SVM Ag Magazine - Spring 2023

Farm history finds a home in a Coleta couple’s museum Looking for a job in agriculture? There are plenty to pick from Show shows off what’s new and what’s news in the world of farming

Ashton-Franklin Center FFA students earn statewide award

Contact Jill Reyna at 815-631-8774 or jreyna@saukvalley.com

4 Knowledge is power

Old tractors are finding a second life as a class project and fundraiser, thanks to Polo FFA students

Sales

What a barn find!

It may look like just another outbuilding on the outside, but inside a Coleta couple has built a home for farm history.

22

A huge field

Looking to land a job in agriculture? There are a lot of professions to pick from in the field of farming.

28

Earning an A+

Bringing agriculture into the classroom and into the community helped the Ashton-Franklin Center FFA earn a statewide honor.

35

What’s new? Let us show you Farmers get a look at what vendors have to offer at the annual Quad Cities Farm Show.

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Carroll County:

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215+/- Acres, 141.5+/- tillable. Both Elkhorn Grove (Carroll) & Eagle Point (Ogle).

Lee County:

226+/- Acres, Marion Twp. 99% tillable, great location.

169+/- Acres, Nachusa Twp. 159+/- acres tillable.

Whiteside County:

715,000 Bushel Grain Storage Setup in Sterling

52+/- Acres, Prophetstown Twp. 97% tillable, exc. soils.

76.55+/- Acres, Prophetstown Twp. 99% tillable, exc. soils.

158+/- Acres, Prophetstown Twp. 96% tillable, exc. soils.

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ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

By Cody Cutter Sauk Valley Media

s far as a Polo High School teacher is concerned, if students want to get their hands dirty in his class, more power to them.

Alec Wetzell is the teacher at the head of the Ag Power Mechanics class, and he’s found a way to help build his students up by letting them tear something down, and in the process preserve a part of farm history and raise money for the FFA.

Wetzell, who’s taught the class for the past 2 years, has been coordinating a project with the Polo High School FFA chapter to rebuild and restore tractors as part of the class.

The tractor restoration project has become a big highlight of the class, not only with students, but with the community too. The restored rides are raffled off and money from ticket sales goes toward the FFA program and for other tractor restoration projects.

RESTORATION cont’d to page 6

Students in Alec Wetzell’s Ag Power Mechanics Class have their hands full — of tractor parts and projects. The class gets hands-on lessons in what makes machines tick by working on vintage tractors. Here, they remove a tire from an old Farmall on Jan. 13. The class is also working on restoring a 1952 Allis Chalmers that’ll be raffled off later.

An occasional feature of Northern Illinois Ag Mag looking at well-oiled farm machines and the people whose elbow grease keeps ‘em going

RESTORATION cont’d from page 5

“This really gives the kids ownership and really gives the kids responsibility,” Wetzell said. “I’m trying to create space in the school where kids want to come in and work on stuff. Some of these kids are here at 7:30 in the morning asking to do stuff, and school starts at 8:10. Some are here until 4 or 5 o’clock at night if I let them. They really like it, and I think that’s really cool.”

After restoring a 1952 Farmall H last school year, this year’s students are bringing a 1952 Allis-Chalmers WD back to life after it sat idle for 27 years on a local farm.

Tractor restoration projects have been done before at Polo High; the first was done a few years ago with a John Deere H, Wetzell said, but wrenches were thrown in subsequent projects, leaving them incomplete. When he started teaching, Wetzell wanted to combine his years of experience with machines and his degree in ag technology with a hands-on lesson that would not only make learning fun, but instill a sense of pride in

his students for a job well done.

“I didn’t grow up on a farm with all of the shiny new stuff, and I got out to see the new stuff when I was out there in the world working at different places,” Wetzell said. “To me, and from what I can gather talking to people who like this project and support it, it’s better to teach the fundamentals on things such as on what we’re doing with the older stuff. It’s so simple. It’s so easy to tear down. There’s still parts around for it, and it’s really inexpensive to do this. If we were going to do this with any type of computerized anything, it would be a nightmare.”

When the new and improved relegates “Ol’ Reliable” to dust and rust in the barn, it makes a prime candidate for the project. Tractors are donated to the school from local farmers. Candidates are checked out first to make sure they’re a viable project — that it’s still possible for students to breath new life into them. Then the lessons begin: rebuilding engines, working on wheels and axles, giving them a fresh coat of paint.

RESTORATION cont’d to page 7

Polo FFA student Wyatt Angier works out the dents on a tractor hood in Ag Power Mechanics Class. ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Overlooking nothing. Ready for everything.

Farmers and ranchers, the world relies on you. And you deserve a bank that’s rooted in the details and dedicated to helping you do more.

The Polo High School’s most recent raffle was for a 1952 Farmall H that students finished restoring last year. After nearly 3 months of work, the restored tractor was raffled off at the Polo Farm Toy Show last March. The project raised about $4,500 to be used toward the school’s FFA chapter activities and toward next year’s project: a 1954 Case DC.

Some students have navigated the ins and outs of old tractors on their own family farms, such as senior Brogan Shank. The class, though, is more extensive than an informal lesson outside of school, and he’s glad he’s a part of it.

“It’s a lot of fun to be hands-on with everything,” Brogan said. “With everything else in school, you just use your brain for writing, homework, doing tests and everything like that, but this is something that you can actually see what your true skill is, and what you like doing.”

Sophomore Wyatt Angier has also honed his horsepower know-how.

“I’ve worked on them a little bit, but not to the extent of learning all of the things about it,” Wyatt said. “I like coming in every day and working on things, and knowing how to do them properly without messing up and redoing it.”

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Sometimes it’s not possible to restore parts, so the class has to build them from scratch. The Allis-Chalmers’ battery box was too rusted to repair, so a new one had to be made. Molly Blum, a senior, enjoyed being a part of the design process of coming up with a new battery box, using computer software and a computer numerical controlled (CNC) plasma cutting table to design and cut pieces for a new one.

