CCFB News» September 2023

According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, a total of 19.7 million jobs, or 10.3% of U.S. employment, was related to agriculture in 2020. Farming only made up 13.5% of agricultural employment, food service made up 53.4% and food and beverage stores made up 16.5%.

There are more than one million agriculture-related jobs in Illinois. Ag-related careers include plant science, animal science, natural resources, agricultural business, environmental science, agricultural mechanics, food science, diesel mechanics, and more!

Illinois Farm Bureau’s Resolutions Committee advanced a new policy Aug. 1 aimed at reducing food waste that emits greenhouse gases, clogs landfills, and hurts both urban and rural communities.

Cook County Farm Bureau introduced the proposal after surveying its members about what issues are most important to them.

“The amount of food that’s in a landfill is increasing, so we thought we needed to have something to address the fact,” Janet McCabe, Cook CFB president, told FarmWeek. “We’re trying to get people thinking about how we need to do something about this problem.”

In partnership with Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton and Wagner Farm, we hosted over 50 individuals from Cook County government and their families for a Farm Exploration Event at historic Wagner Farm in Glenview.

I love butterflies: I love taking photos of butterflies, I love seeing them flit and flutter as they fly from flower to flower, I love the science and magic of their transformation from egg to caterpillar to butterfly. In college, my sorority’s sister name was Butterflie (-ie ending to match my family tree), due to my social butterfly personality.

Get your camera and capture moments by showcasing your best photos depicting theme of Agriculture in the Fall. Send in your photos – selfies, pictures of others, landscape, etc.

Fair season has come to an end for our house. The animals are back home. The show box is supposed to be cleaned and tucked away. And the truck has been cleaned out.

The Cook County Farm Bureau® and the University of Illinois Extension continue to partner on a project that benefits local Farm Bureau members and the general public.

The Slow Moving Vehicle (SMV) sign is a reflective orange triangle bordered with red that warns other road users that the vehicle displaying the sign is traveling slower than the normal speed of traffic.

The gal in the neighboring dorm room rented a U-Haul to transport her belongings to college. Other families had minivans with the back seats removed for their students. We had a pickup truck pulling a livestock trailer that stated the name and location of our farm.

Cook County Farm Bureau® purchased a lamb during the Lake County Fair 4H Animal Auction.

Recipe printed with permission from the Kitchen of: IL Corn

Next Monarch Club Meeting
Thursday, September 7
10 a.m. at Lake Katherine Nature Center & Botanic Gardens

Watermelon. A true summer treat!

I love it and I am so pleased that my five-year-old grandson loves it as much as I do. If fact, we now make sure watermelon is a part of almost every meal when he visits. Like most people, we both prefer a watermelon that is very fresh, sweet, and ripe. We both want melon flesh to be so juicy that it leaks with every bite, rolling down one’s lip and over the chin. Perfect photo ops of grandchildren and grandparents alike!