Soils in Eastern Illinois are high in clay content. That is not a bad thing; it just means that we should take great precautions to work the soil when the moisture is right (in other words, dry). If we work the soils in conditions that are too wet, it ends up much like the playdoh[…] Read More

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2021 CROP TOUR
2021 Crop Tour to begin June 21 The 2021 Crop Tour begins on June 21 in Champaign Illinois. We needed to cut one day out of our tour this year , but will still travel some 1,600 miles West and North through parts of Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, in 3 days. There are 21 predetermined[…] Read More
2020 CROP TOUR
The 2020 Crop Tour began on June 23 in Champaign Illinois. We traveled some 1,800 miles West and North through parts of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Western Indiana in 4 days. There are 25 predetermined stops along the way with 9 in Illinois, 11 in Iowa, 3 in Minnesota and 2 in Western Indiana.[…] Read More
2020 Western Cornbelt Crop Tour
2020 Crop Tour to begin June 23The 2020 Crop Tour begins on June 23 in Champaign Illinois. We will travel some 1,800 miles West and North through parts of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Western Indiana in 4 days. There are 25 predetermined stops along the way with 9 in Illinois, 11 in Iowa, 3[…] Read More
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”
The necessity of quarantine over the last few months has presented unique challenges for businesses and organizations across the board. As COVID-19 made its way across the Midwest, our office took the precautions that many others adopted in an effort to keep our staff and clients confident of our investment in their well-being. As we[…] Read More
Apply for 2020 Agriculture Scholarships
Champaign County Farm Bureau Foundation is an organization started as a dream some 35 years ago. True agricultural visionaries saw the need to offer scholarships to local students studying agriculture. They awarded 2 scholarships in 1986. To date they have given away over $940,000 and will be close to going over $1,000,000 in total this[…] Read More
Rain Makes For a Tough Spring – Counting Our Blessings
WOW, just WOW! That pretty much sums up spring here in Central Illinois. We are finally putting to rest the spring planting season and once again we have been blessed in comparison to so many other areas of the Midwest. I do not want to give the impression that we have a record crop growing[…] Read More
And the awards go to…. 2018 top producers
January and February are busy months for me as I collect the data from all of our farms, put it all into detailed reports and make distributions to our clients and affiliates. Despite the desk time required this time of year, it is always rewarding to illustrate the return on investment for the hard work[…] Read More
Land Investment Expo #2 — US Presidents and the World Economies
The second post in a series “Takeaways from the Land Investment Expo in Des Moines Iowa January 25, 2019”. Our second speaker of the day (which I must admit initially I wasn’t too excited about) was Peter Zeihan. Mr Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist. What is a geopolitical strategist was my question? So I googled[…] Read More
Land Investment Expo #1 – Super Aircraft Carriers and US Economic Success
I attended the 12th Annual Land Investment Expo on January 25th in Des Moines Iowa. The event was sponsored by Peoples Company, a diversified real estate company based in Des Moines. The morning session started with economist Dennis Gartman author of “The Gartman Letter”. His message was varied but mostly centered on the US Government[…] Read More