“I’ve never used one of those before, and it’s really cool to learn how to do that and learn how there’s so many different jobs for just one thing,” Molly said. “I enjoy learning about so many different things before I grew up. I have a farming background, but all I knew was how to drive a tractor and never actually worked on them. There’s a lot that goes into it.”

The Farmall project was completed in phases over two school years, but the Allis-Chalmers is on its way to being completed

When parts are too far gone to be saved, you have to make do — or make new. When it was determined that the Allis Chalmers battery box was too battered to save, the class fabricated a new one. Here, senior Molly Blum shows parts of the new battery box that she’s been working on.

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@ SHAWMEDIA.COM

quicker. Work began when school started in August and is scheduled to be done in time for the annual Polo Farm Toy Show on March 4, where it will be shown off to attendees. Raffle tickets will be available at the show, or by calling the school. The drawing will be May 3 at the school’s annual FFA Banquet.

RESTORATION cont’d to page 10

Ag Power Mechanics instructor Alec Wetzell helps student Jordan Flowers work on the grill for the Allis-Chalmers tractor the class is restoring.

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Last year more than $4,500 was raised through ticket sales for the Farmall, and Molly’s father, Matt Blum, wound up winning the restored tractor.

Next year, students will be on the case again, this time restoring a tractor that belonged to both Eli’s father and grandfather: a 1954 Case DC that’s been sitting idle on the family farm for almost 20 years.

The Farm Toy Show is a big to-do in Polo the first Saturday in March, and senior Eli Baumann enjoys marveling at the many collector toys — some common and some rare.

“The Farm Toy Show brings people from all around, farther than you’d ever think people would ever come to Polo for,” Eli said. “These people have different collections of things that you’d think they’d never have models of, and it’s really interesting to see what people have and see what the prices are and what they’re actually worth.”

RESTORATION cont’d from page 9 RESTORATION

“My family’s had older tractors, but I hadn’t been used to it or been into fixing one to this much of an extent,” Eli said. “What I enjoy the most is being able to learn and have our teacher show us about all of the different aspects of a tractor, and things you don’t know about. It helps us translate to real life. It’s really cool to learn about all the different kinds of tractors, too, especially working with a different tractor this year. It’s a cool experience to get all that knowledge.”

Polo senior Brogan Shank works on a weld Jan. 14 during Ag Power Mechanics class. Students are restoring a 1952 Allis Chalmers WD (seen above, driven by Shank during last year’s Homecoming parade). The finished project will be on display during the Polo Farm Toy Show on March 4 and raffled off in May.

Serving

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

The tractor projects have proven to be a big hit with students. “This really gives the kids ownership and ... responsibility ... ” teacher Alex Wetzell said. "Some of these kids are here at 7:30 in the morning asking to do stuff, and school starts at 8:10. Some are here until 4 or 5 o'clock at night if I let them. They really like it, and I think that's really cool.”

More info

Find the Polo High School FFA Chapter on Facebook for news and updates of the club's activities. Email

Alec Wetzell at awetzell@poloschools. net or Stephanie Schultz at sschultz@poloschools.net for more information about the club and its tractor restoration projects, or call the school at 815-946-3314.

RESTORATION cont’d from page 10

Molly, for example, only knew how to change a tractor’s tires and oil, she said, but now she’s enjoying learning about concepts such as engine basics and exhaust systems, and how they vary through the years.

“[It used to be] if I heard the word, it sounded like a foreign language to me,” Molly said. “With this stuff, it’s almost more complicated but more simplistic at the same time. You don’t have to worry about computers and whatnot, and there’s less wiring issues to go around.”

Wetzell said that even if students don’t pursue a career in ag or mechanics, the restoration project gives them skills that will translate to other professions, like those in the industrial sector — and what’s more, “The kids love it,” he said.

“There’s no better way to teach them how the stuff works and to let them touch it, tear it down and see how it works.” n

Do you have a classic tractor that looks as good as new? Or is your antique power rough and rusted but still ready to go? Either way, we’d like to share your story with fellow farmers and fans of old farm machines in Ag Mag’s “Still Crankin’ After

All These Years,” a feature that celebrates the people who keep farm history alive through their classic tractors.

These are the people who will work on their tractor until to the cows come home. They’ll swap stories and swap parts. They’ll scour websites and catalogs and tractor shows to hunt down that hard-to-find piece for their project. They’ll do what it takes to get that tractor to go the extra mile.

And when they get those machines to pop and sputter and rumble and roar to life, it’s like music to their ears.

Maybe it’s the tractor Grampa owned, or the one Pa taught his son to drive. Maybe it’s a tractor Ma road to town. Whether you’ve rebuilt or restored a ride, or you’ve got a project in progress, drop us a line and let us know about it, and we may just share your story in a future issue of Ag Mag. Email rschrader@ saukvalley.com.

May we help you ... learn about the past?

Lee and Kathy Hinrichs of Coleta stand behind the counter at their farm museum, where they house thousands of pieces of farm memorabilia and agricutlural artifacts.

ByCody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

here’s a lot more than just two stories in Lee and Kathy Hinrichs’ barn.

Upstairs, downstairs, everywhere you look there are stories about life on the farm, and the Coleta couple is happy to tell them.

Lee and Kathy are the barn-tenders who invite people to take a stroll, or a jog, down memory lane in the two-story barn they built with spare time and spare parts, turning it into a museum that celebrates the history of the people who raised crops and raised families, and the places they called home.

“What we do inside our barn is to try to jog your memory,” Kathy said. “We’ll make it remind you of something your grandma had, or maybe when you were little you remember something — just something to jog a person’s memory. We think we do that quite often, and people enjoy that.”

The couple grew up not far from their current home and have spent years picking and antique hunting, amassing an impressive collection that’s found a home in the barn that they built in 2011. Today, inside those red walls, visitors will find toys, tools and trinkets, signs of simpler times, furniture and farmhouse decor from days gone by, and much more.

