Budzinski’s Fight for a Bi-Partisan Farm Bill
By Benjamin Cox on January 30, 2024 at 1:28pm
13th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski says the ongoing budget fight in Washington is standing in the way of a bipartisan compromise on a new Farm Bill being passed. The government’s funding is on a continuing resolution until early March. The country is still operating under the 2018 Farm Bill, and will operate under its continued […]
JWCC’s Taylor Wins National Champion Honors in Denver Carload Livestock Competitions
By Benjamin Cox on January 29, 2024 at 2:18pm
A Murrayville John Wood Community College student has won the National Championship in the Denver Carload livestock competition. First-year student Emma Taylor won the contest at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado this past week. Taylor was the winner out of 123 participants from 28 schools from across the country. The participants were […]
November Weather
By Gary Scott on December 2, 2023 at 9:34am
It was a warmer than normal November, but very dry. The precipitation total came to just 3-quarters of an inch. Normal rainfall for November is 3 and two thirds inches. The driest November Jacksonville has ever had was 23 hundredths in 1933. The wettest day was just a half inch of rain on the 21st. […]
Budzinski Talks Good & Bad of Farm Bill Extension
By Benjamin Cox on November 20, 2023 at 1:32pm
13th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski voted with moderate Republicans and the Democrat minority in the House of Representatives to pass an extension to the 2018 Farm Bill this week. The fate of the Farm Bill has remained uncertain since its expiration at the end of September until Speaker of the House Mike Johnson included an […]
Budzinski Announces Ag Research Funding Increase Bill at U of I Roundtable
By Benjamin Cox on August 30, 2023 at 8:38am
13th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski has announced legislation that would increase funding for the first time in several decades in the agricultural research sector. Budzinski announced the America Grows Act at a round table at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with the Farm Journal Foundation on Monday. The America Grows Act would require a five […]
July Heat
By Gary Scott on August 2, 2023 at 6:30am
The heat was on last month, but not at a record level. The average temperature last month was nearly 75 and a half degrees. That’s just 6-tenths of a degree higher than normal. One only needs to look to last year for a hotter July, when the average was 75 and a half degrees. Typical […]
Roderick Tapped to Lead Mid-America Port Commission
By Benjamin Cox on July 26, 2023 at 3:32pm
A retired local farm bureau executive has been tapped for a new position. The Journal Courier reports that former Pike-Scott Farm Bureau Executive Director Blake Roderick has been elected chairman of the Mid-America Port Commission. The commission is the largest port district on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. It covers a three-state, 26-county region […]
Emergency Grazing Announced For Central Illinois Counties
By Benjamin Cox on July 23, 2023 at 6:51am
The USDA Farm Service Agency has authorized five Illinois counties to have emergency grazing. USDA FSA Executive Director Scott Halpin announced on Friday that Adams, Hancock, Pike, Randolph, and Schuyler counties are now authorized for emergency grazing use on all eligible Conservation Reserve Program acres during the Primary Nesting Season due to extreme drought conditions. […]
Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau Hosting Land Rights Meeting in July
By Benjamin Cox on June 24, 2023 at 4:50pm
The Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau is hosting an informational meeting in regards to land rights next month. The Journal Courier reports that Illinois Farm Bureau general counsels Laura Harmon and Garrett Thalgott will share information about how people can keep their property safe when structures such as wind and solar farms or pipelines are proposed. The meeting […]
Drought Growing Across Central Illinois
By Benjamin Cox on June 23, 2023 at 6:10am
Areas of severe drought across West Central Illinois continues to grow. Southern Sangamon, most of Macoupin, and the the far southeast tip of Morgan County are the only portions of the listening area not listed in moderate drought this week, according to the National Drought Monitor map released on Thursday. Northwestern Pike County is now […]