News

Milk Days: Highlights and History

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Thu, 06/05/2014 - 16:52

It is a wonderful time of year again, the 73rd annual Milk Days Weekend! Some exciting festival events June 6th-June 8th include: the antique tractor display, a milk run/walk, brunch (with Orion Samuelson emceeing!), the carnival, a petting zoo, and fireworks. The big parade (2+ hours long) on Saturday, June 7th at 1:00 p.m. is one of the biggest traditions you won't want to miss. There is guaranteed fun for the entire family, so be sure to stop out! For more information on their schedule of events, visit www.milkdays.com. We would like to share some history on the development of the Milk Days you know today.

It all started in the spring of 1942 when people gathered to honor the area farmers for their "War Effort" of increasing milk and food production for the servicemen. Seven dairy companies were located within a 15-mile radius of Harvard and more milk was being produced there than anywhere in the United States. Harvard became the self-proclaimed "Milk Center of the World!"

Ag Expo Reaches 2,500

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Thu, 05/29/2014 - 16:37

McHenry County Farm Bureau recently completed its 14th Ag Expo for third and fourth grade students. The expo was started back in 1988 and has reached a total of 42,500 students. This past year's event drew more than 2,500 students and 104 teachers.

Students were exposed to six minute presentations from 20 different agricultural booths. Over one-hundred volunteers donated their time and talent to the three day event. McHenry County Fair Association provided use of its facilities.

4-H Family Prepares for the Best Time of the Year

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Thu, 05/29/2014 - 15:04

The Maddock Family from rural Marengo is counting down the days until the McHenry County Fair this summer. Julia, John, Joseph, and Justin are all members of the Legendary Pioneers 4-H Club. Cynthia Maddock homeschools the kids and the 4-H projects tie in with their curriculum but, most of the production animals arrive once they wrap up the school year. The Maddocks are very busy during fair week but, they love it. Each day they get up by six in the morning to feed the animals at home and then head to the fair to take care of the animals there. Fair days they are busy showing their projects and every once in a while they get a break at their camper that they bring to the fairgrounds. On average they get to head home at ten but, on occasion, they can be working until midnight.

Meet Rebecca Riley, MCFB Summer Intern

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Wed, 05/28/2014 - 17:20

Hello everyone! My name is Rebecca Riley and I am grateful and privileged to announce myself as the 2014 intern for the McHenry County Farm Bureau. I look forward to working with some wonderful people, learning more about the Farm Bureau and better developing my skills to promote agriculture. I come from a small farm in Huntley, IL, where we originally milked about 45 cows. We sold the cows in 2003 and have had about 200 acres of land for growing corn and soybeans and raising 60-80 steers & a few chickens, ducks and show pigs ever since. When I am not at college, I help on the farm and am a forklift operator at the Dean Foods plant in Chemung, IL, where I load store orders of milk products onto trucks.

Wormleys give support to AITC

Submitted by mchenrycfb on Fri, 04/04/2014 - 03:18

McHenry County Farm Bureau's Foundation would like to thank Jim and Cheryl Wormley of Woodstock for their support of our Ag in the Classroom program. Their contribution will help support our Summer Agricultural Institute program for teachers, Ag Expo and classroom visits. To learn more about supporting Ag in the Classroom please check out our Foundation and Teachers tabs.