Durbin Hosts Roundtable of Illinois Agriculture Leaders to Discuss Top AGriculture Priorities
DURBIN HOSTS ROUNDTABLE OF ILLINOIS AGRICULTURE LEADERS TO DISCUSS TOP AGRICULTURE PRIORITIES
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today hosted a meeting with agriculture leaders from across the state of Illinois to discuss top agriculture priorities in the state. Topics of discussion included the 2007 Farm Bill, lock and dam construction on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and the need for new livestock regulations.
"Illinois farm land is among the most productive in the world. It is important to Illinoisans that we work together to pass a Farm Bill and ensure we have adequate shipping routes to get our agricultural products to market," said Durbin.
At the meeting, Durbin updated the farm leaders about the lock and dam construction bill known as the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA). Last year, the Senate passed a version of WRDA in July which included Congressional authorization for lock and dam construction. The bill also authorizes specific projects for navigation, ecosystem restoration and flood and storm damage reduction. The House also passed a version of WRDA but the differences in the two bills were not reconciled and it was not signed into law.
Durbin also discussed the importance of the 2007 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill will likely contain a number of provisions important to Illinois farmers including improving protections for farmer in the event of natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, modifying the current commodity support programs, rural broadband access, maintaining nutritional programs like Food Stamps and Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) and increasing federal support for innovative renewable energy projects. House and Senate Agriculture Committees are currently holding hearings to gather information from farmers and other stakeholders on a variety of topics, including crop insurance, commodity programs, rural development, renewable energy and others. The Agriculture Committee is expected to begin writing the Farm Bill in the spring.
Participants in the roundtable also talked about the need for new regulation of the livestock industry in Illinois. Durbin noted that a robust livestock industry helps build the demand for field grains and is also important for economic development in rural areas. In addition, livestock is a factor for site selection for ethanol plants because cattle is a major consumer of the byproduct dried distillers grains (DDGS).
Attending the meeting today was Chuck Spencer (Illinois Farm Bureau); Harry Alten (Specialty Growers Assn); Amy Bradford (Farm Credit Services of IL); Gerel Brown (GROWMARK); Terry Davis (Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts); George Dixon (Illinois Soybean Assn) Scherrie Giamanco (Illinois Agri-Women); Edwin "Ned" Hahn (U of I College of Vet Med); Heather Hampton-Knodle (Illinois Agri-Women); Aaron Leary (Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education); Fred Naber (Illinois Wheat Association); Rich Guebert (Illinois Farm Bureau); Rae Payne (Illinois Farm Bureau); Steve Ruh (Illinois Corn Growers Assn); and Dave Wantland (GROWMARK).
http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=268187&&