Many of the items tell a tale of toil in the fields, when farmers used their hands to plow fields and not push buttons.

“We think we work hard now, but you just go back years and years ago, and you can’t imagine how hard those people had to work,” Lee said. “We worked hard on the farm, but if we go back to my great-grandpa, I didn’t work as hard as he did. I think that’s why when you look at some of these pictures and look at these people in their 60s and 70s, they look a lot older.”

“The women, too,” Kathy added. “They

didn’t have a microwave.”

The museum’s wood walls all are repurposed from long gone farm buildings — barns, corn cribs, sheds — adding authenticity and a vintage feel to the building. Some parts have come from old buildings both of their parents used to own. Erecting the building was a family affair with the Hinrichs’ children and grandchildren all involved — even if it was just “for the hell of it,” as Lee likes to tell visitors.

MUSEUM cont’d to page 17

Take a trip back in time

The Hinrichs’ farm museum, at 21738 Pilgrim Road near Coleta, is open by appointment only, with visits best scheduled at least 3 days in advance. Email hnrchs@frontiernet.net or call 815-336-2125 to schedule a visit or for more information.

MUSEUM cont’d from page 15

“We had always talked about building a barn, and so just decided we were going to build one and I had stuff stashed away from auctions,” Lee said. “One day we were working on it, and it came to me that, I’m building this barn for the hell of it.”

The Hinrichs’, who have been married for 52 years, had piled up a collection of stuff for about a decade before they built the barn. Along all of the repurposed wood walls are farm signs, hammers, axes, wrenches, license plates, toy trucks, garden tools — just about anything one would find in on an old farm, or in a farmhouse.

Acquiring the abundance of artifacts was fun, the Hinrichs said, but these days it gets a little harder to add new pieces of the past because of how scarce old barns are becoming along the rural landscape. Red wood barns are giving way to white Morton buildings on many farms, making scavenger hunts a little more of a challenge.

MUSEUM cont’d to page 18

There’s more than just tools and equipment at the

— there’s also a display of farmhouse relics from decades gone by, such as toys, games,

CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Hinrichs’ farm museum

furniture and more.

The Mor the dairy-er ...

This bag is from the MorMilk Company, which was established in 1902 in Dixon. The concentrate bag is one of many from throughout northwest Illinois that can be found at the Hinrichs’ museum.

Stitches in time ... The Besse Farm Store in Polo and Meyers and Litwiller Inc. in Milledgeville are long gone, but their John Deere green and yellows are still hanging around in the museum.

MUSEUM cont’d from page 17

“We grew up with barns, and when you think about it, the barn is going away,” Kathy said. “If it’s a wooden barn, it’s going away. People in today’s world, they don’t milk in a barn like that; and the farmers that own them, they really can’t use them for anything because their equipment is too big, or they don’t have animals. Some people are preserving them, but it’s an expensive thing to do.”

Another sign of the times?

Signs of the times. Lee’s gathered a collection of vintage farm-related ad signs, but finding them has become a tougher task too, as many signs didn’t survive farmers’ ingenuity, having been cut and bent and repurposed for other uses on the farm; and the ones that did survive have already been picked off walls and put into collections. Some still shine with their original color, but some show their age.

MUSEUM cont’d to page 19

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Local items really intrigue the Hinrichs, whether it’s signage, milk jugs from dairies, or the many rulers and calendars that ag businesses would give away for advertising.

“I like to pick up old signs, but it’s really kind of hard,” Lee said. “The signs have become just enormously expensive because there’s not much around. All of these old farmers that had them, they just got pitched out to the side.”

“Some of them would get used to patch a hole in a building,” Kathy said. “Farmers used what they had. They didn’t go to Menards to get anything.”

Hanging along the ceiling in one of the rooms are a line of old cloth feed sacks from local stores and elevators that are long gone. One of them is for Master Mix Feed, which Lee’s father would get from an elevator in Hazelhurst, east of Milledgeville. Identifying feed sacks can sometimes be a challenge. It’s not always easy to find a sack with the printing still legible. Years of use and washing leave the ink as little more than a faded memory.

“They used to use these feed sacks afterwards for clothes,” Lee said. “They would have instructions to tell you how to remove the ink from the sack. The people back then would cut them up and use them for clothing, dish towels or whatever. Back in the old days, they used everything they had.”

The right tool for the job ... Hammers, wrenches, soldering irons — if farmers used to use it, chances are pretty good that there’ll be one at the Hinrichs’ museum.

Keith Collins, DVM • Jeff Waite, DVM • Chelsey Ramirez, DVM

Burckhardt, DVM

Meghan Ward, DVM

Crome DVM • Preston Cernek DVM • Krista Carroll DVM

One of the larger pieces at the museum is this manure trough from the Louden Machinery Co. of Fairfield, Iowa. They were used years ago to clean out manure from barns, a method preferable to scooping it out with a shovel. “My dad always said, if you were a rich farmer, you had one of these,” Lee said.

Get

Although Lee has been around farms and barns his entire life, he still comes across tools and trinkets that he hasn’t laid eyes on before. That’s when his detective skills kick in. He’ll take the time to track down information and learn more about a piece and find out what it was used for. Take for example all the wrenches that line his walls, big and small, curved and straight. Decades ago, farmers didn’t just break out a socket set to bust a bolt loose; there were different wrenches for different jobs.

“Sometimes I have some things that I’m not 100 percent certain what they are, and then someone will know what they were used for,” Lee said. “A lot of people will ask questions about what they were and why they were used.”

Wrenches aren’t the only tools on display: The barns also houses axes, soldering irons, clevises, hacksaws, tile spacers, branding irons, pitch forks, hay hooks, froggers, hinges, fence stretchers, steel tractor seats, gardening tools, thermometers, post pounders and more ± lots more. The Hinrichs’ find the tools as-is and then take time to clean the rust off of them without damaging the item.

