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IL Farm Bureau pressing for farm bill solution

The leader of the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) wants a farm bill solution to be front and center in Washington.

Ogle County farmer and IFB president Brian Duncan tells Brownfield another farm bill extension isn’t enough…

“I want to see modernization.”  He says, “I’d like to see some updated reference prices; improvements in the crop insurance space that are needed now as we look at the very real place with farm incomes. The need is now.”

He says an answer to the issue of California’s Proposition 12 is also needed…

“It’s really the only chance we have,” he says, “even Secretary Vilsack said as much when we met with him in Salt Lake City. I don’t think it could be a derailer. It potentially could be, but we’re pretty adamant that this needs to be part of a farm bill.”

Duncan says moving a farm bill soon is imperative…

“The further we go, the more time that goes by, the more challenging it’s going to get and the further we get into the political season of an election year, the more challenging moving any legislation is going to get,” he says.

Duncan plans to take his message directly to lawmakers with a Capitol Hill visit scheduled the first week of March.