The Education & Outreach Task Force is hosting a fall Prep, Freeze, Cook class. Bring a friend and make some great freezer meals for the upcoming harvest and sports seasons! Payment is collected at the door. The price is $141.40 (including tax) for 10 dishes. 1 dish will feed a family of 5. Cash, Check, Debit, and Credit are accepted. Please RSVP to the office at 309-342-2036.
Free Saturated Buffer Field Day
Friday, August 10th
10 AM
Burke Farm, Approx. 750 Knox Road 2800 N, Oneida, IL, Ontario Township, Section 17
Lunch will be provided. RSVP required by August 8th. Call the Knox County Farm Bureau at 342-2036 to RSVP.
The Knox County Farm Bureau and the Knox-Galesburg Symphony (KGS) are hosting the Sounds of Summer event on August 26 from 2-4 pm. Please join us for a free, family friendly afternoon on the Krista & Brett Swanson family farm, 2553 Knox Highway 3, Oneida. There will be fun for all ages, including an instrument petting zoo, activities for kids, and the KGS orchestra will play a variety of beautiful and entertaining pieces of music at 3 pm.
Are you a sharp shooter? Join us on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at the Knox County Sportsman's Club for a Trap Shoot fundraiser to benefit the Knox County Young Farmers Committee! Register HERE!
3-Club Scramble (Can use any 3 clubs, except a wedge)
Friday, July 20, 2018
Oak Run Golf Course
7 AM - Registration 8 AM - Shotgun Start
$60 Individual Golfer ALL GOLFERS REGISTER HERE
$240 Team, 4 attendees (green fees, cart rental, and lunch)
Sponsorships ALL SPONSORS REGISTER HERE
$750 Barn Raiser
$500 Harvester
$250 Cultivator
$100 Seed Sower
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE KNOX COUNTY AG IN THE CLASSROOM PROGRAM!
June 23, 2018
Knox County Fairgrounds
Ages 8-13
Camp Check In: 8:30-8:45 a.m. (No Cost to Attend!)
Accident Scene: 2:15-2:45 p.m. (Parents encouraged to attend)
*Participants are required to wear closed toed shoes*
Participants will rotate between safety sessions focusing on Electricity, Fire, PTO, 911, First Aid, ATV, Animal Handling, Grain, and Poison/Chemical
Each participant will receive a free T-shirt, goody bag, lunch, drinks, and snacks!
Please contact the Knox County Farm Bureau office if you are interested in being a group leader at the camp!!
Like us on Facebook!!
For more information, please call the Knox County Farm Bureau: 309/342-2036.
Dr. Steve Johnson, Farm & Ag Business Management Specialist from Iowa State University Extension, will be at the Knox Agri-Center on Tuesday, June 19th at 7:00 p.m. to present a marketing seminar.
Steve serves as the Farm & Ag Business Management Specialist in Central Iowa for Iowa State University Extension. He presents annually at nearly 100 meetings, workshops, seminars and conferences across the Corn Belt and interacts with more than 10,000 producers.
He holds BS and MS degrees from Iowa State University and his Ph.D. from Colorado State University. Steve specializes in topics related to grain marketing, government farm programs, crop insurance, farmland leasing and other risk management strategies.
Steve posts monthly free newsletters, webcasts and updates on both ISU Extension Ag Decision Maker and the Polk County Extension Farm Management web sites. CLICK HERE to reserve your seat or call the KCFB office at 309-342-2036.
On August 17, 2017 the Knox County Farm Bureau Board of Directors hired Hailey Weyhrich, Illinois Farm Bureau Manager Trainee, as the new Executive Director of the Knox County Farm Bureau effective October 1, 2017. Hailey is from Manito and is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural and Consumer Economics with a concentration in Agribusiness Markets and Management. Hailey started with the Illinois Farm Bureau Manager Training Program in May of 2017. “The KCFB is also excited to welcome our new Executive Director, Hailey Weyhrich, to Knox County. The KCFB Board of Directors are confident that Hailey will help lead our organization to new achievements in the future as we continue to represent agriculture and rural interests in Knox County,” stated Strom.
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Hailey Weyhrich
Join area educators and the Knox County Farm Bureau at the “Ag in a Day 2018: Food for Thought” teacher workshops for hands-on activities, farm tours, and free resources for your classroom. The workshops will be held on June 12th and 13th. The workshops are only $10 per day to attend and include lunch and refreshments both days.
