Two young farmers and one farmer couple from central and southern Illinois were named FreshRoots Directors Cup honorees this week by Farm Credit Illinois.

In this issue Dr. Kohl with FreshRoots reflections, Interest Rate discussion with Brownfield Ag News, FCI Scholarship & Community Grant recipients announced, and Rural 1^st® testimonial.

Dr. Kohl reflects on some of the major takeaways from FCI’s FreshRoots program meetings. Review the key lessons young and beginning farmers learned during these meetings – from managing economic hardships to making challenging, but valuable, operation changes.

Farm Credit Illinois named 30 high school seniors as agriculture scholarship recipients in central and southern Illinois.

In this issue, read a message from the CEO discussing tomorrow’s uncertainties, Director elections, FreshRoots Directors Cup details, and commentary from Dr. David Kohl.

2021 Directors Cup honoree Austin Ellison of St. Clair County goes above and beyond row crop farming, while also owning and operating two successful businesses.

2021 Directors Cup honoree Mitchell Hinds of Macon County, a skip generation farmer, became the sole owner and operator of his grandfather’s operation.

 2021 Directors Cup honoree Elliott Uphoff of Shelby County brings efficiency to his operation through sustainable agriculture practices.