SPEAK OUT! - Illinois Agri-Women · tation by Jennifer Filipiak. Once again, we gain new members....

AAW ANNUAL MEETING 3

IARC NEWS 4

IARC LEADERSHIP SEMINAR 5

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 6

Inside this issue:

FALL 2015

Dates to Remember

2015

Nov. 6-9 AAW ConventionPortland, Maine

Nov. 17 IARC/IAWLeadership SeminarBloomington, IL (turn to page 5)

Mar. 3, Pre-WCFA reception5-7 pm. Marriott ConventionCenter Bloomington

Mar. 4, WCFAISU, Bone Student Center

P R O M O T I N G A B E T T E R U N D E R S T A N D I N G O FA G R I C U L T U R E A N D T H E F A M I L Y F A R M S Y S T E M

To Harvest….To Harvest….to get the grain in!

by Susan Wall, IAW President

Well I can’t believe it but Fall is here andfolks are harvesting. It is a beautiful sunnyday at our farm today and we are plantingwheat. I hope that everyone is having agreat time getting their crops in from thefield and that you are all being very safe. Ihave been hearing many ads on the radiotelling the farmer to follow safety first and

reminding the drivers on the road to be patient and careful when they comeupon farm machinery. We should all take our time and use common senseand courtesy with each other.

IAW had a great time on June 22 at the North East Region meeting andmeeting AAW President Sue McCrum and VP Doris Mold at Starved RockLock and Dam and Wabaunsee College. Thanks to Lorrie Stahl, the regionalcoordinator for setting that up for us. On June 23 we got to meet OrionSamuelson in Chicago. I also attended the Western Region meeting on July30 at Market Alley Wines in Monmouth, Illinois. There were just a few of usbut we had a good time and we gained a couple of new members! Thanks toWestern Region coordinator Krista Swanson for making it all possible. Thenon August 21 I attended the South West region meeting in Shipman at theCHS Plant. There were five of us there and we had a great time and presen-tation by Jennifer Filipiak. Once again, we gain new members. Thanks toErin Williams, regional coordinator, for hosting us. Then on to the State Fairand Ag Day presenting IAW awards and we had an IAW board meeting too.After that we were at the Farm Progress Show where IAW shared a spot inthe Illinois State/SIU Carbondale tent. Ialso had the honor of being on stage inthe Farm Progress tent representing IAWas one of the ten agricultural groups cho-sen in the state of Illinois to be recipientsof Farm Credit’s $100,000 gift to agricul-ture in their “Designate the Dollars” pro-gram. Finally, Denise Smith and I at-tended the first Illinois Harvest Dinner thatwas held near Pontiac, Illinois on theMackinson Farm. You can see it on Face Book. continued on page 2

SPEAK OUT!

2015 IAW Memberships DuesNew Member / Renewal

____ I would like to renew my IAW membershipDues $50 per year, including IAW/AAW newsletters.

____ I would like to join IAW.Dues $50 per year, including IAW/AAW newsletters.

Name

Spouse

Address

City State

Zip County

Ph Email

IAW News

As you can see, we have beenvery busy this summer.

Coming up this Fall is the Leader-ship Training sponsored by IARC

President Message continued from page 1

Annual dues of $50.00 are due March 1, 2015 tobe current. Our organization needs your support,both physically and financially, to meet our goalsand promote agriculture in Illinois. Please sendyour check and complete form to Jennifer Wa-ters.

Send to:Jennifer Waters

4974 Robinson RdPleasant Plains, IL 62677

Membership renewals are due eachMarch. If you have not yet renewed

please remit today!

and IAW on November 17 inBloomington, everyone is invitedand bring a friend. It will be a greatmeeting. Also the AAW Conven-tion that will be held in Maine onNovember 5-8. You can find infor-mation about the convention in thelatest AAW newsletter. You willalso see two stories in there aboutour visit to Chicago and another byDiana Ropp and her visit with JeanIbendahl on Jean’s 97th birthday.

