Articles

Drought! This will be the 6th period of severe drought in my 42 years of farming; and if it does not start raining soon it will rank with the serious droughts of 1988 and 2012. Now that I am a lot older and wiser than I was in 1982, I Read more

It is only the beginning of June, and the weather is already making headlines in the Midwest. If you love to mow everything you see to an inch or two height and water constantly, I advise you to quit reading now. There is a classic saying among agricultural and weather Read more

About 50 years ago I was taught that it takes about 100 years for the natural processes of nature to create an inch of topsoil. I was also taught that most of the soils in the upper Midwest owe their development to the grinding action of glaciers thousands of years Read more

Mother Nature has finally relented her chill. The asparagus is popping, and with warmer temps the annual ritual of wild asparagus picking will be finding many with the spring delicacy on their plate when this paper arrives in your mailbox. Did you know that the recent cold wave was probably Read more

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your tractors. Well, I mean that metaphorically. Back in February in a conversation with Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley, he stated how beneficial it would be for his department to have a police helicopter. Farming and police helicopters; do I have your interest? It is now Read more

For as long as I can remember there have always been constant requests for hunters to come on our farm to hunt wildlife. When I was younger, in the 60’s and 70’s, it was rabbits and pheasants. Now I believe if you want any chance of seeing a rabbit you Read more

Do you know how to make a pizza? Each year during National Agriculture Week the Joliet Junior College Weitendorf Agricultural Center is the home for a teaching session where volunteers educate students and teachers about pizza, or perhaps more specifically, where the ingredients for pizza come from on farms. Different Read more

I am about to start my 12th year of writing about agriculture in Will County. Whenever I want an easy night at the computer penning about 500 words, I revert to a general review of what is important now on Will County farms, or at least what comes to my Read more

I hesitate to even write about a current theory being bantered among chicken owners. I fear that even putting unsubstantiated statements in print will somehow validate them. I also run the risk of alienating some readers. Well, here goes. A laying hen can lay eggs for several years. The first Read more

I have been selling hay and straw to hundreds, if not thousands, of customers in the last 40 years. I wish I had written down all the bizarre, crazy, and frustrating situations I have endured. It never ceases to amaze me how many people own livestock and seem to lack Read more