FARM A SPECIAL

PUBLICATION OF THE

&FIELD
FALL 2017

GROWING
CHALLENGES
Weather, disease To market: Taking The trials of
work in tandem to stock of rail, road politics, prices
push down yields and river routes and policy
 4
INSIDE
Harvest time
FARM
&FIELD
Farmers prepare for fall

6 Infrastructure
Improvements needed

8 Policy shift
Farmers split over plans

10 Next farm bill

Agreement wanted soon

12 4-H foundation

W
Program builds skills e are people of the land. Of that, in nature — that tremendous program brings to
there is no doubt. For all that communities across our region.

14 Safe spaces
Shelters help manage
herds
manufacturing and technology
offer us, none of it would matter
without our most important
We celebrated in October National 4-H Week,
and I was reminded of the time that I spent in
4-H while growing up in east Texas.
industry: agriculture. Many of the lessons that I learned then have

16 Photo farmer
Loss of sight inspires
artistic vision
It is with great pride, then, that we offer a
second publication this year devoted exclusively
stuck with me to this day. I learned by doing,
and those lessons about hard work, keeping
to the ag industry — in all its many facets — and a positive attitude and good citizenship have
those who work in it. helped carry me throughout my career.

19 Greenhouses
High school facilities
get upgrades
This is the first time we’ve
published a second Farm & Field in
a year, making this now-biannual
I think it only fitting here that I
recall the 4-H pledge, words that we
all would do well to recount:
publication special for us.

20 Compost guide
Organic soil helps growth
This magazine in many ways is
a labor of love. Our award-winning
staff took great pain to put together
I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
my heart to greater loyalty,
my hands to larger service.,

22 Preserving food
Keep produce safe, fresh
a slate of stories and photos to both
inform and entertain readers.
In this issue, you will find stories
and my health to better living,
for my club, my community,
my country, and my world.

24 Irrigation systems
Keep your lawn healthy
about the most timely of topics, the
fall harvest, as well as about winter
preparations, policy changes, pend-
Thinking about agriculture and
its importance to all of us, I am

25 Best breeding
BSE important for season
ing legislation and other needs.
But we also take a look at live-
stock practices and a farmer who
Ron Wallace
Vice President/
General Manager
reminded also of some other impor-
tant words.
These come from the book of Gen-

26 Garden tasks
Get ready for winter
in retirement has taken to growing
mushrooms.
We also expanded our focus a bit by including
esis: “By the sweat of your brow you
will eat your food until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken; for dust you are

27 Tunneling in
Structures extend season
information about topics for “in-town” farmers
and gardeners.
You can read about irrigation systems, com-
and to dust you will return.”
It’s by the sweat of the brow of the American
farmer that we all eat. Let’s all be thankful for

28 Farmer’s Almanac
Book predicts season
posting, Master Gardener programs and ways to them. By their larger service, we all can enjoy
extend the growing season.
Students — the biggest component of the
better living.

30 Master Gardener
Students dig into class
future of agriculture — also are featured in this
issue. We have stories on greenhouses being
used in local schools, as well as a story on 4-H

32 Fungus side
Mushroom farm a
growing hobby
and the many benefits — not just agricultural

34 Mission garden
Produce helps food
pantries The Herald-Whig
Published by EXECUTIVE
EDITOR
Don Crim, 221-3361
STAFF WRITERS
Matt Dutton
Steve Eighinger
COPY DESK
SUPERVISOR
Nancy Hadler, 221-3371
130 S. Fifth, Quincy, IL 62301 dcrim@whig.com nhadler@whig.com

35
Matt Hopf
Pageant farmer Phone: 217-223-5100 Deborah Gertz Husar
Queen showcases Fax: 217-221-3395 NEWS EDITOR DESIGN
Edward Husar
agricultural skills Jason Lewton, 221-3321 Andrew Drea
Ashley Szatala
VICE PRESIDENT/ jlewton@whig.com
Doug Wilson

36 Butterfly garden GENERAL MANAGER

Ron Wallace, 221-3381 PRODUCTION
Tips to attract monarchs MANAGER PHOTOGRAPHY
rwallace@quincyinc.com Phil Carlson
Karen Hull, 221-3380

37 Off-season plans ADVERTISING DIRECTOR khull@whig.com Michael Kipley

Farmers prepare for 2018 Gary Loftus, 221-3309 Jake Shane
gloftus@whig.com

2 FARM&FIELD The herald-whig

THE HERALD-WHIG 3
 A farmer harvests corn on a farm
on South 57th Street. H-W File
Photo
Harvest time
Weather challenges expected to push down yields in Illinois, Iowa
| By Deborah Gertz Husar
dhusar@whig.com
M
ark Lehenbauer wasn’t making any predictions about
the 2017 harvest.
“I don’t have an opinion until we get in the field,” the
Hannibal area farmer said in September. “We won’t
truly know how much is out there until the combines
roll.”
While that’s true in theory every year, many times farmers have
a fairly good idea of what they’ll find in corn and soybean fields. But
this year, “there’s a lot of variability in the field,” Lehenbauer said.
4 FARM&FIELD
Nationally, crop reports offer larger than expected forecasts for
corn and beans. Both crops came in above trade expectations in the
August report, but lower yields than last year were expected in Il-
linois and Iowa.
Locally, a promising start to spring planting withered as wet
weather forced replanting in isolated areas across Northeast Mis-
souri and West-Central Illinois.
“We definitely had to do more replant than normal both on corn
and soybeans. Most people had greater acres of replant than nor-
mal,” Lehenbauer said. “We have stuff we replanted that didn’t come
up the second time either.”
Weather challenges continued through the growing season.
THE HERALD-WHIG

“We went from wet to hot
and dry, then August turned off
unseasonably cool,” Lehenbauer
said.
The cooler-than-normal con-
ditions pushed back harvest’s
start to mid- to late-September.
Lehenbauer said his crops were
probably a week later than nor-
mal in drying down for harvest.
Likely variability
Ursa Farmers Cooperative
General Manager Roger Hugen-
berg echoed the idea of variabil-
The herald-whig
Doug Brown drives a combine while David Borucki drives a tractor pulling a grain cart as they load on the go in a 160-acre field owned by
Travis Peters in the South Quincy bottoms. HW File Photo
Doug Brown combines a field in the South Quincy bottoms. While national forecasts
predict high yields, weather and disease challenged fields in Northeast Missouri and
West-Central Illinois. HW File Photo
ity for this year’s crops.
“We will not have the crop we
had last year. Last year it was
consistently across the board
good crops everywhere,” Hugen-
berg said. “We have pretty good
crops in bottom areas. In areas
that have sand and no irrigation,
crops will be burnt up, even on
good ground. There’s just too
much stress put on the corn.”
Dry weather cut ear size and
kernel numbers, while Japa-
nese beetles caused pollination
problems in fields on both sides
of the Mississippi River.
“There’s a lot of difference in
yield from place to place. You
could look across the road and it
was raining, but it wasn’t rain-
ing where you were at,” Hugen-
berg said. “This was the year
when you measure rainfalls
in June and July in tenths and
hundredths, enough rain to sus-
tain the crop but not to propel
FARM&FIELD
the crop to its potential.”
Later-season rains came too
late to salvage the corn — and in
some cases too late for the soy-
beans. Early stress and limited
moisture left lingering effects
including “pods normally with
three beans would have two,”
Hugenberg said.
Disease pressure
Beyond weather challenges,
farmers also found disease pres-
sure in both crops.
“The Japanese beetle that
clipped silks opened up the
end of the ear which can cause
disease pressure, mold issues,”
he said.
Sudden death showed up in
stressed soybean fields, and wet
and windy conditions at harvest
could lead to lodging problems
with the corn crop that canni-
balized its stalk strength during
dry weather to maximize yield.
“There’s a lot of
difference in yield
from place to place.
You could look
across the road
and it was raining,
but it wasn’t raining
where you were at.”
Roger Hugenberg
Ursa Farmers Cooperative
general manager
Large crop estimates also hold
down commodity prices, with
the export market more satu-
rated than a year ago because of
a bumper South American crop.
“There’s a tremendous
amount of old crop supply in
the U.S. and in the world, which
bogged the market down,” Hu-
genberg said. “We’ve got to chew
through that supply and see
what happens as we go into the
next planting season.”
Crop storage shouldn’t be an
issue at the commercial elevator
level.
“Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
all have got a reduced crop,”
Hugenberg said, but “if the size of
the crop is what USDA says, there
will be places space is an issue.”
With harvest wrapped up, all
the questions will be answered,
and Lehenbauer will turn his
focus to next year’s crops.
“We will start all over again,”
he said.
And one thing already certain
about 2018? “It will be something
different,” Lehenbauer said. n
5
Infrastructure
improvements
a priority for ag

| By Deborah Gertz Husar

dhusar@whig.com

W
rapping up
the fall har-
vest provides
another
reminder
of the importance of the na-
tion’s infrastructure.
Roads and bridges, locks
and dams all play a vital role
in transporting corn and
soybeans across the nation —
and exporting them around
the world.
“We’re able to produce a
tremendous amount of grain
in the Midwest,” said Kim
Curry, a Griggsville farmer
and president of the Pike
County Farm Bureau. “We
have to be able to move this
product.”
But nearly a quarter of
the nation’s bridges are in
need of major repair, worn
by weather and weight loads.

