SVM-SS3_07082014

Cover story: Master Farmer Craig Buhrow uses his experience to promote agriculture – Page 6

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 A supplement to Sauk Valley Media

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected]

Finding a nicheYoung Lee farmer makes herway in dairy industry – Page 4

The new ‘black gold’Veteran Bureau farmer turnswaste into humus – Page 10

Agri-tourismSeventh Whiteside Barn Tour

is this weekend – Page 11

typed in Cosmos extra bold

PAGE 2 Today’s Farm July 8, 2014

BY STEPHANIE HENRYU of I Extension

URBANA – Have ques-tions about western corn rootworm, or looking for the latest secrets to soy-bean success?

Plan to hear more on these and other topics related to crop sciences at the 58th annual Agrono-my Day at the University of Illinois on Aug. 14.

Field tour topics and speakers for Agronomy Day 2014 were recently announced.

Topics are:Tour A

Q Resistant varieties help combat losses from soybean cyst nematodesQ Soybean aphid resis-

tance genesQ Breeding for resis-

tance to sudden death syndrome of soybean

Q Do soybeans need nitrogen fertilizer?

Tour BQ Evaluating options

for managing western corn rootworm larvae in IllinoisQ Western corn root-

worm resistance in Illi-noisQ N e w g e n e s f o r

increasing soybean yield from what!?Q Uncovering maize

genetic response to applied nitrogen

Tour CQ Rediscovering our

tallgrass prairies: Fuel, forage, and conservationQ Cover crops for Illi-

nois: What we hear and what we knowQ Where is the price of

cropland headed?Q Farm programs in the

new farm bill

Tour DQ How shalt thou rotate?Q The quest for high

corn and soybean yieldsQ Improving corn yield

potential with banded phosphorus fertilizerQ Fertigation: A new

solution for high corn and soybean yields

For a full list of this year’s speakers and topics, visit http://agronomyday.cropsci.illinois.edu online.

Agronomy Day attracts more than 1,000 people each year who seek the latest information on technology and tech-niques to improve food and fuel production.

For more information on speakers and displays, “like” University of Illinois Agronomy Day on Face-book or visit the Agrono-my Day website.

Field tour topics announced AGRONOMY DAY 2014

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – The Illinois Department of Agriculture is starting a new program for farmers to recycle fertilizer and pesticide containers.

Department officials say beginning in late July there will be sites throughout the state that collect containers and recycle them into small

plastic chips that will be used to make ship-ping pallets, fence posts, drainage tubing and plas-tic lumber among other products.

Agriculture director Bob Flider says the program offers farmers “a conve-nient opportunity to dis-pose of empty pesticide containers and demon-

strate their environmen-tal stewardship.”

Metal and household pesticide containers are not eligible for the recy-cling program.

Participants are respon-sible for rinsing contain-ers and removing all caps, labels, booklets and seals.

Online: http://www.agr.state.il.us

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PAGE 3Today’s FarmSauk Valley Media

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY

Agricultural county fairs have a long tradition in Illinois, but the impact goes far beyond delight-ful squeals from children on the Tilt-A-Whirl and sticky fingers from cotton candy.

In a cooperative effort between the University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs, fair-goers in 15 counties will be surveyed to assess the economic impact of Illi-nois’ agricultural fairs.

The report will address the money spent by fair attendees, as well as non-economic impacts of annual fairs.

The Whiteside County Fair, to be held Aug. 12-16

in Morrison, will be one of the fairs to be surveyed.

Other fairs are in the counties of Adams, C h a m p a i g n , C l a r k , DeKalb, Fayette, Greene, Hamilton, Lake, Mason, Massac, Marshall, Mercer, Monroe, and Richland.

Trained 4-H youth sur-veyors will ask a percent-age of fairgoers to com-plete a survey, which will collect information about the fair attendees’ spend-ing habits at the fair, their

reason for attending, and other information to help assess the value of local agricultural fairs.

Youths will also assist in presenting the results to the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs during its 2015 annual confer-ence.

In addition to the blind surveys, key members of the county fair expe-

rience, including fair board members, livestock superintendents, carnival operators, exhibitors and vendors, will be inter-viewed.

“Illinois 4-H is proud to assist in this economic development project with the Illinois Associa-tion of Agricultural Fairs,” said Bill Million, U of I 4-H Youth Development

Extension specialist.“4-H has a long-stand-

ing tradition of teamwork with our local county fairs, and we support the value of the fair experi-ence.

