With extreme heat from last week merging right into extreme heat this week, Vermilion County farmers are certainly concerned about the health of their crops. Tom Fricke from the Vermilion County Farm Bureau says he wouldn’t say there’s “worry” in the air right now, but there is a bit of anxiety about what happens in the near future.
AUDIO: There is concern that if we don’t start getting some rain soon some areas that haven’t gotten some of these pop up showers the last couple of weeks are going to start feeling the impact of that lack of moisture. These hot, dry temperatures continue to bake out the top soil; it could start having an impact if we don’t see some significant rain in the next couple of weeks, yes.
Meanwhile, much of the farming community has their eyes on the Vermilion County Fair this week. Fricke says, no doubt, this will be a hot one.
AUDIO: Certainly feels like fair weather this week; so that’s no different that year’s past. But I’m sure they’ve got a great lineup of activities going on, and they will be putting on a great show this week out at the Vermilion County Fairgrounds.
As for the public hearing on Certified Farmland Values coming up soon, Fricke says that’s basically a routine item on the schedule.
AUDIO: Productivity indexes are set by the Department of Revenue in conjunction with University of Illinois, and study guidelines that they’ve set out. And so each county then is required to certify them for their particular county. So that process is really just a standard procedure to go through.
The meeting is set for Thursday, June 30th, 8:30 AM in the Board of Review Room at the Vermilion County Administration Building. The Vermilion County Farmland Assessment review committee will then be meeting at 8:45 AM at the same location.
