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Agriculture’s interest is growing, but some challenges remain

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WINNEBAGO, Ill. — A spring snowstorm didn’t stop Madi Palm-Graceffa from taking part in “Drive Your Tractor to School Day.”“We always bring the biggest tractor that we have on the farm,” she said, while driving a giant 485-horsepower tractor through swirling snow.The last blast of winter meant only a handful of tractors made the trek to Winnebago High School in northern Illinois for the annual event. Despite the snow, Madi said she’s much more comfortable than she was four years ago as a freshman.“I was so scared because, on that road back there, there are mailboxes and people are driving past,” she said. “But I’ve gotten better. I’ve never hit anything!”For just as many years, Madi has been advocating for getting a chapter of the student agriculture organization FFA at the small school, but she said their school isn’t big enough to house a program. Still, other Winnebago students do want to pursue agriculture.“I’d definitely like to be a farmer, like a lot of my family,” said Mason Heslop, a junior who drove his cousin’s tractor to the school.

Courtesy Winnebago High SchoolA caravan of tractors make their way to Winnebago High School on March 22, as part of the annual “Drive Your Tractor to School Day.” While the number of beginning farmers rose slightly in the U.S., according to the latest ag census, it also showed the number of farms declined.

Student interest in agriculture is growing, even as the number of farms in the United States are shrinking.Last year the National FFA Organization announced a new record membership – almost one million students. The organization boasts more than 9,000 local chapters in all 50 states. Yet the most recent agriculture census from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found the country lost 140,000 farms over a five-year-period, bringing the total number to just under two million farms.Brad Summa is the director of the Heartland Regional Field Office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service — the agency that produces the census of ag every five years.“If I had to sum up the census in one word, it would be consolidation,” he said. “We’re seeing fewer farms, we’re seeing the average size of farms go up. We’re seeing smaller farms slowly dwindling and being bought up and incorporated into larger farms.”
Not just farmingThe FFA’s members aren’t all interested in becoming farmers, according to the national organization’s communications manager, Kristy Meyer. She said there are more than 350 careers in ag, including everything from sales to biotech to aviation, of a sort.“There’s a lot of technology,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of people talk about getting involved with drones, how that applies to agriculture, and how they use it on farms.”And the group isn’t just for rural students. Meyer said FFA has chapters in 23 of the 25 largest U.S. cities, including a new chapter in Washington, D.C., and successful chapters in Chicago and Philadelphia.Some urban chapters have rooftop gardens and greenhouses to grow food for their school. In other places they focus more on agri-science or even aquaculture.“They’re raising sealife like tilapia,” Meyer said, “and then also making sure that the waterways around you are safe, as well. We have a chapter who works on the Chesapeake Bay to make sure that that water is staying healthy.”As for students who do want to farm, FFA provides plenty of programs.Students can do Supervised Agricultural Experience projects where they learn how to raise crops or animals. They can also work with students who already have a family farm, including through their New Century Farmer program.“We talk about succession planning and what that looks like. How can you stay on the farm? How can you be that producer?” Meyer said. “We tap into FFA alumni and try to connect them, so they can help be that support system for those who are staying on the farm.”

National FFA OrganizationTwo members at the National FFA Convention & Expo in 2022 in Indianapolis. FFA membership reached an all-time high last year, with nearly one million members.

Hurdles for new farmersAccording to the latest USDA ag census, the average age of farmers has increased to 58 years old.But the number of new and beginning farmers also is increasing. Now, one million of the 3.4 million farmers in the U.S. are “beginning” farmers, meaning they have 10 or fewer years of experience.While that’s good news, none of the top 10 states with the highest percentage of new farmers are in the Midwest.That’s in part because 75% of ag-dedicated land in the Midwest is covered by corn and soybeans, said Mark Schleusener, the Illinois state statistician with the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.“Corn and soybean farming in the Midwest, where the land is highly productive, is a very expensive proposition,” he said. “It’s a low-margin business. You don’t make a lot of money on each bushel of corn you sell. So, you want to sell a whole lot of bushels.”It also has a bit to do with those big tractors Winnebago High School students were driving. In 2023, the average price of a new row crop tractor was nearly a half of a million dollars.“Think of the value of your house. A mid-sized, corn and soybean production would probably have several pieces of equipment, each of them valued at more than your house is valued, and the most expensive one could be twice the value of your house,” said Schleusener.Meanwhile, farmland across the Midwest is being sold for record highs. Last year in Missouri, a farm sold for close to$35,000 per acre – a new national record. Finding affordable land is the top challenge for young farmers, according to the 2022 National Young Farmer Survey.Those costs are a major barrier to entry for potential new farmers.

Luke Runyon

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Harvest Public MediaFinding affordable land is the top challenge for young farmers, according to the 2022 National Young Farmer Survey.

