CCFB News» April 2020

Dear Cook County Farm Bureau members and friends,

Cook County Farm Bureau® has been monitoring the developments related to COVID-19. Farm Bureau staff continues working remotely to support our farmer and associate members through delivery of membership benefits and services, information and communication and issue and agricultural literacy management through technology.

Member services staff are available at 708-354-FARM (3276) from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. CST Monday through Friday. You can also access information and services through our website www.cookcfb.org or facebook page.

Lessons, videos and activities for learners of all ages. You don't have to be in school to enjoy our fun, agriculturally themed learning opportunities.

COUNTRY Financial was proud to renew their annual partnership with IAITC and this year, to support a limited run of Earth Day posters. Displayed in offices around the state, the poster is just one of the many partnerships their annual contribution affords. Promoting the relationship, many Agricultural Literacy Coordinators and COUNTRY Representatives took to social media to share photos of the posters. Cook County AITC distributed copies of the poster to local teachers during their March 11th Earth Day Workshop.

Illinois’ industrial hemp acres skyrocketed within one year, but the fledgling crop and licensed growers face challenges to achieve economic viability.USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) recently released a nationwide study on the economic viability of U.S. hemp legalized in 47 states by December 2019.

MightyVine CEO Gary Lazarski showcases some of the company’s tomatoes ready for picking. The company opened two greenhouses five years ago, opened another late last year and could open another within the next year

Applications are now available for nurse practitioner scholarships through the Illinois Farm Bureau® Rural Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program. There will be 10 scholarships, worth $4,000 each, granted this year.

Cook County Farm Bureau offers both members and non-members an opportunity to test their garden or lawn soil by purchasing a soil testing kit. Soil, in its natural state, is rarely fertile enough for the best growth of plants. Usually, it is necessary to supplement the earth’s store of plant nutrients before we can obtain the most vigorous lawn, the most abundant and brilliant flowers, the most aesthetically satisfying trees/shrubs and the greatest yield of tasty and nutritious vegetables, or crops. Test your soil pH, potassium, phosphorous, and other key elements to begin the soil improvement process.

Together with partners, Cook County Farm Bureau® donated much needed food staples to Together We Cope. The donations directly benefit the 5,000 people in four Cook County townships who rely on the food pantry monthly.

Facts from the Farm Bureau.

Purchase an Easter lily and flower from a local greenhouse and garden center and spread goodwill, love, and beauty to your family, friends and neighbors during these difficult times.

The Illinois Constitution mandates that a county board be elected in each county.

The county board is both the legislative and executive branch of county government. As a legislative body, the board enacts ordinances and resolutions that can apply to the county as a region, including the cities within it, or specifically to the unincorporated area of the county.

Cook County Farm Bureau® in partnership with the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois drafted and introduced legislation to create the Local Working Animal Protection Act to ensure individuals the opportunity to use animals such as horses.

In response to a recent member survey, Cook County Farm Bureau® is drafting resolutions limiting the compensation of public officials.

Each month we are highlighting a Cook County Farm Bureau Member: This month's "Face of CCFB" is...Nikki Van Kalker, owner of Van Kalker Farms & Greenhouses.

The Board of Directors of the Cook County Farm Bureau Foundation has selected 12 individuals as recipients of the 2020-2021 Scholarship Program. This scholarship is designed to honor Mr. Howard Paarlberg, the first President of the Foundation and President of the Farm Bureau for 18 years. The recipient carries the prestige of being the top-rated applicant and a greater financial reward for the individual.

A few months ago, I wrote about not understanding something unless you’ve experienced it. Unfortunately, we have a whole new generation experiencing something that none of us have experienced but will most certainly always remember.

Every April after an evening mushroom hunt in the timber, the sunset’s glow across the home farm triggers a connective feeling to the land that I struggle to describe.

The Milk Situation (New York Times) – The question on dairy farmers’ minds these days is not whether anyone’s got milk. It’s how to sell it. Since 1975, milk consumption per capita has dipped roughly 40 percent, according to data from Nielsen, and between 2010 and 2018, sales of milk dropped by 13 percent. Dairy farmers are now pivoting to nondairy products, opening their farms to tourism and finding new ways to market in the hopes of bringing back the milk mustache.

There’s a Facebook meme roaming around social media that says, “Some women want a man who can hold their purse, I want a man who can hold my 1,200-pound fire breathing dragon and lead it down the alley”. If you’re not around horses, specifically around barrel racers, this meme might not make sense.

Cook County Farm Bureau® staff member, Bona Heinsohn, successfully renewed her Certified Association Executive® (CAE) credential from the CAE Commission of the American Society of Association Executives®, joining more than 4,400 industry leaders worldwide.

The 2020 Cookfresh Recipe Collection is a special “throwback” edition for our 100th year! Recipes selected from decades of submissions to commemorate our Centennial! Recipe Booklets are available now!

We’re headed into the season of travel and day trips as mother nature brings on the sunshine and puts the snowflakes and harsh temperatures to bed for a few months. Agritourism plays a big part in those spring, summer and fall experiences where families can visit area farms to make lasting memories.

We are focused of support of our area farm, greenhouse, livestock and food providers. We have expanded online agricultural literacy resources and activities, commodity/marketing programs, membership support, and social media communications.

We thought the 100- year celebration of the Cook County Farm Bureau organization was a big deal until a more serious matter impacted all of us, COVID-19. We canceled the open house and made other organizational decisions to follow conventional wisdom and accommodate health and safety advice by the experts. We will still celebrate the 100 years of the Cook County Farm Bureau at some point…it is 2020 all year long.