End in sight for Bunting's harvest

EMINGTON – The end is in sight for Jason Bunting’s family harvest season.

The Livingston County Farm Bureau president and northern Livingston County farmer had some corn left out in the field as of last week but they finished soybeans a couple of weeks ago.

“We’ve got some double-crop beans to go after on some wheat if we can get to it, but we are on the short rows of corn,” Bunting told The Central Illinois Farm Network.

Bean yields in Bunting’s area have been average or slightly below average. They missed out on August rains which were needed to finish out the bean crop. Bunting estimates corn yields in the 165-180 range around Emington.

“I’m happy with that,” Bunting said. “We farm some of that tougher ground and if I can get that 170-180 average every year, we are doing pretty good.”

Bunting has transitioned to hauling lime as a lot is getting spread onto fields currently. The busy time of year for Bunting starts around Memorial Day when he makes hay. There is actually one more field he would like to do if the weather stays mild and he finishes hauling lime.

From a Farm Bureau standpoint, Bunting and others are figuring out how things will look in the future now that the November election is behind us. He was happy to see Illinois voters speak out on the amendment to the Constitution.

“Farm Bureau had a big push on the Progressive Income Tax to vote no and when you look at the final numbers across the state, I think the governor heard us loud and clear.”

Instead of an income problem in Springfield, Bunting feels it is more of a spending problem. The fight is never over as he says there is a need to explain financial responsibility to state legislators.

“More adequate spending and proper spending is where we need to go,” Bunting added.