of Shaw Media’s Illinois AgriNews instance, she had never used a cash register before. As it contributed to this story. turned out, the cash register the Pfeiffers bought came from

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Generations of the Gilmores have been farming the land for nearly 200 years.

Today, Steve Gilmore (far left) and his brother Scott (far right) oversee the family operation. Seen here with the brothers are, from left, Edward Kofoid, 5, Maverick Schoenholz, 4, Ella Schoenholz, 6, Marianne Gilmore, and Evelyn Kofoid, 1.

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

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By Cody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

COMPTON – If it wasn’t for a deep hole in the mud, Lee County’s oldest family farm wouldn’t be in business right now.

It was 1835 and Illinois had only been a state for 17 years when John Gilmore’s wagon was slogging through the still-young state when he became bogged down on Chicago Road. Instead of giving up, he dug in and ended up striking paydirt in that muddy mess, putting down the roots of what would someday grow into one of the state’s oldest family farms.

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GILMORE cont’d from page 19 Today, 186 years later, what started as a family farm has grown into a 1,500-acre operation – and while tractors have replaced wagons, a Gilmore is still in the driver’s seat. John’s great-great-great-grandsons, Scott and Steve, oversee the farm.

The Gilmore Farm has been in the same family for six generations, and the seventh is being prepared to carry on the family legacy, and maybe an eighth generation will follow, too — at least that’s what brothers Scott, 68, and Steve, 66 are hoping for their grandchildren.

Mail call ... If you weren’t sure whether a farm family lived here or not, you need look no further than the Gilmore’s mailbox in front of their farm at 2853 Chicago Road, between Compton and Paw Paw. ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

GILMORE cont’d to pages 22-23

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BELOW: Alexander Gilmore (second from left), son of John and Hannah Gilmore, represented the second generation of the family to tend to their farm. He is pictured with his wife Louise (fourth from left), and (from left) Fred – who would represent the third generation of Gilmores at the farm – and his siblings Harry, Josephine, Carrie and Arlo.

LEFT: The Gilmore Farm north of Compton as it looked circa 1907.

Irish immigrants John and Hannah Gilmore, the first generation of Gilmores to farm in Lee County.

LEFT: In addition to farming, John and Hannah Gilmore operated the Gilmore Inn for travelers on the Chicago Trail, which was the first road leading out toward Lee County from Chicago. It was built in 1848 and operated for 18 years before it was sold. By the time this picture was taken in 1952, the building had seen better days, and had been converted into a storage shed for farm equipment.

including photos of history is on display in a makeshift museum on the farm, The Gilmore family ’s history is rooted in farming, and that thing,” joked Scott. every saved souvenirs keepsakes and more. “The Gilmores the earliest relatives to the youngest grandkids, trinkets,

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GILMORE cont’d from page 20 Steve has been on the farm all of his life; Scott, too, other than for a short time for school.

“Dad needed help, and he was helping his dad as he was getting older,” Steve said. “My grandpa liked to go to Florida during the winter, so dad was stuck here and I’d help him, and it just kept on going and I never got out of it.”

Other members of the Gilmore family tree have also put down roots on farms nearby, including many cousins and uncles.

“I can be next to my kids and my grandkids,” Scott said. “My grandkids, especially the little ones, want to ride in the machines for ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM hours. That makes it enjoyFarming has been part a part of Steve Gilmore’s life for as long as he can remember. “Dad needed able. You can be with your help, and he was helping his dad as he was getting older,” Steve said. “My grandpa liked to go to family.”

Florida during the winter, so dad was stuck here and I’d help him, and it just kept on going and I GILMORE cont’d to page 24 never got out of it.”

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GILMORE cont’d from page 23

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

M is for the many things she gave them ... Scott has many memories of growing up on the family farm, but one his fondest is of his mom, Donna’s, role in the operation. “She loved the farm,” he said. “She would always make us lunch every day and brought it to the field. You never went hungry. The machinery dealer and the seed dealer always knew when to stop, too; they’d stop at noon and Mom was like, ‘You might as well eat!’ She’d feed everybody.”

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Riding in the tractors also was fun for Scott and Steve growing up – though the machines didn’t quite measure up to today’s mammoth rides. The brothers recall when their grandfather, Ralph, would let them ride along through the very fields they now oversee.

