SR0112 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0112 LRB102 15760 ECR 21127 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Brazinski Pork Farm of Coulterville received the 2021 Illinois Pork Producers Association Family of the Year Award; and

WHEREAS, The Brazinski Pork Farm produces 34,000 market hogs per year and runs a row crop farming operation that includes 2,200 acres of corn, soybeans, and wheat; and

WHEREAS, The Brazinski Pork Farm is a family farm and is led by Jim Brazinski; he is president of the pig production companies Grand View Farm and Grand Tower Farm and a service agency Corn Silk LLC and owns Brazinski Pork Farm; and

WHEREAS, Jim Brazinski's family has an extensive farming background; the maternal side of his family arrived in the U.S. in the 1850s; his paternal family fled Lithuania due to political tensions; his grandfather established the family farm in Coulterville in the 1920s; and

WHEREAS, Jim Brazinski's parents raised their children along with many animals on their farm; his brother began raising hogs for a 4-H project in 1966; and

WHEREAS, Jim Brazinski graduated from SIU Carbondale in 1984 and started constructing more hog buildings on their family farm with the family doing most of the construction to keep costs down; they still build a lot of equipment in their shop today; and

WHEREAS, In 2006, upon the suggestion of Dr. Bill Hollis, the Brazinski Family Farm joined a sow farm to improve the consistency of their pig flows and to be able to raise larger groups of pigs all the same age; and

WHEREAS, Family has always been a huge part of the Brazinski Pork Farm values; Jim Brazinski and his siblings continue to make sure that their mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, is taken care of along with their father; and

WHEREAS, After several failed attempts to use caregiving agencies, the Brazinski family decided to form a small LLC called Corn Silk and hire their own caregivers; they formed Corn Silk with the belief that care needed to be compassionate, reliable, and the best possible for their parents; and

WHEREAS, The farm currently employs six full-time employees and two part-time employees and has a total of four farms that contract finish hogs for the Brazinski family; and

WHEREAS, The Brazinski family continues to strive to produce the best possible pork; and

WHEREAS, A 13-year member of the Marissa School Board, Jim Brazinski is an avid volunteer and is a member of St. Anthony's Lively Grove Catholic Church; he remains grateful, especially when reminded of the hardships that his family has had to endure; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare November 2, 2021 as Brazinski Family Farm Day; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Brazinski family as a sign of our respect and esteem.