Submitted by Terra Brockman on Wed, 08/14/2013 – 11:46am The Land Connection facilitates the full-year farmer training course, Central IL Farm Beginnings. An important component of the course is a mentorship with an experienced farmer. Today we are profiling Ron and Angie Ackerman, who mentored Gail Record and who were winners of the 2013 R. […]
Terra Brockman
Celebrating Biodiversity
Submitted by Terra Brockman on Wed, 10/29/2014 – 12:51pm This past week, I attended the international Terra Madre conference of farmers, ranchers, fishers, and other people who bring real food to the table. One of the most impressive displays there was Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. The “ark” is virtual, but its contents are real. They are varieties […]
Central Illinois Farm Beginnings Graduate Profile: Rebecca Fischer
Submitted by Terra Brockman on Wed, 08/21/2013 – 1:42pm Renewal Acres, Quincy, Ilinois Central Illinois Farm Beginnings 2006-2007 An Interview by Terra Brockman Back in 2006, Rebecca Fischer saw a notice in her local newspaper about a brand new course called Central Illinois Farm Beginnings. “It sounded like exactly what I would want to learn about: […]
Harvesting Beauty
Submitted by Terra Brockman on Mon, 09/29/2014 – 12:32pm October is the month of final abundance. Not only is there a sudden profusion of fall cooking greens—bok choi, tahtsai, mei qing choi, gai-lan, broccoli raab, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, and collards —there are the amazing salad greens—lettuces with their leaves growing thicker and tastier […]
Inheriting Land: Challenges and Opportunities
Submitted by Terra Brockman on Tue, 06/03/2014 – 7:59pm Like many farmland inheritors, Kris McIntosh and her sister Kathryn knew next to nothing about farm management when they took over the land that has been in their family for more than three generations.Both sisters have families and jobs some 150 miles from their central Illinois […]
Injecting Common Sense Into the Antibiotics Debate
Submitted by Terra Brockman on Fri, 12/27/2013 – 7:38am My first 4-H animal, Frosty, was a pretty heifer with a robust constitution and a feisty disposition. She had calves each year and never once came down with mastitis or any other infection that required antibiotic treatment. I was not quite so feisty or robust as […]
