He went full circle not once but twice, did Todd Price.

Price, a Cook County Farm Bureau member and director of Wagner Farm in Glenview, was born in the northern suburbs of Cook County in the early 1970s. After stops along the way in Iowa and Indiana, Todd returned to the northern suburbs six years ago—and it’s as if he never left.

The second example of coming full circle is more compelling: It encompasses a return to Agriculture. While Ag has always been ingrained in Todd from an early age, the former Division III college football player at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, took a temporary "detour" years ago to explore new capacities. He returned to the "Ag fold" full-time when named Wagner Farms’ director in 2002 after an aggressive national search had been conducted.

"It was ironic: Growing up, I loved farming but—like many teenagers--I grew tired of getting up real early and smelling like manure," he laughs at the recollection. "I thought it would be a good idea to explore other professional opportunities. I earned degrees in education and history with the intention of becoming a teacher."

At Wagner Farm (located at Lake Ave. and Wagner Rd. in Glenview), Price has been instrumental in cultivating a top-notch Ag program…and the proof is in the udder: Attendance at the farm—which is operated by the Glenview Park District—has swelled from 25,000 in 2002 to its present 60,000. Preserved for educational and recreational purposes, visitors to Wagner Farm are able to see how bread is made in a wood cook stove. If they’re lucky, they might even be able to milk one of the farm’s many cows.

Long before Todd was affiliated with Wagner Farm, he was living a stone’s throw from the 18.6 acre parcel in the early 1970s. As Todd’s father served in the Army—assigned to Fort Sheridan in Waukegan—the family lived in Northbrook before returning to southwestern Iowa (Clarinda) in 1976--to the heritage farm that had been in the family for 150 years.

Both of Todd’s grandfathers had been farmers in what is an eighth-generation farming family. "In Iowa, they award a special plaque for families that own century farms (100 years old). We were presented with a ‘heritage’ designation when the farm (2,500 acres) turned 150 years old," he explained.

Back in the 1970s when his Dad was operating the grain and livestock farm, Todd was able to witness real work ethic in action. Consider this: Both his parents worked full-time as teachers in addition to running the farm. To add an extra responsibility to the mix, Todd’s Dad was also a basketball and track coach. "Even with all his other responsibilities, he was still out there on the combine working the fields. I have no idea how he was able to squeeze everything in," says Price.

Challenges ahead
As he was growing up, Todd remembers how farming began to weigh on the family—they had to work extremely hard just to keep it going, he recalls. This coincided with other farming heartbreaks he witnessed, including farm foreclosures and droughts, such as the one in summer 1988.

Following college, Todd worked in Des Moines at Living History Farms before moving on to Lafayette, Ind., near Purdue University. This is where he experienced working in what he calls the "museum circuit." The position has a connection to Agriculture and farming, he says, but only to an extent.

There’s nothing like the real McCoy, and Todd returned to Illinois, and to the farm, in 2002. Back in 1998, a local referendum passed that enabled the village of Glenview to acquire Wagner Farm—the last farm standing in the village. Wagner Farm had once been what Todd describes as "raw and private." Now it’s refined and public. "We transitioned it through fundraising and community input to become a highly-functional facility with public interaction: We grow crops and offer milking demonstrations and have developed Ag programs for some schools."

One effort of which Todd is most proud is the maturation of the local 4H Club—an affiliation near and dear to his heart growing up. "We started 4H in Glenview with about eight kids and now have 50. We have chickens, six heifers, six pigs and 13 sheep. Stepping into a cow pie is no big deal to a farm kid, but for urban children it’s quite a different thing. The best fulfillment is that these kids are learning about where their food originates and the responsibilities that come with farming."

Affiliation with his local farm bureau holds a lot of relevance with Price. "One of my first memories moving back to Iowa was on July 4, 1976 when the Iowa Farm Bureau threw a huge picnic. Today, Cook County Farm Bureau means just as much to me (he sits on the Ag in the Classroom committee). I’m impressed with how AITC has grown and touched so many students."

He says that one of his most satisfying moments on the job occurs when a group of students from a Chicago grammar school pulls up to Wagner Farm for an outing. "When they get off the bus they just take off running—they’re so excited to be on a farm. One teacher told me that this is the most grass they had ever seen."

Todd Price is also excited to be at Wagner Farm—he just doesn’t take off running. He’s staying put. "Coming to Wagner Farm helped bring everything full circle for me. These days, I still smell like manure a lot of the time—but now I love it!"

Todd Price Personals:

Profession: Director of Wagner Farm in Glenview (glenviewparkdistrict.org)

Family: Wife Laura, whom he met at Simpson College. Daughter Cassidy, 9 years old and already a huge Agriculture lover.

Farm Bureau affiliation: The Ag in the Classroom committee

Ag philosophy: "The farm does not represent land to us—it’s regarded as a family member."