View from the Cab: Looking Back on 2024

Corn leaves blow during a dry day in late October during the 2024 harvest, which saw some fires.

By Kent Casson

As one year closes and another begins, here is our annual look back at some of the area’s top ag stories in 2024.

The annual Crop Production Report for Illinois and the U.S. released in January was a bit of a shocker. Government numbers showed a slight rise in yields for both corn and soybeans and overall, corn demand was higher.

Dale Atkins marked 50 years as a seed salesman. The first company Atkins worked with as a dealer sold soybeans and Pioneer bought that company the following year. Right after college, Atkins had three years of training before returning to the farm. Since he had been in sales, the seed dealership was a perfect fit. It all started from a farm on the northwest corner of Weston.

Lexington High School graduate and University of Illinois student Jordan Reimer launched a new ag business with his father known as LEADS the Way LLC. The drone fungicide application business hopes to help farmers in the area administer fungicides. This business idea came from a friend who works for a custom farming business which also has a drone business.

Grace Lemenager of Fairbury, a member of the Tractor Wheels 4-H Club, won Master Showmanship at the Livingston County Fair in July. Lemenager said she feels blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to represent Livingston County at the Illinois State Fair.

Prices being paid for farmland across Illinois softened in the first half of 2024 and respondents to a survey by the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural appraisers indicate they expect the trend to continue for the balance of the year. This is according to a mid-year ‘snapshot’ survey done among Society Members with the results being announced at the Farm Progress Show in Iowa.

In November, the American Farm Bureau Federation voted to terminate membership of the Illinois Farm Bureau effective in December. The vote came from AFBF’s Board of Directors which met after unsuccessful mediation with Illinois Farm Bureau leadership that included IFB President Brian Duncan. The action was based on IFB’s decision to allow COUNTRY Financial to eliminate the Farm Bureau membership eligibility requirement for non-farm insurance policyholders in Illinois.

That’s how 2024 turned out for area farmers. Happy New Year!