June is National Dairy Month. From the Vermilion County farming perspective, that may not mean as much as it used to. But as Tom Fricke of the Vermilion County Farm Bureau reminds us; at one time, it did.
AUDIO: Many of the older residents will remember the phrase Producers Dairy; which had merged into and became part of what is today Prairie Farms Dairy, one of the largest dairy companies in the country. So we have that great heritage with our dairy connection. Today we really only have one working dairy farm, and that is out at Ludwig Farmstead Creamery out by Oakwood.
Fricke says he’s not expecting any new dairy farms in the area in the near future.
AUDIO: There doesn’t seem to be a big push in this area for that. Simply because there’s not a large concentration of dairies in this immediate area to help with the picking up of the milk and what not. Ludwig’s is able to do it because they use their own milk.
Meanwhile, some comments from the USDA have stated that Illinois is all caught up or even a bit ahead of schedule after the extremely slow start to planting season. Fricke says all you need to do is take a drive and look: emerging and growing all around.
AUDIO: We talked how before planting we were too wet. And it’s almost gotten to the point that we really could use one of these showers we were supposed to be getting these last two or three days that’s kind of skipped around us.
Fricke says there are some isolated wet spots that may have needed replanting in Vermilion County; but mostly it’s in the ground and growing strong.
