Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois State Fair officials unveiled the 2025 Butter Cow in the Dairy Building today. Inspired by this year’s fair theme of “Adventure Awaits,” sculptor Sarah Pratt’s creation captures the spirit of the fair through the eyes of an adventurer. While the Butter Cow is the undisputed…

An estimated 2.67 million trees in Iowa forests and another 4.4 million trees in urban canopies were killed or damaged by the 2020 Midwest derecho that swept across Iowa, according to a new data tool from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  Twenty-seven Iowa counties were given a disaster declaration at the…

The first time is the scariest. The first day of school, the first time you drive, the wedding day, the birth of baby, the first time baby is sick … There are so many emotions associated with all of these things. It’s exciting, albeit scary, to do new things. Some…

by Cami Koons A beer called Yield of Dreams is on tap at the Iowa State Fair and features corn grown across the state and donated by 18 Iowa farmers.  The lager, brewed at Confluence Brewing Company in Des Moines, is a partnership between the Iowa Brewers Guild, the Iowa Corn…

Image by maRRitch, Shutterstock The American Farm Bureau Federation has sent a series of recommendations to the Make America Healthy Again Commission that will benefit health outcomes and ensure farmers can continue growing safe, healthy and affordable food for America’s families. “Farmers and ranchers share the goal of advancing health…

In 2025, farmers have experienced a barrage of extreme weather, from severe flooding in the Southeast, to dust storms that battered fields in the Midwest. Amid these challenges, farmers have found resilience in maintaining yields through their soils’ health. Clint Orr has spent the past two decades moving from conventional…