The “Ag in a Day” workshops are open to all teachers and educators. The days will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude at 4:30 p.m. Teachers will have the choice to attend workshops at two different locations:
June 12: The day will begin at Black Hawk East Campus in Galva. Illinois Ag in the Classroom will present followed by a Black Hawk East Vet Tech Tour. Following lunch will be a farm tours, presentations on cover crops, conservation, native bees and habitats, and a tour of Invenergy Wind Farms.
June 13: The day will begin at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport with a ball park tour, presentations on monarchs and Midwest Dairy Assoc. Following lunch will be Make n' Take lessons and tour at Nahant Marsh.
Teachers are invited to attend either course, or whatever date and location is most convenient. Educators will receive free teaching materials, participate in hands-on activities, view Ag in the Classroom educational kits, and take field trips to areas of interest in order to learn more about agriculture. It only costs $10/day to attend and there will be ample opportunities for teachers to win prizes and resources for their classrooms.
The workshops are designed for Preschool - High School educators who wish to expand their curriculum to include topics related to agriculture – the world’s food and fiber system. The workshops will focus on how to integrate available resources and hands-on activities about agriculture into an existing classroom curriculum.
A registration form is available online HERE. You can also register by calling 309-342-2036 or e-mailing knoxcfb@knoxcfb.org, but hurry because space is limited.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact the Knox County Farm Bureau office at 309-342-2036. The workshops are sponsored by the Henry, Knox, Mercer, Stark, and Warren-Henderson County Farm Bureaus.
The Knox County Farm Bureau Foundation thanks our members for collecting Prairie Farms milk caps and supporting our cause! Prairie Farms Dairy donated $50 to the Knox County Farm Bureau Foundation through the Our Caps Your Cause program. Members collected 1,000 caps to earn the $50 donation and more caps have been redeemed toward our next 1,000 goal.
To participate, collect Prairie Farms caps from white or flavored milk in gallon or half gallon sizes. Reveal the unique, redeemable code by peeling off the sticker and redeem the code by following the link on www.knoxcfb.org. When prompted with the choice of which organization to give to, please choose Knox County Farm Bureau Foundation, Galesburg, IL. Members may also drop off milk caps at the Knox County Farm Bureau office and staff will enter the codes for you!
By Ted Mottaz
Peoria County farmer George Roberts grows corn and cover crops near Trivoli. The latter crops — ryegrass, oats, triticale, radish — go into the ground while the main crop is still in the field. They continue to grow after the corn and soybeans are harvested.
Cover crops help build organic matter and reduce soil erosion. Most importantly, they hold nutrients (fertilizer) in place for the next year’s crop. Without them, nutrients not used by corn and soybean plants can leave farm fields and enter streams, lakes and rivers, where they might harm water quality.
Roberts also participates in an education and outreach program to other farmers that has had water monitoring equipment installed on his farm. Samples are collected and analyzed to determine which of Roberts’ practices are most effective at keeping nutrients in place.
Roberts’ story is one of 50 in a new online resource, the Conservation Story Map. It includes videos and photos of the many ways farmers protect soil and water. Users can search the Map by stewardship method, locale, type of project, or by farm, conservation and other groups that provide funding and support.
The land and water benefit when nutrients stay where they belong. Farmers also gain. Roberts gets the most out of the fertilizer he buys each year. He gets the best crop yield, ensures that his crops take up the maximum amount of nutrients possible and has fewer weeds to control.
Illinois farmers join cities, towns and others in working to improve water health. The state’s Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy outlines the methods detailed on the Map. Released a year ago, it aims to reduce by 45 percent the phosphorous and nitrate loads in the state’s waters from wastewater treatment plants and from urban and farm runoff. It also speaks to the bigger picture: hundreds of square miles in the Gulf of Mexico impacted by excess nutrients that flow from upstream.
Farmers get help from the Illinois Council on Best Management Practices (CBMP) in doing their part. CBMP is made up of farm groups and of businesses where farmers buy fertilizer. It identifies stewardship practices that work, are good for the environment and make economic sense for farmers.
The best and latest science supports cover crops and these other techniques. How are other farmers in your area working to keep the land and water healthy? See and hear George Roberts’ story and others at www.illinoiscbmp.org.
Ted Mottaz is with the Illinois Corn Growers Association, based in Bloomington.
180 South Soangetaha Road, Galesburg, IL 61401
Phone: (309) 342-2036 • Fax: (309) 342-4136
