During World War II in the 1940s, hemp was tough and provided American troops with stout rope and parachute cords. Domestic production of it was considered “patriotic.”
Today, hemp is in many products and markets that serve the economy. Bottom line: Hemp-growing has come to Huntley and Kane County.
But this story isn’t only about reviving a product, it‘s about a man with a strong connection to the history and building of Sun City. It’s about Tom Manning, and his roles in the community’s history. Tom was a Huntley-area concrete contractor and farmer when Del Webb Corp. came to Huntley and started building Sun City in the mid to late 1990s. Seeing an opportunity, Tom hooked his concrete company to Del Webb’s project to build the first Sun City outside America’s sun belt.
“I didn’t keep track if the details, but I tell Sun City people that I probably built the concrete sidewalks and maybe some of the driveways around their homes,” Manning said in a recent interview with the Sun Day.
At about the time Sun City opened 20 years ago, Manning bought six acres of farmland on the south side of Kreutzer Road, just a few hundred yards west of the Union Pacific Railroad track crossing. The site is part of an old dairy farm dating back to the 1930s, and is located in Kane County. It was the county that provided Manning with a special license he needs to grow his “new” product. “I bought land as an investment originally, but now I’ve decided what I’m going to do with [it],” Manning said.
Many Sun City and Huntley residents probably have noticed that an old dairy barn that sits on this property has had its roof replaced and that a large red building has been attached to the old barn and there is construction work being done on the property.
Curious about the activity, the Sun Day stopped at the site recently, and Manning himself walked out of his “new” barn to greet the visitor.
“What is going on here?” Manning repeated the question he was asked. “We’re turning this six acres into a hemp farm, and we intend to develop this site into a productive hemp farm and sell it to producers that are located today in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.”
In recent years, hemp growers and producers have found markets that are making paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, flooring, and animal feed, according to a July report in the Daily Herald. Hemp plants are already growing profusely on three sides of the six-acre Huntley site surrounding the revitalized and enlarged barns.
Manning himself works the site and has already hired employees to help him with the initial planting.
“Our new larger barn near Kreutzer Road will be used as a growing site for the plants, he said, “and the old barn will be the drying site where the hemp is prepared for shipment to growers.” Running the business along with Manning is one of his four daughters, Maggie. “My father works the planting along with the employees, and I do a lot of other things in the business,” Maggie said. I’m the only one of my sisters who is interested in this kind of business.”
Tom and his wife, Eileen, live in a large home just west of Huntley on Church Road in McHenry County, near Marengo Road. Because of his work with Sun City in the late 90s, he still feels a strong attachment to the community, and that’s the reason why he bought this property.
“I got the idea for this project from Brian Kay, who runs a nursery near here,” Manning said. “I knew his dad earlier. Brian has been very helpful to teach me what this hemp stuff is all about.
“We bought the site as an investment, but I always thought it would be good to own a piece of land that we could put to good use,” Manning said.
According to the Daily Herald article, industrial hemp is making a legal and financial comeback in Illinois, the state’s Department of Agriculture officials report. It has granted industrial hemp licenses to more than 550 growers and 118 processors this year, including many in the Chicago suburban area. Growers are motivated to grow hemp because the plant produces CBD, the ingredient found in prescribed medications and a variety of over-the-counter products that legally can’t make health claims, but which are popular with some as cures of whatever ails us, according to the Herald article.
Manning’s work with Del Webb isn’t his only connection to Huntley. James Dhamer, Huntley mayor who signed the land development agreement for Del Webb’s 2000-plus acres in the 90s, is Manning’s uncle. Huntley honors Dhamer today by naming a road at the south side of the community after him.
Whatever venture Manning has tried has succeeded, and there is every reason to expect that this one should do the same. Huntley was once considered the dairy capital of Illinois. Today, the village is home to the production of grilles for the outdoor amateur chef, medical devices, and many other products for the home, business, and even the military.