“If we wanted to drive a tractor, we’d go to grandpa,” Scott said. “They were just a small B or an A, and I don’t think mom or dad ever knew that.

The B had a seat next to it. The axle was flat so that he could put a box next to it to ride on. It was still really dangerous because you didn’t want to get underneath of it.”

The Gilmores farm corn and soybeans these days. Livestock used to be part of the operation – hogs, cattle, sheep, chickens – but through the years, livestock became less and less a part of the farm, with the family getting out of the hog business a few years again when market prices went south.

GILMORE cont’d to page 25

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GILMORE cont’d from page 24 The Gilmore’s hog operation started as a farrow-to-finish – farrowing was done in the field in little huts – and they graduated to farrowing in a barn and then converted a chicken house into a farrowing house and had one of the first farrowing nursery buildings in the area by the 1960s.

“Everyone thought it was good to do hogs out in the wilderness like that, but not with a 2- or 3-inch rain and the little ones are floating down the hill,” Scott said. “That wasn’t a very good scene.”

When a 500-pound sow generated just around $20, however, it became too much.

“I always liked the livestock part of it, but it just got too much,” Steve said. “You can’t find much help on the livestock end.

Everyone wants to get in a nice, clean tractor and a combine.”

GILMORE cont’d to page 26

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Steve and Scott’s father, Edward, was an avid collector of farm toys. It started with a replica of his first tractor and kept on growing (and growing) from there. “It became an obsession,” Steve (above) said. “If a new one was about to come out, he wanted to be the first one on the list to get it.”

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GILMORE cont’d from page 25

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The farm’s footprint has changed through the years, too.

It once encompassed 2,500 acres but operates on 1,500 now.

About 800 acres are set aside for corn and the remaining 700 for soybeans.

Operations, technology and life on the family farm have changed a lot over 185 years, but some things remain the same, like the family behind the farm and their commitment to helping feed the nation.

John Gilmore traveled to northern Illinois with William Guthrie, a friend who once fought in the Black Hawk War that raged in northwest Illinois and southern Wisconsin only 3 years prior. The only other white man around Lee County at the time was Zachariah Melugin, who had established the small settlement of Melugin’s Grove – which would eventually become Compton – in a large grove of trees just a few miles west of the future farm, also 3 years prior. Native Americans were the only other people around.

“The horses got stuck and the horses quit pulling,” Steve said. “It was all swamp, and it was just miles and miles of swamp and people couldn’t get around.”

Because the area was so swampy, it made the soil around fertile ground for farming. Eventually the swampy areas would become improved during the Great Depression for better farming, but remnants of swamp-like areas still exist in small pockets throughout the eastern part of Lee County.

For a brief time, John Gilmore’s father, John Sr., also lived on the farm. The younger John passed the operation to his son, Alexander, who would in turn pass it along to the next generation of Gilmores. Fred came after Alexander. Then Ralph took over in the early 20th century. Ralph then passed it on to Scott and Steve’s parents, Edward and Donna, who turned it over to their sons a few decades ago.

While Edward was in charge of the fields, Donna was in charge of the kitchen, and they both had their hands full.

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GILMORE cont’d to page 27 A plaque from the Illinois Department of Agriculture recognizes the Gilmore farm as being a sesquicentennial family farm.

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The tractors may have changed, but kids are still having fun on the farm.

Here, Steve poses for a photo with a tire full of smiling kids on. his birthday. Riding in the tractors was fun for Scott and Steve growing up – though the machines didn’t quite measure up to today’s mammoth rides. The brothers recall when their grandfather, Ralph, would let them ride along through the very fields they now oversee. “If we wanted to drive a tractor, we’d go to grandpa,” Scott said.

ALEX T. PASCHAL/ APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

GILMORE cont’d from page 26 “She loved the farm,” Scott said. “She would always make us lunch every day and brought it to the field. That was her contribution. You never went hungry. The machinery dealer and the seed dealer always knew when to stop, too; they’d stop at noon and Mom was like, ‘You might as well eat!’ She’d feed everybody.”

Edward passed away in 2017 and left behind plenty of antiques and collectibles, including a large toy tractor collection he had built up his entire life.

“It became an obsession,” Steve added.

“If a new one was about to come out, he wanted to be the first one on the list to get it.”