“In addition, 4-H youth will gain valuable experi-ence in research meth-ods, data analysis and publ ic presentat ion skills,” Million said.

Survey to document fairs’ economic impact Whiteside fair among thoseto be sampled

U of I Extension

Today’s Farm celebrates agriculture in the Sauk Valley and beyond. It is published by Sauk Valley Media six times a year – in January, March, May, July, September and November.

We welcome story ideas about interesting local people who are involved with agriculture. Call Jim Dunn at 800-798-4085, ext. 5511, or send an email to [email protected].



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LEE COUNTY

DIXON – Renee Sheaffer Koster comes from a long line of dairy farmers. Her great-grandfather pur-chased the current Lee County farm in the 1930s.

So when Koster’s father, Leonard Sheaffer, sold the dairy herd in the 1990s, she knew she likely would have to find a niche to continue the family’s dairy tradition in the Dixon area.

“When I was younger and interested in dairy, my dad couldn’t encour-age me to get started in the dairy business,” Koster, a Lee County Farm Bureau member, told FarmWeek.

“We didn’t have the money to invest to replace existing buildings and old equipment, and we didn’t want to milk 100 cows.

“My dad said I’d have to get big, get a niche, or get out,” she said. “So, I got a niche.”

Koster joined 4-H, enrolled in the dairy cat-tle project, and started milking cows and selling extra raw milk. She also

earned a degree in ani-mal science/dairy from the University of Wiscon-sin, Platteville.

Fourteen years after Koster bought her first 4-H calf, the project morphed into a full-flung farming operation.

T h e f a r m , n a m e d Windsweep Farm by Koster’s grandfather, Harold Sheaffer, cur-rently features a herd of 130 dairy and beef cattle along with hogs, layer and broiler chickens, sheep and goats.

Most of Koster’s farm products are direct-marketed to consumers. In fact, the niche of raw milk sales and locally grown meat was critical for Koster to carve out a career in production ag.

“It all started with the dairy,” she said. “I had too much milk to sell pri-vately, so I started rais-ing bottle calves with the extra milk and sell-ing beef. Then, I had too much milk for the num-ber of calves I could han-dle, so I started raising milk-fed pork.”

Customers at Wind-sweep Farm currently purchase raw milk and also buy eggs, cuts of beef, pork or lamb. Koster and her father are part-ners in the beef opera-tion. Leonard also grows 240 acres of row crops,

and the father-daughter partners make all the hay for the livestock.

Raw milk sales are

somewhat controver-sial, though, in Illinois and other states. Alleged raw milk safety concerns

spurred proposed regula-tions and raw milk bans that threaten to shut down raw milk dairies.

Potential regulations concern Koster. Leon-ard served on the State Health Department’s dairy work group com-mittee.

“The [proposed] regu-lations are above and beyond what Grade A dairy farms have to meet,” Koster said. “A number of the rules listed in the regulations would be impossible even for current Grade A dairies to pass.

“We [on the dairy com-mittee] have done a lot of research looking into illnesses that the state is worried about, and we can’t find evidence [of raw milk safety issues],” Leonard said.

In fact, Koster’s cus-tomers believe raw milk has health benefits and improves the digestibility of cow’s milk.

“My customers are my inspectors,” she said.

Young farmer finds niche in dairy industry Koster, 27, always wanted to milk cows

NICHE CONTINUED ON 5�

Ken Kashian/FarmWeekNow.com Renee Sheaffer Koster and her father, Leonard Sheaffer, pose on their Lee Coun-ty farm with a Brown Swiss dairy cow.

BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeekNow.com

Lee County 4-H Fair

& Jr. ShowJuly 24-27

Lee Co. FairgroundsWWW.LEECOUNTY4HCENTER.COM


“They come to the farm to pick up milk and can look at everything. If they don’t like it or have

a problem with the milk, they won’t come back.”

The young dairy farmer, though, remains optimis-tic about the future.

“I am happy to farm and people are happy to get what I raise, meet the

farmer who grows their food, and see where their food is raised,” Koster said.

“As long as those things are important to people and as long as people keep eating, I think agriculture has a bright future.”

ReneeSheaffer

Koster col-lects eggs

and checks on her poul-try flock on the family’s

operation, Windsweep

Farm near Dixon. In

addition to selling raw

milk, the farm sells eggs

and cuts of beef, pork

and lamb tocustomers.