6 FARM&FIELD The herald-whig

 Likewise, locks and dams built
in the 1930s with a 50-year life
expectancy are crumbling. “If
one lock and dam goes down,
the whole river system up from
that point is out of business,”
Curry said.
The lock and dam system
moves grain downriver for
export, but “we get a lot of our
inputs coming back up the river.
Fuel and fertilizer are the big
ones,” Curry said. “The traffic
goes both ways up and down
the river.”
With President Donald
Trump’s administration, Curry
feels the nation’s making prog-
ress on infrastructure needs.
“The administration recog-
nizes the importance of river
commerce,” Curry said.
Seven proposed lock and
dam upgrades in West-Central
Illinois were included on a list
of infrastructure priorities
circulated by Trump’s transition
team. The long-sought projects
would involve upgrades to five
locks along the Mississippi
River, including Lock and Dam
21 at Quincy, and two locks on
the Illinois River.
‘More optimistic’
“I think we’re more optimistic,”
We’re able
to produce a
tremendous
amount of grain in
the Midwest. We
have to be able to
move this product.”
Kim Curry
Pike County Farm Bureau
president
said Mike Klingner, chairman of
the Upper Mississippi, Illinois
and Missouri Rivers Associa-
tion’s governing board. “I think
we have an administration that’s
interested in infrastructure. We
have not had that in the past. The
last real major infrastructure
projects were done in the 1960s. It
is a real need.”
Congressional support back in
2007 authorized a series of lock
and dam extensions to speed up
barge traffic along with addition-
al environmental work, but the
projects have not been funded.
“It’s very huge for the Tri-State
area to have this expansion. We’re
seeing a lot more interest in docks,
river transportation,” Klingner
said. “Industries are wanting to
have access to the river for trans-
portation with bulk commodities,
fertilizer and agricultural prod-
ucts which will be huge for the
area in both initial job creation
and long-term benefit.”
At a June stop on the Ohio Riv-
er at Cincinnati, Trump stressed
the need to fix crumbling locks
and dams. “Our hope is the Mis-
sissippi will not be left out as part
of the overall infrastructure bill
that will move forward,” Klingner
said.
‘Broad-based support’
“The good news is there’s
broad-based support. The Upper
Mississippi, all five states, have
endorsed these lock and dam
improvements. We have just have
not received any appropriation
to move the project forward,”
Klingner said. “Locks and dams
have maintenance issues. A lot
of Band-Aids have been placed
on these locks and dams. We
not only need auxiliary bay and
1,200-foot locks, we also need
adequate maintenance dollars
to make sure locks and dams are
properly restored.”
Along with the administra-
tion’s favorable stance, Klingner
said White House staff appear
supportive of infrastructure
work. “We think that’s posi-
tive, but we’ll see,” he said. “It’s
been a long time since we’ve had
anybody saying we need to be
making those infrastructure
improvements, but it’s something
that needs to happen.”
Farm Bureau leadership and
membership lead the charge on
issues like infrastructure.
“When it comes to lobbying
and getting our point across, it
takes members to do that,” Curry
said. “We reach out to members
to make calls, write letters, send
emails, come to local meetings
and make our point be known.”
Other countries worldwide
have put more emphasis on in-
frastructure. Europe’s locks and
dams “are all better than any one
I’ve been through in the Upper
Mississippi,” Klingner said.
A growing percentage of the
American public understands
the importance of river transpor-
tation.
“It’s a lot less energy, less truck
traffic moving things by barge,”
Klingner said. “That’s one thing
Europeans have recognized for a
long time, both from an environ-
mental and energy standpoint,
moving goods by waterways is
more efficient.” n

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The herald-whig FARM&FIELD 7

Hearing mixed signals
Farmers supportive of Trump regulatory reforms, hope to keep trade deals
| By Deborah Gertz Husar
dhusar@whig.com
community in general.”
More support for regulatory
people about what free trade agree-
ments do is where we started setting

N
ew Canton farmer David Gay
breathed a sigh of relief when the
Trump administration withdrew
the Waters of the U.S. rule for
review.
Key to the federal Clean Water Act has
been the Environmental Protection Agency’s
jurisdiction over “navigable” waters, but the
297-page rule expanded that control to nearly
any place where water could flow or pool
after a rain — creating potential problems for
farmers, real estate developers, golf course
operators and other businesses.
Farmers and business leaders spoke out
against the rule, sent back in March to the
EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for
review.
“Everyone can relate to regulations that are
burdensome, overwhelming, unnecessary,
which take away from our business and what
we’re trying to do,” Gay said. “Even people not
directly touched by this regulation could relate
to it. We got a lot of support from the business
reform could be coming from the
Trump administration.
“At least the rhetoric you hear
coming from the president in terms
of regulation is more friendly
toward farmers and business in
general,” said Gay, who serves on
the board of directors for the Pike
County Farm Bureau. Nelsen
Trade under fire
While regulatory reform could be a positive
for agriculture in this presidency, another
underpinning of the ag economy — trade — is
under fire.
“The difference this time is you have some-
one who has been extremely outspoken against
trade agreements,” said Tamara Nelsen, senior
director of commodities with Illinois Farm
Bureau. “Trade agreements do not export jobs.
They export products. They help get a level
playing field for American farmers, for Ameri-
can financial institutions. For someone to
come out and tell a false story to the American
ourselves up for major disaster.”
The Trump administration
pulled the United States out of
the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an
agreement reached after years of
negotiations, and has begun work
to recraft the North American Free
Trade Agreement.
“Since we pulled out of TPP, those
11 countries are involved in 27 dif-
ferent trade agreements. They went
out immediately and started negotiating and
continued to move on. That not only affects
farmers but also puts us at a disadvantage on
the manufacturing side,” Nelsen said.
At the same time, TPP also required high
standards in areas such as worker’s rights,
environmental standards and animal health
for all participants, “automatically making the
playing field level with workers here,” Nelsen
said.
Bilateral agreements
Even with work on bilateral trade agree-

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8 FARM&FIELD THE HERALD-WHIG


A deckhand waits to tie off a row of barges in the locking chamber at Lock and Dam 21. Statistics show that 30.8 million tons of goods
passed through Lock and Dam 21 in 2016, the highest amount since 2003. H-W Photo/Phil Carlson
ments, the U.S. still will fall
behind other countries. “It’s not
possible to gain what we’ve lost
through bilateral agreements
unless we have one with China,”
Nelsen said. “Ninety-six percent
THE HERALD-WHIG
of the world’s population lives
outside the U.S. and likes to buy
whatever we sell them. We’re
very productive ... Who do ex-
pect to work for if we’re not sell-
ing anything to those people?”
FARM&FIELD
Some trade numbers continue
to be favorable this year, which
Nelsen said is a testament to
years of work spent building
relationships with overseas
customers.
“Many customers are ex-
tremely loyal,” she said. “I’m
trying to be an optimist. I know
there’s a lot of good people in
Washington working very hard
on this. I just hope it’s not too
late for the U.S. economy.”
Reaching out to legislators on
trade or federal rules like WO-
TUS doesn’t have to be compli-
cated — or perfect.
“They want to know what
people think,” Gay said. “They
know how many emails they’ve
gotten from farmers on an issue
and how many they’ve gotten
from environmental groups.”
With WOTUS moving toward
a rewrite, for example, “Farm
Bureau members are sending in
their comments to hopefully make
that rule better for farmers next
time around,” Gay said. “I know
our local county Farm Bureau
has been active getting people to
submit those comments.”
With farmers less than 2 per-
cent of the nation’s population,
“we have to speak as a group,
and we have to speak loudly in
order to be heard,” Gay said.
“It’s important to be part of the
discussion. If we’re not, someone
else is going to set the rules for
us — and it probably won’t be
the way we want it.” ■
9
The next
farm bill

10 FARM&FIELD The herald-whig

 Legislators, interest groups say
farm bill renewal needs to pass
before 2018 midterm election
| By Deborah Gertz Husar
dhusar@whig.com
M
issouri Farm Bureau
President Blake Hurst says
now’s the time to focus on
the next farm bill.
“Back there in the com-
mittee room, they’re making the decisions
that will drive the whole process,” the
Tarkio farmer said. “That’s why it’s so
important to get involved early.”
Congressional hearings have begun
for the bill set to replace the bill expiring
Sept. 30, 2018.
“For titles of the bill that aren’t contro-
versial and not a source of discussion or
debate, that process is underway,” said
Adam Nielsen, Illinois Farm Bureau’s
director of national legislation and policy
development.
Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, who
chairs the House Agriculture
Committee, hopes “to get some-
thing passed in the first quarter
of 2018 through the House. It’s
not really certain what the Sen-
ate’s timetable is, but (Majority
Leader Sen. Mitch) McConnell
indicated he was open to consid-
eration before the current one
expires,” Nielsen said.
“They do get passed in even-
numbered years, but none of the Hurst
bills passed in even-numbered
years has passed after June.
They get into election season ear-
lier and earlier, and the opening
for passing the next farm bill is
not as long as some people think
it is.”
In the meantime, both farm
organizations as well as indi-
vidual farmers and commodity
groups plan to stress their pri-
orities for the next bill governing Nielsen
agriculture, conservation, rural
development, research, food
policy and food assistance.
“We use opportunities like
meetings with (Agriculture)
Secretary Sonny Perdue to com-
municate those, also some meet-
ings with congressional staff,”
Nielsen said. “We’ll continue to
communicate farm bill priorities
through this fall.”
Top priority is making sure Perdue
the bill offers a very strong crop
insurance program that maintains the
existing level of funding.
“Crop insurance is important to our
members. It’s what we call the safety net,”
Hurst said. “Two areas that need updating
are cotton and dairy. Both commodities
The herald-whig FARM&FIELD
“They get into election
season earlier and earlier,
and the opening for
passing the next farm bill
is not as long as some
people think it is..”
Adam Nielsen
Illinois Farm Bureau’s director
of national legislation and policy development
do not have an adequate safety net coming
out of the present farm bill.”
Both states want to see more equitable
payments through the ARC, or Agriculture
Risk Coverage, program across county
lines and tying the bill not to where farm-
ers do business with the Farm Service
Agency but where their farm is located.
“It’s tweaks,” Hurst said.
“Some counties receive big
payments, yet their neighbors
across the road receive no pay-
ments.”
Other priorities include work-
ing land conservation programs
to help farmers meet nutrient
loss-reduction targets, taking
a look at Conservation Reserve
Program rates and a new mar-
keting assistance loan program.
A variety of farm and food
groups have urged lawmakers
to reject budget cuts to farm
and feeding programs in the
next farm bill.
“Many people are trying
to get a claim on those dol-
lars spent in the budget,” New
Canton farmer David Gay said.
“Farmers have to be part of that
discussion, to let them know it’s
important not only for us indi-
vidually on our farms, but for
our rural communities whose
economies are underpinned by
the farm economy. It’s impor-
tant to everyone.”
A strong farm bill lends sta-
bility to farmers who continue
to see net farm incomes decline.
“Net farm income this year
across the country is going to be
where it was in 2002,” Nielsen
said. “Our members are produc-
ing something that they’re
receiving a price on that is below their cost
of production. It’s a much more competi-
tive global agricultural economy today. So
many other countries are becoming big
exporters and competitors, and so we need
to get in the game.” n
11
Beau Shaffer, from Mendon, with the Ursa Willing Workers 4-H Club, waits to show his Maine-Anjou heifer during the 4-H beef judging at the 2016 Adams County Fair. H-W File Photo

4-H laying foundation for strong future

| By Steve Eighinger
seighinger@whig.com
coordinator for the University
of Illinois Extension’s Hancock
showing animals (at the county
fairs).”
nization that has undergone a
similar shift in its approach, 4-H

W
County Office, said livestock and Among the 4-H offerings these is making every effort to remain
hitney McK- agriculture remain principal days are robotics and other and become even more relevant to
eown feels the elements of the organization’s science-related items, such as those it is trying to attract.
changing face of framework — but the 4-H itinerary aerospace, plus healthy living and “Farm families are not as preva-
4-H will better has undergone a dramatic facelift citizenship. lent as they once were,” McKeown
position the in recent years. McKeown said much of the new said, in reference to an ongoing
youth-based organization for the “We’re trying to keep up with emphasis has occurred in the past decline in rural population, both in
future. what kids are interested in,” McK- five years. the region and across the nation.
McKeown, the 4-H program eown said. “4-H is now more than Much like FFA, another orga- That translates into a need to

