Years ago detasseling corn was a common summer job for teenagers in our county especially since DeKalb was home to DEKALB seed corn and there were several fields of seed corn grown locally.
Then, most of the corn tassels were removed by hand. Today, machines remove most of the tassel, the ...
The DeKalb County 4-H Fair Livestock Show has been held at various locations over the years. For many years the 4-H Fair was held in conjunction with the Sycamore Farmer’s Club Jr. Fair and local Granges. The Sycamore Farmer’s Club Jr. Fair ran from 1940-2006.
From the early 1930s to the ...
Public health and food safety experts do not have any evidence to suggest that COVID-19 can be transmitted by food or food packaging.
The USDA provides this information pertaining to food safety during coronavirus:
Q: Can I become sick with coronavirus (COVID-19) from food?
A: We are not aware of any reports at ...
It’s June Dairy Month so let’s talk about how dairy cows are milked.
Many years ago milking was tedious; farmers milked cows by hand. The milk was collected in a bucket below the cow. As times changed, mechanization was necessary to produce more milk.
A mechanical bucket milker was created to make ...
Have you noticed changes in the food available at your grocery store? The COVID-crisis has impacted the supply of many foods. This has resulted in unavailability of some of your favorite brands, product shortages and even price changes from paper towels to meat.
There are many steps in the food supply ...
Most businesses were doing well before the coronavirus. Agriculture was not.
COVID-19 is just the latest in a string of misfortunes that have kept the farm economy down for several years: weather disasters, a trade war and even before that, commodity prices have been below the cost of production.
“None of us ...
Rest assured, our nation has an adequate supply of food. Farmers are among the essential critical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic who will continue to grow safe and nutritious foods for families.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides the following information about food during the pandemic.
There are no food ...
Tractors are the power horses that get farm jobs done, for example tractors are currently being used to pull planters across fields to plant corn and soybeans. Today, most tractors have wheels but some are equipped with tracks. Tracks and tires perform differently depending on field conditions and load scenarios.
Last ...
Soybeans can be made into many things including animal feed, vegetable oil, plastic, biodiesel, and… CRAYONS. One acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons. DeKalb County grows 118,000 acres of soybeans. That could make 9.7 billion crayons.That’s a lot of coloring! Source: Illinois Farm Bureau
As you drive by farms you may see a cluster of grain bins. These large, round silver-gray steel structures are used to store grain, like corn and soybeans. As you glance at the grain bins you will notice several other things.
A grain dryer is used to dry down ...
