Upcoming programs
See the University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Team’s website at:
https://extension.illinois.edu/lfssf
- 2024 Summer Horticulture Field Day | Thursday, June 6 at Jonamac Orchard Malta, IL. Save the date! More details and registration information in future issues.
- 2024 Pumpkin Field Day | Thursday, September 5 at Eckert’s Belleville Farm, Belleville, IL. Save the date! More details and registration information in future issues.
- 2025 From Food to Flowers: Everything Local Conference | January 29 through 31 at Bank of Springfield Center, Springfield, IL. Mark your calendars now and look for further details later this year!
News and announcements
Illinois Farmlink Program
Across Illinois, farmers are having difficulty finding the right land and landowners are having difficulty finding farmers who will steward the land in a way that complements their values. To help Illinois farmers and farmland owners with these challenges, The Land Connection launched the Illinois FarmLink program in 2023. Illinois Farmlink empowers and connects farmers and farmland owners. Thanks to generous supporters, all of the services they offer are completely free.
Illinois FarmLink provides farmland access services covering the entire state of Illinois. One of these services is advising. Whether you’re an aspiring, beginning, established, or transitioning farmer or a farmland owner, they offer guidance, insights, and encouragement when you have unanswered questions or uncertainty around the land or farmer search. After the initial advising call, the team develops strategies and shares resources catered to your specific needs. They bring a new perspective to help build your unique plan and share considerations to think about during that process.
Another service is connecting. We do this primarily through our website profile database. You can create a detailed profile and then search other published profiles for a potentially good match in terms of location, farm size, etc. On our website, there are profile lists to find a farmer for landowners and find farmland profiles for farmers. Occasionally we connect farmers and landowners directly after advising calls.
Illinois FarmLink also organizes education events each year on different land access topics and has a variety of resources from around the country available to share. These events and resources will enable farmers and landowners to carry out better searches, work out better arrangements, connect to useful resources, explore methods, and so much more.
The Illinois FarmLink three regional navigators are available to talk with farmers or landowners about farmland at any stage of their journey or farm scale. Each of our Navigators brings practical farming experience and a rooted knowledge of their specific region in Illinois. Schedule a free advising call to take the first step! Contact information is listed below.
Connect with Illinois FarmLink - What is your next step?
- Fill out the advising questionnaire to schedule a free advising call
- Create a profile on our website
- Contact Jeanne Janson, our FarmLink Coordinator, directly for general information
- Sign up for our Newsletter to learn about land opportunities, farmer profiles, tips, and land access news
- Contact the Illinois FarmLink team directly
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Position |
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Nathan Aaberg |
FarmLink Director |
nathan@thelandconnection.org |
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Jeanne Janson |
Northern Illinois FarmLink Navigator and Coordinator |
jeanne@thelandconnection.org |
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Erica Peters |
Central Illinois FarmLink Navigator |
erica@thelandconnection.org |
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Noah Scalero |
Southern Illinois Farmlink Navigator |
noah@thelandconnection.org |
New Plant Pathology Fact Sheet Available from University of Kentucky
Postharvest disease losses in fruits and vegetable crops account for approximately one third of the world’s food production. Individual growers can experience from 25 to 50% losses due to this problem. With proper management before, during and after harvest, these postharvest losses can be reduced. The University of Kentucky has just released a new publication, Postharvest Disease Losses in Fruit & Vegetable Crops (PPFS-GEN-24) that describes the recommended management practices for production, harvest and storage that can alleviate these types of losses.