Illinois Farm Families Blog

Last season, Ron and I hosted the Field Moms’ Acre, where our Field Moms followed an acre of our soybeans through the season.  Recently, we had the privilege of delivering the profits from that acre, in the form of ground pork, to the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry. More than 150 families will have pork on their tables thanks to the 2012 Field Moms.

Despite the drought last year, the Field Moms’ Acre earned a profit of $281. The Field Moms decided to donate that amount to the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, where Field Mom Amy Hansmann volunteers. We rounded the profits up a bit to buy more than 150 pounds of ground pork.

Amy and her son Kyle met us at the food pantry to present the donation. The executive director for the pantry, Michele Zurakowski, was very grateful for the donation. As you can see, we filled up their freezer!

This year, the Field Moms are following a pen of pigs to market and the growth of an acre of corn and an acre of soybeans. Follow along with the Field Moms’ Acre and Pen all season.

Deb Moore, Roseville

A couple of weekends ago, I did something that I never imagined I would do in my adult life. I volunteered to go to a pig farm to see where all of the wonderful pork that the Houseful loves to consume comes from.

Boy did I get an eye AND nose full!

As part of my participation in the Illinois Farm Families, I visited the hog farm of Steve Ward and his family in Sycamore, Illinois. I wasn’t entirely sure of what we were in for, but I was open to the fact that I would learn something. You always should be, correct? I’m eternally grateful to Steve and his family, including his very gracious father and mother, for opening up their farm to us.

On the bus to the farm, we were given a talk by a couple of the farmers who were along with us on general farming concepts. Acreage (did you know that an acre is roughly the same size of a football field?) and the massive amounts that lot of farmers have. We’re talking 1200 acres of land to take care of on a daily basis. I think that I would faint with just one acre of land, and these families are taking care of 1200. Steve even let us know that if he worked from sun up to sun down during planting season, he would be able to get through one hundred acres of land. Catch me now as I faint from exhaustion. I did get to pretend to drive a tractor. The thing is massive. Literally. One wheel is taller than I am, and the cabin is so far off the ground that those of us who are a little afraid of heights may not deal well, but we pretend and take a photo anyway.

The learning process started immediately. We were told that Steve’s farm was a wean to to finish hog farm (meaning, they get pigs that have been weaned from their mothers and raise them until it’s time for them to be processed.) for Illini Farms. He has four hog houses – two for the smaller pigs, and two for pigs that are about 75 pounds and over. If you should ever get to this farm, as they do tours and the such, make sure you ask Steve how to wrangle a pig. It’s quite an art.

One thing that most city people would not really be prepared for would be the smell. It hits you before you even step foot in the door, however when you enter, you wonder where it’s coming from since the pens are literally spotless. Well thanks to modern innovation, the pens all have slotted flooring, so that all urine and fecal matter can drop into an 8 foot pit and not contaminate any of the pigs food. If you’re thinking that they shouldn’t care about the food being contaminated since it’s all slop anyway, you would be wrong my bacon loving friends. The food is delivered in a timing system, and consists of grains such as corn, soy and wheat. They eat from stainless steel troughs and they are quite happy with it.

I do remember learning when I was younger that pigs were social animals. I found out that my teachers did indeed know what they were talking about. As soon as our group walked through the doors, the pigs were pretty excited to come and interact with us. They also followed Steve around as he walked through the pens randomly petting or checking them.

The things that I really enjoyed learning were:

1. The pigs are kept in climate controlled housing instead of outside to fare in the very random Illinois weather.
2. Pigs are fed a diet that consists of grains and not random slop
3. Pig pens are not messy in the least. They are formatted to make sure that the pigs have sanitary areas to eat, sleep and live in.
4. Overcrowding is not an issue on this farm. All pens have enough room to allow the pigs to roam around as necessary.
5. The “processing” of the pigs are done with as little stress as possible. No electricity and no knives (which is what I always thought.) Farmers realize that food must come from somewhere, and everyone is not going to be a vegetarian. They want to make sure that those who do consume pork products are given the best product that they can find.
6. Pig scent stays with you for a couple of days. I know that Mr. Houseful loves me, because he kissed me BEFORE telling me that I was smelly.

