Black History Month photo montage courtesy of Maricopa Community College District. Top Row from left to right: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Mae Jemison. Bottom row from left to right: Nat King Cole, Rosa Parks, Barack Obama, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, George Washington Carver.
Greg Millburg, DeKalb County Farm Bureau Manager, shared information about the agriculture industry in the county, state, and country, before and since the pandemic.
County Farm Bureau Manager Greg Millburg gave updated statistics on agriculture in DeKalb County and the impact of Covid-19 during this week’s Rotary meeting. Millburg, who grew up on a farm near a Raymond, Illinois, leads an organization with 6,500 members. Founded in 1912 as the DeKalb County Soil Improvement Association, the Farm Bureau is the oldest non-government agriculture organization in the country (although other groups used the “Farm Bureau” name prior to DeKalb). Their headquarters is at the Center for Agriculture building at Bethany and Peace Roads in Sycamore. This building opened in 1996 and all tenants are in agriculture-related businesses. The focus of the Farm Bureau is on agriculture literacy, consumer outreach, and legislative advocacy.
Farming is one of the largest industries in the county with 88% of land devoted to farming and, as of 2019, $331 million in production revenue. There are about 2,300 farms in DeKalb County planted and operated by 870 farmers. DeKalb County has some of the best growing soil in the country. It results in planting 154,200 acres of corn, 115,400 acres of soybeans, and raising almost one-million hogs per year. Millburg also noted that statewide, Illinois grows more pumpkins than anywhere else and is also the horseradish capital of the world.
The Covid-19 pandemic initiated some significant shifts in consumer trends according to Millburg. Farmers saw unexpected hoarding combined with major supply-chain interruptions. The meat-packing industry was one example where consumers depleted in-store supplies and Covid-19 outbreaks shut down meatpacking. This led to a back-log of market-ready animals at farms with no place for them to be shipped. Millburg said hog producers in DeKalb County were within about one week of being forced to euthanize their pigs due to the disruption. Since then, Millburg says markets rebounded to more normal conditions plus consumers began to seek out more locally grown products. Just like with the founding of the Farm Bureau, Millburg said farmers are prepared to innovate in this era of COVID-19 to provide food essentials for the consumer.
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The World Health Organization has announced that dogs cannot contract Covid-19. Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released. To be clear, WHO let the dogs out.
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Intelligence is like underwear. It is important that you have it, but not necessary that you show it off.
Relationships are a lot like algebra. Have you ever looked at your X and wondered Y?
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People are making end of the world jokes like there's no tomorrow.
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What do you call a sleepwalking nun? A roamin’ Catholic.
What did Snow White say when she came out of the photo booth? Someday my prints will come.
A girl said she recognized me from her vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.
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What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Short.
I've finally told my suitcases there will be no holiday this year. Now I'm dealing with the emotional baggage.
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Don't let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case.
February 22, 1732 – George Washington is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He served as commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and became the first U. S. President.
February 24, 1846 – American frontiersman “Buffalo Bill” Cody is born in LeClaire, Iowa. He became world famous through his Wild West show which traveled throughout the U. S. and Europe for 30 years.
February 23, 1868 – African American educator and leader W. E. B. DuBois is born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was one of the founders of the NAACP in 1909.
February 24, 1885 – Admiral Chester Nimitz is born in Fredericksburg, Texas. He commanded Allied naval, land and air forces in the South Pacific during World War II and signed the Japanese surrender document on September 2, 1945.
February 24, 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII corrected mistakes on the Julian calendar by dropping ten days. The Gregorian or “New Style” calendar was then adopted by Catholic countries followed gradually by other nations.
February 26, 1848 – The “Manifesto of the Communist Party” is published by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
February 24, 1867 – The U. S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson following bitter opposition to his post-Civil War reconstruction policies in the South. The effort to remove him from office failed in the Senate by one vote.
February 27, 1950 – The 22nd Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is ratified limiting the President to two terms or a maximum of ten years in office.
