RIDOTT, Ill. — The shift to organic farming at JKB Farms started in the 1970s. When an application of herbicides left more weeds behind in the field than it killed, Junior Hunziker decided he could do better with no chemicals at all. What began as a money-saving initiative soon brought other benefits to the farm as well.
Today, Junior and his wife, Judy, own and operate the farm with their children, Joel and Kevin Hunziker and Krista Liddell; Kevin’s daughter and son-in-law, Hannah and Robby Lindquist, and their son, Benson; and Joel’s son, Gavin. The family milks 120 cows near Ridott and farms 720 acres, with 200 acres devoted to grazing.
Certified organic since the early 1980s, the organic way of farming is all that cousins Hannah and Gavin have ever known…