Are there things that you would be interested in finding out about a hog farm? Ask your question below, and I’ll do my best to find out for you!

 Natasha Nicholes, Chicago

It’s been a long time since I have been on a field trip, and outings with my children do not count. I felt like a 6th grade girl again, giddy to be traveling on a bus full of newfound friends (a.k.a the other “Field Moms). My first trip with the Illinois Farm Families Field Moms program proved to be exciting, informative and sure, a little bit smelly.

When one thinks of a pig farm, naturally the pungent smell might come to mind and you are certainly not wrong in that assumption. But waiting for us beyond the ammonia-laced smell of portly pigs was the Ward Family. It was so evident that they were all proud of their vocation and not just because they were providing for their own families. I got the sincere feeling that they were proud to be contributing to mine.

Upon entering the building, I was pleasantly surprised to find the pens extremely tidy and the pigs well cared for. Did you know pigs are pretty clean animals? We learned that Illini Farms teams up with farmers like the Ward Family by entrusting them with the care and wellbeing of the pigs. The Illini Farms network contracts growers like the Ward family to take care of the pigs when they leave the nursery until they reach market weight (200-250 pounds). The pigs are then shipped off to be processed into Farmland Pork products in the Chicagoland area.

A large part of my interest in becoming a field mom was to wade through all the conflicting information being presented to me from the media. I was becoming quite disgruntled listening to report after report of farmers and agricultural companies “doing it wrong” out there.

“There has to be someone who cares, someone who takes care of their farm and their livestock,” I reasoned.

I wanted to know what goes on at a farm before my food hits my plate?

Here is what I learned…

• Sows have baby pigs every 5 months, which usually results in 6-7 litters.
• The sows are artificially inseminated with boar sperm.
• Male and female pigs are separated in the stalls. Why separate, you ask? For healthier pigs.
• Vaccinations are administered to each pig at birth and a documented paper trail of the health and any medication given to the livestock is reported.
• Boars can be up to 700 pounds and are aggressive!
• Instead of pooping in their pens, pigs saunter up to the side of the pen, press their behinds up against the bars and eliminate. (I saw this up close and personal.)
• Under the building is an 8-foot deep hole, which collects the manure, which is then swirled up and run through pipes under the farmland to be distributed as fertilizer for adjoining farmland.

It was fantastic to connect with the Ward Family, I will never give up consuming pork and I cannot wait for our next tour!

Take-aways from the Ward Family Farm Tour

1. I was blown away by the cleanliness of the stalls and the farm in general. I think pigs get a bad rap as being messy, but the Ward Farm was immaculately maintained and well cared for. I was very impressed.
2. I was touched by the sincere love for farming expressed by the Ward family. You could see the enthusiasm and passion in their eyes.
3. I was glad to hear that antibiotics are only used on pigs that are exhibiting a struggle or illness.
4. I was equally impressed with the respect both the Ward Family and Illini Farms had for the animals.
5. This might be a stretch, but the pigs responded in such a positive way to Steve, that it is worth mentioning. I think if the farmers treated the livestock in a negative way, the pigs would scatter from him, but they did not. I personally think animals are pretty smart!

Elizabeth Rago, North Aurora

I love the smell of bacon or a wonderful glazed ham don't you?   I got the privilege of enjoying a trip to Old Elm Farm where some of your bacon may come from!  I assure you that we did not smell any great smell like ham or bacon while arriving at the farm.  The pigs lived up to their reputation and smelled like pigs. Many of you know my great love for pigs and my husband's cousins Glenn and Maryann invited us to the farm one spring when they had 2 piglets. I loved seeing them in their little pen and enjoyed taking pictures of these darling creatures wagging their tails and enjoying their time on the farm.   When I saw Maryann again at Thanksgiving I asked how the pigs are doing and she said, “Oh! They’re in our freezer.”  Seeing the horrified look on my face she replied, “You didn't know that's what we do with them?”  In my mind I DID know but the city girl in me didn't know they have such a short life span.   Plus stories like Charlotte's web and Babe give the animals human characteristics and make us forget that they are really being raised for food.

