CCFB News» January 2019

Coyotes can be found in every major ecosystem in North American regardless if the area is rural, urban, scarcely populated or densely populated. Urban coyotes or those coyotes living in or near urban areas have a different lifestyle compared to coyotes living in a rural area. Unlike most animals, coyotes do not need a large cohesive green area, instead urban coyotes have adaptive and can live in scattered green areas like parks, golf courses or cemeteries.

Reminder: voting members will soon be receiving the 2019 Viewpoint Survey.  This is an important tool in CCFB’s grassroots arsenal. 

Too Much of a Good Thing (Wall Street Journal)- About 1.4 billion pounds of cheese is socked away at cold-storage warehouses across the country, the biggest stockpile since federal record-keeping began a century ago. The glut, which is putting the squeeze on dairy producers across the country, is due in part to cheese makers who ramped up production before trade tensions abroad killed demand for the product.

Through a grassroots process, Farm Bureau members submitted the following resolutions to delegates at the 2018 Illinois Agricultural Association® annual meeting.

Cook County Farm Bureau® sent the following letter to Cook County Commissioners regarding Fair Hiring Practices at the Board of Review:

The Cook County Board of Review is tasked with fairly and impartially reviewing the assessments of all property within Cook County to the extent authorized by the Property Tax Code.

Motor fuel tax, recreational marijuana and school security among the most intensely debated topics.

The late William “Bill” Johnson was awarded the 2018 Illinois Farm Bureau Eagle Award for Excellence during the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting held in Chicago December 1 - 4. Johnson, an instructor at Joliet Junior College for 50 years, brought great enthusiasm and optimism for agriculture for all of the students that he taught. He worked closely with many organizations including local County Farm Bureau’s, 4-H, FFA, Illinois Pork Producers Association and more.

Recipe reprinted with permission from member, Freeman Fence Co of Brookfield found in our 2018 Cookfresh Recipe Collection Brochure, available online at www.cookcfb.org/discover-local/recipes.

Climate Change Bad News For Midwest-The Midwest could face a grim long-term agricultural forecast due to climate change. Rising temperatures in the Midwest are projected to be the largest contributing factor to declines in U.S. agricultural productivity, with extreme heat wilting crops, upping incidence of crop disease, and posing a threat to livestock. In fact, temperatures are projected to climb more in the Midwest than in any other region.

Please join the Chicago Farmers for their January Luncheon at the Illini Center, Chicago, where they will discuss Ag Tech with the CEO of Tillable, Corbett Kull.

With home heating costs on the rise this winter, many people are turning to alternate heating sources to keep costs down. If you plan to use space heaters this winter, use extreme caution.

My husband will attest that my obsession with holiday-time bargains unleashed when the kids slept. Morning and night, I glanced through bookmarked web-pages for product price drops in November and December.

My farmer and I went to college in Illinois.  We considered a Wisconsin school, but at the time out-of-state tuition was out of the question.  A decade later (yes, that hurt) my favorite cousin became a “Miner” at the University of Wisconsin at Platteville.  The longer she spent in Wisconsin the more we paid attention to Wisconsin schools until we were rooting for “Big” Frank Kaminsky and the Badgers during March Madness.

Last fall I had the pleasure of hosting some lifelong friends at our house for an extended weekend.  The lead up to the visit included much cleaning, menu planning, tour ideas, shopping for groceries and more cleaning.  Every “to do” list item was checked and re-checked, especially as it related to the food items.

When I was young, I remember my grandfather working constantly, farming from sunup to sundown. So why did he take time off during his busiest season to be the first person to ever take me, his young grandson, fishing? Equipped with a Bamboo pole and worms, I remember catching two massive 5-inch bluegills. Thank you, Grandpa! I have loved fishing ever since.