Read more about the article Land conservation efforts endangered in Champaign County and beyondDarrell Hoemann
Illinois Farm Bill biologist Jason Bleich talks with Georgetown farmer Travis Vice about how the type of soils on his farm help determine the subsidy at the USDA office in Danville on Thursday, February 12, 2015.

Land conservation efforts endangered in Champaign County and beyond

As a result of the Farm Bill passed by Congress a year ago, efforts to increase wildlife habitats and natural areas that filter fertilizer run-off will receive less funding and result in fewer acres of conserved land. As of December, there were 9,770 acres set aside in Champaign County for a program in which the federal government rents land from farmers for conservation purposes.

Continue ReadingLand conservation efforts endangered in Champaign County and beyond
Read more about the article A Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangersPhoto provided by Chip Petrea
A young Chip Petrea with his modified tractor after his accident in this undated photo.

A Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangers

Robert “Chip” Petrea was trying to feed damp yellow hay into a red baler on a wet Sunday afternoon in 1978, but the machine refused to pick it up. Petrea was working in a low-lying field that frequently flooded. A storm was headed toward the 89-acre dairy farm located just outside Iuka in south-central Illinois, and he knew that the already soggy hay would be ruined by the coming rain if he could not find a way to get it to bale.

Continue ReadingA Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangers