View from the Cab: Spotlight on Chenoa
The small town of Chenoa continues to be in the ag spotlight.
Almost a week after Australian visitors visited a local farm, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue visited the Evergreen F.S. plant there. I was impressed with Perdue’s down-to-Earth personality and his optimistic outlook on the future on agriculture. Perdue wishes he was a market predictor, saying he would just need “a telephone and a big fat wallet.” The comment drew a few chuckles from the audience.
“These guys you see out here that scratch the dirt every spring and fall have to make those kind of tough decisions. There’s a lot of risk in farming,” Perdue said.
Perdue admits he does not have the right answer on where farmers should buy and sell. During the stop, he also spoke about concerns over consolidation among agricultural companies. Perdue believes this is part of the capitalistic system, as small successful farmers get larger and large successful farmers grow as well.
“That’s the way we operate in America, so I don’t know that we can say that’s not healthy.”
Perdue advises producers to take advantage of any type of market scenario in which they can pencil in a profit. He spent many years in the grain business and is quite familiar with grain marketing.
“You can’t go broke making a profit,” he said.
The ag stories will continue to roll out of my laptop computer this week as the Fairbury Fair runs Wednesday through Sunday at the fairgrounds. Stop by and see The Central Illinois Farm Network booth for some freebies or just to say hello. We will be there all day Wednesday for the dairy and swine shows. I am also looking forward to seeing all of the tractors during the antique tractor drive through the midway on Sunday.
I had fun stopping by the Cullom Junior Fair and Homecoming celebration the other day and we took in the Illinois State Fair at Springfield over the weekend. I think I have eaten enough deep fried goodies to last me for another year.
(The View from the Cab is powered each week by Petersen Motors in Fairbury)
