Join LLCC’s Academy of Lifelong Learning this Sunday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m. in the Thorne Deuel Auditorium at the Illinois State Museum, 502 S. Spring St. for “Farming in the Great Corn Belt: 200 Years of Challenges, Choices and Changes” presented by Don Meyer. Explore 200 years of farming from the arrival of the earliest settlers in Illinois and the decision-making, determination, hard work, adoption of machines and technology, and financial decisions of farm families that have brought us to the modern era of agriculture. Four eras of changes will provide the framework including the Western frontier (1820s to 1850s), arrival of the railroad (1850s to 1900), the Information Age and mechanization advancement (1900 to 1945) and the Modern Era (post World War II to present).

Don Meyer began his career as an agriculture instructor and FFA advisor. He served U of I Extension in McLean County for 27 years, retiring in 2010 as county director. He has served as a panelist on the WILL-TV “Illinois Gardener” program. Don currently serves as a full-time instructor at Illinois State University and has taught 11 different courses serving both the ISU Agriculture and Family Consumer Sciences Departments. Besides teaching, Don is a licensed farmland broker, auctioneer, private pilot and farm management consultant. He has received multiple awards for his professional work and for his community involvement as a volunteer fireman, 4-H leader and alderman in Lexington, Illinois. Meyer has also recently co-curated the new Farming Gallery at the McLean County Museum of History.

The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.