It has been feeling a lot like winter this week. I find myself bundled up with a sweater, fuzzy socks and something warm to drink. With the cold weather and snow forecasts increasing, it is important to remember those who deliver propane to your home or business. To help make the stops easier and safer for these drivers: 

• Mark your tank: tanks can be buried by snow. Use indicators to make locating your tank easier.
• Keep an eye on your tank level. Even on an automatic schedule, it is important to monitor your levels. If your level reaches 30% call to schedule a delivery.
• Keep your Regulator Clear of Snow. If a regulator becomes packed with snow it may impact readings and become a safety concern.
• Clear a path to your tank. Shoveling or snow blowing a path to your tank can help the driver fill your tank in a timely fashion and continue on to the next stop.
• Plow, Salt and Sand Driveways, Sidewalks and Walkways. Completing these measures helps your driver safely access your property.

Corp Tire by Stephenson Service Company: Corp Tire by Stephenson Service Company located at 521 West Lena Street in Lena offers Stephenson County Farm Bureau members a $5.00 discount on any oil change. To learn more visit www.stephensonfs.com/products-services/automotive/corp-tire or call 815-369-2393.

Accepting Socks donations: The Stephenson County Farm Bureau is excited to announce we are accepting donations of new socks. This is in partnership with Freeport FFA. All socks will be donated to those in need in Stephenson County. Donations can be made during regular business hours Monday through Friday 8:00a.m.-4:30p.m. Questions please call 815-232-3186.

Illinois Farm Bureau Farm Bill Group Begins Work: The first meeting of Illinois Farm Bureau’s new farm bill working group centered on education about the current law. The diverse group of members, including corn and soybean farmers, specialty crop growers, livestock producers, ag lenders and others, will review the titles of the farm bill and consider areas for improvement. The goal of the working group also is to gather IFB members’ input on the farm bill and dig into issues with the help of outside issue experts. The working group may provide policy submittals for consideration to the IFB Resolutions Committee; the purpose is to supplement policy submittals from county Farm Bureaus. Jeff Kirwan, Illinois Farm Bureau District 3 director and chair of the working group, said the first meeting laid the groundwork for what the members will focus on during the multi-year process. “We’re going to start educating ourselves on what’s in the farm bill. What works? What do we not like?” said Kirwan, who will retire from the IFB board in December after serving 10 years. “We have to holistically look at the farm bill, what it means to all the commodity spaces and all the titles, and start to understand that. Then maybe there’s things that we can do to change it.” Kirwan previously served on an IFB farm bill group in the early 2000s, and found it educational. The Illinois Farm Bureau Board of Directors approved establishment of the working group at its May meeting. Members applied through their county Farm Bureaus. The members were selected from the open application process, and participants were chosen based on their experiences, skills and agricultural diversity. Aaron DeGroot, whose family grows vegetables, corn and soybeans in Kankakee County, applied to be in the group because of his interest in ag-related public policy. “Illinois is not necessarily known as a specialty crop state, but there are a lot of programs in the farm bill that affect specialty growers, and I wanted to make sure that as we convene this working group, that specialty crop growers have their voices heard,” DeGroot told FarmWeek following the meeting. “I think this group represents an awesome diverse array of the different types of production agriculture that we have in the state, not just the different sectors, but also geographically, I think we had a good mix of producers from across the state,” he added. “We had great conversations with folks from the American Farm Bureau Federation, as it relates to the current status of the farm economy, where things stand with farm bill discussions, and I think we’ll continue to have good discussions on that.”

• Another member, Marshall County farmer Bill Leigh, said he has a deep understanding of farm bill policy surrounding risk management as past president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association and current National Corn Growers Association Board member.

“I had spent a lot of years on the National Action Team for corn growers on risk management, which is Title 1 (Commodities) and 11 (Crop Insurance),” Leigh told FarmWeek, adding he’s looking forward to refreshers on all the other titles that don’t necessarily get as much attention.

“I think what we would like to do is figure out how to get a bipartisan movement going again within the ag committees, something that speaks from ag as a whole. That’s important to me,” he said.

The group will meet again in the first part of 2026.