Corn knives also are part of the vast collection. One of them has a steel handle on it, and when Lee found it, it rekindled childhood memories.

“We broke so many different corn knife handles that my dad started putting steel handles on them so we wouldn’t break them,” Lee said. “We found one at an auction recently, and I had to get it. It just had to come home with me.”

Elsewhere, shovels of various sizes are lined up along one wall, including one used by phone and electric companies to install poles (see photo on page 15).

“I had someone from Commonwealth Edison come in one day and told me if they put a pole in that was 100 feet tall, it had to be 12 feet in the ground,” Lee said. “I can’t imagine digging 12 feet down by hand. The first couple of feet ain’t bad, but after that it gets pretty rough.”

MUSEUM cont’d to page 21

NMLS # 462098

“The

Some of the toys on display come from manufacturers long gone, such as the Buddy L Toy Company of East Moline, and Structo of Freeport. Near the toys is a wall full of old license plates, including fiber-based plates made between 1943 and 1948 due steel rationing during World War II.

More toys can be found on the barn’s second floor, which is where much of Kathy’s collection is kept. She shares her husband’s fascination with history, be it around the house or on the farm — kitchen tables, centerpieces, food packaging, brown bottles, thermoses old games. There’s even a collection of plaid items, including bags, boxes and picnic baskets that Kathy got hooked on.

Lee also has a part of the upstairs dedicated to car repair equipment and a collection of about 100 Starline pulleys, of which only two are the same.

“We just see something and go, ‘That’s kind of cool,’” Kathy said. “One thing evolves into many things.”

Two interesting pieces of local history also are found at the museum, and both involve grocery stores from towns that you’d be hard-pressed to find on most maps. One is for a grocery store in Malvern, about 3 miles southwest of the museum, and hangs near the stairway. That sign was acquired at an auc-

tion. The other is for a store in White Pigeon, 2 miles from the museum. The red sign may have been part of a truck or wagon bed at one time (see photos on page 15)

“I tore boards out of an old corn crib one day, and I found this and it was all dusty,” Lee said. “I didn’t know what I was going to use it for, so I threw it on the hay rack and brought it here. One day I started cleaning the boards up, and I see ‘White Pigeon Store, poultry and eggs.’ I don’t know how old it is, but it’s very unique that I found that.”

The Hinrichs’ museum has been a stop on barn tours and tractor ride events in recent years, and tours from several nursing homes have stopped by. Though the museum is open by appointment only (see info on page 16 with this story for details on arranging a visit), they also host an occasional open house, and they often find some of the children who visit are stumped by some of things on display — but the Hinrichs are happy to help them learn. And when they can’t, some of the older guests clue them in on these bits of living history.

“The younger ones are amazed, and ask ‘What is that?’ or ‘What did you use that for?’” Kathy said. “We just like to instill a memory.”

“We enjoy doing what we do,” Lee said. “We like having people come and look at them, and they enjoy it.” n

t’s a question many young people are asked: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

For those growing up on a farm, it can be an either/or decision: Either a career in agriculture or a career in a different field altogether. If they decide to follow the family into farming, the decisions are far from either/or.

The world of agriculture is changing constantly, always evolving, especially so in the past couple decades. There are myriad paths a person can take in the ag industry, and many of them don’t lead to a corn field.

There are hundreds of careers in ag-related fields out there, literally from A to Z — Agricultural economist. Biochemist. Food

BY CODY CUTTER | SAUK VALLEY MEDIA

scientist. Geneticist. Mechanic. Plant pathologist. Soil scientist. Veterinarian. Weed scientist. Zoologist. The list goes on, and on and on.

It’s during high school when students start to think seriously about what they want to do when they stop spending 9 months of the year in a classroom, but ag teachers will be the first to tell students that the best time to think about an ag career is before they reach the high school level. The working world will await them soon, and for those who want to stay in farming, there’s more to an agriculture career than being a farmer.

If a student who was thinking about pursuing a career in agriculture sought advice today, what would be some great nuggets of guidance that those tasked with developing young minds — their teachers — would tell them? What would they tell today’s students about tomorrow’s ag industry?

Everyone has an interest of some sort, and there’s a connection to agriculture that can be made with them, said Michael Selover, professor of agriculture and developmental mathematics at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon.

“There are several internet memes that float around making fun of the industry for having a little something for everyone, but that’s only because it’s true,” Selover said. “Ag as an industry can get you in touch with everything from food to fuel, from cash to cows, and from roots to wrenches.”

CAREERS cont’d to page 24

Providing

Sauk’s curriculum has grown since the college reinstated its agriculture program in the 2017 fall semester, after a hiatus of nearly 30 years. Nearby, Sterling High School’s program also took a hiatus, but started back up around the same time Sauk did.

Not all graduates will go on to tend to fields or have an office in a barn. Many will head into the ag industry, but take a different way of getting there. Cynthia Feltmeyer, ag teacher at Eastland High School in Lanark, has seen many graduates continue to keep agriculture in mind well after their time in the classroom.

“There are thousands of careers in agriculture that are not farm based,” Feltmeyer said. “Many individuals who work in agriculture have support-type jobs in business, finance, food science, animal science, plants science, engineering, education and communication. Agriculture is a huge field where almost any job in food and fiber could fall under the agriculture umbrella.”

Some areas are in greater need of people than others.

“The agricultural industry as a whole encompasses such a broad range of careers,” said Caseelynn Johnston, ag teacher at Bureau Valley High School in Manlius. “We need not only more farmers and ranchers, but also food scientists, crop geneticists, agricultural communicators, the list goes on and on.”

CAREERS cont’d to page 25

farmers with quality coverage is what we do. With Farmers Mutual Hail at Hugh F. Miller Insurance Agency, Inc., your livelihood will be protected, just as it has been for generations.

If a student is serious about pursuing an agriculture education, it can be accomplished by utilizing the Three Circle Model of Agricultural Education concept, developed by the National Chapter of the FFA: classroom and lab instruction in the school, involvement in student leadership organizations (such as FFA), and supervised agriculture experience (work-based learning).

