Children and adults interacted with animals and got a taste of agricultural life during the McHenry County Farm Stroll on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. The farm stroll, a program of self-guided visits to 11 participating McHenry County family farms, featured demonstrations, tours, animals and products for sale.

Farmers begin the 2025 harvest season across the Illinois Valley.

There are between 20 and 40 grain entrapment incidents annually in the U.S.

On Sept. 4 and 5, 446 Ogle and Carroll County fourth and fifth graders gathered for the 23rd annual Ag Awareness Days at the Ogle County Fairgrounds to learn about modern agriculture and its influences on daily living.

Harvest began for Ogle County farmers in mid-September, Ogle County Farm Bureau Manager Ron Kern said Sept. 25, 2025.

The TALK-LINE interview for Sept. 23 featured Lee County Farm Bureau Manager Ashleigh Erbes discussing 2025 National Farm Safety and Health Week, which runs from now through Sept. 27.

HELLMICH: My appreciation for the beauty and abundance of the Sauk Valley’s natural resources has grown during my 10 years in the area, and I thank our neighbors who dedicate themselves to protecting these resources for our children and grandchildren.

Democratic candidates vying for outgoing U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat say tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump has hurt small businesses and farmers.

Stillman Valley's Theresa Miller currently has three giant pumpkins growing in advance of a competition on Sept. 27: Patches, Dimples and Roxanne. She believes Patches, the largest of the three, is currently nearing 1,700 pounds and hopes to see more growth.

Leaf River Soaring Eagles 4-H Club members were busy being judged and working at the Ogle County Fair this year.

In July, Farm Foundation celebrated the leadership of outgoing board chair, Dan Basse, president of AgResource, and welcomed its new chair, Cheri De Jong, owner of AgriVision Farm Management.

The Sauk Valley Community College greenhouse and JL Acres LLC organic crops are among sites that will be toured.

The risk to aerial applicators was magnified last month with four crashes within eight days in Illinois, one of them an applicator plane crash near the Ogle County Airport in Mt. Morris along Illinois Route 64. The 23-year-old pilot died in the crash.

Individuals will be selected based on receipt of the highest bid per ton that is harvested.

The Conservation Foundation’s Dickson-Murst Farm in Montgomery is hosting a free Day at the Farm event Aug. 17.

The Merry Martha Club donated a check to the group from money received at their recent quilt auction.

Visitors can get a taste of what farm life was like and learn about Kendall County’s rural heritage at a Day at the Dickson-Murst Farm on Aug. 17.

Vendors sell their wares from 3-6 p.m. Thursdays in the Pavilion.

There will be displays of farm machinery, tractors, trucks and lawn mowers all day. A blacksmith will be demonstrating tool-making and there will be fun family activities and a farm animal zoo.

Guests will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the Dixon sanctuary’s beautiful landscape and the animals who call it home. Register online to secure a spot on the tour.

Antique farm equipment in a rainbow of colors from original rust to shiny yellow and green filled the show grounds from July 25-27, 2025, on the Bos Brothers Historical Farm, located on Springhill Road south of Erie.

Rock Falls resident Avery Lynn Torres recently joined the American Angus Association as a junior member.

Grassland CRP, offered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, is a voluntary working lands conservation program that enables participants to conserve grasslands while also continuing most grazing and haying practices, according to a news release from the Carroll County FSA.

The Youth In Ag Foundation presentation of scholarships and the Brownfield Ag awards will begin at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. The auction starts at 7 p.m. in the Carroll County Fairgrounds' Poultry Barn.

Agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can now apply for $16 billion in assistance through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program.

Antique farm machinery in a spectrum of colors and styles will descend again on the Bos Brothers Historical Farm, located on Springhill Road south of Erie, for the 10th anniversary show Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 25-27, 2025. Show hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Bringing forth the freshest flavors of the season is the motivator at Bothwell Farms, offering its own retail locations in Manhattan and New Lenox, and delivering its produce to farmers markets in Will, Grundy and suburban Cook counties.

The smell of fresh-roasted sweet corn will fill downtown Herscher on Friday as the 49th annual Corn Bowl returns to South Main Street from 5-11 p.m.

Natalie Pratt, who graduated from Amboy High School this year, has family ties to FFA that reach back to her childhood. Her mother, aunt and uncle all served as state officers, and Pratt often traveled with her mother to FFA conventions and workshops.

A Wisconsin dairy farmer alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that the Trump administration is illegally denying financial assistance to white farmers by continuing programs that favor minorities

A bill that would lift long-standing restrictions on small poultry farmers in Illinois, reducing red tape and transforming the way local farmers process and sell their products, is heading to the governor

The Will County Thresherman’s Association's annual 40-mile Vintage Tractor Drive Fundraiser goes from Manhattan to Wilmington.

Special events range from The Morton Arboretum's Arbor Day Plant Sale and a production of "Our Town" at the MAC to live music, a showcase of jewelry artistry and an interactive exhibition on farming in DuPage County at the Elmhurst History Museum.

Three hundred fifth graders attended the annual Ag Expo on Friday, April 25, at the Lee County 4H Fairgrounds in Amboy.

300 fifth graders from Lee County spent the day learning about many facets of agriculture during the annual Ag Expo at the Lee County Fairgrounds.

McHenry County's only I-90 interchange is at Route 23 in Marengo and opened five years ago. The land around it remains mostly agricultural but Marengo aims to bring new development there.

A bill in Springfield would regulate the mink industry at the state level, creating mink farm licensing and requirements. But proponents and opponents have two vastly different opinions on what the bill really aims to do.

The ag program offers a variety of interactive classes, including crop and animal sciences, agriculture mechanics, horticulture, woodworking and landscape design.

Despite the program’s popularity and calls from environmentalists and farmers for its funding to increase, Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed a 31% funding cut

The 43rd annual Sublette Farm Toy Show was held Saturday, March 15, 2025, and Sunday, March 16, 2025. Vendors brought in thousands of toy cars, trucks and tractors to the delight of both collectors and the curious.

Sublette is known as “The Little Town with the Big Toy Show.”

Cultivating Connections is intended to bring in administrators and local school leaders who don’t necessarily have an ag background and provide them with an enriching experience that demonstrates the value of an agriculture education.

Brenda Stewart, a farm owner in Pembroke Township, received grant funding through the state. She told Capitol News Illinois she is most worried about the people who depend on her farm and the grant program to eat healthy

The Trump administration has stopped reimbursing Illinois for a program designed to help farmers and supply fresh food to Illinois food banks

Without solidified legislation, funding is in limbo. Farmers rely on crop insurance funding from the farm bill, which protects farmers from losses in crop yields and revenue due to disasters like drought and severe weather events

The DeKalb High School Future Farmers of America chapter held a Barnyard Zoo Family Night Wednesday to celebrate National FFA Week. The event offered the chance for visitors to meet farm animals, take part in arts and crafts and learn about farming in DeKalb County.

Second City Greens in Lockport is a hydroponic farm that grows seven varieties of herbs, artisanal lettuces and select leafy greens, such as Swiss chard and kale.

The couple began operating the Barrington Hills farm in 2022, letting people come in and pick flowers for a fee, until the village sent them a letter ordering them to stop.

“U.S. soybean farmers lose one of their best tools to expand their markets and U.S. standards globally,” said Peter Goldsmith, the University of Illinois-based director of the Soybean Innovation Lab

VanOpdorp has served since 2017 as chief financial officer, and was named vice president in 2018.