Old Elm Farm is a pork farm where pigs come after they are weaned from their sow and are cared for until they are finished fattening up to 270 pounds.  I enjoyed meeting the Ward family and admired their hard work maintaining the crops as well as their pork farm. They are contracted to be caregivers for the pigs from wean to finish while Illini Farms are the owners of the pigs. The Ward family takes great care of them and gets them ready for harvesting (the new term instead of the less amicable slaughter).   I learned that 6 months is the average life span from wean to finish so my previous experience at Glenn and Maryann's farm holds true.

Pigs are not fed spoiled food as we would think from seeing movies where they “slop” the pigs with a slurry of garbage and table scraps. Instead they are provided 16 different diets in the process of getting them to the average market weight. The way they formulate the feed for the pigs is innovative, cooperative and resourceful. They are fed a mix of corn, soy, DDGs, bakery products, and other ingredients.   The largest portion of the pig's diet is corn.  Due to the growing ethanol industry corn was getting more scarce and was driving up the price of feed for farmers.  Being resourceful, the two have learned to work together which resulted in the product called Dried Distillers Grain (DDGs). It is the corn co-product (what is left after the ethanol production) turned into feed. I enjoy seeing this cooperation between two industries needing this staple of corn!  In the cut-throat corporate world someone would try to put the other out of business.   

Another innovative use of a co-product is the use of bakery products to feed the pigs.    Wondering whether those carbohydrates will really make you fat?  Take it from the pigs' experience at the farm able to enjoy stuffing, crackers, pizza crust, and tortilla chips ground into feed to get them to the desired 270 pounds.  All these bakery products that were either damaged or inconsistent in production used to go to a landfill.  Thankfully someone thought of a better use of these products in a resourceful and eco-friendly way.

I was impressed by the entire process from birth to harvest. It was clear to me that the farmers truly care for the animals.  It is logical that there is nothing that would benefit them if they would mistreat the animals in their care.  It was evident by the way Steve interacted with the pigs that they genuinely care for the well-being of the animals. It is incredible how he uses his instincts and experience to separate a sick pig from the rest in order to treat them properly and preserve the health of the others.  The time they spend at the farm is entirely about eliminating anything that would jeopardize the pig's health or the quality of the finished product.  This is only a fraction of what I learned at this farm. I can't wait for the next farm visit!

 Susan Herold
Rolling Meadows

The Illinois Farm Field Moms had the wonderful opportunity to tour a Hog Farm at the Old Elm Farms in Sycamore, IL (February 23, 2013) 

Give them a label-Not a name

"Don't get attached, the hogs are our income and food." This is the advice Steve Ward, president of Dayton Farms of Sycamore, IL, gives his two children Sarah and Dayton, when a new litter of piglets are born.

It's in the Marketing

Of course it's in the marketing. Marketing is key; it is what sells the product. So from that said did you know that hog producers never give hormones to their hogs, EVER! So why does that packaged pork you just picked up today at the grocery store say NO Hormones Added? To clarify Steve Ward and other hog farms like his just are the wean to finish farms and have nothing to do with the label you see in the grocery store. The final destination (or grocery store) of each of Steve Ward's hogs is unknown to him. The big companies who sell the finished product may add that "No Hormones Added," label. According to the Ward family this is just a marketing scheme to make the buyer believe they are getting a healthier piece of pork for their family.

To Market to Market

To buy a fat pig. Two hundred and eighty pounds that is.  Free Range, Barnyard, Organic Pork? You might want to re-think this option next time you buy your pork at a grocery store especially if you are on a budget. Tim Maiers who works for the Illinois Pork Producers Association questions what exactly makes that choice of pork healthier. Tim, along with Steve Ward and his father John Ward, president of Old Elm Farms, described the possible uncleanly conditions of hogs raised in the outdoors and the added cost of grain needed to keep the hogs warm in the winter(hence the markup in price at the supermarket). We learned that these hogs have to share their living space with other rodents and birds that may carry diseases. Hogs raised inside such farms like the Ward Family Farm provide a more controlled environment which means less grain is needed for consumption since it is all climate controlled. The hogs living conditions inside the farm are very clean and the hogs definitely have more roaming room then I previously envisioned. However, what this all comes down to are choices for the consumer. Steve and Tim stress nutrition-wise, free range or not, they are both the same.

Five Key Observations

I’d like to recap my experience with five things that I learned and found to be very interesting.

