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Farmer Says Storm Already Causing Headaches
(IRN)-Gary Hadden is a fifth generation farmer in Jacksonville. He and his family raise corn, soybeans, and cattle. He's working frantically in advance of the predicted snowstorm.

"(I'm) not saying Mother Nature can't stop us, because it can," says Hadden. "But we can usually get our product to them, so, that's our main thing. We're just trying to keep them healthy."

His biggest priority Monday afternoon was using a new feed mixer his farm recently acquired. It mixes four tons of food for his cattle more efficiently than hand-mixing, but there was a problem. He couldn't start the machine because one of the augers was surrounded by six inches of ice. "You throw the ingredients in there, it mixes itself…boom you're done," he says, pointing to the mixer.

"If we do it, it's going to be by 5 gallon buckets at a time. So a bucket of corn weighs about 32 pounds. A bucket of corn versus 4 tons is quite a change," said Hadden.

Meanwhile, Hadden's 68 year old mother, Caroline, was busy Monday afternoon laying down new straw for the calves. Gary's brother and their father also work on the farm, and two full time employees lend a hand. With that manpower, Hadden's confident he'll get the feed ready for his cattle before the storm hits.

"If they're out, then you got to get them feed. And we can and we will," he said.

(Source: Illinois Radio Network)
02 01 11 by Newsroom
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