Quality beef starts on the farm with quality care and feed. In this week’s Farm Fresh Podcast, local farmer, Rick Dean, talks about the two new beef barns his family recently constructed to expand their cattle operation.
From keeping the animals comfortable to managing the manure for use as fertilizer, listen to the clip to hear the whole story about how the Dean family raises beef cattle.
Tune in to WJBC radio or stream it live online every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. for the Farm to Table segment.
Matt & Jenna Kilgus bottle milk from their family’s herd of Jersey dairy cows right on their farm near Fairbury. Photo courtesy of Illinois Farm Bureau
Kilgus Farmstead bottles milk from their herd of Jersey dairy cows right on the farm near Fairbury. As the only on-farm bottling facility in Illinois, farmers Matt & Jenna Kilgus and their family are carving out a niche for their dairy products.
Check out the story in this week’s interview with Matt Kilgus below – or go see the milk bottling process for yourself with a visit to the farmstead store! Click here to learn more.
Tune in to WJBC every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. for the Farm to Table segment.
As you may have noticed by the waves of amber grain disappearing from farm fields, corn and soybean harvest is rolling in full force. For farmers, harvest brings the culmination of a full year’s worth of work and then some in planning, selecting, planting & caring for their crops.
For this week’s Friday Five, I though maybe we should take a look at five things harvest means on the farm:
Long hours & hard work! Harvest is a time-sensitive task and when it’s time to go, farmers are usually in the fields from sun-up to sundown or longer as long as a) the weather’s fit b) the crop conditions are right and c) the equipment cooperates. If you have friends or family who farm, you may notice they completely disappear from social events for a couple of months in the fall, as described by this chart from Illinois Corn Growers.
Meals in the Fields: Farmers may not stop for lunch or dinner during harvest (see above), so meals are often delivered to the fields. Take a look at some creative and delicious ways farm families stay fed during harvest with ‘How to Feed a Farmer’ posted on the Watch Us Grow blog and ‘Field Meals to Go’ from Katie Pratt’s Rural Route 2 Blog.
Danger: Farming is a dangerous occupation and harvest carries many hazards. Big machinery with lots of moving parts, dry corn stalks that can catch fire from a spark and even fatigue from the long hours can lead to accidents. Do your part to help keep farmers (and yourself) safe! Slow down & pass with caution when you meet equipment on the road.Check out this advice from blogger Celeste Harned for more tips to stay safe.
When the temperature drops below zero or a blizzard brings blowing snow, livestock farmers have to take extra measures to ensure the safety and comfort of their animals.
Find out how Bane Family Pork Farm works to keep their pigs warm, dry & toasty when the weather outside gets frightful in this week’s Farm Fresh Podcast with local farmer Pat Bane. Plus check out the video clip of baby piglets on Pat’s farm (above).
Tune in every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. for the Farm to Table segment on WJBC radio.
