Carroll County Farm Bureau

By Chastity Welch, Farm Bureau Manager

Another successful Membership Appreciation breakfast is in the books. The most successful part is probably that it brought a little bit of rain. Some very much needed rain, even while it wasn’t enough, it was nice to see rain still exists. We served around 380 members at our breakfast. While that number isn’t as high as it has been in the past, it is still a great number to have served in 4 hours.

A big thank you goes out to the Board of Directors, Women’s Committee, COUNTRY agents and assistants, and family members previously named that were all able to assist with the day. Teamwork certainly makes the day go smoothly. I know it makes mine and Carly’s job of planning it and making the flow work much easier.

We would like to congratulate those who won door prizes. The COUNTRY door prizes, Blu-Ray Player and Blu-Ray went to Les Nelson and the Garmin to Richard Sievers. Candles went to Brian Kruse, Gary Hunt, Reva Doty, and Ken Schneider; Farm Bureau Gift Baskets to Ricky Allen and Ken Schneider;Fruit Baskets to Linda Randecker and Brad Aude, Meat Certificates to Duane Law and Patricia Tinsley; Fuel 24 Gift Cards to Ed Knirlberger and Ardith Frederick; Farm Bureau Hats to Richard Kehl, David Becker, and Kenneth Rahn; Farm Bureau Gate Signs to Tim Schneider, Betty Geesey, Lawrence Koehn, and Cody Kruse. The children’s door prize winners are: Tractor: Aaron Becker, Semi: Perry Stoner; Books: Hannah Foster and Anna Reusch. Congratulations to all winners!

Sometimes, farming feels like it’s feast or famine, but a well-balanced risk management plan can help keep your farm fit, even during the lean times. One way to keep your farm in good shape is to keep up on the latest risk management tools and news at the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) Commodities Conference on July 25 in Normal. Called “Agriculture: The Biggest Winner,” this one-day event will look at how to best manage risks when it comes to the farm bill, land prices, and even the weather.

Another way to keep your farm on the winning side is to weigh in on your organization’s policies, which guide IFB’s actions on the Hill. Start by getting to know Policy #73 Risk Management. In part, it reads:

We support:

1. Providing leadership in seeking new ways for farmers to manage risk through the private sector.

2. The use of pilot programs that would serve to assist farmers in learning to utilize various risk management tools for all products, including livestock. Farmers willing to participate in the pilot program should be allowed to choose from a variety of approved risk management methods designed to substantially manage the risk of the farming operation. The cost of implementing the chosen risk management method should be subsidized during the pilot program.

3. Education programs that provide risk assessment and risk management as well as professional education for farmers in marketing, financial management, and government regulations.

4. The use of off-exchange agricultural trade option contracts in commodity marketing, which would include complete risk disclosure, vendor integrity, and with the opportunity for cash settlement of the option. We should provide educational programs for farmers to learn about this risk management tool and work with commodity buyers to offer agricultural trade option contracts.

5. The necessary legislative and regulatory changes to establish a Farmer Investment Savings Account into which a farmer could contribute pre-tax dollars for self-insurance and be allowed to make withdrawals at the contributor’s discretion.

Farmer-created policies like these tell Illinois Farm Bureau what risk management tools to fight for and to build education programs around. You can be part of this process, too. Start by reading policy #73 in its entirety at www.ilfb.org/policy. For more information about IFB’s grassroots policies, contact our office.

Farm Bureau Classifieds

Carroll County Farm Bureau members can place up to two (2) free classified ads per week, with a limit of 250 characters per ad (not including spaces). Ads are limited to personal or farm items for sale/wanted to buy, or farm labor or services available or wanted. No ads for the sale or rental of real estate, garage sales, or commercial businesses will be accepted. To place an ad, call the Farm Bureau office at 815- 244-3001 by noon Friday to get your ad in the following week’s paper.

FS: Big Round Bales of Grass Hay $50 each 815-225-7824

FS: Fainting Goats 3 months old females for $80, Wethers for $70 and polled billies for $70. Also female yearlings for $100. 815-493-2393 or 815-622-8658

FS: John Deere 216 Grain Platform, in good condition $3,000 OBO 815-541-3348

FS: Black poly tool box for truck bed, fits betting cab. Like new $140 OBO. 815-244-5429

FS: Minn Kota elect. Trolling motor- 65lb. thrust 44’ shaft, 24 volt, foot controlled, like new, used one weekend $700 new asking $300. 815-244-5429

FS: King Kutten 5’ Landscape rake-3pt. Excellent condition $150 for sale or trade for largen rake & cash 815-244-5429

FS: 1995 Toyota Silica GT Convertible with race 5sp trans, loaded with extras, high miles, but well maintained $3,000 or trade 815-244-5429

FS: John Deere 495 diesel with 62” deck 403 hours in excellent condition $5,900.00 815-493-6241

FS: Big Round Bales of Grass Hay $50 each 815-225-7824

FS: Fainting Goats 3 months old females for $80, Wethers for $70 and polled billies for $70. Also female yearlings for $100. 815-493-2393 or 815-622-8658

FS: John Deere 216 Grain Platform, in good condition $3,000 OBO 815-541-3348

FS: Minn Kota elect. Trolling motor- 65lb. thrust 44’ shaft, 24 volt, foot controlled, like new, used one weekend $700 new asking $300. 815-244-5429

FS: John Deere 495 diesel with 62” deck 403 hours in excellent condition $5,900.00 815-493-6241