Rader Family Farms
1312 Ropp Rd., Normal, IL 61761
Farms & Orchards
Lynn Rader and his six younger siblings were raised on this Guernsey dairy farm by their parents, Glenn and Margaret Rader. Glenn and Margaret moved onto this farm when they were married in 1945. The family grew up milking cows and showing them in 4-H.
Glenn died in 1971 and the cows were sold. From then until the present time, Lynn and Linda have been primarily grain farmers.
For the past many years they have also grown and sold sweet corn in the summer and pumpkins and other produce in the fall. The pumpkin business began rather innocently when Lynn had a bumper crop of pumpkins in his garden and decided to put a hayrack in his front yard with the extras on it to sell. That was some 20 years ago, and every year since, Lynn has planted more and more varieties and has expanded his crop to 30-plus acres.
As farmers, Lynn and Linda realize how much people love and appreciate an opportunity to experience "a little bit of the country life." We see that each new generation has less and less understanding of the rural life. We feel our farm allows guests a unique opportunity to connect with and learn from rural America while having a great time in the country. This agritourism site presents many opportunities to learn from hands-on experiences about agriculture in central Illinois, helping bridge the gap between city and country life.