Illinois Farm Families Blog

A WatchUsGrow.org reader recently asked us to define "modern farm equipment," so we put the challenge to our bloggers to share what's new on their farms. This is the fourth part of that series.

This is our John Deere 2630 Display.  It’s a touch screen computer that holds maps and information about every field we farm.  The screen is moved and used in all of our equipment – the tractor that pulls our tillage equipment, the sprayer, the fertilizer buggy, and the tractors that pull the planters and the combine.  In each instance, the computer pulls up a homepage that shows a map of the fields, its boundaries and the location of any waterways and fence rows. 

On this day, Andy was making the first pass over the fields in the sprayer.   The large box at the top shows the field map. The acres already covered are blue. The white line is the tracking line.  We use auto-steer technology in all of our equipment, which means that with the push of a button the tractor, sprayer or combine – with GPS – will drive itself through the field. Notice the little green box right at the top that reads “2 in.” This indicates that the sprayer is just two inches off its target track.  

To the right of the field map is basic field data.  Below that are more numbers and symbols. Andy watches the green bar labeled 3D RTK.  The bar shows the strength of the RTK signal. RTK stands for real-time kinetic.  It uses satellites and a base station, which acts like a cell phone tower, to guide the equipment through fields with “sub-inch accuracy repeatability”.  Fancy terminology that means when Andy comes back to this field to cultivate, plant, fertilize and harvest, the equipment will follow the same paths within centimeters.  The same path can be repeated next year and the year after and the year after.   

The large bottom box tells Andy about the sprayer’s performance. The blue box surrounded in yellow shows how much product is left in the tank. Below that are the boom indicators. The boom is 100 feet wide and is divided into nine sections.  The blue arrows show that each section of the boom is on.

As the sprayer moves through the field, the computer is reading the map. If the sprayer crossed into an area already covered, the computer would shut off those sections of the boom.  When the sprayer encounters a waterway or fence row, the computer will turn boom sections on or off according to their location in the field and proximity to the area.

This technology is all about efficiency and better management of inputs.  We are reducing the amount of pesticides and fertilizers we add because we can be so precise with their application.

 Katie Pratt, Dixon

Meet the Sturtevants - a family farm for five generations

Our family has farmed in northwest Illinois for five generations. One part of our land has belonged to the Sturtevants for 150 years! This ground has seen the desperation of the great depression and was once planted with three-horse hitch teams. Now it’s farmed using huge four-wheel drive John Deere tractors and equipment (yes, had to say John Deere, it is a big deal to us farmers what color our tractors are!).

And, our farm continues to be a family affair. Our boys, Bryson and Jaxson, love to ride our gator (a small farm utility vehicle) around in the fields to pick the big rocks and boulders that work their way to the surface in the spring thaw, so the rocks don’t damage machinery later in the season.

When my husband Brian and I first started farming with his family, we had a sow-to-finish hog farm. By 1998, we decided to switch to a wean-to-finish facility, and we moved all of our pigs to indoor facilities. By doing both of these things, we drastically cut down on sickness and death loss on our farm. Controlled-temperature buildings that keep the pigs out of the elements and a good balanced diet have made our animals happy and healthy. 

Now, our piglets are born at a sow farm called Elite Pork near DeKalb, Ill. This is a farm that many family farms own together. This type of collaboration is very common among Illinois pork producers. The sow farm has the perfect set-up and expertise for taking care of sows (mother pigs) and baby piglets, while our farm can provide the best care for pigs as they grow. When the pigs “move in” to our farm, they will stay with the same group of animals as they grow. They develop social relationships with the other pigs and enjoy their space to run around together. You can follow a group of pigs on our farm through the Field Moms’ Acre and Pen.

Farming teaches patience. You have to work hard, and it humbles you. But most of all, farming makes us thankful every day for what we have.

Jen Sturtevant
Hog and grain farmer
Lanark, IL

Last weekend, we ventured to the Old Elm & Dayton Farms in Sycamore, Illinois. The Farms run by the Ward family are currently being run by the 5th (John & Betsy) and 6th (Steve & Jolene) generations with a 7th generation on the horizon. The Ward family farm is a wean to finish pig farm which basically means that they receive pigs when they are about 12 pounds and then raise them until market.