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12 FARM&FIELD THE HERALD-WHIG

attract students who might not
come from a traditional farm/
agriculture family. McKeown
said 4-H has been successful in
maintaining a strong membership
in the five counties served by the
University of Illinois Extension
in West-Central Illinois — Ad-
ams, Hancock, Pike, Brown and
Schuyler.
“We have about 1,100 members
in those five counties, and that
number remains pretty steady
from year to year,” McKeown said.
“It’s a pretty even split between
boys and girls.”
Membership in 4-H is for those
students between ages 8 to 18,
with an introductory program for
youngsters 5 to 7.
The Adams County branch of
the University of Illinois Extension
has the largest 4-H contingent of
365 students. Hancock and Pike
counties are next with about 200
each.
“We have so many kids now that
live in town and really don’t have
anything to do with (an agricul-
tural background),” said Richlyn
Hoener, the 4-H program coordina-
tor for Adams County. “The mem-
bers we have are very dedicated
and have a passion for (4-H).”
Hoener, too, says the expanded
The herald-whig
Victoria Allen, of Quincy, a member of the Adams County Beefers 4-H Club, scrubs down
her wethers sheep to get ready for registration in the sheep judging at the 2017 Adams
County Fair near Mendon. H-W File Photo
4-H menu has helped recruit new
members.
“The specific interest (offerings)
have been very popular, especially
shooting sports,” Hoener said.
The shooting sports accent com-
petitions like shotgun and archery.
Hoener said other specific inter-
est programs like flower arranging
FARM&FIELD
and woodworking also have been
popular.
October is National 4-H Month,
a time when it emphasizes its
mission to “develop citizenship,
leadership, responsibility and life
skills through experiential learn-
ing programs and a positive youth
development approach.”
McKeown said part of today’s
4-H approach for its members also
includes strong community in-
volvement that accents leadership.
Members spend part of their
time engaged in activities like
visiting nursing homes, fundrais-
ing benefits and assisting social
service organizations.
McKeown said while the sum-
mertime fairs in Adams, Hancock,
Pike, Brown and Schuyler counties
remain major events on the local
4-H schedules, there are now many
more attractions for members to
become involved in that spotlight
their own personal interests.
“Each of the five counties have
individual programs,” McKeown
said.
Those programs range from na-
ture to electricity to dog obedience.
The 4-H name is a reference to
the organization’s original motto
that included the phrase “head,
heart, hands and health.” In the
United States, 4-H is administered
by the National Institute of Food
and Agriculture of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture (USDA). There
are more than 6.5 million 4-H
members and 90,000 clubs across
the country.
There also are 4-H organizations
in more than 50 countries. n
13
Out of the Shelters allow farms
to effectively manage,
raise more cattle

elements E | By Deborah Gertz Husar

dhusar@whig.com

xpanding the cow-calf opera-

tion provided an opportunity
for Ashton Gronewold to return
to the family farm near Car-
thage.
“We row crop as well, but not big
enough to support two families. We rely
on the livestock heavily to make it pos-
sible,” Gronewold said.
But the Gronewolds expanded without
adding more pasture ground. Instead they
built a versatile deep-pack monoslope
barn.
The barn’s three pens house cows and
calves with feed bunks on both sides and
an area for manure storage — allowing
the family to add 150 cows to make a herd
of 350 that calves inside.
“We can do a lot better job managing.
There’s a lot of unknowns with spring
calving, and this takes away that,” Grone-
wold said. “It’s the right thing for cows,
the right thing for calves, and it’s quite a
bit nicer for us doing chores. You’re inside,
out of the elements.”
Bringing cattle inside is a growing
trend in the cattle industry — especially
for younger producers like the 31-year-old
Gronewold.
“For younger farmers as they look to be
in the beef business long-term, this makes
sense. It’s kind of where the industry is go-
ing, and to get in now when they’re kind of
getting started helps them position their
farm to be ahead of the curve a little bit,”
said Tim Maiers of Maiers Ag Consult-
ing, who works with the Illinois Livestock
Development Group in expanding and
growing the state’s livestock industry.

No additional pasture
Utilizing barns for cattle helps farm-
ers gain feed efficiency and better cattle
growth without needing more pasture.
“Younger guys can put up one of these
barns and raise more head of cattle than
if they had limited pasture,” Maiers said.
“It’s just kind of helping them get up and
going.”
The barns — whether hoop-style or
monoslope — give producers flexibility
to use the space for cow-calf operations,
feeding out calves or finishing cattle.
Monroe City, Mo., farmer Greg Drebes
added a monoslope open front barn nearly
four years ago for his Simmental and
Simmental-Angus herd.
“Ground was getting awful expensive
to rent. Cattle out in the mud don’t do
very well. When they get their back wet in

14 FARM&FIELD The herald-whig

 “This gives them the opportunity to make
cattle more of a main part of their farm en-
terprise. Anytime there’s an opportunity to
get younger folks involved, that’s definitely
a positive for the industry, a positive for the
local community.”
Tim Maiers
Maiers Ag Consulting

either snow or rain, it’s hard on
them,” he said. “I decided to do
that to get a lot better environ-
ment for the cattle, and I’ve been
very happy with it.”
While growing in popular-
ity, it’s not a perfect fit for every
operation.
“The guys who have got 20 or
30 cows aren’t going to do that
for sure, but the larger herds are
moving to it. If we get a little
farther west, they’re fattening
out cattle in them,” said Drebes,
a board member for the Lewis/
Marion Cattlemen’s Association.
Nor does Drebes expect the
cattle industry to go the same
route as the hog industry.
“We’ll never be able to get all
the cows inside like they do the
sows,” he said.
But with the enclosed space
for calving, operations like the
Gronewolds bring the spring
herd calving in February or
March in through weaning then
shift those cows out onto pasture
while bringing in the fall herd set
to calve in August and Septem-
ber.
Managing two herds
“You’re really running two sets
of cows through the barn. You’re
not only doubling the cows you’ve
got, but you’re able to add a fall
herd,” Maiers said. “The barn
allows you to manage two herds
a little easier.”
The resulting herd expansion
then clears the way for potential-
ly another family member to get
more involved in the farm.
Several cows look outside their fenced-in enclosure inside the monoslope barn at Ashton
Gronewold’s family farm near Carthage. Submitted photo
“This gives them the opportu- get year-to-year productionwise,
nity to make cattle more of a main and there’s the cost of the land in
part of their farm enterprise,” general,” Gronewold said.
Maiers said. “Anytime there’s an The barn solves most of those
opportunity to get younger folks issues.
involved, that’s definitely a posi- “We can put different animals
tive for the industry, a positive for in the barn all year-round and
the local community.” be able to utilize it,” he said. “It’s
The Gronewolds weighed the a versatile building. You can do
cost of the barn versus buying a lot of different things with it,
more pasture. put in different types of animals
“When buying pasture ground, — calves, cows, replacement
you’re buying Mother Nature, heifers. It has a fit on everybody’s
too. You don’t know what you’ll operation.” ■

THE HERALD-WHIG FARM&FIELD 15

From field
to Instagram
26-year-old farmer tells the story of agriculture
through photography after nearly going blind

| By Deborah Gertz Husar

dhusar@whig.com

W
hile check-
ing crops or
cattle on the
family farm
near Monroe
City, Tyler Mudd sometimes
pauses for a moment to take
in the scene, to make a mem-
ory or snap a photograph.
“I’m thankful I can see it,”
Mudd said.
Nearly losing his sight in
high school made Mudd, 26,
appreciate seeing the small
details on the farm and want
to share them with others.
In his freshman year, just a
couple weeks after he started
dating his now wife, Megan,
Mudd developed what seemed
like pinkeye. When treatment
didn’t help, Mudd was in and
out of doctors’ offices, finally
seeing Dr. Eric Sieck at Quincy
Medical Group who sent him
to Washington University in
St. Louis.
A specialized microscope
confirmed a diagnosis not
of pinkeye but of Acantham-
oeba keratitis, a difficult-
to-treat and rare parasitic
infection in both eyes, with
the prognosis that Mudd
would slowly and painfully
lose his sight.
“That was a fun car ride
home,” Mudd said, laughing
at the memory.

16 FARM&FIELD The herald-whig

Tyler and Megan Mudd pose for a picture on their farm near Monroe City. Mudd took this photo using a DJI FC300X drone. He uses the drone to take pictures of scenes from his farm
and uploads them to his Instagram account, tmuddly17. Submitted photo
But his parents, Keith and
Carol Mudd, did more research
and connected with a researcher
at the University of Iowa who
confirmed the diagnosis but said
it wasn’t the end of the road for
their son.
Treatment meant multiple
trips per week to Iowa City and
eye drops — sometimes every
hour around the clock — to fight
the amoeba that tried to protect
itself by building up cysts and
scar tissue in Mudd’s eyes.
“Over the first few months, I
slowly lost my sight,” he said. “It
was a lot like looking through
a piece of wax paper stretched
over your eye. It was bright
white. It wasn’t dark black
like people think blind is, but I
couldn’t see through it. I could
see through my peripherals, but
that was it.”
Treatment had limits
Family, friends and school,
when he could go, provided both
support and a welcome distrac-
tion, but by early 2006, doctors
said he’d gone as far as he could
with treatment. The scar tissue
on his corneas wasn’t going
to get better and couldn’t be
removed. He needed a cornea
transplant.
“What was interesting to me
with corneas, you don’t have to
match tissue. There’s no blood
supply to them, so almost any
The herald-whig
A combine dumps its harvest crop into a truck on Tyler Mudd’s family farm near Monroe
City. Mudd nearly lost his eyesight in high school. After years of treatment and two
cornea transplants, Mudd now photographs his farm so that others can see what farmers
do. Submitted photo
cornea will work. We went up to
Iowa and waited for a donor to
become available. It didn’t take
long,” Mudd said. “You almost feel
guilty that you’re happy you’re re-
ceiving this, but at the same time,
something terrible had to happen
FARM&FIELD
to somebody. One donor was a
younger person about my age. The
other one was an old man. One of
my eyes is older than me, which is
kind of neat.”
After separate surgeries for
both transplants, Mudd could
see again. “Everything was
really blurry, but it wasn’t that
milky white layer I was trying
to look through,” he said. “I was
extremely fortunate.”
He relied first on “really, re-
ally thick” glasses then strong
contacts, and his vision slowly
improved. “Right now without
my contact lenses in, what a nor-
mal person can read in 400 feet
I can’t read in 20 feet, but with
my contacts I’m pretty close to
20/20,” he said.
Back at it
With his vision back, Mudd
went back to playing baseball,
got his driver’s license and kept
working on the farm where the
family raises corn, soybeans,
wheat and a few cattle.
“I really never had a real job,
even in high school. Actually as
early as middle school, both my
siblings were in FFA, and they
raised seven acres of sweet corn
every summer and tomatoes, as
well. I tagged along and helped
then picked that up in high
school and college,” he said.
Mudd sells seed as a side job
to supplement the farming done
with his father. And he spends
time on his photographs.
“I always snapped pictures
on my phone like everybody else
then never looked at them again,”
Mudd said, but a few years ago,
he decided to edit and compile
17
Learn more about cornea transplants
Tyler Mudd’s experience of losing and regaining his sight thanks to cornea
transplants emphasizes the importance of organ donation.
“It’s important to me for people to sign up to become an organ donor. Sign
the back of your driver’s license. Let your family know,” Mudd said. “It didn’t
save my life like a heart, lung or kidney, but it did give me life. I wouldn’t be
doing what I’m doing today without it.”
More information about organ donation is available online at organdonor.gov.

