Manhattan Farm To Go Organic

MANHATTAN, IL — Manhattan Township-based Yunker Farms is going greener thanks to an organic farm license awarded by the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

The Forest Preserve’s Board of Commissioners approved the organic farm license on Aug. 12, according to a news release from the District.

The farm is operated by Mark Yunker and his son Doug Yunker, third- and fourth-generation farmers.

The Yunker family has been farming in the region for more than 100 years, and they currently have around 2,000 acres where they grow corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay, according to the release.

The Yunkers have a six-year license for the Forest Preserve land; it will take three years to have the acreage certified as organic. During those first three years, no pesticides or herbicides can be used on the land, organic seeds must be planted and cover-crops — including winter wheat, rye and clover — must be used to prevent the growth of weeds.

Doug Yunker, who is documenting his new farming techniques on the Yunker Farms YouTube page, said he’s hoping as he and his dad work more with organic fields that they will be able to use less chemicals on their non-organic acreage.

“I think it’s a good learning curve," he said. "It’s a way to reduce the weed pressure and the use of fertilizer and pesticides.”

The end result will be healthy soil with thriving worms and microbes, the Yunkers said.

“We have to live here on this planet, and we have to try to make this Earth last as long as we can because it’s not just for us, it’s for our grandchildren. It’s the wave of the future," Mark Yunker said.

For more information, visit the Forest Preserve District of Will County website.

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