News Progress

By James D. Nowlan
and J. Thomas Johnson
Outside Columnists

Illinois’s achievement in education is mired in the middle of the states. If Illinois were to make a major commitment to transforming how we educate our children, we would send the world a strong signal that we were serious about fixing our state.

Illinois enrolls more than three million students from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate education, almost one in four of our residents, and spends more than $30 billion, or four percent of gross state product, on the enterprise. Read More

By James D. Nowlan
and J. Thomas Johnson

Outside Columnists

When we were boys in the 1950s, we were proud to be from wealthy, self-confident Illinois.

Today, many of us in Illinois are in a funk. When we travel and mention we are from Illinois, there are disparaging responses about our governors being in jail.

Polling confirms our worries that others don’t think much of us. Read More

by Tori Floyd

In the United States, the routine breeding of animals, dogs in particular, has been a traditional practice for hundreds of years. But this intentional production of puppies walks a thin line and poses a few ethical questions. Where does tradition break ethics? Where does breeding become a burden? When does human intervention go too far?

Many people breed dogs to preserve a pure bloodline, but too often people breed dogs to make a profit. Each puppy bears a dollar sign. This fact is what makes innocent breeding escalade into puppy mills. This fact is what causes the horrible conditions. So many dogs are being born that the basic needs in living conditions, sanitation, exercise, and human socialization are all too great to be met. Read More

by Alex Love

Our state and national government requires standardized testing to gauge our children’s academic success. Often times, students are compared to one another due to the same test being administered to their fellow classmates. This notion poses a question; how fair is it to give a test to all students when no one child is the same?

Every child has his or her own strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. How fair is it to rely so heavily upon testing success to determine the future of our children? Standardized tests scores are used to show where a student is academically–exceeding, meeting, or Read More

Submitted by Kara Kinney
MCFB Manager

The Moultrie County Farm Bureau was formed in 1919. As the largest and most effective organization representing Illinois farmers, their mission is clear - “To improve the economic well-being of agriculture and enrich the quality of farm family life.” The Moultrie County Farm Bureau is affiliated with the Illinois Farm Bureau. In fact, as a member of Moultrie, they are also a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

We are a membership organization. We have two classes of membership, voting and associate. Voting members are those that have interest in a farm or farm business. Associate members are members who take advantage of our great benefits. Farm Bureau members are involved in efforts to:

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