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Today I embarked on a trip from my hometown of Harvard to neighboring Huntley. My purpose for this trip was to meet McHenry Farm Bureau Board Treasurer and McHenry County Farmer, Henry Zierer. As I drove down the curvy country roads, I was in awe of the beautiful fields. It was just before ten when I pulled up to the Zierer farm. I was warmly greeted by Henry and we began talking a little about farming.   Henry is thirty-seven years old, has served on the Farm Bureau Board since 2002, and is currently the treasurer.  As I continued to talk with him and walk around his operation, I learned that Henry is a farmer because he enjoys watching and caring for his crops, which include wheat, oats, corn, and hay. He also tends to 75 beef cattle and a few barn cats. Until 2007, Henry was also a dairy farmer. We ventured over to the pastures where I got to meet a few of Henry’s beef cattle, in particular, “Buddy”, who met us at the fence to get his picture taken. It is evident that Henry loves what he does by the passion he uses when he talks about his operation.  After we spent some time with the cattle, we headed to the truck so we could travel down the road a few miles to see Henry’s crops. But not before we stopped off to spend time playing with some adorable kittens that live in the old dairy barn. First stop was the cornfield; there Henry and I talked about how ten years ago he adopted the twin row method of planting corn. He explains that he runs his current planter twice across his fields, with a little adjustment, to allow for more plants in each field. While out in the field we discussed the seed corn Henry uses in his operation.   Henry uses a triple stack corn seed, which is resistant to corn borer, rootworm and a herbicide. This allows him to produce a greater amount of safe food for consumers. As I was leaving, Henry left me with a few words of wisdom for starting farms:  be patient. I could clearly see that these are words of experience from a man who cares about, not only the animals on his farm, but also his crops and the consumers. I am thankful I got to spend the morning with one of McHenry County producers. 

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We all have heard the studies, seen it in the news and watched stories on the T.V. about our country's weight problem. I thought about the poor people who struggle to get out of their car, through a door way or sit in one of those little air plane seats. I was shocked to find out that I am overweight too, by governmental standards anyway.

Most of these studies use a tool called Body Mass Index (BMI). It is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. At the time of my picture, I weighed in at 190 pounds and considered myself physically fit. I typed my weight and height into the calculator and boom there was my number 26.5 (25-29.9 is considered overweight, 30 and above is considered obese). According to a 2009 study, I am not alone in my overweight status.