FarmWeekNow (RFD Radio Network)

1 week ago | farmweeknow.com | Rhiannon Branch

If it seemed windier than normal in your neck of the woods lately, that’s because it actually was, according to weather records. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported March was the windiest on record in many U.S. cities and in the nation as a whole. AccuWeather meteorologists reported almost every major city east of the Rocky Mountains, including Chicago, ranked first or second for the highest average wind gusts for March, with records going back more than 70 years.

1 week ago | farmweeknow.com | Rhiannon Branch

The ag equipment market continues to struggle in the current economy with sales in the first quarter of 2025 falling below the five-year average. A recent report by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) showed U.S. sales of agricultural tractors dipped 13.6% in March, while sales of combines fell 37.7% during the same time compared to 2024. Year-to-date tractor sales in March were down 15.1% with combine sales down 57.5%.

1 week ago | farmweeknow.com | Jim Taylor

It's not what southern Illinois farmers want to hear: “Unfortunately, we’re looking at the potential for some heavy rainfall across southern Illinois again," DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick told RFD Radio. “A front comes through on Friday that kind of gets stuck across the south for Saturday,” he said.

1 week ago | farmweeknow.com | Phyllis Coulter |Phyllis Coulter FarmWeek

Teachers across the state will get rolling on the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom’s (IAITC) transportation theme “Roads Rivers and Rails” at IAITC Summer Ag Institute workshops. The event prepares teachers to take their students on a similar learning journey in 2026. Key to the theme will be “Celebrating 100 years of Route 66” with activities surrounding the Mother Road, which opened for travelers between Chicago to California a century ago.

1 week ago | farmweeknow.com | Hannah Spangler |Hannah Spangler FarmWeek

Born, raised and still living in Fulton County, Illinois Farm Bureau District 8 Director Barry Fisher has moved about half a mile his entire life. His grandparents bought the family farm in 1946, and since then, the Fishers have built a lasting legacy in the area. Fisher and his high school sweetheart, Laura, have been married for 47 years and run the farm together with their two grown children, William and Robin. “It’s all I know.