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How Illinois soybean farmers deal with the effects of climate change

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How Illinois soybean farmers deal with the effects of climate change


WATERMAN, Ill. (CBS) – Illinois is the top grower of soybeans in the U.S., most of which is used to feed the chicken and beef eaten by consumers, but climate change is affecting local farmers and may end up affecting what shoppers pay at the store.

About an hour west of Chicago, the pace is a little slower in DeKalb County, where Ryan Frieders, a seventh-generation farmer, and his family grow crops on about 2,400 acres, an area about 10 times the size of Millennium Park.

“We have some of the best soils in the world,” Frieders said.

And no one watches the weather more closely than a farmer.

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“Honestly, I think I have five different weather apps on my phone, and I probably check them over a dozen times a day,” he said.

The land has been in the Frieders’ family for 60 years, and Ryan’s father, Ronald, lives just a few miles down the road.

“I graduated in 1970 and basically walked out of high school and started farming with my folks,” said Ronald Frieders.

The elder Frieders said that weather has “always been a challenge,” but it seems that challenge is getting more extreme.

“Everything’s changing it seems like, the temperatures are getting hotter than normal, the water levels are lower than normal,” Ronald said.

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Ryan added they’re faced with longer periods of a lack of rain, or what might be called a “flash drought.” Sometimes, they’re faced with more rain than usual, which could delay the planting of their crops.

“It affects our entire year of the farm,” Ryan said.

The changes are all consistent with the Fifth National Climate Assessment’s expectations for Midwest agriculture in a warming world, which include:

  • “Excessive spring rain delaying planting.”
  • “Rapid transitions between flood and drought.”
  • “Warmer temperatures stressing crops.”

Ronald said 2021 was the most difficult harvest that he’s ever experienced.

“Our crops were flattened,” he said.

That came about due to worsening thunderstorm wind damage, which is also linked to climate change in a new study. Ryan said the changes in weather patterns and their effect on crops also has an affect on the farm’s income.

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Michael Langemeier, a professor of agriculture economics at Purdue University, said the weather changes are something farmers are discussing more and more.

“I don’t know if it’s directly impacting what the consumers pay to a large degree, yet,” Langemeier said.

He and his team have surveyed 400 farmers nationwide. He asked farmers about how worried they were about the changing weather patterns, and about 25% said they were either “very worried” or “fairly worried.”

“I thought that was a relatively high percent,” Langemeier said.

He added the farmers didn’t talk much about what those changes might be attributed to, “They just talk about it as different, and we’ve got to think about how we’re going to respond to these changes.”

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Ryan said it might be difficult to understand how glaciers melting at the earth’s poles affect their farm, “but then you see things happening that aren’t the same as they used to be, and you tend to wonder if the things are more related than you ever thought they were.”

The Frieders farm installed solar panels to lower their carbon footprint and has made changes to their operation in response to the changes in the weather.

Data from the Illinois Soybean Association show that crop yield has not changed significantly over the last decade.



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Where to watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois today: TV channel, time

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Where to watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois today: TV channel, time


Iowa basketball (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) welcomes in No. 16 Illinois (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in a top-25 conference tilt.

The 19th-ranked Hawkeyes are looking to get the taste of a frustrating road loss at Minnesota out of their mouths. Iowa trailed by as many as 14, but rallied back to take the lead in the game’s final two minutes. The Golden Gophers hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and then watched as a series of potential game-tying Iowa threes wouldn’t drop in a final, frantic sequence from Williams Arena.

Illinois enters winners of four straight and six of their past seven. The Illini rolled past Rutgers on Thursday, 81-55.

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Watch Iowa vs. Illinois

Iowa owns a 57-24 all-time record against Illinois in Iowa City, though the Illini have owned the series of late. Illinois has won four straight over Iowa and nine of the past 10. That stretch of success from the Illini comes on the heels of a five-game Iowa win streak in the series from 2018-20.