“An SAE (supervised agriculture experience) program is an integral part of an agriculture program; it is conducted under the supervision of the agriculture teacher and the student’s parents or employer and is a great way to prepare for a future career,” Mendota High School ag teacher Matthew Meyer said. “You can conduct your own research or identify people in your community who may have the career or a similar career to one that you are interested in, and you can interview or job shadow that person to help determine if it is the right fit.”

In addition to more direct ag-related classes, excelling in classes involving data analysis and marketing also helps expand skill sets, Selover said.

“The industry has a role for people of all interest levels and abilities,” Selover said. “There are people available who can help steer you into something you’ll love based on your education and experience.” n

AG BUSINESS

Accountant

Accounting Manager

Administrative Assistant

Advisor — Government/Stakeholder Relations

Ag Financial Service Representative

Agricultural Lawyer

Agricultural Legal Assistant

Agricultural Literacy and Advocacy Specialist

Agricultural Loan Officer

Agricultural Lobbyist

Agriculture Broadcaster

Agriculture Journalist

Agriculture Legislative Assistant

Agriculture Science Teachers — Secondary Auditor

Benefits Manager

Brand Manager

Budget Analyst

Career Counselor/Career Services Coordinator

Certified Appraiser

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Operating Officer College Recruiter

Commodity Procurement/Merchandiser

Communications Specialist

Compensation Specialist Controller

Corporate Recruiter

Credit Analyst

Crop Adjuster

Customer Service Representative

Data Processor

Dispatcher

Economist

Event Manager

Executive Assistant

Export Documentation Specialist

Export Sales Manager

Extension Agent

Extension Youth Program Coordinator

Farm Business Manager/Accountant

Feed Mill Manager

Financial Analyst

Fleet Manager

Grain Buyer

Grain Elevator Manager

Grain Marketing Specialist

Graphic Designer

Human Resource Manager

Human Resources Generalist

Information Technology (IT) App Developer

IT Programmer

IT Software Developer

IT Specialist

IT Web Developer

IT Analyst

IT Configurator Intern

Inventory/Stock Specialist

Logistics & Supply Chain Management

Marketing Specialist

Office Manager

Patent Scientist/Patent Attorney

Payroll Administrator

Port Terminal Manager

Post-Secondary Educator College/ University Professor

Process/Continuous Improvement Manager

Procurement Specialist

Product Development Manager/ Demand Planner

Production Manager

Public Relations Specialist

Purchasing Analyst

Quality Assurance Auditor

Quality Assurance Manager

Real Estate Manager

Receptionist

Retail Branch Manager

Risk Management Specialist

Sales Rep — Food, Seed, Feed, Fuel

Sales Trainer

Shipping Coordinator

Social Media Strategist

Supply Chain Manager

Warehouse Manager/Facility Manager

Weighbridge/Receivable Associate

AG MECHANICS

Thinking about a career in agriculture that’s not necessarily on the farm? There’s plenty to choose from. Below is a list of ag-related careers, from agcareers.com. Go to agcareers.com/career-profiles to find descriptions of each of these professions.

ANIMAL SCIENCES (CONT’D)

Livestock Buyer

Livestock Grader

Livestock Loader

Meat Inspector Penrider

Pet Groomer

Poultry Farm Worker

Poultry Hatchery Manager

Pressure Washer Operator

Ranch Manager

Ruminant Nutritionist

Sales Rep — Feed and Animal Health

Small Animal Veterinarian

Sow Farm Manager

Swine Finishing Farm Manager

Swine Nursery Worker

Veterinary Assistant

Veterinary Pathologist

Veterinary Technician

Zoologist

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES

Biosecurity Monitor

Climate Change Analyst

Ecologist

Energy Sales Specialist

Environmental Compliance Officer

Environmental Engineer

Environmental Science and Protection Technician

Environmental Scientist & Specialist

Fisheries Technician

Game Warden

Hydroponics Producer

Marine Biologist

Mine Engineer

Nematologist

Nutrient Management/Waste Management Specialist

Occupational Health & Safety Manager

Pest Control Adviser

Propane Sales and Delivery

Sanitation Coordinator

Toxicologist

Water Treatment Technician

Wildlife Biologist

Wind Turbine Technician

FOOD SCIENCE

Evisceration Processor

Fermentation Scientist

Flavor Technologist

Food Chain Outreach Coordinator

Food Production Supervisor

Food Safety/Quality Assurance Manager

Food Safety Specialist

Food Stylist

Food Technologist

Freezer/Refrigeration Specialist

Nutritionist/Dietitian

Packaging Engineer

Pricing Coordinator

Process Engineer

Produce Buyer

Produce Inspector

Product Development Food Scientist

R & D Technician

Slaughter Processor — Deboning

Slaughter Processor — General Operator

Slaughter Processor — Hanger/Loader

Slaughter Processor — Packing/Scales

Slaughter Processor — Trimming/Cutting

Storage and Hygiene Coordinator

NATURAL RESOURCES

Aquaculture Hatchery Manager

Aquaculturist

Biological Technician

Biorefining Specialist

Conservation Officer

Conservationist

Ethanol Engineer

Forester

Geologist

Hydrologist

Irrigation Specialist

Logger

Restoration Specialist

Saltwater Husbandry Technician

Sawmill Operator

Wildland Firefighter/Fire Tower Watchman

Wind Substation Technician

PLANT SCIENCES

Aerial Applicator/Ag Pilot Agronomist

Agronomy Sales and Management

Analytical Chemist

Arborist

Athletic Turf Manager

Bioinformatics Scientist

Biostatistician

Crop Advisor

Crop Scout

Crop Systems Specialist

Custom Applicator

Entomologist

Extension Faculty

Florist

Formulation Chemist

Golf Course Superintendent

Greenhouse Manager

Horticulturist

Laboratory Technician

Landscape Designer

Landscape Technician

Microbiologist

Molecular Biologist

Plant Biologist

Plant Breeder

Plant Geneticist

Plant Pathologist

Plant Scientist/Field Agronomist

Regulatory Scientist

Research and Development Manager

Research Associates

Research Station Manager

Research Technician

Row Crop Producer/Farmer

Seed Production Agronomist

Seed Production Technician

Soil Scientist

Viticulturist

Weed Scientist

CODY CUTTER

Sauk Valley Media

arning a statewide Ag in the Classroom Volunteer of the Year Award is no small task. It takes hard work, dedication, and commitment to the community. It’s not as easy as ABC.

