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Family farm goes from hosting youth groups to presidental visit
 
By TIM ALEXANDER 
Illinois Correspondent

KANKAKEE, Ill. — Jeff and Gina O’Connor have hosted youth organizations and trade ambassadors on their Illinois grain farm. But, on May 4 they got a call from the White House asking if President Biden could visit their farm on May 11 and make announcements about boosting food production and tackling supply chain issues. 
After saying yes to the president, by Friday, May 6, the first members of Biden’s Secret Service team made their initial visit to the farm. 
“Gina had more to do with the actual preparation than me,” said Jeff O’Connor. “Nothing we’d done in the past even touched the preparation required for the president’s visit. On Friday, all kinds of craziness busted loose. There were upwards of 20 people with the Secret Service planning out every component of the visit. It wasn’t until the end of that day when they asked us if we were still good to go with this,” said O’Connor. “I got busy back in the fields on Monday and Tuesday, which is when it all began to happen, and Gina took over.”
The O’Connors said the visit was very cordial and professional, and the family did not feel intruded upon by the large presidential detail assigned to the event. 
“The people themselves, and especially the Secret Service people, were amazing,” Jeff said. “I have nothing but the highest regard for those people for how kind and courteous they were, and respective of our rights. For us, we were impressed by the number of people that were sharing their farm connections — either growing up on farms or visiting grandparents on farms — and showing their pride in having farm connections and backgrounds. They were wonderful people to work with.”
O’Connor said he has only one regret from the POTUS visit: that he and Gina were unable to “sit back and enjoy” the event from a spectator’s standpoint. “We didn’t get to watch the event because we were the event,” he said, adding that the family was able to spend some time alone with Biden and members of his team.
“Gina made some cookies and the president had one, so we are going to rename those cookies ‘The President’s Cookie.’ We were able to have about five minutes alone with the president and his security detail — even as they were trying to get him to move along a little quicker. Gina and I were also able to spend about 20 minutes with the president, Sec. Vilsack and Rep. Kelly talking about agriculture during a short farm tour. This led to a conversation about how his new programs will affect us at farm level.”
As to the substance of the fresh support measures for American farmers announced by Biden at the event, O’Connor, like most in attendance, came away cautiously optimistic. 
“There is value in every one of the programs or initiatives,” he said. “I was able to share with Secretary Vilsack that on the fertilizer side these are great ideas, let’s see what happens. But farmers are going to be watching to see what this ends up actually looking like. It’s one thing to throw money at a problem; it’s a different one to apply money in the right places with the right methodology. I will agree with all of the initiatives, especially with the (double) crop insurance. I have several northern Illinois neighbors who have been double cropping wheat and soybeans for 30 years and cannot get crop insurance.”
Though the family was not allowed to take personal photos of their time with the POTUS, some official photos will be provided to the O’Connors by the White House. “I have one photo that I took that I am keeping, and I took it after everyone had left,” Jeff said. “It’s of two x’s taped down on the shed floor — one that reads ‘POTUS’ next to it and one with my name next to it.”
5/17/2022