NICHECONTINUED FROM 4

W

Young farmer optimistic about futureKen Kashian/FarmWeekNow.com

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COVER STORY

WEST BROOKLYN – Craig Buhrow believes that change at the top can-not happen without some-one first speaking up for the little guy at the bottom.

“Somebody’s got to represent what’s going on here,” he said. “When

y o u s t a r t g o i n g t o Springfield and Wash-ington, you start seeing how impor-tant it is to have your people talk-ing to those

people. You don’t see results right away, but you know it builds up.”

Buhrow, 63, recently was named a Master Farmer by Prairie Farm-er magazine, a premier farming magazine in Illi-nois and the oldest con-tinuously published farm periodical in the United States.

Buhrow, one of four farmers to receive the honor, was chosen for his excellence in farming, his commitment to fam-ily, and his service to the community, according to a news release.

The magazine first offered the award in 1925 as a way to recog-nize Illinois farmers for something more than just farming skills. The magazine continues to present the awards every year because of the con-tributions farmers make to Illinois agriculture and their communities.

“The farmers we’ve honored over the years represent a gallery of the greatest in Illinois agri-culture,” Josh Flint, edi-tor of Prairie Farmer, said in a news release.

The Buhrows – Craig and Marjorie, a recently retired home economics teacher, and their son, Allyn, and his wife, Amy – operate Buhrow Farms between West Brooklyn and Ashton in Lee County.

A voice for the guys at the bottomLee County’s latest Master Farmer chosen for excellence

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected]

BY KAYLA HEIMERMANSpecial to Today’s Farm

MASTER CONTINUED ON 7�

Craig Buhrow points to the corn dryer at his farm in rural West Brooklyn. Buhrow, who was named a Master Farmer by Prairie Farmer magazine, oper-ates Buhrow Farms with his wife, Marjorie, and son and daughter-in-law, Allyn and Amy. Buhrow was one of four Illinois farmers to receive the honor this year.

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They grow corn and soybeans on about 1,800 acres. Allyn Buhrow also runs a Pioneer dealership.

Buhrow, who grew up on a farm north of Ster-ling, took over the family farm out of high school in the late 1960s. He and Margie, who met on a blind date while in col-lege at the University of Illinois, married in 1972 and moved to Lee County to farm with her father in 1979.

Buhrow talks about as fast as he moves, even now into his early 60s. He believes people are either suited to farming or not suited to it. And he is one of those who has the tem-perament and the where-withal.

“Farming is so seasonal and so hard,” he said. “The guys who walk into it through the family … they can keep working till the job is done and still

not be successful. … You got to have the tempera-ment to put up with it. … You have to have that drive. You can’t get dis-couraged real easily.

“There are a lot easier jobs in the world than [this]. You’ve gotta enjoy it.”

Buhrow also believes in donating his time to valu-able agriculture industry groups, as well as to the community.

He has served on the Lee County Farm Bureau (with a stint as vice president and presi-dent), as well as the Lee County 4-H Fair Board and the Lee County Zon-ing Board, on which he helped site the first Illi-nois wind farm.

He joined the Illinois Corn Growers Asso-ciation in 2005 and just recently ended his tenure as the director of District 4, which includes Lee, Whiteside and Bureau counties.

‘You have to have that drive’ to be a farmerMASTER

CONTINUED FROM 6W

FARMER CONTINUED ON 8�

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected] Buhrow of rural West Brooklyn was named one of the Master Farmers for 2014 by the agricultural trade publication Prairie Farmer. Along with farming, Buhrow has donated his time to the community as well as to various agricultural industry groups. Buhrow grew up on a farm north of Sterling.

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The state corn advocacy group nominated him for the honor.

Buhrow is ready to relinquish the reins, though.

“ T h e r e h a v e b e e n people available to run different projects or groups, and I’ve stepped back and let them do it because I’ve done it,” he said.

“I’ll still fill in when there’s a vacancy. But [other people] have to go through the learning experience, too.”

Danelle Burrs, manager of the Lee County Farm Bureau, said Buhrow has a willingness to get involved.

“He’s been active, and he still is active,” she said. “And he is passion-ate about agriculture and is willing to get involved through Farm Bureau, through the Corn Grow-ers.

“He’s willing to get

involved for the better-ment of agriculture.”

Buhrow is the sec-ond Lee County farmer in as many years to be named a Master Farmer. Jim Sheaffer of Dixon received the honor last year.

Burrs said Lee County

farmers are in a class of their own.

“We have a lot of really great farmers, but they’re also really great mem-bers of the community,” she said.