But it is as easy as A-FC.

That’s because hard work and commitment comes naturally to the people involved in Ashton-Franklin Center High School’s Ag in the Classroom program, which has been around for 15 years and was recently recognized for its decade-plus of dedication.

The work A-FC’s students and teachers, and student teachers, have put in through the years — walking in farm fields, showing off tractors and explaining the science behind farming — earned them an official pat on the back recently when Illinois Ag in the Classroom leaders honored the A-FC FFA chapter with its Volunteer of the Year Award during the Illinois Farm

Bureau’s annual meeting in Chicago in December.

The honor recognized the chapter’s 15 years of dedication to Lee County’s Ag in the Classroom program. A-FC’s FFA students have been instrumental in supporting the annual Lee County Ag Expo, hosting a Touch a Tractor event, and getting involved in other programs along with the district’s elementary school students.

Being recognized among not only their peers, but also ag professionals throughout the state was quite a thrill for both the chapter’s current students and alumni as well, adviser Kelly Viall said.

AWARD cont’d to page 30

AWARD cont’d from page 29

“The things that they do are invaluable to our communities,” Viall said. “It’s a big deal, and we’re very excited that we have it. The kids have put in a lot of hard work for the past 15 years, is what that is. It’s a really neat program that we do, and it’s a nice that the kids can get recognized for that.”

Viall has taught at A-FC for 8 years, and has been the FFA adviser for 5. Senior Lane Koning leads the chapter, making sure members are engaged in promoting agriculture and working with his leadership team to assure the chapter is active in the community.

“It gives us a sense of accomplishment,” Lane said of the award. “It lets us know that what we’ve been doing is worth being recognized for, and it motivates us to keep going to get the recognition that we want.”

Representing the chapter in Chicago were Kelly Viall, senior Zane Murphy, and eighth-grader Kate Viall, Kelly’s daughter. It’s not often that the award goes to a group of people — it usually honors individuals.

The

“It’s real nice that we’ve been recognized,” Kate said. “Hopefully this will help get more people interested in what we’re doing and more aware of the stuff we do.”

“It’s nice to get out there in the community to share what we know and support our community in many ways,” Zane added.

The chapter’s hallmark event is its participation in the Ag Expo. The 16th edition will be April 28 at the Lee County Fairgrounds north of Amboy. Last year’s event — the first in two years after cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic — saw nearly 400 fifth-grade students from the county’s six public and private school districts get an up-close education about all things agriculture. Lane and Zane teamed up to share information about beef cattle, senior secretary Andrea Buhrow educated youngsters about floriculture and how flowers grow, and Kate taught the process and reasons for ear notching in pigs.

Chapter members who take part in the show typically share something agriculture-related that they are deeply interested in.

AWARD cont’d to page 31

PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Ashton-Franklin Center FFA program’s decade-plus of dedication to promoting agriculture throughout the community earned it an Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom Volunteer of the Year Award. From left: FFA students Zane Murphy, Lane Koning, Kate Viall, Kaleb Goldman and Andrea Buhrow. ALEX T.

AWARD cont’d from page 30

“It’s really cool because we get to do stuff that’s personal to us,” Andrea said. “I have a flower farm, so I get to teach kids about the germination of seeds, and they get to plant their own stuff. It’s cool to talk about stuff that you know about while the kids may have no idea.”

“It’s amazing to see the surprised look on the kids’ faces when you bring them the steers and the cows,” Zane added. “Not many of them actually know what goes on with them.”

The chapter also hosts an annual Elementary Ag Day during the school year for the district’s grade-schoolers, where chapter members share their knowledge and bring in items from their own farms and fields. Unlike the Ag Expo, which is geared toward a certain age group, this event caters to students from ages 4 to 12, which tends to be a little more fun, seeing the younger kids get a kick out of seeing animals and farm machinery up close.

AWARD cont’d to page 32

The 15th annual Lee County Ag Expo was April 22 at the Lee County Fairgrounds north of Amboy. Nearly 400 fifth-grade students from the county’s six public and private school districts got an up-

close education about all things agriculture. The Ashton-Franklin Center FFA chapter was one of several academic and professional presenters at the show: FFA President Lane Koning and Vice President Zane Murphy talked about beef cattle, Secretary Andrea Buhrow shared information about floriculture and flowers’ growing process, and eighthgrader Kate Viall showed attendees the process and reasons for ear notching in pigs.

graduated from Franklin Grove High School in 1950 and was president of the school’s FFA chapter (then called the Future Farmers of America), and his leadership came to good use in starting the first radio station in Dixon. Page, who died in 2014, was the chief engineer for the startup of WIXN-AM in Dixon in 1961. Later, as chief tape supervisor for CBS, he edited such shows as “The Dinah Shore Show” and “The Price is Right.” Franklin Grove High School merged with Lee Center High School in 1957 to form Franklin Center High School, which consolidated with Ashton in 2004.

AWARD cont’d from page 31

“We come together as a whole community to make it happen,” Lane said. “We have local farmers, and local businesses will bring a tractor or a combine, or anything else — all of our students come together to try and educate our community on the farming industry.”

Elementary Ag Day has been extremely popular with the younger kids, Viall said, with shows alternating their emphasis each year between animals and machines.