his photos using his tmuddly17
Instagram account as a way to
share them and as a reminder
not to hurry through life without
looking at the world around him.
“In some ways, it’s my way
of honoring those who are my
donors. I’m putting their gift to
use, sharing it with other people.
Someday I might not be able to
farm when I’m an old, old man,
and I’ll have these pictures as re-
minders, memories. My pictures
mean a lot to me,” Mudd said.
The farm provides plenty of
inspiration from color-splashed
scenes to black-and-white
panoramas, close-ups and wide
angle views — and a way to tell
agriculture’s story.
“I don’t think consumers
know enough about what we do,”
Mudd said. “These photos help
me tell that story and that we’re
not bad guys. I have a family,
too. I have pets I care about. I’m
thankful for what we’re blessed
with, the nature around us.”
The photos also are a remind-
er of how far he’s come with his
photographer’s eyes.
“There’s always going to be
that worry there. If you knew
me, you’d realize I don’t re-
ally worry a whole lot, but that
doesn’t mean I’m not cognizant
of it,” Mudd said. “I would imag-
ine someday, hopefully a long
ways down the road, I’ll have to
have (transplants) done again,
but for now I’m not worried A truck has its headlights turned on at Tyler Mudd’s family farm near Monroe City. Mudd
about it.” ■ has taken pictures of the past few harvests . Submitted photo

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GROWING A GREENHOUSE
James Reilly with the Quincy Public Schools Maintenance Department moves dirt for a walkway to the QHS greenhouse behind the Quincy Area Vocational Technical Center. The QPS
maintenance staff are upgrading the greenhouse structure and adding new outside walls. H-W Photo/Michael Kipley
| By Deborah Gertz Husar
dhusar@whig.com
I
t’s amazing, Kelly Weiman
said, what students can learn
with hands-on opportunities.
And “when you have a
lab area like a greenhouse
to work in, it’s even better,” the
Quincy High School agriculture
teacher said.
Work continues to rebuild the
greenhouse, which sat unused
for years until QHS launched its
ag program again in the 2016-17
school year.
“I get to see it every day, kind of
watch it grow,” Weiman said. “We
are hoping to be able to get our
plant science class, which is next
semester, into at least part of it.”
Meanwhile, the school district’s
maintenance staff stays busy
working “to basically put a new
skin on the greenhouse,” Quincy
Area Vocational Technical Center
Principal Mark Pfleiger said.
New polycarbonate panels, a
type of translucent plastic with
better insulation value, replaced
the old plate glass. A new “wain-
scot” of painted metal panels
The herald-whig
replaced asbestos panels around
the base of the greenhouse. Still to
come are mechanical systems to
control the interior environment,
an irrigation system and adding
the planting tables along with
lights acquired when Western
High School cut its ag program.
“It will give us almost
2,000-square-feet of additional
learning space,” Pfleiger said.
Space in Pittsfield, too
Work wrapped up this semester
on a greenhouse at Pittsfield High
School.
Teacher Jody Heavner intends
to use the space for research and
educational purposes, possibly in
partnership with a local company.
“Any opportunity students get
to have hands-on learning is very
important,” she said. “It’s an oppor-
tunity for me to get my students to
dig in with their hands and learn
some new skills.”
Renovating the greenhouse
had been a fundraising goal since
Heavner came to the district in
2008, and financial support came
from the Pikeland Foundation, FFA
alumni and the community.
FARM&FIELD
The project cost “is probably
in the $35,000 to $40,000 range,”
Heavner said. “A lot of students
spent a lot of time to get us where
we are at now.”
The greenhouse had no metal
structure. “They basically threw
one up about 30 years ago (with)
a wooden structure,” she said.
“It was meant to be a temporary
five- or 10-year project. We really
did a total renovation, but the
foundation is the same. It was a lot
of work.”
Covering the costs
Grants and donations cover the
cost of the Quincy project.
“Originally we were going to
tear down that structure and start
over. We were talking $40,000 for
a new structure, then we deter-
mined it was too good a structure
to tear down,” Pfleiger said. “What
we’ve been able to do is bring the
structure back under $10,000, and
we’ll probably have about $8,000
in mechanical systems — or less
than half of what the whole new
structure was going to be.”
Weiman’s ag program, launched
last year, has grown to four classes
this school year with more than 50
students enrolled and at least half
involved in FFA.
The program meets a need at
QHS. “The kids have a place to
call home now, something to be
involved in,” she said. “They were
the kiddos that didn’t really have
ownership of anything at QHS.
Now they have a place to call their
own.”
Adding the greenhouse will only
enhance what the program can
offer to students.
A lab area tied to the ag class-
room gave students a chance to do
soil work last year, but the lack of
windows in the space hampered
efforts to grow plants.
“You can talk about those things
in a classroom, but in our world,
it’s best if we can also couple that
with a real- live experience. That’s
how our kids learn best, typically
in career tech classes,” Pfleiger
said.
The greenhouse, she said, “is
really going to give the instructor
a lab to use with students and the
students the opportunity to have
those experiences just like we have
in our other classes.” n
19
 “You can now take a
tractor and go a foot-
and-a-half deep and
deep till it through this
mulched garden spot.”
Pat Beckman
Composter and gardener

Roger and
Virginia Sharrow
stand in their
produce booth
at the farmers
market outside
the Quincy Mall.
Roger Sharrow
uses compost
material in his
Golden-area gar-
dens to help the
soil and produce
better crops.
H-W Photo/Phil
Carlson

20 FARM&FIELD THE HERALD-WHIG

Return to
the Earth
38 years of composting
turns clay into soft soil
| By Matt Hopf
mhopf@whig.com
P
at Beckman has spent
decades composting on
his property to produce
some of the best soil he
has worked with.
When he bought the land 38
years ago, the soil was all clay,
which meant he had work to do.
He’s always maintained a com-
post pile on the property.
“So I had to amend the soil,”
Beckman said. “In amending
the soil, I put rabbit manure,
chicken manure, but mostly
leaves. And I kept tilling that in
year after year.
“We grew a garden on that
same plot of ground and that
property for 20 years. Every year,
I never gave away the leaves — in
fact, I took people’s leaves and
brought them over to my proper-
ty — and all the grass clippings
from the whole property. That
was the green matter, and the
dry matter was the leaves. You
mix that together and that cre-
ates a composting heat exchange
process that creates compost.”
Composting for Beckam has
been a journey of how to build a
garden to grow produce.
“I think it’s a lifelong journey
of any true gardener or farmer
Getting started with compost
All composting requires three
basic ingredients:
• Browns: This includes materials
such as dead leaves, branches and
twigs.
• Greens: This includes materials
such as grass clippings, vegetable
waste, fruit scraps and coffee
grounds.
• Water: Having the right amount
of water, greens and browns is im-
portant for compost development.
THE HERALD-WHIG
to improve the tilth of the soil,”
he said.
Beckman also would throw in
old vegetation from the garden.
Some wood matter was also
added, which would deteriorate
to composted organic matter.
“You can now take a tractor
and go a foot-and-a-half deep
and deep till it through this
mulched garden spot to the point
where you can’t really walk
through it because it is so loose
and fertile, and you can just grow
anything in it,” Beckman said.
Partnering with Yoder’s Back-
yard Produce of Canton, Mo.,
Beckman sells his produce at the
Quincy Mall farmers market.
Roger Sharrow also composts
on his land. He and his wife,
Virginia, grow a range of produce When youyouneed
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21
 Save it
for later
Freezing, dehydrating and canning
all healthy ways to preserve food
| By Edward Husar
ehusar@whig.com
foods can deteriorate quickly
after being harvested from the

L
garden.
ate-season fruits and That’s where food-preservation
vegetables can provide techniques come in. They can
a cornucopia of good help fresh fruits and vegetables
flavor and nutrition. last for weeks, months or even
However, these delicate years.

