20 Quotes From IL Farmers
September 19, 2022

We know how many hats farmers wear but do you? Agronomist, mechanic, economist, teacher, communicator, advocator, supervisor, environmentalist, veterinarian, entrepreneur are just some (and that doesn’t include farmers with other outside jobs). Today we are adding another to the list: Quotemaster. Here are 20 sayings we grabbed from farmers in Illinois.
- Wow, that’s so early the chickens aren’t even up yet
- You could tear up a bulldozer
- We’re burning daylight
- That pig went through there like a dose of epsom salts through the hired boy
- Plant in the dust and your bins will bust
- Rain makes grain
- Those beans are popping
- Looking for the bats
- Farming is not all cows, sows and plows
- Ma is callin, dinner is ready
- I’ve done more this morning than you’ll do all week
- That dog’ll hunt
- Back when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, we only got one inch
- Pray for rain, but pay for crop insurance
- When someone slept in, “What happened? Your bed break down?”
- Complaint department’s on the roof and the elevator’s broke
- Ain’t nothin but a wheat whacker
- Ofcourse I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice
- You can’t get finished what you don’t get started
- We live our lives by the seeds of our plants

By Lindsay Croke
•
June 30, 2025
When we think of Independence Day traditions, sweet corn on the cob is as iconic as fireworks and often even more central to the celebration. According to Instacart, purchases of sweet corn surge by 380% over the annual average heading into July 4th, outranking other grilling staples like baby back ribs and burgers. But corn's role in your Fourth of July celebration goes far beyond your plate. In Illinois alone, 8,300 acres of sweet corn are harvested annually, averaging 155 cwt per acre. That’s more than 128 million pounds of locally grown sweetness fueling summer cookouts across the state. And while sweet corn makes a big impression on the grill, most of Illinois’ corn crop isn’t sweet corn - it’s field corn. Less than 1% of the state’s crop is sweet corn, while the rest is used in products that are often invisible to consumers but vital to everyday life: fuel, packaging, fireworks, and even spirits.