“Some years we’ve brought livestock to expose kids to different animals,” she said. “[Other years] they also get exposed to all of the equipment, which is a great thing for safety as well. They get to learn about why they move so slowly, why we have to move it on the roads, and those sorts of things. It’s always fun for them to see it in person and stand next to it and realize how big it is.”

The machines and animals that the chapter enjoys showing off may be big, but its membership is small compared to most chapters in Illinois but that smaller size hasn’t diminished the group’s passion for its project or the impact they have on the community.

From left: Zane Murphy, adviser Kelly Viall and Kate Viall were on hand to represent A-FC’s FFA program during the Illinois Farm Bureau’s annual conference Dec. 3-6 in Chicago, where the group received its Volunteer of the Year Award. “It’s a big deal, and we’re very excited that we have it,” Kelly said.

The district has students from Ashton, Franklin Grove, Lee Center, and areas surrounding those communities in an area that encompasses most of north-central Lee County and a small portion of southern Ogle County. High school enrollment is at about 135 students, but small means mighty in Kate’s eyes; members often talk with one another to make sure things are running smoothly with chapter activities.

Virgil Page Jr.

LEE COUNTY FARM BUREAU PHOTO

AWARD cont’d to page 33

“Our chapter is kind of small compared to other places, “Kate said, but “since there are fewer people, we can make it more personal and more communityfocused.”

Kaleb Goldman, a senior who is the chapter’s sentinel, sees the Volunteer of the Year Award as something that can help attract new students to the club.

“We like having everyone be involved,” Goldman said. “Receiving the award, personally it means a lot to us officers, and our adviser. If we get more people in this, I think they’ll realize how much it means to them knowing that they can receive these awards.”

For more than 40 years, the Ag in the Classroom program has been teaching students nationwide, from all walks of life, about the journey from farm to plate, as well as encouraging future generations to play a role in that journey. Whether it’s food on their plate, medicine they take, or a whole host of other everyday products, knowing how these things are created and the role farming plays gives children a better understanding of just how important agriculture is to their everyday lives.

If the farmers and ag workers in the school district weren’t aware of how much the FFA chapter does for the community, they should be now, with a Volunteer of the Year award under their belts.

“We’ve worked on this for quite a while now, and it’s nice to get an award from it,” Lane said. “As students and as officers, it’s really nice to know that we got to be rewarded for our hard work along the way. Even for the community, it’s nice for the community to see that we are rewarded for everything we’ve done.” n

over the years since I got to be a part of it. I got to meet new people, make new friends, and personally, to me, it’s gotten me to focus more on being in school with so much fun activities that we can take part in. I really enjoy FFA.”

It’s great for our members to share the information that they know, but it’s also nice to share it with kids so that we’re making them more aware of the agriculture that surrounds them.”

“I’ve learned so much in FFA

“Working with Ag in the Classroom has been such a great experience for us.

The following history of the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program is from agintheclassroom.org/contact/about-aitc/. Go to agintheclassroom.org for more information.

THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE HISTORY of the United States, agriculture and education have been closely related. During the decades when most Americans lived on farms or in small towns, students often did farm chores before and after school. Indeed, the school year was determined by planting, cultivating, and harvesting schedules. Old school books are full of agricultural references and examples because farming and farm animals were a familiar part of nearly every child’s life.

IN THE 1920s, ’30s AND ’40s, as the farm population shrank and agricultural emphasis decreased in school books and educational materials, educators focused on agriculture as an occupational specialty, rather than an integral part of every student’s life. Agriculture education was mainly offered to those few students wanting to make a career of agriculture.

During this period, a small nucleus of educators and others persistently pushed for more agriculture in education. They recognized the interlocking role of farming and food and fiber production with environmental quality, including wildlife habitat, clean water and the preservation and improvement of forests. They kept interest in agriculture and the environment alive during a period when interest by the public as a whole was decreasing.

DURING THE 1960s AND ’70s, as experienced agriculture, conservation and forestry organizations realized the need for quality material, many excellent films, literature and classroom aids were financed and produced by businesses, foundations, nonprofit groups and associations, as well as state and federal agencies. There was, however, little coordination of effort or exchange of ideas among the groups and no central point for national coordination.

IN 1981, at the invitation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, representatives of agricultural groups and educators came to a meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss agricultural literacy. A national task force was selected from this group. Representation came from agriculture, business, education and governmental agencies, some of whom were already conducting educational programs in agriculture.

This new task force recommended that the Department of Agriculture be the coordinator and that it sponsor regional meetings to help states organize their own programs. They also urged the Department to encourage the support of other national groups.

As a result, in 1981 the USDA established Ag in the Classroom, which has the endorsement of all living former Secretaries of Agriculture, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the National Conference of State Legislatures, most state governors and the major agricultural organizations and commodity groups. Significant progress has been made through these partnerships of agriculture, business, education, government and dedicated volunteers.

EACH STATE ORGANIZATION ADDRESSES AGRICULTURE education in a way best suited to its own needs. For many years in Illinois, the Illinois Farm Bureau was the state contact for Ag in the Classroom. In the Fall of 2005 the Illinois Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom program merged with Partners for Agricultural Literacy to form Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom. This merge combined the efforts of the Illinois Farm Bureau, Facilitating the Coordination of Agricultural Education (FCAE), University of Illinois Extension, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, various Illinois Commodity organizations and others. Regardless of the structure, Ag in the Classroom has advanced because of a cooperative spirit among the participants. There is an AITC presence in every state and territory. Representatives from Canada have attended many USDA sponsored AITC national conferences and have now hosted two national conferences in Canada. Requests for information about Ag in the Classroom come from many countries around the world and from other organizations wanting to learn how to deliver their programs with equal success.

THE STRENGTH OF AG IN THE CLASSROOM comes from its grassroots organization and the fact that educators are very much a part of the movement. Giant strides have been made since 1981. Ag in the Classroom is regarded as a refreshing and flexible educational program designed to supplement and enhance the teacher’s existing curriculum.

there’s one thing that doesn’t change, it’s that things always change. That’s true in agriculture too. New technology is always being rolled out. Science is teaching us that’s there’s more to know about what we grow. The changes seem to stretch as far as the land spreading out far and wide.