22 THE HERALD-WHIG

Jenna Smith, a nutrition
and wellness educator for the
University of Illinois Extension,
said three common methods of
food preservation are available —
freezing, canning or dehydrating.
“Freezing is typically the easi-
est for those who don’t want to
purchase a pressure canner, a
water bath canner or a dehydra-
tor,” she said.
“As long as you have the freezer
space, it’s a good way to start if
you’re new to the food preserva-
tion area.”
Depending on what fruit or veg-
etable is being preserved, freezing
often requires a key first step
called blanching. This involves
submerging the item in boiling
water for two or three minutes
and then cooling it down just as
quickly in a cold-water bath.
THE HERALD-WHIG
“That’s going to stop the
enzyme activity, and it will help
to preserve some of the color and
the flavor as well,” Smith said.
Once the fruit or vegetable is
sufficiently cooled, it should be
packed immediately into freezer-
safe containers or freezer bags.
Smith recommends removing as
much air as possible and leaving
a little “head room” in the con-
tainer to allow for expansion as
the item freezes.
Some vegetables with high
water content — such as lettuce,
celery and cucumbers — aren’t
suitable for freezing
“They’re just going to become
real limp and waterlogged if you
try to freeze those,” Smith said.
Though some people try to
freeze potatoes, Smith said “the
quality is not going to be there”
FARM&FIELD
A woman removes a jar from
boiling water. The University
of Illinois Extension offers
instructional classes on food
preservation topics, including
freezing, dehydrating and
canning. Submitted Photo
with most varieties, which tend
to turn brown and become
crumbly. She prefers to make
a big batch of potato soup and
then freeze the soup in individual
containers.
Dehydration method
Dehydrating is another effec-
tive way to make certain fruits
and veggies last longer.
“You can dry so many things,”
Smith said. “Definitely all the
fruits — pineapple and apples
and bananas — and a lot of
vegetables do well, too,” including
tomatoes, carrots, garlic, mush-
rooms, potatoes and onions.
Smith said a dehydrator works
best for drying.
“We don’t recommend drying
out in the sun,” she said. “You’re
exposing the food to the outdoor
environment, which could have
bird droppings and things like
that.”
Oven drying can work for
some foods, but it requires get-
ting down to “a really, really low
temperature in order to dry it,
and a lot of ovens don’t do that,”
Smith said.
A microwave also can be used
for certain things. “But otherwise
it’s best to purchase a dehydra-
tor,” she said. “That’s going to be
the most efficient and effective
way to dehydrate.”
Two types of canning
Canning has long been a fa-
vorite technique for serious food
preservationists. There are two
main types — pressure canning
and the boiling water bath can-
ning method.
“It’s very important that you
know what type you need to do
for the produce that you are going
to can,” said Smith, a registered
dietician.
“For low-acid vegetables and
meats, for instance, those have to
be pressure canned, because in
pressure canning you’re bringing
the temperature all the way up
to 240 degrees Fahrenheit. This
is what is going to actually kill
the potential botulism bacteria
that could be present. Botulism,
of course, is deadly and is a very
serious thing, so you want to
avoid that.”
A boiling water bath canner,
which can be used to can pickles
or fruit, heats the food to 212
degrees — the temperature of
boiling water — which isn’t high
enough to kill botulism spores
that may be present in many
vegetables, meats and other low-
acid foods.
Smith urges consumers to have
the dial gauges on their pressure
canners tested each year to make
sure they are accurate.
“I just tested one today that
was way off,” Smith said in mid-
September. “If she would have
used that, it could have potential-
ly caused food-borne illness.”
Specific instructions about
growing, harvesting and pre-
serving 34 different vegetables
is available on the Extension’s
“Watch Your Garden Grow”
website: extension.illinois.edu/
veggies.
Smith said another useful
resource is the National Center
for Home Food Preservation’s
website: nchfp.uga.edu.
“Everything you need to know
about food preservation is on this
web site, including canning as
well as dehydrating and freezing,”
she said. “It’s a wonderful site.” ■
23
Steven Tournear with Bergman Nurseries installs a drip irrigation system to a backyard garden before landscaping with new plants. H-W Photo/Michael Kipley
Uniform distribution
Drip irrigation systems provide gardens, lawns with minerals and water
| By Steve Eighinger
seighinger@whig.com
K
eith Klusmeyer says
drip irrigation sys-
tems are becoming
more prevalent in
urban settings like
Quincy.
“They’re especially becoming
popular among those who don’t
have the time to take care of a
plant bed,” said Klusmeyer, who
works at Bergman Nurseries
and has 21 years of experience
as an irrigation designer and
landscaping professional.
Drip irrigation for gardens,
lawns and/or plant beds is ideal
because of its uniform distribu-
tion of water and nutrients. The
goal is to allow the liquids to drip
slowly to the root zone of plants
and minimize evaporation.
24
“They’re especially becoming popular
among those who don’t have the time to
take care of a plant bed.”
irrigation designer and landscaping professional
Proper distribution of water
and nutrients is essential.
“Too much for one area might
not be enough for another,” Klus-
meyer said.
Components of a drip irriga-
tion system normally include
a pump or pressurized water
source, a filtration system,
backwash controller, distribu-
tion lines, emitting devices and
hand-operated (or electronic or
hydraulic-controlled) valves and
safety valves.
New systems may even be
FARM&FIELD
Keith Klusmeyer
able to be controlled through
an application on the user’s
smartphone.
Among the major pluses of a
drip irrigation system are the
minimalization of fertilizer and
nutrient loss due to localized
application, efficient distribu-
tion, lessening of soil erosion
and weed growth and highly
uniform distribution.
Negatives may be initial cost
and clogging of equipment if
not properly maintained. Also,
weather elements may affect
some of the materials.
Drip irrigation systems are
especially helpful for perenni-
als, or any kind of plant with
delicate foliage.
“Perennials constantly need
assistance,” Klusmeyer said.
Klusmeyer said many plants
benefit from a drip irrigation
system in their infancy, but can
later survive on their own without
any artificial help.
“Most times Mother Nature
will take over after a drip line
has been used for two, three or
four years,” he said.
The average cost connected
to a drip line system is $6,000
to $8,000, plus some secondary
costs that could run an ad-
ditional $1,500. Those figures
could vary one way or the other,
depending on the size of the area
to be served. n
The herald-whig
BSE an important
element for fall
breeding season
| By Daniel Mallory
news@whig.com
B
efore the start of the
breeding season,
cattle producers must
consider the breeding
soundness examina-
tion. This exam should be con-
ducted on an annual basis, at least
60 days before the start
of the breeding season,
to allow for retesting or
replacement.
The BSE is made up
of three components —
structural soundness,
reproductive exam
and semen qual-
ity. Veterinarians will
evaluate these areas to
determine if the bull is Mallory
satisfactory or unsatis-
factory or needs to be re-evaluated.
This examination could assist in
avoiding a disaster by eliminat-
ing infertile bulls, resulting in
open females. Another very strong
component of a BSE is libido, and
veterinarians do not have the
time to evaluate this chute side, so
satisfactory bulls should be moni-
tored during the breeding season
to ensure that they are doing their
job. If bulls are purchased, it would
be wise to ask for a copy of the BSE
to insure optimal fertility.
Tools cattle producers can use
during the breeding season are es-
trus synchronization and artificial
insemination. These technologies
offer beef producers the means to
introduce proven superior genetics
into their herds, shorten the calv-
ing season and increase calf age
and uniformity.
Advantages of using AI include:
• A shorter calving season re-
sulting in a more uniform calf crop
when also synchronizing estrus.
• Ability to use bulls that other-
wise one could not afford.
• Improved production traits,
i.e., mating cows to specific sires.
• Reducing the number of herd
bulls needed.
• Increased genetics for replace-
ment heifers.
For producers, this could mean
increasing weaning weights,
improving post-weaning perfor-
mance, enhancing carcass value
THE HERALD-WHIG
and more productive heifers.
Starting an AI program will
more than likely call for more
involvement in the management of
the cow herd. To be successful, a
producer should follow these tips:
• Prebreeding vaccinations or
deworming should be completed at
least 30 days prior to breeding.
• Keep a steady to increasing
plane of nutrition —
rations less than 16
percent protein.
• Cows should aver-
age 45 days postpar-
tum prior to artificial
insemination.
• Cows and calves
should be clearly and
individually identified
with legible ear tags
and/or brands.
• Individual calving
dates should be recorded.
• Only use natural service sires
that pass BSE.
• Only use AI sires proven to
perform effectively in a fixed-time
AI program.
• Use AI sires that are geneti-
Get Screened
cally proven.
• Ensure AI technicians are Taking care of your crops
scheduled for AI date and capable and gardens can be hard
to perform task.
work, but preventing
• Check corrals, alleys and
chutes to ensure functionality. skin cancer shouldn’t
Poor management in one or be. After a long planting
more of these areas could result in season, do you have skin
lower success rates. damage?
In the past AI involved twice
daily estrus, or heat, detection,
with time and labor noted as the
reasons for not adopting these
technologies. Researchers at
the University of Missouri have
developed fixed-time artificial in-
semination protocols. This allows
producers to minimize the number
of animal handlings, or times
through the chute, and inseminate
at a predetermined, fixed time. Susan Meidl, M.D.
A reference to AI protocols may Board Certified Dermatologist
be found in any Beef Sire Direc-
tory. These reference sheets are put Call 573-231-3169 to make an appointment today!
together by the Beef Reproductive
Task Force based on research by
several universities. ■
DANIEL MALLORY IS A UNIVERSITY
OF MISSOURI EXTENSION
LIVESTOCK SPECIALIST BASED
IN NEW LONDON, MO.
25
 Gardening tasks
for cooler weather
| By Kari Houle
news@whig.com
A
lthough the main
growing season
has come to an end,
there are plenty of
tasks in the garden
and landscape that we can do.
Here is a list of a few things that
you can be doing to take advan-
tage of the cooler weather.
October
• Now is a great
time to plant spring-
blooming bulbs. Plant
bulbs two-to-three
times as deep as they
are tall. Even if you
forget to plant bulbs
now and find that
random bag of bulbs
come Thanksgiving,
if the ground isn’t
frozen go ahead and Houle
plant them. Bulbs are
survivors.
• Have a soil test done; I sug-
gest having one done every three
to five years. If needed, incor-
porate fertilizers now depend-
ing on the results of the soil
test. Now is also a great time to
incorporate compost into your
garden.
• Dig up summer bulbs and
store in a cool, dry place. Be sure
to dig caladiums before a first
frost; others can be dug after a
first frost.
• If your lawn is still growing,
keep on mowing.
• Avoid pruning trees and
shrubs as it will initiate new
growth that won’t harden off
before winter. The best time
to prune trees is when they
are dormant. As for flower-
ing shrubs, if they are spring
bloomers, such as lilac and
forsythia, prune after they are
done blooming in the spring.
Spring bloomers form flowers on
previous year’s growth, so if you
prune in winter, you’ll remove
flower buds for the next year.
• Plant garlic and shallots.
• Plant a tree. Some trees are
better planted in the spring
since they are slow to root. This
includes oaks, red maple, mag-
nolias, birches, stone fruits and
Japanese zelkova.
26
November
• Put up additional bird
feeders, and add a heater to
bird baths to keep water from
freezing.
• You can apply a winterizing
fertilizer to turf around Thanks-
giving.
• Take the time to clean gar-
den tools and sharpen blades.
• Continue to water plants as
long as the ground isn’t frozen
and is in need, especially ever-
greens to help counter
winter burn.
• Once mums have
stopped blooming, you
can cut back the stems
close to the ground
and mulch them.
• Once perennials
have gone dormant,
you can apply a pro-
tective layer of mulch,
especially on those
perennials that like to
heave up out of the soil like coral
bells, gaura, pincushion flower,
foamflower, sea thrift and pig-
squeak to name a few.
December
• Store leftover garden chemi-
cals according to the label.
• Go over all your garden
notes and/or pictures from this
season, and take note of what
worked, what didn’t, what you
want to do differently next year.
• If you are storing any bulbs,
corms or tubers, take a look to
make sure that there is no mold
or rot. Any that show signs
should be discarded.
• Have a bright sunny win-
dow? Try starting some herbs
to use during the winter in your
cooking.
• If plants are prone to dam-
age from snow, such as arbor-
vitae, consider wrapping them
with burlap or twine to mini-
mize potential damage.
• Wipe the leaves of large-
leaved houseplants with a damp
cloth to remove dust and dirt. ■
KARI HOULE IS UNIVERSITY OF
ILLINOIS EXTENSION HORTICULTURE
EDUCATOR IN ADAMS, BROWN,
HANCOCK, PIKE AND SCHUYLER
COUNTIES.
THE HERALD-WHIG
Mike Roegge stands in his tunnel at his family’s Mill Creek Farm in Quincy. Roegge, a former educator for University of Illinois Extension, said the temperature inside his tunnel can
reach 80 degrees during the winter, allowing him to grow spinach and lettuce. H-W File Photo
Extended growing season
High tunnels provide farmers options for cold-weather agriculture
| By Matt Hopf
mhopf@whig.com
M
ike Roegge knew it
would be warmer
inside a high tun-
nel on his farm,
but he didn’t know
he would be wearing shorts in-
side the tunnel after a late March
snowstorm.
Working on his family’s Mill
Creek Farm about four years ago,
Roegge entered one of the farm’s
high tunnels a couple days after
12 inches of snow fell.
“That late in the year, the
tunnels are fairly warm, so the
snow just slid off the tunnel and
collected at the base,” he said. “On
Sunday, it was sunny and clear
out, and when I went into the tun-
nel it was 32 degrees out.”
Dressed for the conditions
The herald-whig
outside, Roegge was in the tunnel
for five minutes, before he started
removing some layers. He soon
retreated to the house for a pair
of shorts and to grab a thermom-
eter.
“It was 32 degrees outside, and
it was 80 degrees inside,” Roegge
said. “That’s how much power the
sun has on a calm, sunny day.”
Even in January, the soil inside
the high tunnels doesn’t freeze,
which is why lettuce and spinach
can be grown all winter long at
Mill Creek.
There are two high tunnels at
Mill Creek, with the first being
installed eight years ago. The
metal-framed structures are
covered with clear plastic.
During the summer, the high
tunnels are used to grow toma-
toes, and spinach and lettuce are
grown during the winter.
FARM&FIELD
Because winter crops produce
more sucrose to avoid freezing,
they tend to be sweeter. During
the winter, Roegge dines on a
spinach salad for four or five days
a week.
“It’s almost like eating candy
at the time,” Roegge said. “It’s a
whole different taste sensation. It
just tastes great.”
The high tunnels let some pro-
ducers put some crops into the
ground earlier.
“There are guys I know who
plant tomatoes in the high tun-
nel in the third week of March,”
Roegge said. “You can’t do that
outside obviously.“
The high tunnels allow farm-
ers to have more control over
their tomatoes.
“Field-grown tomatoes have is-
sues,” Roegge said. “It can get too
wet or too dry. You can get crack-
ing. You have a lot of ugly-looking
tomatoes. Inside the tunnel, you
control when it gets wet. You con-
trol the watering. You control the
fertilizer, and there’s less disease
issues.
“You have more insect issues,
but there’s far less disease issues
in a tunnel. We’ve raised toma-
toes eight years in a row in one
tunnel, and they’re still raising
good tomatoes. I’d never be able
to do that outside.”
Mill Creek will still keep a
few rows of tomatoes through
Thanksgiving as the farm transi-
tions to lettuce and spinach.
With more farmers using high
tunnels, it helps them bring fresh
vegetables to farmers markets
earlier.
“If you’re the first at the market
with something, people flock to
you,” Roegge said. n
27
 Keeping an
eye on the
weather
Old Farmer’s Almanac forecasts
mild winter and cool, wet spring
| By Edward Husar
ehusar@whig.com