Illinois Agri Women are making

things happen for agriculture all thetime. Please keep in touch with usand come when you can to takepart in these many educational ex-periences that we sponsor. Youdefinitely will go home with some-thing good to share in your part ofthe country; besides gaining sev-eral great new friends. I can’t waitto meet you all!

Susan Wall President Illinois AgriWomen

Member Corner

Congratulations to Heather Hampton + Knodle forbeing selected by Lt. Governor Sanguinetti to serveon the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council

Congratulations to Penny Lauritzen, Pat Yeagle andDiana Ropp for being recognized as Illinoisans of theDay by the Illinois State Fair Museum Foundation.

Welcome

Melinda Anderson, Eureka, ILBridgot Giles Effingham, ILCaitlin Chrzanwoski Elmwood, ILDara Entwistle New Holland, ILGrace Foster Macomb, IL

Membership Directories: You will soon be receiving your Membership Directory by mail if you haven'tpicked one up already. Please contact Karen Westbrook at [email protected] or call 217-787-1059if you do not receive a Directory by October 15 and wish to receive a copy. Please put IAW directory in thesubject line of the email.

AAW News

Our next 40 years: AAW marks milestone at 2015 conventionAmericanAgri-Women’s(AAW)2015 na-tionalconven-tion in

Portland, Maine, set for Nov. 5-7,will be a culmination of the organi-zation’s year-long celebration of its40th anniversary and offer a lookinto the future of the organization.AAW is the nation’s largest coali-tion of farm, ranch and agri-business women.

This year’s 40th anniversaryevents included a Drive AcrossAmerica, where volunteers drovein a specially wrapped “farmpickup” on a five-month educationand advocacy tour of the U.S.

The 2015 convention’s theme is“Harvesting for the Future” and

attendees will hear speakers on agissues as well as tour different as-pects of Maine agriculture. MaineAgri-Women are hosting the con-vention. Maine is also the homestate of AAW President SueMcCrum, who will complete her termthis year.

“It’s such an honor to celebrate allthat we’ve achieved in our first 40years in my home state and to planfor a future where we’ll continue be-ing a force for truth for Americanagriculture,” says President SueMcCrum.

Complete details and registration isavailable on the AAW website:www.americanagriwomen.org.

Speakers include:

Walter Whitcomb, Commissionerof Agriculture, Forestry and Conser-vation

Ann LePage, First Lady ofMaine

Karen Worcester of Worces-ter Wreaths and executive direc-tor of Wreaths Across America

Marge Kilkelly, senior policyadvisor for U.S. Senator AngusKing

John Rebar, executive direc-tor of the Maine Extension Ser-vice

Kathy Day, a nurse and pa-tient safety activist and advocate

Tours include visits to PinelandFarms, a 5,000-acre workingfarm and educational center;Green Thumb Farms, a 2,200-acre potato, corn and grassfarm; Curran Co., which special-izes in fresh-cut vegetables; Al-lagash Brewing Co., one of NewEngland’s original Belgian-stylebreweries; and ImmuCell Corp.,an animal healthcare company.

Illinois Harvest Dinner Brings Food Conversation to the FieldThe inaugural Illinois Harvest Dinnerheld Wed., Sept. 9 at the MackinsonDairy Farm brought healthcare pro-fessionals, moms, bloggers, grocersand farmers together for an ex-change of ideas about food, farmingand Illinois agriculture.

The IHD was inspired by Common-Ground North Dakota's "Banquet InA Field" and created by Illinois farmwomen Mary Mackinson Faber, Ka-tie Pratt and Jenny Schweigert. Thegroup partnered with Illinois AgriWomen to host the event.

"Farmers and ranchers around theworld have a unique story to tell andwe are making strides in communi-cating the 'whys' of our farming

practices through social media,"said Schweigert, IHD co-coordinatorand executive director for AgChatFoundation.