The family ended up converting a storage building into a sort of family museum, with a fleet of farm toys and family heirlooms filling the shelves.

“We decided to bring all of his toy tractors over here, and found out he had a lot more toy tractors than we thought,” Scott said. “We call this his museum to display what he collected over the years.”

The grandchildren will play with the tractors sometimes when they visit, too.

The Gilmores are proud of not just their history, but that of the area they are from. Old post cards and collectibles from about a 20-mile area also adorn the inside of the farm’s office building, as well as signs and logos of the Gilmore Oil Company, which was based in California.

Also on the farm is a restored Compton Fire Department truck from the 1940s; the brothers also volunteer with the department.

The Gilmore property not only has its local historical claim to fame, but also boasts the two highest points in Lee County. According to peakbagger.com, which documents high points throughout the world, the apex of their driveway is slightly higher than a point on the western edge of their property next to Compton Road.

The farm will remain in the family for at least one more generation for sure, but it won’t be run by a Gilmore, as the brothers never had a male child. Steve’s son-inlaw, Matt Schoenholz is set to take over when Scott and Steve retire.

This won’t effect their long-running status as a sesquicentennial farm as the farm would remain in the same generational lineage, and thus, if it continues

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for another couple of decades, will be eligible for bicentennial status. There are only a handful of bicentennial farms in Illinois; the closest one to the Gilmores is owned by the Sturtevant Family in Carroll County west of Shannon, established in 1820.

Several buildings have come and gone from the Gilmore farm, as has the raising of animals, but both Scott and Steve are optimistic that the land tended to by multiple generations of the family will continue to provide for the family.

“We’ve had real good yields for quite a while,” Steve said. “Corn yields have really been increasing. Only recently have the prices come around on the crops.”

There’s on thing, though, the Gilmores can’t put a price on: family. It’s what’s kept the farm going for nearly 200 years, and what will keep it going for years to come.

“The good part about it is that you don’t have to drive far to work, but the bad part about it is that you can never get away from your work,” Scott said, but ultimately, “the good parts override the bad parts, being with the family and trying out new things, the new technologies and planners and combines.”

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Two Generations of Experience

Cody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

he sky is the limit when it comes to small business success, and while Matt Megli is flying high early in life, he doesn’t plan to come down any time soon.

Megli, 17, is using his trusty DJI Phantom 4 drone to help farmers, real estate agents, and property owners get a good look at their land. The senior-to-be at Rock Falls High School owns Megli Aerial, which provides people a whole new perspective on their

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“Drones can do so much when it comes to inspections and mapping and for agriculture,” Matt Megli said, and farming is an area where he’d like to see his business expand. Above is an example of some his work, and more – including videos of local harvests – can be seen at megliaerial.com/portfolio.

MEGLI cont’d to page 30

property — from the air.

Before drones entered the picture, getting an aerial view of land involved the pricey prospect of hiring a pilot and plane. Realtors had to keep both feet on the ground for photos of their listings, and farmers who wanted to inspect their land or plot out their property had to do it from the ground.

MEGLI cont’d from page 29 These days, though, drone operators can buzz property in a fraction of the time, and armed with a compact camera in its belly, the nimble little machines can zip in and out of places a plane could never go, giving customers the big picture, or zooming in for an up-close shot.

Megli has seen firsthand the benefits of his deft drone piloting, and he shares a particular connection with some of his clients: farmers.

His family farms corn, soybeans, and grows turf south of Rock Falls, and he’s expected to be the fourth-generation owner of the family farm one day. Like the rest of his peers, he’s already more tech savvy than previous generations, thanks in part to an early interest in remote control airplanes and other small flying devices.

“Drones are used for inspections quite a bit, and that’s something in the future that I would like to expand my business to,” Megli said. “I’m a drone enthusiast. I really like them, and really like finding out what they can do. They can do so much when it comes to inspections and mapping and for agriculture.

MEGLI cont’d to page 31

CODY CUTTER/SAUK VALLEY MEDIA

Matt Megli’s DJI Phantom 4 drone can take 4K videos and 12 megapixel photos. The lens is housed in a protective housing that moves at any trajectory, which makes for “super smooth video,” he said.

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MEGLI cont’d from page 30 Drone photography also provide a look at how farming works from a perspective you can’t get from the ground, like inside a grain trailer.

