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 Tara Desmond
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October 15, 2026
Jenny Webb has spent her career in Illinois agriculture. Now she’s about three months into a new job as president of the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association (IFCA), the group that represents the ag retailers, applicators and suppliers who get fertilizer and crop protection products to your farm when you need them. Webb came to IFCA from Illinois Farm Bureau. She’s new to the fertilizer and chemical side of the business, but not to farmers or to the policy and regulatory issues that affect them. IL Corn sat down with her to talk about what she’s learned so far, the issues facing Illinois ag retailers, and why the work happening behind the scenes deserves more credit than it gets.