Cait Caughey is the senior beginning farmer and market associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, where she develops ag curriculum.She’s also a first-generation farmer who’s renting land in southwest Iowa. Caughey grew up in the city with a passion for environmentalism. She fell in love with farming while she was learning about food and climate in college.“I was a young activist educating myself about why clean soil and water is important, and why we need to be on the frontlines fighting for those things. Farming felt like something tangible,” she said.She sees a lot of other younger people coming into farming because they want to tackle real-world problems like racism, food sovereignty and climate change.“You’re seeing urban youth and rural youth who are interested, they might want there to be a path for them to be involved in agriculture, but we are up against enormous issues when it comes to accessing land,” she said.Caughey said it’s even tougher to get access to affordable land for Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color.As farmers grow older, hundreds of millions of acres are expected to exchange hands over the next couple of decades.“The ag community is well aware of the fact that the age of farmers keeps on increasing,” said Schleusener. That’s been a known fact for a while. I think there’s been a push to reach out to younger people to make sure they are aware of what farming and the agricultural industry is all about.”From Caughey’s perspective, it’s time to think outside the traditional model of a family farm with just one farmer.“We don’t have to continue thinking in this model of maintaining the family farm specifically with one operator or one family operator,” she said. “We could think of cooperative farms and collaborative farms. We could think of putting our land into a land trust and securing that land for generations so that it can’t be developed.”This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.

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Laclede’s Landing is moving from nightlife hub to neighborhood

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Laclede’s Landing has cycled through many identities throughout the history of St. Louis. Now, some people involved with its redevelopment in recent years hope the landing’s next one will be as a residential neighborhood.The small district tucked directly north of the Gateway Arch National Park has quietly undergone a massive redevelopment with more than $75 million pouring into the rehabilitation of many of the historic buildings at the landing.“We are starting to feel that momentum, especially in the last really 60 days. Things have drastically changed around here,” said Ryan Koppy, broker and owner of Trading Post Properties and the director of commercial property for Advantes Group.Advantes alone shouldered the rehabilitation of six of the historic buildings, which now sport a mix of apartments and retail or office space, he said. Four of those buildings are completed, and of the 119 apartments available, about 90% are filled, Koppy said.“It just shows you what kind of demand we do have for the area,” he said. “We’re separated from downtown a little bit, and for the tenants, their local park where they’re walking their dogs, it’s a national park.”

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public RadioInterior of the Peper Lofts at Laclede’s Landing on Aug. 16

Another 40 apartments are set to come online next year along with some retail space, Koppy said. He added he’s noticed a wide range of people who are considering and moving into the newly refinished apartments.“It’s very mixed, surprisingly,” Koppy said. “We have a lot of young professionals, maybe on their second job out of [university], we have some empty nesters too.”Part of the newfound momentum comes from a new market, the Cobblestone, and coffee shop, Brew Tulum, opening recently and bringing more foot traffic to the area, said Brandyn Jones, executive director of the Laclede Landing Neighborhood Association. She added that more apartments are set to come online within the next few months.“We have a great riverfront area here and so there are plans in the works to activate those spaces, bring people in,” she said.That could be more daytime events, like a farmers market, music festivals (one of which is happening this weekend) or just bringing in food trucks to Katherine Ward Burg Garden, Jones said. It’s a departure from the identity the district held a few decades ago as a hub for nightlife and entertainment.“That’s part of what connects so many people to Laclede’s Landing,” Jones said. “It’s important to tell the story of where we’re evolving. It won’t be what it was in the same exact way, but it will still be fun, and it can be fun early morning, midday or late night.”It’s a view shared by Koppy.“It’s grown up, it’s a bit mature,” he said. “We’re not going to have 3 a.m. bars here anymore because we have residents here.”Koppy added that Advantes is joined by other developers working to rehabilitate buildings in the district.“We all work in unison,” he said. “If I get a call and [a client is] asking for something and maybe the square foot doesn’t really match up with what I have available, but I know it matches up over there, they’re getting a very warm welcome and introduction.”

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public RadioRyan Koppy looks out the window of Brew Tulum Specialty Coffee Experience on Aug. 16 at the Cobblestone on Laclede’s Landing in downtown St. Louis.

This push toward making Laclede’s Landing a residential neighborhood also comes alongside broader conversations about the future of downtown St. Louis more generally as it looks to move away from a dependence on office space. While the city as a whole continues to lose population, downtown added about 1,700 people between 2010 and 2020, according to U.S. Census data.“It’s been wonderful timing to have all that going on, that stress that you’re not just in downtown to work has been critical to part of this rejuvenation and energy down here,” Jones said. “Sometimes people forget Laclede’s Landing is part of downtown, really the original downtown.”And success in the small district could spread beyond its small confines and potentially serve as a model for success, Koppy added.“My idea is, if we could get all the great things of St. Louis coming in through here, we can eventually spread that,” he said. “We understand we can’t change the whole world, but we’ll just make the effort to try and change the world around us.”

