3 Trends in Legislation That Will Impact Your Farm

"If you remember only one thing from me today, remember this: Every day, decisions are made in Springfield and Washington that impact your bottom line. If you're not there to represent yourself, no one is going to do it for you."

That is how Scott Shearer, Vice President of Bockorny Group, ended his presentation yesterday at the Illinois Farm Bureau Governmental Affairs Leadership Conference.

As the conference's opening keynote speaker, Shearer told a room full of farmers and ag supporters from across the state that there are three trends in Washington that directly impact farm legislation:

1. elected officials turnover,
2. urban/suburban Congress, and
3. farm issues not in the ag committees.

1. Turnover
"Turnover in Congress is much greater than Americans believe. And it really carries over into the House Agriculture Committee," said Shearer. "Forty percent of the Agriculture Committee is new this year.  Two-thirds are only in their first or second term."

This turnover makes it critical for the farming committee to meet new congressmen as quickly as possible, he said. "A lot of these members don't know about commodities programs, or risk management, or trade programs. So you become a resource for them, and you have to do it early in the process."

2. Urban Congress
Illinois has 18 congressmen, 6 from downstate and 12 from Chicago and the metropolitan area.

"We have to get to know them… and remember that they look at things differently, but we all have things in common," said Shearer. He pointed to education, pension reform, transportation, and healthy food as common-ground issues.

3. Unfamiliar Committees
Shearer said, "We find that many of the issues we deal with in agriculture are not before the House and Senate Agriculture Committees."

He listed a few examples:

• Immigration reform - House and Senate Judiciary Committee
• Trade issues - House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Committee on Finance 
• Renewable fuel - House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
• Animal antibiotics - House Energy & Commerce and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

He added, "It is important that we find spokespersons on both sides of the aisle in those committees to advocate on behalf of American agriculture."

Get Involved
Farm Bureaus of Illinois invite you to help face these new trends and keep the future of Illinois agriculture bright. You can join FB ACT, visit elected officals in Washington D.C., "adopt" an urban legislator, or call your local Farm Bureau to discover a way to get involved that fits your schedule and personality.