A
rea farmers and
weather watch-
ers should take
note: Old Farmer’s
Almanac for 2018
is predicting a relatively mild
winter and a cool, wet spring
for the Heartland region of the
United States.
But it’s not going to be all rosy.
The oldest continuously
published periodical in North
America — looked to by many
for its weather prognostications
— is forecasting the first snow-
storm will hit before Thanksgiv-
ing, editor Janice Stillman said.
“November could also be the
coldest month of the winter in
terms of below-normal tempera-
tures,” Stillman said.
“We’re also predicting heavy
snows in the first week or so of
December, then temperatures
will start to actually get even
milder. So it could be more of
a wet than a white Christmas,
although New Year’s Eve could
be frigid.”
In an interview in September
— just as the publication’s 2018
edition was hot off the presses
— Stillman shared some of the
publication’s highly anticipated
weather forecasts for the period
from November 2017 through
October 2018.
She said January is expected
to be warmer than usual. Then,
in February, “you can expect
some snow in the early part
of the month and some cold
periods up until the middle of
the month, but it will only be
around the freezing mark on
average the entire month,” Still-
man said.
“Then in March, winter will
be practically over because I’m
not seeing any snow forecasts at
all with the coming of spring.”
Stillman said the almanac is
predicting April and May will be
cooler and wetter than normal
with “a couple of inches above
normal rainfall” during that
two-month period.
The summer months, she said,
are expected to be “hotter than
normal with slightly below-
normal rainfalls.”
Now in its 226th year
The Old Farmer’s Almanac,
published annually since 1792,
is now in its 226th year. Stillman
said the magazine’s weather
forecasts have had an accuracy
record of about 80 percent over
the years.
“That’s across the country in
both temperature and precipita-
tion,” she said.
The almanac has long been a
favorite publication for farmers
and others with an interest in
astronomical and climatological
data, which makes up a big part

28 The herald-whig
Weather updates
The WGEM StormTrak
Weather meteorologist team
uses many screens to let you
know about the weather:
WGEM Weather App, wgem.com, WGEM Radio and TV. Let WGEM be your
guide for up-to-the-minute daily and long-range forecasts.
JWCC Ag Grads
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Programs
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✓ Swine/Beef Specialist

of the book’s observations and
predictions.
Abraham Lincoln is said
to have used a copy of the Old
Farmer’s Almanac in a court-
room in 1858 while serving as
the defense attorney for a man
on trial for murder in Beard-
stown, Ill. Lincoln supposedly
used the almanac to refute the
testimony of an eyewitness who
claimed to have seen the murder
committed “by the light of the
moon.”
“The outcome of the case
depended on Abraham Lincoln
identifying where the moon was
in the sky on the date when the
fellow was accused of mur-
der,” Stillman said. “Abraham
Lincoln pointed to the almanac’s
weather page, where it was cited
that the moon ‘runs low,’ which
means it was low in the sky, and
therefore there was not enough
light shed by the moon for the
man to have seen the murder.”
Benefits
tion on Aug. 21. ✓ Shared research facility with
The magazine’s website — al- University of Illinois
manac.com — and its Facebook ✓ Internships with dozens of
page offered plenty of additional employers
insights as the eclipse was about
✓ Nationally recognized program
to occur.
“We had over 400,000 visitors ✓ Over 50% students receive
on that day and in the days lead- ag scholarship
ing up to it,” Stillman said. ✓ 100% transfer rate to four-year
The 2018 almanac is advising schools
readers to look for a total eclipse ✓ Save 30-60% on tuition
of the moon on Jan. 31.
The almanac offers many
other fun facts that its readers
might find useful, such as the
best days and times to go fishing
or even to quit smoking.
“That has long been one of the
most popular pages,” Stillman
said.
“We’ve got a whole lot of new #findyourpath
‘best days,’ actually. Now you
can get the best day to sell your
house, the best day to paint the
jwcc.edu/ag
house as well as lay shingles,
and the best day to ask for a
loan.”

‘Calendar of the heavens’

The almanac touts itself as
a “calendar of the heavens” for
various astronomical events, in-
cluding the rising and setting of
the sun, the length of daylight,
the moon’s phases and other
facts. The 2017 edition, for exam-
ple, let people know in advance
about the total eclipse of the sun
that commanded national atten-
Stillman, editor for 17 years,
said she and other staff mem-
bers who work for the almanac
— with its headquarters in
We Salute You!
the 1,700-population town of
Dublin, N.H. — have fun while
putting together the publication.
After all, she said, the alma-
nac’s long-standing mission is to
offer “useful information with a
pleasant degree of humor.” ■

“The outcome of the case depended on

Abraham Lincoln identifying where the
moon was in the sky on the date when the
fellow was accused of murder, Abraham
Lincoln pointed to the almanac’s weather
page, where it was cited that the moon ‘runs
low,’ which means it was low in the sky, and
therefore there was not enough light shed Thank you, farmers,
by the moon for the man to have seen the
murder.” for all you do.
Janice Stillman
Old Farmer’s Almanac editor

THE HERALD-WHIG 29
 MASTER OF GAR
Classes train horticulturists to educate, care for
| By Ashley Szatala
aszatala@whig.com
J
ody Bogue lives in Quin-
cy near the Illinois Veter-
ans Home, and for years
she noticed the gardens
appeared unkempt. One
day, she looked at them and saw
they looked beautiful.
“I asked what happened, and
they told me Master Gardeners
had taken over the plots,” Bogue
said. “That change, seeing what
(Master Gardeners) could do, is
what made me want to sign up to
become one.”
Eight years later, Bogue now
helps take care of the Veterans
Home gardens as a Master Gar-
dener, and she believes herself to
be the only quadriplegic Master
Gardener in the state.
“We do a little bit of every-
thing in the gardens, and I help
pull weeds and dead stuff from
30
them,” she explained. “We get a
lot of compliments, and people
take pictures of them.”
Becoming a Master Gardener
requires time and passion —
whether in gardening or not.
“You don’t necessarily have to
have an interest in gardening.
You just have to have an interest
in helping people,” University of
Illinois Extension horticulture
educator Kari Houle said. “Mas-
ter Gardeners do volunteer work
around the community, and they
help educate others on different
aspects of horticulture.”
Georgiann Heidbreder has al-
ways been interested in garden-
ing but never had time to pursue
her passion while working. After
leaving the workforce in 2007,
the first thing she did in retire-
ment was sign up for the Master
Gardener classes.
“You learn so much stuff
during the classes, but you don’t
THE HERALD-WHIG