Keeping up with all of the advances can be daunting, but one way that helps farmers stay on top of things is a visit to a farm expo, such as the annual Quad Cities Farm Show in Rock Island, held this year Jan. 15-17.

This event at the QCCA Expo Center drew thousands of farmers and agriculture professionals from all over the Midwest, all interested in learning what can help them make their operation more efficient and profitable. For some, it was a family affair, with several attendees bringing their children, who enjoyed climbing on large farm vehicles and pretending to ride behind the wheel.

Nearly 100 different vendors — ranging from equipment dealers, feed and seed suppliers, chemical suppliers, tool makers, computer

software companies, banking agriculture lenders, media publications and ag-related social clubs, including some from the Sauk Valley — set up in the 60,000 square feet of space, reconnecting with customers they’ve met, and making new connections with others.

The show is one of the longest running in the Midwest, at 32 years. The Quad Cities has long been known for its history in ag machine production. Just 2,000 feet east of the Expo Center was the former International Harvester Farmall plant, which closed in 1986. John Deere, whose world headquarters is in Moline, has long been the leader in the metro area with plants in Moline, Davenport and its 90-acre East Moline Harvester Works facility — the largest combine manufacturing facility in the world. International Harvester, and later Case-IH, also had a large plant in East Moline, which closed in 2004. In addition, the Moline Plow Company began in the Quad Cities before its eventual merger to become Minneapolis-Moline.

On the following pages is a look at some of the machines that rolled in, vendors who gave their best sales pitches and the people who were there to catch them.

Story & Photos CODY CUTTER Sauk Valley Media

Peabudy’s tractor and implement dealership in Sterling and Pecatonica had one of the largest spaces at the show, featuring tractors and trailers, such as this New Holland T6.175 and Kioti tractors (below). “You get to see some people you don’t always get to see, and share some of the new technology that’s coming out,” Peabudy’s General Manager Heath Passmore said. “Maybe some of the people we build new business with get to be familiar with the options we have for them. We have some people from the Quad Cities that may know who we are, but may not know what we have.”

Katharine Miller (left) and Jenny Miller represented Midwest Bio-Tech of Erie at the show. The company has supplied crop and livestock feed enhancers for more than 40 years. “I like talking with people and getting to know everyone and getting our name out there,” Katharine said.

Mark your calendar

The next Quad Cities Farm Machine Show is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 14-16, 2024, at the QCCA Expo Center, 2621 Fourth Ave. in Rock Island. Email QCCA Expo Center Show Director Robert Junker at rjunker@qccaexpocenter.com for more information.

Above: Jeremy Fosdick of Beierman Agri-Systems in Cordova shows off a Fieldnet Pivot Watch irrigation monitoring system. “We hope to get a lot of communication going, and see what kind of interest there is,” he said. Right: Fosdick chats with Tom DePauw of Port Byron about his products.

Moore Tires, which has six locations throughout northwest Illinois, including Rock Falls and Dixon, had a booth at the farm show where they shared information on what they have to offer in tractor and machine tires. Manning the booth were sales director Jason Friedrich and Kewanee shop manager Brennan Kelso. “We like the interaction with the customers,” Friedrich said. “We like seeing new customers, just talking to them and seeing different things that we may not have known. Customer relationships is the biggest thing for us.” Kelso added: “We like getting our name out there and having exposure, and really putting our brand out there.”

Mark

of Mark Seed and Feed in Milledgeville talks with attendees about his company’s stock of seed, feed and ag plastics. He even had a drawing at the show for a free bag of alfalfa. “I like to see the many customers who attend the Quad City farm show and visit with them, and then meet new people,” Maidak said. “We can let people know all of the different products that we have, and have the ability to maybe help them out in their farming operation. “It’s one of the nicest shows in the area that draws people from a lot of farms and farm families.”

Falls

Radio

about the newest two-way radio equipment. Radio Ranch has been exhibiting at shows for 20 years. “I like meeting and staying in touch with people who are farmers,” Blumhoff said. “The show has expanded our territory that we cover. I’ve met people who have come here from Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.”

Joey Butts of Vern’s Farm Supply in Hooppole was at the first table people saw when they arrived at the the expo.

For some folks, the farm show was a family affair, with a number of people bringing their children along — and some even got to climb into the big machines.

Above: Jordan Boldt of Davenport, Iowa, and his sons, Everett and Charles, checked out the Apache AS1250 sprayer during the show.

Erik Blumhoff (left) of

Ranch in Rock

talks with Don Christison of Moline

Maidak (second from left)

Brandt Hutchcraft, ag lender at Farmer’s National Bank in Morrison, Prophetstown and Geneseo, talks with visitors at the farm show in Rock Island on Jan. 15.

Hutchcraft and ag lender Doug Vanderlaan manned the bank’s table. “It’s certainly good to see some of your customers, and some new faces,” Vanderlaan said.

“Every year you get to see new folks that you get to meet from various walks of life.”

Inc. 1022 S. IL Rt. 2 815-732-3148 kaczins@outlook.com

ROCHELLE

Miller Insurance Group 427 N. Main Street, Rochelle 815-561-9911 fax: 815-561-9912 insure10@frontier.com

Query Insurance Agency 330 May Mart Drive, Rochelle 815-562-4152 tbecker@crumhalsted.com

Eckburg Insurance Group, Inc. 604 N. Main, Rochelle 815-888-3030 info@eckburg.com

ROCK FALLS

Adami Insurance Agency 712 First Avenue, Rock Falls 815-625-6220 tracey.adamiagency@gmail.com

Hugh F. Miller Insurance Agency, Inc. 801 First Avenue, Rock Falls 815-626-1300 hughmillerinsurance.com

SUBLETTE Leffelman & Associates

Sublette 815-849-5219 chris@leffelmanassoc.com

Serving

Years