Utilizing climate controlled buildings and a unique feed blend, the Wards raise pigs for their livelihood in addition to acres of grain. One of the more interesting facts was that the Wards actually lease their pork farm to Illini Farms which means that as part of the lease arrangement, the Wards provide the daily care for the pigs until they are sent to market for sale. Separating the process between two farms of breed to wean (sow pregnancies and piglets) and wean to finish is that the outcome is healthier pigs, smaller farms and allows for specialization so that caregivers can best utilize their area of expertise.

When we had the opportunity to tour where the pigs are held, Steve explained the process a bit more and I was amazed to see that the pigs seemed to recognize him and come to him for comfort. As he spoke to us, he took the time to touch each one that came up to him and you could tell he genuinely cares for his animals for the time that he has them.

One of the biggest questions in the days following the tour centered around why the pigs were raised inside. One of the primary reasons is that keeping the pigs indoors gives better control over the environment for the comfort of the pigs - shelter during bad weather days and breeze, climate-controlled for the other times of the year. Additionally, this ensures that the pigs are receiving the proper health and nutrition. When pigs are free-range or left outside, a herd hierarchy can develop causing some pigs to become weaker and malnourished compared to others. After seeing the pigs that were cared for by the Wards, you could tell that they were properly cared for and received what they needed.

Being a Field Mom, I have the unique opportunity to see where my food comes from and how some of it gets to my table. I had no idea that Farmland Foods pork products come from Illinois family farms which brings new meaning to the idea of supporting local businesses. Something that I can find in my local grocer very well may have come from a family farm. I also enjoyed learning more about the family behind the farm. As Steve Ward shared, he does it because he enjoys it and because he loves it. This bird’s eye view definitely showed that.

Five Take-Aways

• Farm life for many is a family effort that occupies much of the week. Whether it’s checking in on the pigs or taking care of the land, families have to work together to keep things moving!
• Equipment and machines, such as tractors and combines, can be a significant expense to farms and therefore, some farms choose to share equipment.
• The labels found on our food can be misleading. It is important to always read the labels, investigate what they mean and make educated decisions based on what we as consumers find.
• Education is the biggest asset that we as parents have to making decisions for our children and part of that education is learning more about what we put into their bodies and where it comes from.
• If you don’t know, ask. I never felt that the Ward family or any of the other farm representatives wanted to push information on us and they were willing to answer all of our questions, even if the questions may have seemed silly.

Samantha Schultz, Indian Head Park

From the moment we stepped onto the Ward Family Farm and met our hosts, John and Betsy Ward and Steve, Jolene and Sarah Ward, I felt warm and at ease.  They opened their doors to us and were wonderful hosts.  I enjoyed learning about the original homestead of the Dayton Farm and the Old Elm Farms, dating back to the mid-1800’s and the early 1900’s respectively.  I also got a tear in my eye when John spoke of how proud he is of Steve and of Betsy, his city wife, being by his side all these years.

I enjoyed learning the in’s and out’s of the daily life and going on the hog barn and equipment tours.  I wasn’t aware that a litter of piglets was just under 4 months gestation and on average a litter was about 12 piglets, each sow having 2.2 litters per year.  I also thought it was interesting that the males and females were kept separate and that pigs are kept with the same ‘cage-mates’ for the entirety of their lives from wean to market.

The presentation from Illini Farms was interesting.  I am saddened that the cost of food for the hogs outweighs the price that farmers get for their product and if it weren’t for the futures market right now, the hog farmers would be losing money.

Also enjoyed knowing that a few of the Chicago corporate headquarters used product not fit for the shelves to go into pig feed, including:  Sara Lee, Azteca, Kraft, Nestle

Overall, a great experience and I look forward to the next one.

5 Take-Aways

• From The Wards – Behind every successful farmer is his spouse.
• From Farmland – Thanks for the recipe Jim, going to try it!  Also, IL is the #4 state in U.S. pig production.
• From Illini Farms – Learned and remain interested and slightly concerned about amino acids coming from Korea.
• From Pam – Farming as with everything in life takes dedication from the whole family.
• From Tom – Marinate a Pork Chop with a Rub for 3 days, the sandwiches were delish!

Kimberly Findlay, Chicago

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

February buzzed by, literally and figuratively.   Granted it has three less days than other months and it’s usually plagued by clouds, snow or rain and chilly winds, so I suppose if it buzzes by there’s not much to miss.

But this February started buzzing for me from the beginning.  It must be all this focus on food and farming that has my senses on high alert for buzz words.  There is no shortage of them in food advertising as I mused on in my blog post “When Buzzwords Stop Buzzing”. 

