On Friday, October 22nd, Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) and staff member Melissa
Poulos traveled to McHenry County to visit area farms. Rep. Mell was
"adopted" by McHenry County Farm Bureau earlier this year, and hosted them
for a district visit this past summer. Accompanying Rep. Mell on her visit
were Dan Volkers, McHenry County Farm Bureau Manager, Bona Heinsohn, Cook
County Public Policy Director and Christina Nourie, IFB Northeast
Legislative Coordinator.
The tour started with a visit to the Kooistra Dairy in Woodstock. Owners
Linnea and Joel Kooistra showed the Representative around their dairy which
includes 250 milk cows and additional young cattle. Rep. Mell gained an
understanding of the hard work it takes to operate a dairy and how livestock
farmers go to great lengths to ensure their animals are healthy and
well-cared for. The Kooistras also had the opportunity to talk with the
Representative about current legislative issues affecting the dairy industry
and offered to be a resource to her on livestock issues.
After lunch in historic downtown Woodstock, the Representative and her staff
visited Bruce Meier's grain farm. During the visit, they each rode in the
combine with Bruce and were amazed at the harvesting process. Like many
"adopted" legislators, Rep. Mell was surprised by the amount of technology
used to grow and harvest crops. The group's final stop of the day was the
Von Bergen Country Market in Hebron. Von Bergen's Market is a family run
vegetable & grain farm and a popular agri-tourism stop in McHenry County.
They grow several different kinds of vegetables and also offer a corn maze,
petting zoo and pumpkins in the fall. Tracie and Bobette Von Bergen led
everyone on a tour of the grounds as well as the country store. They
provided an overview of their business as well as an explanation of the
different types of produce they offer. At the end of the visit, the Von
Bergen's presented each guest with some freshly grown vegetables to take
home and share with their own families.
Rep. Mell and the McHenry County Farm Bureau are looking forward to working
together on future Adopt-a-Legislator events, including a possible field
trip for students in the Representative's district.