“It can give them an opportunity to show them off a little bit,” Megli said. “Farmers aren’t really selling to a consumer, but this would be to show their landlords what they’re doing, or help them keep a journal of what they’re doing.”

Drone photos and videos also can help homeowners and real estate agents sell their properties.

“You can attract more clients if you use aerial photography to sell your home. They sell better and they give a much better view of what the property is without actually going out to see it,” he said.

Megli’s focus is on working with Realtors and property owners within 50 miles of Rock Falls.

“When you take it from the air you can see so much more, especially if it’s a larger property,” Megli said. “You can see so much more a lot better if you’re up in the air versus just taking pictures from the ground.

Drone technology has improved significantly in the past decade — with drones that are smaller and lightweight using cameras that can capture much more detail – and the highflying high-tech tool is only getting better, Megli said. As it becomes more commonplace, he can see his business growing.

“It’s amazing how much more you can do with a drone.”

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His love of piloting from the ground eventually graduated to operating a state-of-the-art drone. DJI, based in China, is a popular drone manufacturer, and the Phantom 4 was the top model when it came out a few years ago. Megli has owned his Phantom 4 for a couple of years, initially using it to help out on the farm.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Megli’s junior year of high school suddenly became quite different; he spent more time at home, and while thinking about his drone, he began to think about how it could bring in some money. So he set up a small business plan and a website, megliaerial.com, and his new venture took off.

“We had this drone, and I found out that I really like to take pictures with it and produce videos,” Megli said. “I also like harvesting with our farm equipment, and I was taking stills from there. So I thought I’d try to start my own business.”

While anyone can buy a drone these days, not everyone can fly one – at least not with the kind of skill it takes to make a business out of it. Megli has his Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, which allows him to operate a drone, having studied FAA regulations, operating requirements, and procedures for safely flying them.

MEGLI cont’d to page 32

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MEGLI cont’d from page 31 Megli’s drone is capable of taking 4K videos (a horizontal resolution of 4,096 pixels) and 12 mega-pixel stills. The lens is built in within a protective cube that moves at any trajectory, which makes for “super smooth video,” Megli said.

Megli offers a standard picture and video package plan, and can provide a quote for other services, too. He does his own editing, and clients can see pictures and footage before buying the electronic files — if they aren’t satisfied, they don’t have to buy them.

“It’s good to make sure people are satisfied and happy with what you’re doing,” Megli said. “That’s ultimately better for business in the long run.”

With each client that he’s worked with, Megli finds himself reviewing his work and pointing out ways that can help him do better for the next client. The reviews generate new ideas and angles, and things he wish he could have done differently.

Megli’s big thrill so far has been the positive feedback he’s received with his work.

“When I make a video, and it’s really good and people like it,” he said. “They give me a lot

of compliments on it and really appreciate what I’m doing. That’s the most rewarding thing about having this drone and using it: really satisfying people and making a difference.”

While drone technology is a cool gig for now, Megli doesn’t plan on making a career out of it. Farming is his true passion, and he plans to attend Black Hawk East Community College in Galva to study agriculture production technology.

Before taking off for college, Megli will have another opportunity to learn more about running a business during his senior year. He will be in the Whiteside Area Career Center’s Creating Educational Opportunities (CEO) program, a popular business class whose students are chosen by instructors.

“I think being young helps out,” Megli said. “Younger people are able to adapt to technology a lot better than older people are. I’m always helping my dad or my grandpa out on the farm with newer technologies and that kind of thing. They’re good at it, but it seems like it comes faster with younger people.”

Contact Matt Megli of Megli Aerial at msmegli2004@gmail. com or call 815-590-9592 to set up an appointment or for more information.

Go to megliaerial.com to see samples of Megli’s work.

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By Jeannine Otto | Illinois AgriNews Publications

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hen it comes A to a new program at Sauk Valley Community College that will offer students the opportunity to earn free tuition through community service, it’s fitting that the first donation toward that program’s endowment came from a pair of budding young business owners whose products first popped up on their family’s farm when they were still in grade school.

