News

Agricultural internship available

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Thu, 01/22/2015 - 21:35

McHenry County Farm Bureau is excited to once again offer an agriculture related summer internship.

The selected intern will gain valuable experiences in program planning, Ag in the Classroom, media, governmental affairs and public relations. The selected individual will receive valuable work experience, funds to further their education and the opportunity to receive college credit.

The internship is open to McHenry County residents who will be a sophomore, junior or senior at a college or university this fall. Preference is given to applicants who have a farm background and/or studying agriculture related field.

Interested applicants need to apply by March 15, 2015.  To apply, simply email your cover letter and resume to Dan Volkers at mcfbmgr@att.net.

McHenry County’s agricultural industry is valuable and diverse

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Mon, 11/24/2014 - 21:30

My family and I had the opportunity to take a drive down to Missouri this past summer and I noticed a repetitive theme that played out along our 450 mile journey. The theme was very green and featured a taller plant and a shorter plant. The taller plant, corn, occupies 12 million acres of land within Illinois and represents our largest agricultural crop. The shorter plant, soybeans, comes in a distant second occupying 8 million acres. For those of you who are not familiar with an acre, it is an area of land that is a little smaller than a football field. Illinois' 75,000 farms cover more than 26.9 million acres -- nearly 80 percent of the state's total land area. Looking at last year's receipts, Illinois farmers contributed a whopping 17 billion dollars to Illinois' economy.

Here in McHenry County, we plant 120,000 acres of corn, 58,000 acres of soybeans and 3,000 acres of winter wheat. A modest amount of this grain production is fed to our county's livestock. Another modest portion goes to regional ethanol plants and food processors. The lion's share however is not only headed out of our county, but out of our state. Some of this grain hops a ride on a train to chicken producers in the Southern States and some of it finds its way onto an ocean going vessel headed to countries around the world. Last year's corn, wheat and soybean production added 100 million+ dollars to our local economy.

Area Legislative Officials receive “Friend of Agriculture” award

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Thu, 10/16/2014 - 00:08

 McHenry County Farm Bureau is honored to present the "Friend of Agriculture" award to our Illinois General Assembly Members and our Congressional Representatives. Senator Althoff, Representative Franks, Representative Tryon, and Representative Wheeler earned the award for their outstanding voting records and accessibility ratings.

McHenry County Farm Bureau also extends congratulations to Congressman Hultgren and Congressman Roskam for receiving the "Friend of Agriculture" award on the national level.

Summer Ag Institute Photos

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Mon, 06/30/2014 - 16:13

Summer Ag Institute photos have been posted to our Facebook page. Check them out and feel free to tag anyone you know. We would also like to give thanks to the farmers and businesses that allowed us to visit them, the presenters that visited us and the teachers who participated as well! Here is a link to our photos: https://www.facebook.com/pages/McHenryCountyFarmBureau/100812416097?sk=photos_stream