The purpose of the dinner was three-fold, said Schweigert. The groupwanted to create a comfortable at-mosphere for meaningful dialogueabout farms, to foster trusted rela-tionships between consumers andfarmers, and to highlight Illinois'number one industry, agriculture.

“The dinner confirmed that we needto step outside our social mediacomfort zones and develop relation-ships in person," said Schweigert.

The Pontiac FFA Chapter guided by

advisor Jesse Faber, builtraised garden beds in whichthey planted sweet corn, pop-corn, wheat, pumpkins, horse-radish, green beans andpeas. The garden beds wereon display at the dinner, andFFA members were on hand toexplain the significance of eachcrop to Illinois' agriculture com-munity.

"Many people see Illinois strictlyas a corn and soybean state,but we grow 85 percent of theworld's horseradish," said Pratt.

Next to each garden box sat agroup of products that con-tained the featured crop.

IARC News

What a growing season this hasbeen and the fat lady hasn’t fin-ished singing yet. IARC has sev-eral projects on the horizon andare more than willing to consideradditional projects as they arise.

Congrats go out to PennyLauritzen, Pat Yeagle and myselffor being recognized as Illinoisansof the Day by the Illinois State FairMuseum Foundation. If you arenot familiar with this recognition,the Illinois State Fair MuseumFoundation began the Illinois CornDog Kickoff 10 years ago. TheKickoff typically takes place in Julyand is a fund raiser for the founda-

Illinois Agricultural Resource Council Corner By Diana Ropp, IARC President

tion. This event includes silent andlive auctions, entertainment andannouncement of the Illinoisans ofthe Day all in the name of historyand preservation of State Fair arti-facts. It’s truly an entertaining andfun event for those of us passion-ate about the Illinois State Fair.

American Agri Women’s 40th Anni-versary celebration continues withthe Drive Across America. I hopeyou have been keeping up on thesights and sounds of President SueMcCrum, Doris Mold and others onFacebook and Twitter! Their jour-ney has been one of fellowship,camaraderie and fun. The Annual

Meeting in Maine this coming No-vember 5-7, 2015 will be a memo-rable occasion I am sure. Hopeyou are making plans to attend.

All the BEST to my Illinois AgriWomen friends and colleaguesand stay tuned to this column formore news on IARC activities inthe future.

Illinois Agricultural Resource Council, Inc. (IARC)501(c)3 Charitable Organization

Non-profit Associated with the IL Agri-Women

Current Board MembersDiana Ropp (2nd term/2017) – President

Cheryl Day (2nd term/2017) – Vice-PresidentKrista Lottinville (1st term/2017) – Secretary

Beverly Coffman (2nd term/2016) – TreasurerPatricia Yeagle (ex-officio) – Past President

Emily Pratt (2nd term/2016)Martha Blum (2nd term/2016)

Jennifer Waters (1st term/2016)Penny Lauritzen (2nd term/2017)

Heather Hampton-Knodle (1st term/2016)Denise Smith (2nd term/2017)Karen Blatter (1st term/2017)

Ex-Officio MembersLinda Swiercinsky (IAW Past President)

Mary Meinhart (IAW Treasurer)Julie Le Sueur (IAW Special Projects Comm/2016)Shirley Bartelt (IAW Special Projects Comm/2017)Diane Wohlers (IAW Special Projects Comm/2018)

Oct. 20, 8:00 A.M.IARC Monthly Conference

Call

Nov. 17, 10:00 A.M.IARC Annual Professional

DevelopmentBloomington, IL

IARC News

The Illinois Agricultural Resource Council, Inc. and Illinois Agri Womeninvite you to join us

Tuesday, November, 17for Leadership Enhancement Skill Seminar

at theAsmark Agricenter, 14171 Carole Drive, Bloomington, IL 61705

AGENDAWelcome, opening comments 10:00 AMIntroductions/Speed-Networking (Bring business cards to share) 10:15 AMLeadership At Its Best Round Table Discussion 11:15 AMLunch NoonSteve Powell – Solum Consulting - Sponsored by Syngenta 12:45 PM

