A special day in my household

Ron Kern
Posted 2/15/22

As I write this, it is a special day in our household. Young Will turns 29 today. In another year he will bid farewell to his 20s and begin his journey towards old age (or at least most of us in our teens thought those in their 30s were old).

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A special day in my household

Posted

As I write this, it is a special day in our household. Young Will turns 29 today. In another year he will bid farewell to his 20s and begin his journey towards old age (or at least most of us in our teens thought those in their 30s were old).

I still remember the day he was born, sitting in the delivery room awaiting the news. I still cannot express the overwhelming joy I felt that day, at that moment. Little did I realize that with all that joy came the awesome responsibility called “dad.”

As he hurtles towards three decades I think back to the years. The things I tried to teach him, the things I did teach him, the things I didn’t teach him and the things I regret. Good days and bad; trials and tribulations; laughs and tears; joy and frustration. I guess we call that “family.”

Every now and then I dig out pictures and go back in time to remember some of those events. One of my favorites is our first trip to Monroe when he was two. Sitting on the courthouse step while he walked around and munched on popcorn purchased from a street vendor. I look at him today stretching out over 6’5” and wondered was he really as small as the kid in the picture?

So while I can’t be with him today to celebrate he is, as always in my heart and head. So happy 29th son, I’ll light a candle for you.

Misinformation

Seems the more I visit with city folks the more misinformation they relay. Not sure where folks get their information from these days, but I do wish they would learn to consider the source.

The old days of Walter Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley have passed. In those days they reported the news, you know facts, and let the viewers make up their own mind. Today news is a bunch of talking heads telling you what you should believe, but no facts. Our on social media we have social influencers. May I ask, what the heck is a social influencer?

In my day a social influencer was your buddy trying to get you to ask the cute girl out on a date. Or the real influencer was the swift and steady hand of your dad as you took one across the seat of your pants.

I’m sick and tired of all the crap being spewed by pundits out there about corporate farms. In my 40 years with Farm Bureau I’ve never dealt with a corporation in representing our members. I’ve dealt with individuals and families trying to earn a living from agriculture.

Just because a farm is large in size, or the individuals in the farm have formed a corporation for tax purposes doesn’t make it a corporate farm. Last I checked those farm owners don’t get paid by someone else every week, they have to manage their business.

And just for perspective here’s the economic contribution those family farms make in Ogle County…

Total Output: $4,872.4 million. Output from Agriculture: $1,136.1 million (23.3%). Crops: $377.5 million (7.8%). Livestock: $476.0 million (9.8%). Other Agriculture: $282.6 million (5.8%). Total Jobs: 22,931. Jobs from Agriculture: 3,284 (14.3%). Crops: 1,046 (4.6%). Livestock: 1,451 (6.3%). Other Agriculture: 787 (3.4%). Total Value-Added: $2,396.1 million. Value Added from Agriculture: $363.4 million (15.2%). Crops: $137.5 million (5.7%). Livestock: $110.8 million (4.6%). Other Agriculture: $115.2 million (4.8%). Total Household Income: $2,347.2 million. Household Income from Agriculture: $212.0 million (9.0%). Crops: $92.0 million (3.9%). Livestock: $74.9 million (3.2%). Other Agriculture: $45.1 million (1.9%).

They support local businesses, their tax dollars support your schools and local governments they volunteer in their community.

So next time you hear someone talk about corporate farms I hope you’ll set the record straight.

“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” -André Malraux

Ron Kern is the manager of the Ogle County Farm Bureau.