From the Barns: Join farm wagon tour

Oh, how Illinois weather can make a full pivot so quickly! We have moved from seriously dry to overly wet in a matter of a few days. Yellowing of some forage and row crops tells the story. Corn, however, took it in very well and is beginning to tassel. We received 6.5 inches and have some of our ponds nicely replenished. We added 0.76 overnight before July 4.

The calf-feeding operation here at River Oak is winding down with 300 of the calves out to graze. The half-dairy 115 head remain in drylot — or mud lot, if you would see — until their departure for a feedlot scheduled in the next couple of weeks.

Our second year project of sorghum-sudangrass on our past row-crop acres is underway. That stuff loves hot weather so the expected growth has been phenomenal over the last week. Calves may be going in there in the days as you read this. We have some turnips in there, as well, and some kale that survived the winter. There is some yellowing and kill in some of the wettest areas. Neighbors are replanting soybeans, so we should be thinking of hitting those killed acres with something.

The Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition has had some very good pasture walks lately. Events were hosted in several areas of our state and attendance was 20 to 30 at each. Attendees were treated to a virtual grazing herd near Chapin, a family dairy-grazing operation with direct marketing and use of cover crops near Quincy, a regenerative grazing best-practices dairy near Scales Mound and grazers near Cissna Park converting cropland to pasture.

In July, the coalition is hosting the Heart of America Grazing Conference at Effingham. Attendees will receive a load of information on grazing. This conference takes the place this year of our regular coalition conference since it is our turn to host the Heart of America.

The event begins at noon on July 15 with a bus ride from the Effingham Event Center to the Curt Rincker family Simmental operation. The evening meal and program features a panel discussion with the latest updates on virtual fencing.

Day 2 on July 16 begins early and concludes after a series of grazing topics and also features a morning contest for youth, ages 14 to 22, focused on regenerative grazing systems. This is a conference you don’t want to miss if you need current information for your regenerative-grazing enterprise or are thinking about creating and adopting such a system. To register, or for more information, please check tinyurl.com/2026-Heart-of-America.

We are hosting a cattle farm wagon tour here at River Oak — 15703 E. 1600th St., Macomb — on the morning of July 11, beginning at 8:30 a.m. You can register with University of Illinois Extension at tinyurl.com/2026-Conservation-Tours or just show up or email me at tjtror@mtcnow.net. The tour will emphasize conservation practices, but anyone interested in regenerative grazing will see those practices, as well. Sorry, no lunch when we finish up, but send off with my best wishes. Until next time, stay safe and sane!