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Amboy siblings caught the business bug when they were young, and today, their homegrown snack food is a hit with customers near and far — and it’s helping make an impact on their community, too

POPCORN cont’d to page 35

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PHOTOS ON FACING PAGE

Natalie Pratt started Bubba Bug Popcorn with her older brother, Ethan, when she was 5 and Ethan was 7. Since then, the two teens have planted, watered, harvested and packaged the corn by hand, but with Ethan now active in the family farm operation, Natalie has taken on most of the duties of Bubba Bug herself, but harvesting continues to be a family affair.

In the inset photo, Natalie shows off some of last year’s harvest, and in the photo at right, she checks this year’s crop as it begins to peek out of the soil. If the crops come in as planned, Bubba Bug Popcorn should be able to offer an expanded selection this fall: white hull-less, yellow hull-less, puffy, pink, mini rainbow, and strawberry.

POPCORN cont’d from page 34 “These are young kids who grow their own popcorn,” Linda Cortez, Sauk’s dean of institutional advancement, said of Natalie Pratt and her older brother, Ethan, of Amboy, who started their own homegrown business, Bubba Bug Popcorn.

“They gave to our Impact Program, so these youth are investing in themselves and their friends.”

Sauk announced plans for the Impact Program earlier this year, with a goal of raising $10 million that would be used to pay for the program that would allow high-schoolers to earn 3 years of tuition and fees at the college through community service, as well as meeting other criteria. The college hopes to launch it as early as spring 2022.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Bubba Bug Popcorn has donated to several local community causes, including one near and dear to Natalie’s heart: the Amboy High School Music Department. Here, she presents a check to Travis Kemmerer, the school’s band and choir instructor. Natalie plays the oboe and plans to participate in band, choir and musical theater at Amboy High.

POPCORN cont’d to page 36

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POPCORN cont’d from page 35

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Back when Ethan was 7 and sister Natalie was 5, the siblings started Bubba Bug popcorn with a little bit of land and a lot of determination. The sibling’s side-hustle has grown through the years, but these days Ethan spends most of his time farming with his dad, Andy, so he’s stepped back from the business, helping out with the planting, but leaving the rest in his sister’s capable hands.

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It’s also worth noting that donating to local organizations that help youth is the thing that Natalie, 13, says is one of the best things about the business that she and Ethan started 8 years ago.

And, yes, that would make Natalie just 5 and Ethan 7 when they came up with the idea.

“We wanted to start a lemonade stand on our road to make some money for things we wanted. But living on a country road, it was obviously not going to work,” Natalie said.

Recently graduated from eighth grade at Amboy Junior High School, Natalie’s years of public speaking as a 4-H project have made her an accomplished spokesperson for the business. It’s a task that Ethan has always been happy to leave to his sister, said their mom, Katie.

Their parents, Andy and Katie Pratt, farm with Andy’s family and raise corn and soybeans. So, Natalie and Ethan decided to follow in their family’s footsteps, right into the farm fields — with a slight adjustment.

“We wanted to do something more creative than corn and

POPCORN cont’d to page 37

POPCORN cont’d from page 36 “We wanted to do something more creative than corn and beans, so we decided to do popcorn,” Natalie said.

A few rows of popcorn that the two planted, watered and cared for, then harvested and packaged themselves, with minimal assistance from their parents, has since grown to an acre of popcorn.

“Those two took it on. This was and is their job, from dragging the hose out to water it to the shelling, the cleaning the packaging. All of that has been their thing,” Katie said.

Ethan, now 16, is farming with his father, so the popcorn business is “more of a Natalie thing now,” Natalie said.

“We will probably plant within the next few weeks. We do that by hand,” she said in April.

Ethan will help out with the planting, but nowadays the rest is up to Natalie.

raise, there are good years and not-so-good years for popcorn.

“It varies from year to year, the last couple years have not been great and it’s been about three years since we’ve had a really good crop,” Natalie said.

Harvest happens later in the fall, usually in October, so the popcorn can have additional drying time on the stalk. After the harvest, Natalie shells the corn, dries it further if needed via a screen and a fan, then cleans, sorts and packages the harvest.

When the corn is ready for sale, she will refresh the business’s website, list the different varieties and get ready to take the orders.

POPCORN cont’d to page 38

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Pop Pop Hurray The name, Bubba Bug Popcorn, came from their nicknames when they were younger. Ethan was “Bubba,” and Natalie was called “Nattie Bug,” by their parents, and Andy suggested a combo of the two nicknames for the company.