As tipoff approaches, here’s how and when Hawkeye fans can watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois:

How to watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois

TV: Fox

Tipoff Time: 11 a.m.

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Iowa battles Illinois on Fox in its “Gold Out” game from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Jason Benetti (play-by-play) will be joined by Steve Smith (color).

How to stream Iowa basketball vs. Illinois

Hawkeye fans can stream Iowa basketball vs. Illinois with Fubo, which offers a free trial to first-time subscribers.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnHawks



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Ex-husband charged in Tepe murders, held in Illinois jail

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Ex-husband charged in Tepe murders, held in Illinois jail


The ex-husband of a woman found shot to death with her current husband Dec. 30 in Columbus’ Weinland Park neighborhood has been charged with murder in the deaths.

Michael David McKee, 39, of Chicago, faces two counts of murder, according to Franklin County Municipal Court documents.

According to online court records, a warrant was issued Jan. 10 for McKee’s arrest. Winnebago County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office records indicate he was booked into jail there shortly before noon local time. He will remain there until authorities extradite him back to Franklin County.

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Winnebago County court records show McKee is scheduled for a hearing there on Jan. 12, likely an extradition hearing to begin the process of his return to Ohio.

Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, died Dec. 30, just after their five-year wedding anniversary, after being found shot inside their home on the 1400 block of North 4th Street in Weinland Park. The couple’s two young children, both under the age of 5, were found physically unhurt inside the home.

Columbus homicide detectives identified McKee through neighborhood video surveillance, police alleged in court documents. They tracked the suspect “to a vehicle which arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after.” They found the vehicle in Rockford, Illinois, and found evidence that McKee had the vehicle before and after the killings.

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Columbus police have not publicly identified a potential motive in the couple’s deaths.

In a statement released after McKee’s arrest, the Tepe family thanked Columbus police for their “tireless” work to find the suspect.

“Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon,” the Tepe family said. “We thank the community for the continued support, prayers and compassion shown throughout this tragedy. As the case proceeds, we trust the justice system to hold the person responsible fully accountable.

“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind,” the statement said. “We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”

McKee and Monique married in 2015, according to Franklin County Domestic Court records. She filed for divorce in May 2017 with the formal divorce decree being issued about a month later. Court filings indicate the divorce was amicable. Monique did not share any children with McKee, whom the divorce filings identify as living in Virginia at the time.

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Around 9 a.m. on Dec. 30, coworkers of Spencer’s from the dentistry office where he worked in Athens called Columbus police after Spencer did not show up for work and no one could reach Spencer or Monique by phone.

An officer went to do a well-being check but went to a home on Summit Street instead of the Tepe home, according to Columbus police body camera video. About 40 minutes after that check, friends of the Tepes found them dead in their home.

Police have focused the investigation on the window of time between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Dec. 30, which is when they believe the couple was killed. On Jan. 5, detectives released video from a security camera showing a person walking in an alley near the Tepes’ home during that time frame, calling the person a “person of interest.”

That person is now believed to be McKee.

Medical licensure databases show McKee has active licenses in both Illinois and California. He is identified as working as a vascular surgeon in a practice in the Rockford area, the same area where his vehicle was found.

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McKee went to medical school at Ohio State University and has family in the Zanesville area, according to publicly available information.

A public visitation for the Tepes will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Schoedinger Northwest funeral home on Zollinger Road in Upper Arlington. An additional gathering for a celebration of life will occur from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Due Amici in Columbus.

Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.



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Iconic Illinois House Featured in ‘Home Alone’ Set to Be Restored to ’90s Design, Project Manager Says

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Iconic Illinois House Featured in ‘Home Alone’ Set to Be Restored to ’90s Design, Project Manager Says


Home Alone fans were devastated when the house featured in the movie was recently put up for sale and the interiors didn’t match the ones seen in the 1990 classic. Now the property, which can be found in suburban Winnetka outside Chicago, is set to undergo another major renovation, this time transforming it back to […]



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