A year of ag milestones

Ag milestones were common across Central Illinois this year as an area grain company celebrated 60 years in business and a longtime farmer celebrated his 100th birthday at the local elevator.

Several farmers attended an open house for Trainor Grain and Supply Company over the summer. Jack Trainor started the company with his brother and father in August of 1957.

Many of the open house attendees congratulated Trainor and the rest of the employees on the milestone. Trainor appreciates all of the hired help over the years and what he refers to as “unbelievable” customers.

“I’ve just been lucky,” Trainor said. “The good God was with us.”

Tom Stephens worked for Trainor Grain for 27 years and remembers when Trainor originally came to town in a green Chevy station wagon which included several kids and a dog.

“He was good to work for,” said Stephens.

Sam Harms has seen it all during his farming career. The 100-year-old rural Lexington resident spent time reminiscing after his milestone birthday in October.

When Harms first started farming, he bought a John Deere Model A for $600. He also bought a 15-foot disk for $150 and an old four section harrow for $35.

“I used my father-in-law’s two-row horse corn planter. That started me farming,” Harms recalled.

Friends and family gathered at the Prairie Central Cooperative Lexington grain elevator Oct. 17 to watch Harms haul in two wagons full of grain on his 100th birthday. His wife, LaVerne, was also on hand for the occasion. She turned 100 in March. The couple married back in 1940.