1. The children who are born and raised on the farm willingly take on the responsibility at an early age to help their parents with much of the work on the farm.
2. The hog manure never goes to waste but instead is plowed into the corn fields.
3. Farmers recycle almost everything.
4. Hogs are killed by means of gas.
5. Old Elm Farms got its name from the oldest living Elm tree in Illinois. It lived to be 375 years old until it was cut down due to Dutch Elm Disease.

Christina Lee
LaGrange Park

Being a typical mom who wants to feed her family well, I was very excited when our Field Mom program officially started on February 23. I was determined to find out myself how our food is produced and by whom. It is not hard to panic in today’s environment when it comes to food production. Should I buy organic? Is the meat safe? Where did the meat come from? How do I buy locally produced food? And what does politics have to do with food production?

I joined the other field moms and a few farmers on February 23 when we started our year together, all full of questions. We had a lot of them answered on the bus on our way to Sycamore. Deb, Pam, and Jim were able to give us very concrete background information on farming in Illinois today.

While we were mostly talking about pork production, it was also obvious that all farmers have a lot in common: family farms are still the most common form of farming in Illinois where 94% of all farms are family-owned. Children join their parents from young age and learn to work on the farm. Some of them enjoy it and want to stay on the farm, some of them want to leave as soon as they are done with high school. But the common theme was the children’s attitude to work and their pride in growing up on a farm.

Our visit to the Ward family’s pig farm could not have been more informative. The farmers, John and Steve, were willing to answer all of our questions about pigs’ lives from birth to the slaughterhouse. How the pigs are fed, whether they are given antibiotics (only for medical reasons), are they given hormones (no), etc. We also had a long discussion on GMOs, why a farm is or is not organic (requirements on available space to access to organic feed), corn and soybean crops, the needed equipment, and the availability of land in Illinois where subdivisions are creeping closer and closer to farmland.

On our tour of the pig sheds, Steve was once more willing to answer all of our questions about the pigs. Why are the pigs kept inside (controlled environment, health and nutrition of the pigs); what the pigs eat (corn, soybean meal, bakery products); and how you make sure all of the pigs are doing well (an experienced farmer sees signs immediately). Yes, there is a smell in the sheds, but the pigs were surprisingly clean and they are able to move around. There were absolutely no signs of animals that had been mistreated (I expected chewed ears and tails as signs of stress).

My first visit to an Illinois farm (or any farm in the U.S.) was eye-opening. The amount of work, investment and time needed to farm is enormous. My guess is that even though there are differences between farms, the basic work and commitment to a lifestyle is the same for all of them. One of my reasons for joining the Field Mom program was to be able to tell my children where our food comes from and we have now been able to have several discussions on pigs and meat production in general. I’m looking forward to our next visit and learning about other farms.

I had an extremely informative day at the Ward farm, thanks to both generations of the family!

Five things I learned on our trip to a pig farm (there would be many more, but here are the first five):

• The price of farmland whether you buy or lease in Illinois is very high. It is hard for farm families to be able to buy more land to support more than one family.
• The life cycle of a pig from birth to slaughterhouse. I had no idea about the time it takes for a pig to grow to market weight, etc.
• The tour of the buildings where the pigs are raised was important. Heating/air-conditioning, cleanliness, etc. were important pieces of information.
• Information on how the pigs are slaughtered was informative and useful.
• Information on the use of hormones and antibiotics was useful.

Tanja Saarinen, Oak Park
Field Mom

Reposted from Super Suburbs with permission from the author.
Originally posted January 4, 2013

If you’ve been reading this blog for any time, you know that this past year I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of the Field Mom program, with Illinois Farm Families. I got to visit a number of farms and agriculture-related businesses, ask questions, and get to know a bunch of amazing women and men who grow our food.

The experience is also what ultimately led me to Nebraska to work on my video with The Center for Food Integrity (the only thing I’ve ever written about on this blog that’s garnered me hate mail, which I of course take with a jar grain of salt).  :o)

For more information about why I wanted to be part of the program and my experience along the way, you can take a look at my page over on the Watch Us Grow site. Here’s a quick excerpt:

If there’s anything I’m going to take away from this experience it’s in the lessons I want to pass on to my Texas-born daughter: To work hard. To have respect for the world around her. To dream big. To marvel in what has been placed upon this land. And most of all, to approach every day as a blessing, an adventure, and to never take anything for granted.  I’m so thankful that the Illinois Farm Families gave me the opportunity to relearn those lessons for myself!