“Advocating for Ag from a Consumer Mindset” Tailoring messages to consumer attitudes identified in the am session Scrapping the “You don’t understand farming” platform Speaking from a position of shared identity Updating the “Ag’s Story” narrative

Utilizing the “women’s connection” advantageBreak 2:00 PMSeminar presentation continues 2:15 PMIAW wrap-up and call to action 3:00 PMInformal networking – Sweet Treats 3:15 PMAdjourn 4:15 PM

Registration Form

Name:______________________________________________________________Company/Group Affiliation:_____________________________________________Email Address:________________________________________________________Address:____________________________________________________________City:_____________________________ State:__________________ Zip:________________Registration/Person: $10.00College Student Fee: ComplimentaryTo register electronically, please click here: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=p5jdkwkab&oeidk=a07ebk6bps1af688ec8

Or you may also register by mailing a check payable to IARC and mailing to:Diana Ropp, 2716 Ropp Road, Normal, IL 61761

Ag focus lost: Illinois Director ofAg Phillip Nelson and State FairDirector and Illinois State Fair Di-rector Patrick Buchen resigned fortheir position on Sept. 24. Gover-nor Rauner's office said the searchfor a new director is underway. Inthe meantime, Warren Goetsch,chief of staff at the Agriculture De-partment, will serve as acting direc-tor.

Wind Farm: A bill has been signedby Gov Rauner that shifts regula-tory control over wind farm projectsfrom counties to the state. The pas-sage of Illinois Bill 3523 creates theWind Energy Facilities Constructionand Deconstruction Act. It wassigned into law July 24, and is ef-fective immediately. A key elementdictates that an agricultural impactmitigation agreement between de-velopers and the agriculture depart-ment must be in place before a pro-ject can proceed locally. This setsminimum standards for set up anddecommissioning, and puts finan-cial protections in place for land-owners. The agreements will ad-dress such property restoration is-sues as compaction of soil, anddrain tile systems. The countiescan have more restrictive stan-dards, and landowners can negoti-ate something beyond what’s in theagreement. This brings some con-sistency to widely varying countyregulations. Similar agricultureagreements are already used forother energy projects such as pipe-line transmission. Source DixonTelegraph

According to data from the Bu-reau of Labor Statistics, Illinoishas been losing manufacturing jobs

State and Federal Legislation

IAW Legislative Report Submitted by Eleanor Zimmerlein

all year. Over the first half of 2015,there was a net loss of 7,300 fac-tory jobs. Michigan and Indianahave gained 12,800 jobs and 6,700jobs. July announcements totalmore than 2,800 manufacturingjobs to be lost going forward. Fewif any manufacturers consider ex-panding in Illinois. Caterpillarwould love to expand in Illinois, butit cannot be justified under the cur-rent policy regime. Gov Rauner hasidentified three key policy reformsthat will help make manufacturinghappen in Illinois: workers’ com-pensation reform, lawsuit reformand a freeze on property taxes.House and Senate Democratshave been unwilling to call a voteon any of Rauner’s bills, and havebeen completely devoid of an alter-native plan to address the state’sobvious industrial crisis. SourceIllinois Policy

Budget Woes: Gov Rauner hasapproved measures which allowfunding for schools to open this fall.Gov Rauner has approved meas-ures which allow state workers tocontinue to be paid. The state leg-islature has not come up with a bal-anced budget for the coming year.The governor is insisting that somebusiness friendly laws be passed.The Democrats want more borrow-ing to balance the budget.

