Having made New Year’s resolutions in January, and having kept nearly none of them, I’ve decided to make some mid-year resolutions and try again.

Before heading out for the holidays, the major state officer team spent time training and then preparing for the 98th Illinois FFA State Convention.

Wool is being featured again at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Enjoy your health and protect your body. You’re only going through this life one time.

My dry erase board in the office now has 15 projects listed for winter and spring and space for some more as they come up. It is just part of the continuous quest to leave the land and this place better than when my family landed here back in 1951.

One of the most under-reported stories of 2025 — the departure of more than 20,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture employees — finally surfaced just before the quietest, most unwatched news periods of any year, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

In addition to growing food organically, Marty Travis works with numerous Illinois farmers to provide marketing and distribution services that connect them to numerous buyers.

Baby New Year can grow up fast. The baby pictured here is already shaving.

Before you start taking supplements, talk to your doctor.

Wool is always breathable. The air spaces in wool fabric insulate, but also allow moisture to easily pass through. This keeps your skin dry and enhances your body’s temperature control.

What can we learn from this year to help us in the next one?

The older I get the more I realize some of life truths have to be understood and honored.

On the southern Illinois dairy farm of my youth, we marked seasons by the work more than by the month.

As December draws near, one thing is certain in workplaces across every rural county: the season of feasting is in full swing.

An Illinois grain farmer and popular host of podcasts, radio and television shows was the guest speaker at Eureka Savings Bank’s recent inaugural ag event.

Are you used to writing 2025 yet? Always amazing how time passes so quickly. This year I am super excited about the new year. I am making an extra effort to be positive and focus on family and friends.

Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me, you might feel like you need a full-body cleanse just to shake off all the pumpkin spice and peppermint bark still lingering in your system.

As a new year begins I realize that time is not waiting for me. Where did 24 years of this century go? I certainly can name milestone events during those 24 years, but the rest of the time, the majority, I seem to have little recollection.

We took a little break from the basketball season to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with a bunch of gatherings of family and friends. Cow work gets sandwiched in where a little time and help allows.

Whether you’re preparing a cozy family dinner or gearing up for a festive gathering, this recipe for turkey meatballs will have you covered.

Many of us set goals that are too ambitious or unattainable. Simply put, we set ourselves up for failure when we set unrealistic goals. We also fail if our goals lack specificity and are hard to measure and track.

I don’t know what it is about hanging up a new calendar that makes me want to organize the whole year and set goals.

When the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, it’s time to open your new calendar and look ahead. Or, maybe you have a clock like this one, with a built-in calendar.

Some things have a very specific window of opportunity. Eggnog is one of those things. It’s also controversial, right up there with fruitcake. You either love eggnog or you hate it.

Let’s embark on an affordable culinary love story as we blend the rich traditions of Chinese New Year with the romance of Valentine’s Day through a delightful hot pot experience at home.

Wool season is here in northern Illinois. Those wool socks, wool blankets, sweaters, gloves and mittens are so comfortable. Wool is a remarkable natural fiber. The website www.americanwool.org has a lot of resources to help with wool promotion.

‘Tis the season to give, so I gave the rams to the ewes. Now everybody’s happy. I should start lambing about mid-May. Hopefully we will have a lot of green vegetation to graze.

Having stuck with less than half of the New Year’s resolutions I made for January 2023, I decided that for 2024 I need to give much more thought to what I commit to.

We are far enough into the new year that most of us had the opportunity to bend, if not break, any resolutions that we made for 2023.

Let’s pay homage to the holiday spirit by crafting some seasonal spirits of our own. We’re going to explore infusing vodka with fruits and herbs. Undoubtedly, you’ve seen flavored vodkas on liquor store shelves, but have you ever thought of making your own infused vodka?

With Halloween and the midterm election in the rearview, I’m ready for the holiday season to begin! There is much for which to be grateful this Thanksgiving. I love the holiday season first and foremost because Christmas celebrates the birth of my Savior.

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Well, still no oats in and not a lot of growth in the pastures. Not even the rye is tall enough to start grazing yet. I’m predicting a late spring.