So sadly now my year is up, but that means it’s your turn! Applications are being accepted through January 30^th for the next round of Field Moms. The application can be found online here, and if you’re curious about the program or just want to meet everyone we’ll be having a meet-up soon to answer any questions you might have – if you want to attend that let me know and I can shoot you details.

If you have any questions about the process, what you might expect if you get picked, or just want to chat about what I learned during my year in the program, feel free to shoot me an email! And be sure to let me know if you apply, it would be awesome to know one of you got picked!  :o)

 Betsie Estes was a 2012 Illinois Farm Families Field Mom from Northwest Chicago. In addition to her full-time job, she cares for two children and writes the blog, Super Suburbs.

I’m digressing.

Anyway, I am really excited and passionate about this relationship we are forging between farmers and consumers, and after our first Moms Meet-Up this summer, I have been talking about being a part of this again if the opportunity arose. I came home from my first Moms Meet Up feeling like I could spread the story of my life on the farm to the entire world. Through good, meaty discussions along with aha! moments (both from the city and farm moms), excellent connections were made, and I was pumped.

So, as I readied myself (most importantly with a good outfit!) for this event just this past Sunday, my expectations were sky-high. However, as I watched the moms trickle in, counting the heads of the city moms in attendance, and realizing it was less than before, I was initially disappointed. I am passionate about this plight. I am ready to tell my story. As a mom, I can relate to the Field Moms because we all want to care for our children the best we can. However, when it comes to food, in this world of sometimes information overload, how do you know what is the right or true information? I truly believe that this relationship between the Field Moms and the farmers is an awesome way to close this disconnect.

That is what happened on Sunday. In the midst of this big, beautiful city, we farmers- who are generally more comfortable in tractor cabs than taxi cabs- sat down with the city moms, engaging in easy conversation about our lives, our livelihood, something we are so passionate about. This meet up allowed the city moms to not only hear the perspectives from one or two farm families, but farmers who not only raise corn and soybeans, but cattle, dairy cows, and hogs. We farmers were able to better explain ourselves and demonstrate the similarities between our farms, similar fears and concerns, and even demonstrate how alike we all are, even if we raise different animals and crops hundreds of miles from each other.

It was fascinating. This opportunity on Sunday truly showed that whether it’s farmer to farmer or city mom to farmer, we are all the same. We are all out here trying to care for our families as best as we can. Whether our commute to work is by train or taxi or dualie pick up truck, we’re all a bunch of folks hoping to do right in the world, whether its raising kids in the city or crops in the country.

I love being a part of these Mom Meet-Ups. I love sharing my story because there are times I can’t believe that I’m living where I do! I hope to keep telling my story to all who will listen, and hope that I can keep coming up to the city to enjoy all that it has to offer!

Emily Webel
Farmington, Illinois

Emily Webel is a farmer’s wife, mother of four, runner, former teacher, and author of the blog, Confessions of a Farm Wife. She lives in Farmington, Illinois.

We’re in Chicago this weekend! I’ll be joining many of the farmers who have shared their stories and experiences on this blog when we come together to meet Chicago moms and answer their questions about food and farming. You are invited to join us.

We’ll be at the Palmer House Hilton (17 E Monroe Street, Chicago) this Sunday, Dec. 4 from 3:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

You’ll meet Holly Spangler, Emily Webel, Carrie Pollard, Katie Pratt, and Chris Gould, among other Illinois family farmers. Even though we have different types of farms, you’ll see we all share a commitment to have conversations with consumers, answer your questions about how we grow safe, healthy food, and share what happens on our farms.

We are excited to spend an afternoon learning what’s important to you and your family when it comes to food. We hope you’ll enjoy having some coffee and desserts along the way!

There is no cost to attend and you are welcome to bring a few friends. You can find all the details and RSVP on our Meetup site: http://www.meetup.com/Chicagoland-Field-Moms/events/39983882/.

See you soon!

Deb Moore
Roseville, Illinois