The second week of February I flew to NYC and joined celebrity chef Danny Boome on a satellite media tour. We talked with television and radio morning show hosts about buzzwords, the ones we see most often on restaurant menus and on grocery shelves – organic, hormone-free, grass-fed, local and natural. Click here to watch the video.

A week later, I got an email asking me if these buzz words mean different things to a farmer than a consumer. I think that’s part of our problem in attempting to converse about food and farming. Definitions can be so ambiguous and seem to change depending on the person doing the defining.

As a farmer and a consumer I define organic, hormone-free and grass-fed as the how of raising a crop or caring for livestock. I think some people use them to define the nutritional content of food, however as Chef Danny said in our interviews the nutritional value of food depends largely on how it is prepared versus how it is grown.

Local, to me, is my community, my little niche in Northern Illinois.  It is the farms, the towns, the neighbors (who live on the other side of our square mile country block).  It is the businesses we patronize and organizations we support.  Locally grown for me is what I’ve found in my backyard garden or my mother’s garden and locally grown meat comes from farms of other family members.  But, local can also mean purchasing food that has been raised in a certain mile radius of a store or restaurant.  What’s the magic radius?  I don’t think anyone can say for sure.

Natural is probably the hardest to define.  Webster says “existing in or produced by nature” and to me that is farming.  We exist in nature; have learned how to reap its rewards, survive its challenges and how to make our lives better by caring for the environment better.  Are we perfect in this relationship? Absolutely not.  Are we improving every day?  Most certainly.

So, are the definitions of buzz words even clearer than mud now?  Yea, for me too.  I guess this is why this movement to converse, to respectfully listen to the opposite opinion, ask questions and broaden our scope of understanding is so important. 

This year’s group of Field Moms has already tackled some buzz words. I can’t wait to read more about their adventures and the buzzwords they try to define.

Katie Pratt

Grand Prairie Farms

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

Last Saturday was a busy day at our farm. We hosted 16 Field Moms from the Chicago-area for a tour, showing them how we raise pigs. The moms asked a lot of great questions, one in particular I often get asked is: 

The term organic speaks to a particular method used to farm. Generally speaking, pork that is certified organic comes from pigs that never receive synthetic vaccinations or antibiotics, are provided access to the outdoors, and meet animal health and welfare standards. The animals eat feed that is organic as well, meaning it is grown without most commonly-used synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. (There are some fertilizers and pest control products organic farmers can use on their crops.)

How is that different from my pigs? On my farm, we meet or exceed health and animal welfare standards too. We also use farming practices that include options like GMO crops and giving medicines when needed. For example, the feed my pigs eat consists mostly of corn and soybeans which may or may not be the same feed used in organic farming. On my farm, some of the grain comes from GMO seeds. Using GMO seeds and biotechnology actually allows me to use fewer chemicals on the plant as it grows, making less of an impact on my land and making it safer for the consumer and the farmer as we handle fewer chemicals. (If you want to know more about GMOs, click here.)

While on our farm, we do our best to keep all our animals healthy throughout their lives. Just like we give our kids vaccines to prevent illness and disease, the pigs on my farm are vaccinated early in their lives to ward off common illnesses. I’m in my barns every day monitoring the health and eating habits of the pigs. Like with my kids, I can tell by looking at their eyes and noses if they aren’t feeling well. If that’s the case, I pull that pig aside and, with my veterinarian, decide how to get them healthy again. Sometimes that means giving them medicines, like an antibiotic. If I do give them an antibiotic, I follow strict label directions and make sure that the animal doesn’t go to market until all the medicine has cleared their system. The pigs from my farm are marketed under the Farmland® label. Once my pigs arrive at the Farmland plant, like all meat, they are inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food Safety Inspection Service. I feel good about the pork I raise; my family enjoys it regularly.

Consumers today can choose to pay more for organic meat, but I hope they know it’s not safer or more nutritious than the pork from my farm. I’m confident the pork I raise is safe and healthy and contains no antibiotics. By the way, the moms also asked me what our family’s favorite cut of pork was – it’s the tenderloin. Here’s a recipe you can try tonight.

I hope I’ve helped answer the question. Post your thoughts and comments below and we’ll continue the conversation.

Did you have the day off of work Monday?

Since my "boss" lives in one of our upstairs bedrooms, there was no day off here in our little white house on the prairie.