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St. Louis barbecue festival Q in the Lou canceled

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The largest barbecue competition and tasting festival in St. Louis, Q in the Lou, has been canceled. The event was planned for Sept. 6-8, but organizers decided to cancel it due to poor ticket sales and insufficient corporate sponsorship.The traveling festival had low attendance in Denver last week, said Sean Hadley, a festival organizer.“We made the tough decision to cancel Q in the Lou,” said Hadley. “We’re seeing a lack of support … it’s just not there.”The traveling event first came to St. Louis in 2015 and drew hundreds of people to downtown St. Louis for barbecue, live music and a “major party.”“It shut down out of the blue … I’ve gone every year,” said Scott Thomas, local chef and food blogger. “It’s brilliant. You could take a tour of some really amazing barbecue restaurants and competition barbecue guys all in one place.”In a late July news conference, city officials touted Q in the Lou as a significant tourism draw and a boost for downtown revitalization.“Bringing a signature national festival back to downtown St. Louis … is making us stronger,” Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall said then.Less than a month later, ticket holders from every festival stop learned they’d be refunded. On Monday, organizers privatized the Q in the Lou website and deleted its social media accounts.Conner Kerrigan, a spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office, said city officials are disappointed the festival won’t be back this year.“St. Louis knows how to throw a festival … bringing people together to celebrate our culture is one of the things we do best as a city,” Kerrigan said in a statement. “Should Q in the Lou try to come back next year or any year after that, they’ll have the support of the Mayor Jones administration.”

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Alton’s Jacoby Arts Center likely to relocate permanently

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The Jacoby Arts Center, a staple of Alton for many in the Metro East community, will likely permanently move out of its downtown building at the end of September.Its departure and relocation from the historic building that the arts center has called home for the past 20 years has created a tense situation for not only the arts center’s supporters but also the local development company working to revitalize Alton’s downtown that owns the building.“It’s an unfortunate situation,” said Chad Brigham, the chief legal and administrative officer with AltonWorks, the real estate company owned by another prominent local attorney working to develop the town. “I wish there wasn’t misunderstanding and disappointment in the community. It’s difficult sometimes to clarify that.”When news of the likely departure spread in June via a letter from the Jacoby Arts Center to its supporters, an outcry on social media quickly followed. Some assumed it would be the end of the arts center.“There’s a lot of feelings right now that I think are more about the building itself than there are about the Jacoby Arts Center,” said Valerie Hoven, vice president and treasurer of the nonprofit arts center’s board.For supporters of the Jacoby, moving from the building and likely never returning will be a sad affair. Exactly what’s next for the arts center remains unclear. However, Jacoby board members believe this will not be the end of the organization. It will likely look different though.

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public RadioThe Jacoby Arts Center earlier this month in downtown Alton

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public RadioThe Alton-based Jacoby Arts Center features more than 75 St. Louis-area artists and their work.

The history of the buildingFirst dubbed the Madison County Arts Council, the nonprofit arts center renamed itself after the Jacoby family gave it the current building in 2004. AltonWorks founder John Simmons purchased the Jacoby Building in September 2018, according to property records from the county.Managing the large building, at 627 E. Broadway, became too expensive for the Jacoby Arts Center. In 2018, the organization approached Simmons to purchase it, said Dennis Scarborough, a past president of the board and a downtown business owner.“Of course, it sounded really, really good,” Scarborough said of Simmons’ purchase. “He took over the insurance, property taxes, all those kinds of things that were really, really getting into our budget, and he rented it to us at a fair price.”The two parties entered into a lease agreement initially for five years. Since then, Simmons has spent more than $1 million in upkeep, taxes, insurance and more on the building. The lease has been extended twice until the end of September this year.Over the six years, Jacoby paid $1,500 per month, which covered a portion of the utilities.“It’s been wonderfully generous of AltonWorks,” Hoven said.Because the building is aging and needs repairs, Brigham with AltonWorks and those connected to the arts center have long known the Jacoby Arts Center would need to relocate — at least temporarily.

Renovations on the Jacoby building will begin this fall. They’ll include modernizing the aging building, repairing the old elevator and putting in apartments on the second and third floors.

News of the likely departure and controversyRenovations will begin this fall. They’ll include modernizing the aging building, repairing the old elevator and putting in apartments on the second and third floors.In May, it became clear that a preliminary proposal for the arts center to return to the building after renovations finished in 2026 would not work for them, Hoven said.She estimates the first floor and basement of the Jacoby Arts Building span roughly 20,000 square feet.

Chad Brigham is a business and legal adviser for AltonWorks.

