Illinois Ag in the Classroom is offering online resources and lessons during this COVID-19 time so kids can continue learning from home about agriculture. Every Monday-Friday IAITC will be releasing a short daily video and related activities on a different ag topic. Visit Beyond the Barn Door and Illinois Ag in the Classroom's Facebook page to view these materials and see how you can keep up on a little bit of ag education each day.

Tuesday, June 9th and Wednesday, June 10th will be the days of this year’s Summer Ag Institute “Ag in a Day” teacher workshops. These workshops are intended to help teachers learn about ag topics and local agricultural insights. Hands-on activities, tours, and free educational resources will all be part of the two workshops.

The workshops are $10/teacher per day and will include lunch and refreshments both days. Teachers are invited to attend one or both days; workshops are open to all teachers & educators. The workshops are designed for educators who wish to expand curriculum to include topics related to agriculture. Professional Development Credits will be available each day.

The deadline to register is May15th and registration is limited to 30 teachers per day! Registration and tour information is available online at http://aginaday.weebly.com/; call Knox County Farm Bureau at (309)342-2036 with any questions. If paying via check, it can be made out to “SAI Ag Discovery”.

The workshops are sponsored by the Bureau, Henry, Knox, Mercer, Stark, and Warren-Henderson County Farm Bureaus.

Three Illinois farmers, including Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau President Jared Kunkle, recently discussed their family farms and shared the challenges they face with a live audience on SiriusXM radio with host Michael Smerconish. Click here to read more at FarmWeekNow.com and here to listen to the hour long interview.

      Applications are now available for nurse practitioner scholarships through the Illinois Farm Bureau® Rural Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program. There will be 10 scholarships, worth $4,000 each, granted this year.

      The scholarship program, now in its twenty eighth 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 e-mail at dgallivan@ilfb.org.

American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2020 Ag Safety Awareness Program (ASAP) Week was created to bring awareness to safety and health issues facing the agriculture industry. The theme for the week will be “20:20 Vision on Ag Safety” and will highlight a different safety focus each day of the week. Learn more by clicking here.

• Monday: Mental Health
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• Tuesday: Transportation
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• Wednesday: Weather Disasters
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• Thursday: Confined Spaces
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• Friday: Farmer Wellness
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Pesticide Safety Testing Session
March 4th in Monmouth
FB Event · Registration

To help mobilize the agricultural community, the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) is equipping each of its county Farm Bureaus with technology to aid the public in completing the 2020 census.

Each county Farm Bureau has received an iPad to be used in coordination with IFB’s efforts to assist both members and non-members in getting access to the internet to complete their 2020 Census survey. This is the first time the U.S. Census Bureau is asking household residents to complete the survey online. To read more, click here.

More than 1,700 people attended Illinois Farm Bureau’s 105th Annual Meeting held in early December. In addition to over 330 delegates debating resolutions and setting organization policy, President Richard Guebert Jr. and Vice President Brian Duncan were re-elected to serve a two-year term of their respective position. Three new directors were elected to the IAA board, a Young Leader Discussion Meet Winner was chosen, sense of the delegate body resolutions were approved, and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Censky addressed the delegates about USMCA – these were just a few of the happenings that occurred at the 3 day event, view the links below to read more about the IAA Annual Meeting!

https://farmweeknow.com/story-thats-wrap-ifbs-2019-annual-meeting-5-197508

https://farmweeknow.com/story-guebert-are-stronger-together-5-197631

https://farmweeknow.com/story-lot-more-common-think-5-197630

2019 IAA Annual Meeting Results

Not all wounds are visible and sometimes calling upon the farming community – friends, neighbors, or clergy can make a difference in managing stressful situations and crises. Below are some outside resources available for those in such a situation. More information can be found under the LINKS tab.

Make space for a healthy mind. Have you checked out SilverCloud yet?

SilverCloud is a free, secure, anonymous and interactive platform to help you manage the feelings and causes of depression, anxiety or stress. Offered by OSF HealthCare and available to the public, SilverCloud is an online resource available on your computer, tablet, or phone designed to provide you with easy access to supportive behavioral therapy programs catered to your personal situation. View the links below to learn more.

• Click here to sign-up for SilverCloud
• View Mental Health Resources
• Read their blog

CASA of West Central Illinois hosted its 5th Annual Lip Sync Battle Fundraiser on the evening of September 26th at the Knights of Columbus in Galesburg.  CASA Young Leader Committee Members from Knox and Warren-Henderson County Farm Bureaus performed a 12 song mashup of 80’s songs and were able to gather enough votes ($1 per vote) and donations throughout the night to raise over $700 for the organization – leading them to a 1st place finish. Thanks to all supported this crew and in case you missed the performance, take a look: > CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program is a non-profit organization that was founded locally in 1994. Their missions is to speak up for and support the best interests of abused and neglected children in the court system. CASAs are assigned to every abuse, neglect, and dependency case in Knox, Warren, Henderson, and McDonough Counties of Illinois. To learn more, visit http://www.casaofknoxco.com/

W-HFB hosted its Nitrogen Strip Trial Field Day on Friday, August 30th between Kirkwood and Monmouth. Click here to read more about the event.

 

Over the summer months, Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau had the opportunity to host three groups of Brazilian farmers who came to the Midwest to tour agricultural facilities through the travel company AgroBravo.
Click here to read more about the visits.

 

The Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau Young Leaders and the Warren County Prime Beef Festival co-sponsored their 6th annual Fall Festival 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, September 7th. The race started at Bayer Research Center outside Monmouth and all along the countryside course signs with agriculture facts and jokes were posted. Click here to read about 5K results.

The Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau Women’s/Ag-in-the-Classroom committee and the Prime Beef Festival sponsored their annual Agricultural Education Day for kids on Friday, September 6th at Bayer Research Center outside Monmouth. 4th grade classes from ICS, Monmouth-Roseville, and United school districts attended this annual event.
During this morning program students rotated through nine different stations where they learned about the following agriculture topics: Machinery (taught by Dudley Ricketts); Soils & Fertilizer (Joe Greenstreet & Anna Sharp); Soybeans & Plant Parts (Michael Moore); Corn & Plant Parts (Craig & Chad Long); Beef (Taylor Huston); Swine (Sue Bertelsen); Animal Vet Care (Julie Snodgrass); Sheep (Robin Corzatt); and Dairy Cattle (Gayle Baker).
Thank you to the Bayer Learning Center for allowing this event to be hosted at your facilities!

Stay up-to-date with the markets, weather, and most current ag topics at FarmWeek Now.

Check out Illinois Farm Bureau’s podcasts that give insight on Illinois farm, family, and food related issues! Available at this link include the Partners, RFD Radio, RFD Illinois, and Best of RFD podcasts. Whether you’re interested in the markets and weather, hearing in-depth interviews with top ag decision-makers, listening to a recap of ‘what happened this week in Illinois agriculture’, or learning about some ideas on Illinois places and events to visit, IFB has you covered!"