Air Quality: Farmers in severalIllinois counties could have to re-duce emissions as part of proposedstricter ozone standards proposedby EPA. Many believe the push toreduce ozone standards from 75parts per billion to 65 parts per bil-lion is an unachievable goal. Astudy by the Center for RegulatorySolutions said the EPA’s ozone

rule “would be the most expen-sive regulation in history, couldcause significant economic harmin Illinois—triggering substantialjob cuts, reduced businessspending, and economic uncer-tainty as manufacturing compa-nies scramble to comply.” Severalag-based counties would be innon-attainment at 70 ppb, includ-ing Champaign, McLean, Peoria,Macon, Sangamon, Macoupin,Jersey, Madison, St. Clair andHamilton. Those counties com-bined for about 11% of the state’sGDP.

Oklahoma Agriculture SecretaryJim Reese testified before theHouse Committee on Science onScience, Space and Technologysubcommittee on Environment,that a stricter ozone standardwould harm agriculture. “This pro-posed standard means greatercosts to our producers and forsmaller operators who operate ona very thin margin that is alreadyimpacted by unpredictable forcessuch as Mother Nature. Thoseincreased costs can result in thedecision to quit farming. Havingto retrofit a combine, or tractor orgenerator is expensive and for afarmer who never knows for surewhat price they will receive fortheir commodity, it is challengingto take on more expense to worktowards a standard that my beunattainable.” EPA’s plan wouldrequire states to offset ozone-forming emissions from new tran-sit or highway projects or projects“undergoing major modifications”by reducing emissions from otherexisting sources in non-attainment areas. Source DTN

Ag News

More than three million servings ofnutritious milk have been deliveredto families and individuals strug-gling to make ends meet sinceMilk2MyPlate’s inception in 2012.

For Joyce Budnick, who visits GlenEllyn Food Pantry and is the momof a toddler, being able to get freshmilk makes a big difference. “Iknow I will always be able to getcereal at the pantry, but (in thepast) I often (have) run out of milk,”she said.

Milk is the top food source for cal-cium, Vitamin D, potassium and sixother essential nutrients, and mak-ing sure hungry neighbors haveaccess to this nutritious product isMilk2MyPlate’s main priority. Fromthe program come additional bene-fits, namely the support of localdairy farmers.

About 12,000 gallons of 1% milkare delivered every month to the 34community food pantries participat-ing in the program. With the sup-port of private funders, the FoodBank and food pantries are able to

An award-winning Northern Illi-nois Food Bank program provideshungry families with nutritiousfresh milk while supporting localdairy farmers and processors. InMay, Northern Illinois Food Bankand Prairie Farms Dairy were rec-ognized with a U.S. Dairy Sus-tainability Award for OutstandingAchievement in Community Part-nerships for the Food Bank’sMilk2MyPlate Program.

Cost is a barrier that often keepshungry neighbors from purchas-ing fresh milk, and donations tolocal food pantries have tradition-ally been hard to come by be-cause milk is heavily regulatedand has a short shelf life.

To overcome these challenges,Northern Illinois Food Bankforged a partnership with PrairieFarms Dairy to provide participat-ing food pantries with a weeklysupply of fresh milk. The programallows hungry neighbors to takehome milk that is as fresh, orfresher, than what would befound in the store.

purchase the milk from PrairieFarms Dairy at a fixed and moreaffordable cost.

For the local dairy farmers involved,the program provides a consistent,year-round customer. The milk isalso delivered directly to each foodpantry through the dairy’s existingordering system and deliveryroutes.

Milk2MyPlate furthers Northern Illi-nois Food Bank’s mission of lead-ing the northern Illinois communityin solving hunger by providing nutri-tious meals to neighbors in needthrough innovative programs andpartnerships. Through a network ofmore than 800 community foodpantries and feeding programs, theFood Bank serves more than71,000 hungry neighbors eachweek across 13 counties.

Learn more about Northern IllinoisFood Bank’s Milk2MyPlate Pro-gram atwww.SolveHungerToday.org/Dairy.

Providing Milk for All By Donna Lake, Northern Illinois Food Bank

Harvest Dinner continued from page 3

"Corn and it's by-products areused in a variety of ways," saidPratt referencing the body lotion,diaper, magazine and sunscreensitting on the table next to the cornfield.