AltonWorks’ initial idea floated to the arts center would only provide 2,553 square feet, according to both Hoven and Brigham. While the board calculated the price for the new space to be at least triple the current payment, Brigham said there was never a specific price discussed.“No discussion in terms of actual rent price,” he said.AltonWorks didn’t make a specific rent offer because the organization doesn’t even know itself, Brigham said.In addition to cash from John Simmons, there will be loans, tax increment financing and state tax credits to cover the $20 million in building renovations. The entities financing the cost of renovations will also help determine the rent when the construction is complete, Brigham said.Regardless, the price required to return will be too much for the arts center to pay, Hoven said. Also, the organization would like to maintain the many programs it offers to the community — a rentable event space, a dark room and a clay studio, for example — in the future.“For us to really meet the needs of the community and be sustainable, we need a space where we can offer some of those programs — the artists’ shop, and other spaces that offer some kind of income as well — so that we can continue to give money back to the community,” she said.AltonWorks offered at least two other locations as possible alternatives from their vast stock of buildings along Broadway to house the arts center during the roughly 18 months of construction. Those alternatives came with similar deals requiring the Jacoby to cover only utilities, Brigham said.“We did put in a great deal of work behind the scenes in trying to find an interim solution,” Brigham said. “We wanted to find a place for them to go, where it was easy for them to continue programming, whether it’s 100% of it or some portion of it, that would work for them.”Initially, the arts center hoped to keep the basement during the renovations, Hoven said. When it became clear the preliminary offer to return was for much less space than the arts center anticipated, the letter to the community was sent.“The letter that came out was merely showing our surprise,” Hoven said. “Don’t misinterpret it as panic. Don’t misinterpret it as desperation.”

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public RadioA smorgasbord of radios are displayed at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton.

The commentary on social media was passionate. Some critics of AltonWorks said the organization has good intentions but hasn’t executed those plans. Others said Jacoby hasn’t planned well enough for the future.For Brigham and the AltonWorks team, some of the criticism has been disappointing.“I thought that there were some decent solutions. Were they perfect? No, but they were very, I thought, very good solutions,” he said. “And the fact that it has come to the point that it is right now is a bit hurtful.”AltonWorks remains committed to the arts, Brigham said. John Simmons remains one the largest donors of the Jacoby Arts Center, Hoven and Brigham said.“I don’t think there’s ever been a question of our support of that organization — of our affinity for that organization,” Brigham said. “While some of the events were unfortunate, some of them were encouraging. The entire community rallied around the Jacoby Arts Center. That’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to have a love for the arts like that in a downtown community.”Sara McGibany, the executive director of Alton Main Street, an organization aimed at preserving the town, said AltonWorks should be commended for its vision. In many ways, her organization and AltonWorks share a vision for a thriving downtown.Even though AltonWorks hosts public meetings, McGibany believes the current situation lacks true community engagement.“We really think that if AltonWorks can get past some of the communication hurdles — and harness the community’s passion and shift to more of a bottom-up decision-making process that centers on community input — then we can turn around the growing sentiment of distrust that’s happening now,” McGibany said.Scarborough, the past board president and downtown business owner, echoed the praise for Simmons and his support of the Jacoby Arts Center. With the Jacoby likely moving, the future looks bleak, though.“It’s a community arts center that does a lot of good work,” Scarborough said. “The community is going to suffer, and they’re going to be missed by the community if they’re not there.”

Eric Lee

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St. Louis Public RadioShalanda Young, director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, talks to Illinois U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, during a tour of a construction project by AltonWorks last April in Alton. AltonWorks, who is building the LoveJoy Apartment Complex is receiving over $1 million in federal funding.

What does the future hold?AltonWorks will continue forging ahead with its ambitious plans to revitalize Alton. The organization hopes to conclude construction on the Wedge Innovation Center, which will have a restaurant, retail and co-working space, this fall. Lucas Row, a mix of apartments and retail space, is scheduled to be completed next spring.The remainder of the arts and innovation district, currently named after the Jacoby, will also move forward.“I believe in two years it’s going to be a much different place,” Brigham said of Alton. “It’s going to be thriving. It’s going to be new businesses, new tenants — and it’s going to be a nice proof of concept for what you can do in a small community like that.”The Jacoby board recently formed a strategic planning committee. Its task: figuring out what’s next for the arts center. The committee will reevaluate what space the Jacoby needs, what programs it wants to offer to the community and how they want to make that a reality.Keeping the arts center is essential for board members like Hoven. In her experience, it’s been a place where local aspiring artists get their start.“Art is one of the only ways to show your true authentic self,” Hoven said. “And there’s more people than I realized who do not get that opportunity every day.”The Jacoby will shut its doors to pack over the next month. Hoven said she’s optimistic the board will have concrete plans by the end of September when their lease officially ends.“Alton is such a fabulous and supportive community,” she said. “We still have lots of great options, so that the Jacoby Arts Center will continue to thrive in Alton and beyond.”

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