GARDENS
e, care for their communities
need to remember everything,”
she explained. “You just need
to know where to look stuff
up. They teach you so many
different topics in the program.
There’s something for everyone
to be interested in at least one
aspect of gardening.”
Heidbreder has been involved
in many different volunteer gar-
dening activities since becoming
a Master Gardener, and she cur-
rently helps with the John Wood
Mansion gardens.
“Everything we do has to have
an educational aspect to it,” she
said. “The gardens there have
placards explaining the different
plants.”
For those interested in becom-
ing a Master Gardener, several
weeks and hours of training are
required. But both Bogue and
Heidbreder say the reward of
pursuing a passion of theirs and
helping others is worth it. ■
THE HERALD-WHIG
Master Gardener Jody Bogue maneuvers
around the Illinois Veterans Home with a
pair of shears to clean up the garden. H-W
Photo/Michael Kipley
Things to know
about Master
Gardeners
What is the program?
The mission of the Master Gar-
dener program is “helping others
learn to grow.” After passing the pro-
gram, Master Gardeners volunteer in
the community and apply what they
learned to help others learn more
about gardening and environmental
stewardship.
Volunteer activities include creat-
ing and maintaining demonstra-
tion gardens, conducting garden
programs for children, giving talks to
groups interested in horticulture and
helping guide community gardens.
Become a Master Gardener
First, an application must be filled
out with a local Extension office. For
those in West-Central Illinois, it is
University of Illinois Extension Unit
14, and for those in Missouri, there
is a University of Missouri Extension
office in every county.
If accepted, an applicant must
attend mandatory training classes
once a week for 11 or 14 weeks, Caring for Your Entire Family
depending on the state. University
specialists and Extension educators
teach the classes, and topics include Thomas Miller, MD
“My team and I will partner with you to maximize
botany, diseases, flowers, fruits, your health and well-being. We will utilize medicine
grasses, insects, landscaping, shrubs, and non-medicine therapies to achieve the best
soils, trees and vegetables. health outcomes.”
Successful completion of the
classroom training and required vol- Stacy Melton, LCSW
unteer hours promotes the student “I love working with patients in our integrated medical clinic
to Master Gardener status. They which includes behavioral health services and addressing the
then must remain current in annual person as a whole. It is amazing to see the children and adults
grow emotionally in our groups and sessions, as well as, learn
educational updates and volunteer new coping skills for dealing with life situations.”
service hours to maintain the title
as such.
Master Gardener classes in Theresa Oakley, PA
“The health of a community is only as good as the
Adams County won’t be held again health and wellness of the individuals and families in
until winter 2019. Missouri Master it. I feel very fortunate to be able to impact the lives
Gardener classes are held each fall. of patients and families in the same community my
family has been a part of for generations.”
More information on the pro-
grams may be found by visiting Open
web.extension.illinois.edu/mg/ or Monday-Friday
mg.missouri.edu. 8:30am - 5:00pm
Wednesday 8:30am-7:00pm
On-Site New Patients
Walk-ins Labs Welcome
Welcome Same Day
Appointments
at the corner of
11th & Oak
612 North 11th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 224-9484
31
MORE SPORES

Rex Pflantz holds a bag of gray

dove mushrooms that have been
growing for about a month. The
mushrooms are grown in this
building containing bags of straw
with several other ingredients.
He has another building where
he grows shiitake mushrooms
that are grown in sawdust. Pflantz
started growing the mushrooms
in converted hog buildings at his
home west of Hannibal after he
retired. H-W Photo/Michael Kipley

Former hog farmer turns to mushroom production

| By Ashley Szatala
aszatala@whig.com
them to raise portobello and
button mushrooms, but the
year from the Adams County
Health Department, he’d already
retirement. I don’t want to be
a couch potato and watch TV,”

W
equipment needed was cost- been selling mushrooms to Pflantz said. “The other thing
hen Rex Pflantz prohibitive. Quincy restaurants, including is that I’m my own boss. I don’t
got out of hog Fast forward to about six the Maine Course, for four or five have a part-time job I have to be
production years ago as Pflantz began years. at a certain time.”
back in the contemplating retirement, and “Quite honestly, they’re taking Of the two mushrooms, the
late 1990s, he the idea of growing mushrooms about all I can produce right shiitake are the more challeng-
wondered what to do with the returned — this time shiitake now,” Pflantz said. ing to grow.
hog buildings. and oyster varieties. “I’m just doing it to have Pflantz started out inoculat-
He liked the idea of using When he officially retired last something organized to do in ing oak logs with the mush-

32 FARM&FIELD THE HERALD-WHIG

 Rex Pflantz points to a bag that contains sawdust with wheat bran, gypsum and shiitake
spores in a building where he grows the shiitake mushrooms. Pflantz sells his mush-
rooms to Quincy restaurants, including the Maine Course. H-W Photo/Michael Kipley

“You need to spend time with them every

This bag of Italian mushrooms was started Aug. 3 by placing spores in straw with several
other ingredients. H-W Photo/Michael Kipley
rooms, but now he’s switched to
using sawdust blocks stored in
plastic bags.
“I sterilize substrate each
week, then about three weeks
later, I remove the plastic bag
and then in a week to 10 days
have some shiitake mushroom
on that block if everything
goes good,” he said. “It’s a much
shorter process. When I was
doing logs, it was 11 months to
1 1⁄2 years before I would get
any production, and it wasn’t as
predictable.”
Oyster mushrooms produce
even faster in a straw sub-
strate, which is inoculated with
mushroom spawn and stored in
plastic, but still pose growing
challenges.
“In six weeks, I should have
oyster mushrooms coming out
of little holes in the bag,” he said.
“I’ve been into production
long enough where I pretty
much harvest some mushrooms
every day,” he said. “You need to
spend time with them every day,
provide the right environment,
make sure they’ve got humid-
ity and temperature in proper
ranges and go from there.”
Mushrooms aren’t the first
nontraditional farming venture
for Pflantz. He raised emu in
day, provide the right environment, make
sure they’ve got humidity and temperature
in proper ranges and go from there.”
the early 2000s at his RJ Farms
near Hannibal, then switched
to goats.
“I’ve had fun doing a lot of dif-
ferent things,” he said. “If it’s not
fun, I’m not going to do it.”
Part of the enjoyment is figur-
ing out how to make things work
with materials available locally
versus buying ready-made items
— and that takes plenty of
online research.
“I can’t go down the road
and visit my neighbors and say,
‘How are your mushrooms go-
ing?’” he said. “A few people I’ve
visited with have shiitake logs
growing outside their homes for
their own use. If they get a batch
Rex Pflantz
mushroom farmer
or two a year, they’re perfectly
happy, but that doesn’t work
for me when I want to try to
produce for every week.”
Now he’s hoping to educate
more people about mushrooms
and how to grow them.
“The general public doesn’t
know a whole lot about oyster
and the shiitake,” Pflantz said.
“This is not a big money-maker.
Like a lot of locally grown stuff,
there’s some money in it, and I’m
getting my cost covered, but if
someone wanted to make this a
primary or secondary part of a
production operation, it can be
viable.” ■

Thank you
to our
Farmers
for providing
the COMMUNITY
with so very much!

1121 Maine • www.browndrugcompany.com • 228-6400

Monday thru Friday 8:30 to 7:00 | Saturday 8:30 to 5:00 | Closed Sunday

THE HERALD-WHIG FARM&FIELD 33

Mission space grows food for pantries
| By Matt Dutton
mdutton@whig.com

S
mall-space gardening
can be an important tool
for city-dwellers without
access to adequate land
to plant a garden.
Jim and Elaine Sours have been
tending to the Vermont Street
United Methodist Church’s Mis-
sion Garden for the last five years.
The garden was erected on what
used to be a lumberyard, and the
ground below the garden is a mix-
ture of stone, gravel and concrete.
The Sours started with six 4-by-
8-foot raised planter beds and have
been expanding each year. The
garden now comprises 16 of those
beds and five more waist-level
elevated beds.
“We had to buy top soil to fill
the beds,” Jim Sours said, “but
once it was built, it was a matter of
amending the soil with new crops
each year.”
All produce harvested from the Jim Sours picks tomatoes in the Mission Garden. The small-space garden is behind Vermont Street United Methodist Church. H-W Photo/
Mission Garden is given to Quincy Jake Shane
food pantries or church members
in need. Historically, the crops remarked that they wouldn’t eat Extension Unit 14, has been small- shade, to do container gardening
have gone solely to Horizons Soup any more because others needed it space gardening for 10 years. It you have to find the right spot.”
Kitchen and Food Pantry, but this more than they did,” Jim said. was perfect for her when renting The upside of small space
year, a majority of the harvest went The Mission Garden produces homes, and although she has more gardening is the flexibility it al-
to the Madonna House. vegetables and herbs — lettuce, space now, she still prefers it. lows, she said. Potted plants can
The Mission Garden also has radishes, green beans, sweet pota- “You can do so much with so be moved and rotated constantly
attracted the interest of the Quincy toes and more — from March until little,” Houle said. to maximize their time in the sun.
YMCA, which brings students to the first frost of the year. Three of Houle said it is important to find It also eliminates many of the
the space after school and during the beds are equipped with hoops containers with adequate drainage weed issues that come with larger
camps to learn about gardening. and covered in plastic, creating a holes that are large enough to ac- gardens and can be easier on the
“I’m hoping they learn how to greenhouse effect and extending commodate the plant being grown. back and knees.
grow a few things,” Elaine Sours the regular growing season. The “Don’t put gravel in the bottom “There’s less bending over with
said, “and how good fresh produce church donated soil and installed of pots,” she said. “It actually containers,” she said.
tastes.” water lines to the garden. inhibits drainage.” When growing herbs, it is bet-
The Sours said the children “We both enjoy gardening and Houle lines her pots with news- ter to grow them as close to the
enjoyed eating the produce directly have always had a good-sized gar- papers or coffee filters, which will kitchen door as possible. She said
from the plants, but the real learn- den of our own,” Jim said. “When eventually break down and pre- the closer to the door an herb pot is,
ing experience came when the the church bought the land to be a vent having to dig through soil to the more likely it is to be used.
harvest was donated. green space, we thought it could be pull out gravel before composting. “Select stuff you like, that you’re
“Once they had the opportunity more. So we volunteered.” “You need a good, quality pot- going to use,” she said, “but also
to take it to Horizons and Ma- Kari Houle, the horticulture ting mix and the right lighting,” try something you haven’t had
donna House, several of those kids educator for University of Illinois she said. “For those with a lot of before.” ■

800 -720-8453 I timewellpipe.com

34 THE HERALD-WHIG
From beauty queen to seed production
Pageant winner’s passion is showing children benefits of agriculture
| By Deborah Gertz Husar
dhusar@whig.com
wester only adds to the event’s
impact.
get young kids interested and in-
spired to be part of the industry

W
hen kids see
Miss Quincy
2017 Stephanie
Dearwester
wearing her
crown and sash, they have a hard
time believing she’s a farmer.
But Dearwester has turned
her passion for agriculture into a
platform of service for her reign
— and beyond.
“No matter where I’m at in
my life, as long as I’m involved
in agriculture, I’m always going
to advocate for agriculture,” she
said. “It’s the responsibility of ev-
erybody involved in this industry
to dispel the myths going around
on social media and really advo-
cate for what we do.”
Her pageant success — serving
as the 2015 Miss Adams County
Fair Queen and being named
second runner-up in the Miss
Illinois County Fair Queen before
winning Miss Quincy — gave
her the opportunity to talk about
her platform, “Planting the Seed:
Stephanie Dearwester holds a lamb while
wearing her crown and sash from the 2017
Miss Quincy pageant. The pageant queen
surprises people when she tells them that
she has a career in agriculture. H-W File Photo
seed sales representative for Stine
Seed Company.
She’s spread the word at
events like Down on the Farm,
an annual event for first-graders
in Carthage sponsored by the
Hancock County Farm Bureau,
and in individual classrooms at
area schools.
“Young people like Stepha-
nie who are passionate about
agriculture, the kids can see
that enthusiasm and build on it,”
Huls said. “It makes them excited
about ag to see her. She has the
knowledge and experience to help
the kids understand what they’re
learning.”
Dearwester hopes to make an
impression, especially on young
girls, about the importance of
agriculture and the opportunities
the industry provides.
“I like to be a role model that
no matter where you come from,
what you look like, who you are,
you can be in any industry you
want — and hopefully I’ll get
some of those younger girls in-
spired to be a part of agriculture
when they get older,” Dearwester
said.
“As our farmers get older and
retire, we need young people to
step up to the plate to continue on
that legacy of production to feed
the world,” she said. “We need to
and take on all the technological
advances and make our industry
move forward for the future.”
Planning to begin work on a
master’s degree in agronomy in
January, Dearwester has as a
long-term goal is to work as an
agronomist.
“I want to be hands-on with
farmers, help them optimize
their farming operations and be
good stewards of the land for the
future,” she said.
Beyond inspiring careers about
agriculture, Dearwester also
hopes to impart understanding.
With a buzzword like organic,
“people don’t quite understand
what they truly mean but it af-
fects how they buy food. It affects
their consumer decisions, and
that’s very concerning,” she said.
“Everyone thinks that organic
automatically means healthier or
safer, and no chemicals, but that’s
simply not true. It’s just differ-
ent kinds of chemicals used on
organic products.” ■