The dinner was prepared by Ex-ecutive Chef Vince Swanson ofCracked Pepper (Peoria, Ill). ChefSwanson met with dinner gueststo discuss his menu selection andthoughts about food and farming.

Appetizers included horseradishinfused deviled eggs, bruschettawith mozzarella from Marcoot’sCreamery, grilled tomato, peach,aged balsamic on house made

focaccia; salad including ciderroasted golden beets, apples,cherry tomatoes with hazelnut vin-aigrette and house made crou-tons; Illinois raised prime rib andslow braised pork shoulder, greenbeans and charred corn polenta.Mini cheesecakes from “That’s SoSweet,” completed the meal andincludes flavors such as MapleBacon, Butter Pecan, Peach Ama-retto, Pumpkin and Andes Mint.

"It was an evening I'll rememberfor a long time for the food, com-pany, conversation and even theweather. All were fantastic," wroteguest Mark Steffen, owner of

Dave's Supermarket in Fairbury,Ill. He also shared via email, "Theconversation at our table wasgreat."

"We are so grateful to all the busi-nesses, organizations and individu-als who supported this event," saidFaber. She said the group plans tofollow-up with the IHD guests tolearn if they met their goals for theevent.

For additional information, includinga full list of sponsors, visit the Illi-nois Harvest Dinner facebookpage.

SPEAK OUT!Publications of the Illinois Agri Women

www.illinoisagriwomen.org

President: Susan Wall309 Sorento Ave Sorento, IL 62086

217/272-4485 [email protected]

Vice President: Denise SmithP.O. Box 143 Franklin, IL 62638


Treasurer: Mary Meinhart3636 E 1800th Ave Montrose, IL 62445


Secretary: Karen Westbrook4616 Foxhall Lane Springfield, IL 62711


Past President: Linda Swiercinsky1739 State Rte 8 Maquon, IL 61458


Newsletter Editor: Cheryl Day3509 NE County Line Rd Cerro Gordo, IL 61818217/763-9907 [email protected]

WOMEN CHANGING THE FACE OF AG SPONSORS 2015

LUNCH SPONSOR: CNH IndustrialGOLD SPONSORS: Cargill, 1st Farm Credit DAF, DuPont Pioneer,

Agrium/Crop Production Services, Illinois State UniversityBREAKFAST SPONSORS: Prairie Farms Dairy, Illinois Pork ProducersSilver SPONSORS: CHS Foundation, Illinois Corn Marketing Board,

AT&T, CGB Diversified Crop Insurance Services, BASF, Bunge, JohnWood Community College, GROWMARK, Inc., Farm Credit Illinois,

Archer Daniel Midland, Dow AgroSciencesBus Sponsor: Brandt

BRONZE SPONSORS: Greene Farm Management Services, Inc., AdvanceTrading, Inc., Beck’s Hybrids, Birkey’s CNH, Country Financial/IllinoisFarm Bureau, Edlong Flavors Technology, Farm Week, Illinois Soybean

Association, Monsanto, Prairie Farmer Magazine, WJBC Radio,Topflight Grain Cooperative, USDA – Farm Service Agency,

Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE)

Student Sponsorship: Syngenta, Great Lakes Hybrids, One Earth Energy, NorthCentral Bank, USDA – Natural Resource Conservation Service, American Water,McLean County Timeless Clovers, Blaine’s Farm & Fleet, The Andersons, BatesCommodities, Farm First Dairy, FarmHer, National FFA Foundation, Northern

Partners Cooperative, Nutrients for Life Foundation, USDA – Rural Development,Western Farm Business Farm Management, Parkland Community College, Car-thage Veterinary Service, Illinois Agricultural Leadership Program, Illinois Certi-fied Crop Advisor Program, Kent Precision Foods, Maurer-Stutz, Inc., University

of Illinois, RFD Radio, WSMI Radio

SPEAK OUT! - Illinois Agri-Women · tation by Jennifer Filipiak. Once again, we gain new members....

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