Our Mission
"White Walnut Farms' mission is to conduct successful, large-scale farming and conservation activities, while having a good time. A big "Thank You" to everyone who helps us fulfill our mission." - The Engelhardt Family
Farming Activities
Weather extremes have been the watch-word for 2011... with a bitterly cold winter followed by record spring rains and a very hot summer. It's early September as this is being written, and the promise of the harvest has our team excited.
The spring rains resulted in a good wheat crop while delaying planting of corn and soybeans by 2 - 4 weeks. The textbooks tell us to plant early, and we are about to receive a lesson of the consequences of not following that rule. Field checks of the corn crop show very good stands, with underdeveloped ears due to the extreme heat during pollination. The corn harvest should begin the second week of September.
Erin is off to medical school at the University of Missouri and Evan to his second year of ag economics at Texas A & M. Mom and Dad are very proud of them and miss them a lot.
Community
The Pinckneyville Community continues to make advances. The new high school is under construction and the fundraising for college scholarships has exceeded its goal. The Illinois Rural Heritage Museum hosted its annual tractor drive at White Walnut Farms and hosted a "soft" opening for 4 days in its new red barn. The Museum continues with its phase 2 construction, and the 22,000 sq. ft. facility will open in January. The Illinois High School Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Pinckneyville, will host its ceremony to induct hall of fame members in November. Two new initiatives are also being fostered by the Foundation for Pinckneyville...an initiative to upgrade the Community's City Park and support for the start-up of the Friends of Pyramid State Park, which aims to help upgrade the facilities in the 20,000 acre park. We thank everyone involved for their good work.
Conservation & Wildlife
The wildlife seems to be thriving. 2011 has been an excellent year for quail, wild turkey and geese, with young birds seemingly everywhere. The deer population is showing the effects of the extreme cold and hot weather. Fewer sets of twins are visible than in prior years, and some does are without fawns. We are watching this trend carefully.
Several new food plots are being planted, and we are preparing to restock several lakes with fish. Waterways and a levee damaged by the flooding are being rebuilt and reseeded. And, duck and deer blinds are being rebuilt and moved before the time crunch of the fall harvest.