Farms

For six generations, the Ropp family has made dairy products in Normal, including two decades producing cheese. The store and farm will close early next month.

Illinois farmers feel the impacts of tariffs, inflation and more competition. The federal government introduced bridge payments, but these payments are not enough to offset the cost of farming.

Illinois Farm Bureau delegates have rejected a new term for Illinois Farm Bureau [IFB] President Brian Duncan. At the IFB annual meeting in Chicago, nearly 57% of the delegates chose Philip Nelson of Seneca, a former IFB president and state agriculture director, as the organization’s 17th president.

Farmland owners who want to sell their acreage are holding back this fall, compared with this time last year — while land prices have declined slightly.

The 61-year-old organic grower, who survived a catastrophic tractor accident last year, returns to predawn harvests and Saturday markets.

The Sunflower Days Festival at Rader Family Farms in Normal is for the community to admire, take photos and pick their favorite flowers.

The average corn yield last year in McLean County was nearly 247 bushels per acre. That's enough to blow the minds of the grandfathers of today's farmers. Agriculture has changed nearly beyond recognition in less than a century.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen calls Trump administration plans to zero out home heating and cooling help for "very low-income" people "cruel."

The state ranks fifth in the country for agricultural product exports worth $10.6 billion, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

President Trump promised increased tariffs on the campaign trail. As president-elect he's doubled own on the pledge, targeting Canada, Mexico, and once again China. Illinois agriculture organizations still hope he doesn't mean it.