“That’s what makes them above and beyond the rest.”

‘Passionate about agriculture’FARMER

CONTINUED FROM 7W

Holly Spangler/Special to Today’s Farm Craig and Marjorie Buhrow raise about 1,800 acres of corn and soybeans. Craig Buhrow is one of four Illi-nois farmers to be named a Master Farmer by Prairie Farmer magazine.

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected] An auger loads corn into a semitrailer at Buhrow Farms in rural West Brooklyn.

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LAKE COUNTY

FREMONT TOWNSHIP (AP) – The milking barn was cleaned that morning but the air remained pun-gently reminiscent of the Holsteins that for genera-tions had been the focus at the Diebold farm.

About a week earlier, the last of the milking cows were sold, ending a long tradition of family dairying in Lake County. The old stanchions – 13 on each side – where the cows would be secured for milking and two stalls at the end of the ancient barn had literally become history.

“Everybody my age basi-cally quit,” said George Diebold, who at 66 has the creaky knees and back that come with a lifetime of milking, twice a day, every day, and growing and harvesting hay and corn for feed. “There’s a few who farm, but nobody wants to milk cows.”

At one time, there were many processing plants and hundreds of dairy farms in Lake County, said Greg Koeppen, man-ager of the Lake County Farm Bureau.

Some were large farms

and others had only a few cows to produce milk for the family or as barter for other goods, he said.

The Diebold farm, which was settled in 1872, was the last true family dairy operation.

“It’s the end of a long era in Lake County,” Koep-pen said.

That also means the age-old Diebold family prac-tice of moving the herd to pasture in spring and summer along Fremont Center Road – much to the delight of onlookers

and the occasional police escort – has become another footnote.

Virginia, the family matriarch who died about 5 years ago, relished that duty well into her 80s. Sometimes, people would bring their kids to watch and take pictures.

“It’s kind of strange,”

George Diebold said of the quiet, empty barn. “Now, you walk in, and you know they’re not here.”

Golden Oaks Farm in Wauconda is now the last dairy operation in Lake County, Koeppen said, but it is a corporate con-cern run by hired man-

agers and employees. The modern, computer-ized operation with three milkings a day attracts visitors from around the world, Koeppen said.

“It’s not what we would classify as a family farm,” he said.

To get a sense of how long the Diebolds have endured, consider that the dairy barn was remodeled in 1933 with concrete replacing the dirt floor and metal stalls replacing wooden ones. The date is etched in the foundation for posterity.

At its peak, the Diebold farm had about 40 milk-ing cows. George Diebold, who was born and raised there, said he has been cutting back the past few years because of a com-

bination of age and eco-nomics.

He used to sell to a dairy plant that supplied Dean Foods, but its operators wanted a premium to pick up his milk.

“The trucks didn’t want to come this far because there was no one else,” Diebold said. “We just phased out slowly.”

Diebold cows could pro-duce as much as 400 gal-lons of milk every 2 days. It is something the family will miss, said George’s sister, Mary Lou.

“That’s what we were raised on,” she said. “That’s going to be an adjustment.”

Note to readers: This is an Illinois Exchange story shared by the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald.

Milked dry: Cows sold, dairy farm closesEnd of a long era for family

AP Photo/Daily Herald, Gilbert R. Boucher IIDairy farmer George Diebold, of Fremont Township, Lake County, Illinois, poses in the family farm’s empty milking barn on May 5. About a week earlier, the last of the milking cows were sold, ending a long tradition of dairying by the Diebold family.

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AG INNOVATION

WALNUT – Some peo-ple don’t care to live on or near livestock facilities.

But Alan Dale, a farmer from Walnut and for-mer Illinois Farm Bureau president, views it as a golden opportunity.

Dale converts every-thing from landscape waste to animal manure into humus. The nutri-ent-rich product then gets used by farmers and local gardeners as a pro-ductive and affordable fertilizer.

“I’ve been composting since 2001,” Dale said.

“I have a beef cow herd, and there is about 10 mil-lion gallons of liquid hog manure within a 5-mile radius of my operation. So, I have an unlimited supply of nitrogen.”

Dale was among the first farmers in the state to apply for and receive a permit to operate an organic landscape waste compost facility.

He can compost any type of landscape waste, such as grass trimmings and tree branches, along with animal manure and crop residue. The mixture eventually evolves into high-quality humus.

“Everything we do is about creating an envi-ronment where microbes can flourish,” Dale said. “It’s microbes that actu-ally create the humus.”