But at least I don't have a morning commute...and I get to wear my sweatpants to work...and the boss takes a two-hour nap every day which allows for a little down time. (Just between you and me, when she's not around I drink iced coffee and plan my spring time assault on our garden and landscaping. When I'm feeling really crazy, I also watch Friends re-runs...Shhh.)

This spring-y-ish weather has really given me the gardening itch. My garden catalogs have started rolling in by the mailbox-fulls and they are starting to resemble my daughter's Toys R Us catalogs around Christmas time, dog-eared pages that are full of thick red magic marker circles. Truth be told, I already have an order prepared for everything from sunflowers to cilantro.

Matt and his cousins, Jack and Christopher, have been spending their winter "down time" helping local farmers do exactly the same thing. Only instead of sunflowers and cilantro, they are placing orders for corn and soybeans.

In modern agriculture, filling out your spring seed order isn't as easy as choosing between corn or soybeans. Genetically modified or non-gmo? Drought resistance? Food grade? Disease tolerance? How many acres of corn are you planning to plant? What about soybeans?

When farmers are paying an average of $260 PER BAG of corn and $50 PER BAG of soybeans, it's not a decision that one should take lightly.

Just as a point of reference, one bag of soybeans will plant just over one acre (1.1 to be exact) and one bag of corn will plant 2.3 acres. If a farmer plants just one 80-acre field of corn, his seed bill will be just a shade over $9,000.

Eeesh. That's like 45+ grocery trips.

I'm no math whiz, but I'm not sure that my $100 off any order of $200 or more coupon from Gurney's seed and nursery would get anyone very far. But for those farmers who really have their ducks in a row this winter, the earlier the seed order is submitted the larger the discount.

While my "boss" gives me my own daily dose of education on every subject from what's in Dora the Explorer's backpack to the finer points of proper princess tea party etiquette, Matt, Jack, and Christopher are spending their winter "down time" attending Pioneer seed meetings to learn about different varieties of seed corn and beans so they can better help farmers prepare for the fast-approaching spring planting season.

When the boys aren't attending meetings, they are visiting with local farmers, preparing seed information, organizing the seed shed, and training our seed shed watch cats to be fierce guardians.

I think they aren't spending as much time as they should on that last part.

Roganne Murray

Roganne is a farm wife, mother to a spunky two year-old and all-around farm girl. She and her husband Matt live in a white house on the Illinois prairie, and you can follow their adventures raising what they hope will be the sixth generation of Murrays to farm in Champaign county at White House on the Prairie.

So let's get started on some good conversations. But first, introductions are in order.

Hmmm. What can I tell you about myself?  I suppose the basics are always good, so here goes.

I grew up on a close-knit farm family in western Illinois. My parents, Roger and Julie Newell, raise corn, soybeans and alfalfa, manage a herd of cattle with my grandparents and my two uncles and also run a small swine operation. I spent a great majority of my days working outside with my Dad, taking care of our livestock. On a day like today, when there was no school, my brother, sister and I would leave our Christmas presents in piles on the floor and venture outside to help Dad feed and water the pigs and scoop near-frozen manure. Ahhh, memories.

When all of the water tanks had been thawed and the feed buckets have been hauled, Dad would usually reward us in giant snow piles (if there was any snow to be had). A giant snow pile held such great potential for three farm kids. It could be anything, a fort, a hill for sledding on or a peak for playing king of the mountain. Most often though, giant snow piles were hollowed out and used as backyard igloos. It was during days like these where I really wished that we had neighbor kids that could walk (within a reasonable distance, of course) over to our house.

Nowadays, I don't have any pigs to feed or manure to scoop, but I definitely consider myself a "farm mommy". My husband Matt and I make up part of the fifth generation of Murrays to farm in Champaign county. Our two year-old daughter, Teagan, makes generation number six (or so we can hope). We raise corn and soybeans and the occasional chicken flock when we feel so inclined. Matt and his two cousins, Jack and Christopher, also make a living in the farming "off-season" selling Pioneer brand seed products.

We are in our fourth year of marriage and farming together and are just beginning our journey as a young couple dedicated to agriculture. Life is pretty good.

I am so glad to meet you and I am eagerly looking forward to many more blog posts to come!  Here's to a happy and healthy new year!

Roganne Murray

Roganne is a farm wife, mother to a spunky two year-old and all-around farm girl. She and her husband Matt live in a white house on the Illinois prairie, and you can follow their adventures raising what they hope will be the sixth generation of Murrays to farm in Champaign county at White House on the Prairie.