BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Applications are now available for nurse practitioner scholarships through the Illinois Farm Bureau® Rural Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program. There will be 15 scholarships, worth $4,000 each, granted this year. The scholarship program, now in its twenty-ninth year, helps encourage and develop the pool of rural health practitioners to help meet primary health care needs in rural Illinois. Students who receive scholarships agree to practice for two years in an approved rural area in Illinois. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be Illinois residents and be a Registered Nurse accepted or enrolled in an accredited Nurse Practitioner Program. Funding is provided by the Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program.

Applications are available at county Farm Bureaus® throughout the state, on the Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program website at RIMSAP.com, or by writing Donna Gallivan, program manager, Illinois Farm Bureau, PO Box 2901, Bloomington, IL 61702-2901. Applications are due May 1. For additional information, contact Donna Gallivan at 309-557-2350, or via email at dgallivan@ilfb.org.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Farm Bureau® (IFB) is accepting applications for its Illinois Veterinary Education and Training (IVET) loan program. Loans are available to second-year veterinary students attending any accredited college of veterinary medicine in the U.S. and who are focused on Illinois food animal medicine. The Illinois Veterinary Education Training (IVET) Program helps offset the high cost of veterinary education. The program loans up to $40,000 to as many as three veterinary students each year. Loans are made over a period of two to three years. IVET awards recipients a $1,500 stipend during their fourth year in school to help pay expenses associated with clinical rotations. Loans are repaid over five years, during which graduates must commit to working in a food animal practice that services Illinois livestock producers. 

Applications are due May 15, 2021 and can be found online at www.ilfb.org/IVET . The selection committee will interview eligible applicants in spring 2021. Successful applicants will be notified by mail. Loan disbursements begin in August. IFB established IVET in 2005. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $510,000 to 26 veterinary students who focus on caring for food animals in Illinois. For more information about the program, contact Tasha Bunting at 309-557-2993 or tbunting@ilfb.org. 

“What herbicide trait are your beans this year?” That is a question we should be asking of our neighbors and communicating our seed plans to them and to local custom applicators. This crop year will present many challenges for private and custom applicators. The adoption of the new Enlist and XtendFlex traits mean there will now be (predominately) two different and totally unique herbicide traits in area soybean fields this season. Communicating “what is planted where” is of the utmost importance in 2021.

Let’s review the terminology:
Liberty Link: tolerant to Liberty herbicide only
Xtend: “dicamba beans”- tolerant to Roundup & Dicamba (Engenia, Xtendimax herbicides)
XtendFlex: new for 2021, tolerant to Roundup, Dicamba & Liberty
Enlist: “2,4-D beans”- tolerant to Roundup, Enlist herbicides (2,4-D Choline) & Liberty

How do we communicate “what is planted where”? The first and best option is to pick up the phone and call or text your neighbor. Let them know what trait you intend to plant and don’t forget to reach out again if plans change in season. Secondly, add a visual layer of communication. Flag the Technology flags will be available at the Farm Bureau office, free of charge. To continue reading, click here.

Six area food pantries in Warren and Henderson counties received pork donations in late January thanks to Little York farmer Devin Reeder. Devin donated two hogs and worked with Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau® to distribute the frozen meat to Alexis Area Food Bank, Family Outreach Community Center in Stronghurst, Helping Hands of Roseville, the Henderson County Health Dept. Food Pantry, Jamieson Community Center in Monmouth, and the Lomax Food Pantry. Donated cuts included: ham hocks, spare/pork back ribs, butterfly chops, pork fresh ham steaks, cured ham steaks, ground pork, mild sausage, pork steaks, and sliced bacon. W-HFB paid for the processing fees from Woodhull Locker. A big thanks goes out to Devin and his family for their generosity and contribution to local communities. To donate or see how you can be of assistance to the food pantries listed above:

Alexis Area Food Bank: 309-337-5574

Family Outreach Community Center: 309-924-1872

Helping Hands of Roseville: 309-536-0229

Henderson County Health Department Food Pantry: 309-627-2812

Jamieson Community Center: 309-734-4251

Lomax Food Pantry: 217-966-0447

Now that 2020 is behind us, like many of you, we’re looking forward to a New Year and the opportunities it’ll bring. But we also see the importance of reflecting over the last 12 months. As we talk about what 2020 looked like for us, and where our farm is headed in 2021, let me share a little about our family’s history.

Seven generations ago, my family made the journey from Ireland and settled in Sumner Township in Warren County, about as far west as you can go in Illinois. Since then, all seven generations have raised cattle right here – making it a long-held tradition of providing our families and our communities with nutritious, sustainably grown beef. We also grow...click here to read the full write-up.