The homegrown fertil-izer reduces input costs and can improve crop yields, according to Dale, who was IFB vice presi-dent from 1991 to 1993 and president in 1993.

“I can better control the costs of my fertility pro-gram,” he said.

A 4-year study on Dale’s farm found the humus fertilizer improved yields by 10 percent for corn, 6 percent for beans, 14 per-cent for alfalfa tonnage, and 20 percent for oats.

The oats make up a key part of the operation, as Dale uses the straw as

part of his compost reci-pe.

Overall, Dale uses about 70 percent of the humus on his crop acres and markets the rest to cli-

ents, such as local farm-ers and gardeners.

He also serves as a con-sultant in the compost industry and has traveled to Australia, Colombia,

Mexico, Panama and Pak-istan in that capacity.

More information about composting can be found at www.midwestbiosys-tems.com.

Farmer converts waste into ‘black gold’Dale views composting as a golden opportunity for farmers

Alan Dale’s son, Matt (right), inserts a tem-perature probe into a row of compost-ing material, while employee Wes Taylor takes a reading. Alan Dale’s operation has been turning landscape waste and manure into nutrient-rich humus since 2001. A former president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, Dale uses about 70 percent of the humus on his land and sells the rest to nearby farmers and gardeners.

BY DAN GRANTFarmWeekNow.com

Photo by FarmWeekNow.com

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WHITESIDE COUNTY

How ya gonna get ’em down on the farm?

By offering tours of vin-tage barns, that’s how.

The Whiteside County Farm Bureau has been doing just that for half a dozen years in various areas of the county.

Last year, western White side County was featured, with barn tour part icipants driving around rural Erie, Alba-ny and Morrison to visit a variety of barns, some more than a century old.

The seventh annual Whi-teside County Barn Tour, scheduled for the second weekend in July, returns to the region where the first barn tour took place – north of Sterling.

This time, 11 barns (10 of them new to the tour) have been selected for visitors to stop by and see.

Organizers say the route is a compact 28 miles and contains a little bit of everything a barn tour should have – a variety of architectural barn styles, beef and dairy cows, horses, vegetable gardens, fresh produce,

chickens, and antique farm equipment.

Plus, the Whiteside County Catt leman’s Association will have lunch available on the tour route both days.

Many of this year’s barns date back to the 1800s, tour organizers said.

Tour hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 12, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 13.

The way it works is that people drive to the first barn site, at 1963 Mound Hill Road, rural Dixon.

There, they pay a $20 admission fee per vehicle. In exchange, they receive a tour book and map.

After they tour the barn on Mound Hill Road, they follow the map to the remaining 10 farms where barns are featured.

(By the way, Mound Hill Road is between Sterling and Dixon. From Ster-ling, head east on Route 2 past Emerald Hill Golf Course. You will turn left, or north, onto Mound Hill Road. If you pass Sauk Valley Community College, you have gone too far.)

Organizers noted that payment may be made by credit card for the first time this year. A $1 trans-action fee will be charged. Additional books may be bought with a credit card.

Also important to note: restrooms will be avail-able on the route.

Over the past centu-ry, mechanization and technological advances caused many Americans to leave the farm.

The World War I-era song, alluded to earlier, humorously raised the worry about how Ameri-can farmers could ever

keep their soldier sons “down on the farm,” after they’d seen “Par-ee” (Paris, France).

F o r t u n a t e l y , t h e i r descendants, through the Whiteside County Barn Tour, have the chance to glimpse something of the lifestyle that grandpa, great-grandpa, or even great-great-grandpa once lived, “down on the farm.”

Barn tour gets ’em down on the farm7th jaunt will be north of Sterling

Jim Dunn/[email protected] barn built in 1877 dwarfs several participants who attended last year’s White-side County Barn Tour. This year’s tour takes place July 12 and 13.

STAFF [email protected]

800-798-4085, ext. 5501

WhitesideCounty

Barn TourMission: Provide

awareness, knowledge and resources to facili-tate a grassroots effort to preserve the barns and agricultural history of Whiteside County.

Dates: July 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; July 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Starting point: 1963 Mound Hill Road, rural Dixon

Amenities: Whiteside County Cattleman’s Association will have lunch available on the tour route both days; restrooms will also be available on the route.

Information: White-side County Farm Bureau office, Morrison, 815-772-2165

Website: whiteside-countybarntour.com

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Documents

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field tour topics

agriculture page

day website

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corn yield potential

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