Hastert tours farm, speaks on drought

LELAND - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns visited John Hohenberger's Leland farm to see the damage from the 2005 drought. U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Plano, who represents the 14th District, which includes Leland, invited the secretary along with U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Rockford, to tour the farm. They walked through cornfields where the corn is drying to become grain for animal fields. They went through a soybean field where problems include spider mites. The lack of moisture is affecting the number of pods and the number of beans in pods. "The story repeats itself over and over throughout the district," Hastert said. "One hundred counties in Illinois are affected by the drought." Hastert, who grew up in the