The company’s motto, which is included on the logo on their popcorn bags, is: “Dad picked the name, we picked the corn.”

The company has a website, bubbabugpopcorn.com, and sales go until the year’s crop is sold out.

As with the corn and soybeans that their parents and family

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Natalie is shown here in a post on her mom, Katie’s Facebook page, “The Illinois Farmgirl” during a recent interview with the Georgiabased Small Bites Adventure Club in which she talked about her work with Bubba Bug Popcorn, and running a business as a young person. According to its website, the club promotes “the importance of good eating habits and nutrition through fun farming, science and cooking activities.”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

POPCORN cont’d from page 37 “We are now an international company; we have shipped popcorn to Canada and to Germany and we’ve added different varieties,” Natalie said.

was the first donation that she chose on her own, as Ethan stepped away from the day-to-day operations of the popcorn business.

POPCORN cont’d to page 39

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Natalie isn’t the only one reaping the rewards of her work; the community is, too, from donations Bubba Bug makes to local groups and causes. That came about after Natalie and Ethan found out about an event known as Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two major Christmas shopping sprees. It is an opportunity for companies and brands to share their profits with charities.

“Everybody has spent their money on stuff from stores and on Amazon and online shopping, so now it’s time to spend some of your money and donate to something. We found out about it and we hopped on the Giving Tuesday train. We picked part of our profits from our sales on Giving Tuesday and donated to local organizations,” Natalie said.

The first donation was to Teen Turf Youth Center in Amboy.

The donation to the Impact Program at Sauk came about after Natalie and Ethan heard their mom, who was on a steering committee for the new program, talking about the program and how it could benefit local students.

“Bubba Bug Popcorn was proudly the first donor for the Impact Program. We heard about it from Mom and we thought it was really cool. We’ve been blessed with opportunities, but living in small-town and rural Illinois, we know a lot of kids who probably don’t have those opportunities. So, we thought it was a really good idea to put money toward something that we know our friends will use and that we could use. I think it’s really cool that we got to give to that program,” Natalie said.

Another donation is near and dear to Natalie’s heart. It

POPCORN cont’d from page 38

to go and I forgot my speech. I was halfway through my speech and I blanked — and I knew why. I was thinking about meeting the first “I am in band and choir and I love theater,” said Natalie, who plays the oboe. “Our marching band has gotten bigger and lady of the United States and it was incredible,” Natalie said.

Natalie and Katie were in the group photo with the first people come to the football games to see the marching band lady and Natalie shared a socially distanced elbow bump with and the pep band and it’s amazing, but we need new uniforms.

Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education.

I did my Giving Tuesday last year and I gave it to the Amboy An Amboy High School alumna and current student trustee High School music department for new marching on the SVCC board, Abril Vazquez-Tapia, introduced Biden, band uniforms,” Natalie said. who talked about the benefits of the College Promise Program and the Impact Program.

Connecting points “The first lady said hi to me and I said hi In addition to being able to helping others, to her. It was absolutely incredible,” Natathe popcorn business has provided Natalie lie said. with opportunities to share her enthusiasm Go to https://bubbabugKatie joked that she was invited — as for growing and selling popcorn. popcorn.com/ to learn more Natalie’s guest.

She was invited by a grade school in La about the business and order “The atmosphere at Sauk was just so full of Salle County to make a presentation about popcorn when avaialble excitement, like Christmastime,” Katie said. growing and selling popcorn and she also As for Bubba Bug Popcorn’s future, Natalie helped a student in California, who contacted said she will have to decide what to do with the her via her mom Katie’s blog and Facebook page, business. She will be a freshman at Amboy High School this fall and about a science fair experiment on growing popcorn. plans to continue to be active in band and choir, as well as sports.

“The popcorn business has opened up a lot of opportunities “If I’m going to do it, I know I’m going to have to put in the for me,” Natalie said. time and the effort to make it the same as it’s always been and One of those opportunities came when Natalie was invited even better and not let it go and become a horrible business to meet First Lady Jill Biden at Sauk on April 19. just because I decide I want to play softball,” Natalie said.

“It was amazing. It was like a dream,” Natalie said.

Jeannine Otto can be reached at 815-223-2558, ext. 211, or In fact, the invitation left her speechless. jotto@shawmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Otto.

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