Crop • Farm • Home • Auto

Agricultural Education for the Even in rural areas such as
Future,” in classrooms, through Camp Point, where her high
a blog touching on topics such school is surrounded by a corn
as animal rights versus animal field, “a lot of kids are still un-

welfare and organic food and
by working with local Farm
Bureaus.
“I strive to bridge the gap be-
tween agriculture producer and
consumers by educating the pub-
lic on common ag practices and
techniques,” Dearwester said.
Sharing that message comes
naturally to Dearwester, who
grew up on a farm, earned a
bachelor’s degree in agricultural
science at Truman State Univer-
sity and works as an independent
Business • Life
aware of what goes into a farm-
ing operation,” she said. “We need
to inspire new people who didn’t
grow up with an ag background
to take an active role in the indus-
try as well.” The Difference is Our Service.
Hands-on learning
Hancock County Farm Bureau
Manager Kristin Huls said events
like Down on the Farm bring kids
away from the classroom into a
hands-on learning environment,
and involving people like Dear-

Zach Baucom
of Daniel G. Frese Insurance
201 E. Wood St., Camp Point, IL
217-593-6386
Licensed in Illinois and Missouri
CAMP POINT MUTUAL PAYSON FARMERS MUTUAL

THE HERALD-WHIG 35
Butterfly royalty
| By Ashley Szatala
aszatala@whig.com
I
llinois is at the center of the mon-
arch butterfly’s more than 2,000-
mile migration from Mexico to
the Midwest and Canada. Unlike
other butterflies, it cannot sur-
vive cold winters, so it travels north
to breed and then returns south to
Mexico for the winter.
Scientists monitor monarch popula-
tions during this migration, and in
recent decades, butterfly numbers
have dropped. In 1997, the Monarch
Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and other
organizations counted about 682 million
monarch butterflies in Mexico, whereas
42 million were noticed in 2015.
Many factors, such as climate
change, deforestation, disease and
drought, are thought to be reasons for
the decline in the monarch butterfly
population.
But the loss of milkweed — the only
plant on which the monarch will lay
eggs and its caterpillars can feed —
also is considered a culprit.
“Roadsides get mowed on a regular
basis. We have a large population,
and people need places to live. A lot of
natural land is being converted. Also,
milkweed is not as common anymore
in landscaping,” University of Illinois
Extension horticulture educator Kari
Houle explained. “All of these fac-
tors and many more contribute to the
decline of milkweed.”
Many ecologists also point to the
36
conversion of pastures and other mar-
ginal sites into cropland and the use of
nonselective herbicides as reasons for
milkweed loss. For example, recent re-
search published in the journal BioSci-
ence reveals that milkweed numbers
have dropped by about 95 percent in
Illinois croplands during the last 20
years. Overall, the plant has decreased
by 21 percent throughout the U.S.
Plant milkweed at home
One way to combat the loss of milk-
weed and low monarch butterfly num-
bers is to plant milkweed at home.
“I have some common milkweed in
my backyard, and it will regrow each
year,” Houle said. “I like to say, ‘Grow,
baby, grow.’”
Fall is an ideal time to plant milk-
weed because cool temperatures will
cause milkweed to break its dorman-
cy, thus eliminating in-home stratifi-
cation. If stratification is not done, the
number of seeds that germinate could
be reduced. Some milkweed species
specifically grow well over the winter.
These include perennials common
milkweed and butterfly milkweed.
“Butterfly weed is such a great
perennial that it was named perennial
plant of the year for 2017,” Houle said.
She added that if planting milkweed,
gardeners also should plant the spring
flowers that provide nectar for butter-
flies. Such flowers include blazing stars
and coreopsis. With combinations of
these plants, monarch butterflies are
likely to stop for a visit. n
FARM&FIELD
Creating a butterfly garden
Follow these steps for an at-home butterfly garden in the
spring.
If planting outdoors:
• Wet soil before planting so seeds are not washed away.
• Bury seeds below ground about the length from the tip
of your index finger to the first knuckle. Make sure they are
planted 6 to 24 inches apart, depending on the species.
• Place extra mulch overtop the seeds for protection.
• Mark seeds with plant labels.
• Enjoy winter.
• Transplant or thin milkweed one to two months — or
at 3 to 6 inches high — after seedlings have sprouted in the
spring so that the milkweed has plenty of sunlight and air
circulation.
• Care for the milkweed and watch for monarch butterfly
guests. Milkweed can reach heights of 2 to 6 feet when fully
grown.
If planting indoors:
• Place milkweed seeds in a damp paper towel inside of a
zipper bag, then place inside a refrigerator. Leave inside for
about 30 days so that cold stratification can occur.
• Dampen soil in small peat pots.
• Place one to two seeds in each pot, then cover with 1⁄4
inches of soil.
• Move pots to a sunny window, greenhouse or grow
light. Water each day.
• Transplant milkweed in your garden in early spring after
the danger of frost has passed.
• Initially water the milkweed for a few days, then water
only if weather becomes unusually dry.
Information from
monarchbutterflygarden.net
and monarchlab.org.
The herald-whig
Farmers plan to keep busy during winter off-season
| By Deborah Gertz Husar
dhusar@whig.com “Between now Shifting energies
They have to make a decision on
where they apply their time.”
and the time the

K
ent Shriver might
still be focused on
this year’s harvest,
but he’s already
making decisions for
next year’s crop.
By late August, Shriver and
many other farmers already
were looking at seed choices for
2018.
“To get the decent seed sizes
and popular varieties, you’ve got
to order them early. One number
I like to plant was in short sup-
ply, and I needed to order it,”
said Shriver, who raises corn
and soybeans near Ursa.
When harvest wraps up, he’ll
focus on spraying fall chemicals
to slow winter annual weeds.
“If you drive around next
spring and see fields with pretty
purple flowers, those weeds
compete for nutrients you
already put on the field. Plus
they’re a good place for all mi-
gratory insects to land and lay
their eggs, and you’ve got a bug
problem,” Shriver said.
ground freezes,
there will be plenty
to do. It’s more
behind-the-scenes
than what it looks.”
Kent Shriver
farmer
Then there’s tillage work to
do, applying anhydrous, making
chemical decisions for 2018,
maintaining equipment and
continuing to keep watch over
the crop in the bin.
“Between now and the time
the ground freezes, there will be
plenty to do,” Shriver said. “It’s
more behind-the-scenes than
what it looks. That’s something
I always try to stress to my city
friends who say, ‘Oh, you work
three weeks in spring and three
weeks in fall, and you’re done.’ ”
So much for having an “off”
season on the farm.
Livestock keeps farmers busy
year-round, but even grain
farmers like Shriver don’t see
much, if any, down time.
“I don’t really call it down
time in the ag industry. I call it
a shifting of where we put our
energies. It’s more inside and
book work because of weather
constraints,” Adams County
Farm Bureau Manager Shawn
Valter said. “Nothing to do in
the field doesn’t mean a farmer
isn’t busy. Those might be busier
times.”
A grain farmer’s lull time
quickly fills up with hauling
grain to fulfill contracts, work-
ing on equipment, finishing
state and federal income taxes
and attending meetings or trade
shows.
“When spring planting and
fall harvest is going on, you
know exactly what you’re do-
ing every day, unless there’s
a breakdown, and very little
decision-making,” Valter said.
“In the winter, there may be
two or three meetings to go to.
Other decisions focus on what
to do next year.
“They are planning for next
year’s crop. Because of the tight
economic times farmers are
facing, by pre-paying for seed
or even chemicals and fertilizer,
they are able to get a discount,
and it seems like that’s earlier
and earlier each year,” Valter
said. “It’s two-fold. It saves
farmers money, and it allows
companies to be sure they have
their client base taken care of.”
Field work, too
Even in the winter months,
farmers keep busy in the field.
“People are able to do field
work or terrace work or things
like that on their farm to get
fields ready to plant,” Valter
said. “After harvest is over, you
can go around and repair tile
outlets that might need some
attention that you don’t get to
in the summer months. There’s
always field maintenance and
field things to do if weather
permits.” n

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The herald-whig FARM&FIELD 37
| Advertiser Index
1st Farm Credit Services 20 Hancock Village 30
Ag Drainage Inc. 18 Hannibal Clinic 25
Bleigh Ready Mix Co. 12 John Wood Community College 29
Blessing Physician Services 39 Marine Bank & Trust 26
Brown County State Bank 28 Memorial Hospital 3, 21
Brown Drug Co. 33 Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance- Bryan Bartz 12
CareLink 21 Morton Buildings 25
Central State Bank 37 Prairie View Insurance Agency 22
Charles L. Crane Agency Co. 26 Quincy Siding & Window 31
Daniel G. Frese Insurance - Zach Baucom 35 SIU Center for Family Medicine 31
Diamond Residential Mortgage Corp. 34 State Street Bank 15
Edward Jones - Bill Sanders 7 Sydenstricker 9
Farm & Home Supply 28 Timewell Tile 34
Farmers National Co. 30 Titan International Inc. Back
First Bankers Trust Co. 22 Western Illinois Agri-Systems 8
Grawe Insurance Agency 35 WGEM 13

“Cultivators of the
earth are the most
valuable citizens.
They are the most
vigorous, the most
independent, the
most virtuous,
and they are tied
to their country
and wedded to
its liberty and
interests by the
most lasting
bonds.”
Thomas Jefferson
President of the United States

Gary Speckhart plows the corn stalks in a field along Illinois 57, a mile south of Marblehead, in preparation for the next growing season.
H-W Photo/Michael Kipley

38 FARM&FIELD The herald-whig

THE HERALD-WHIG 39