The IL Corn Growers Association sent a letter this week to Illinois’s five members on the House Agriculture Committee urging lawmakers to pass a one-year extension to the farm bill. The House and Senate passed a two-part continuing resolution which included a farm bill extension through next year.

“Without an extension, vital programs for farmers will be impacted and the grower’s ability to enroll into farm programs delayed, which would create uncertainty for corn growers who are already making decisions for the next crop year,” said the ICGA letter.  

“Illinois corn farmers need certainty and knowing that we have a one-year extension on the 2018 farm bill provides some certainty as we plan for the next crop year,” said Fairfield farmer and President of the IL Corn Growers Association Matt Rush. “However, while we are grateful for some direction, extensions like these cannot be the only direction farmers are given. We must work together to pass a new farm bill in 2024 that fully funds programs and gives farmers the long-term certainty that they need and deserve.

Representative Mike Bost (R-12) from Illinois’s twelfth district spoke with IL Corn and ensured a long-term farm bill fix is at the top priority for the House Agriculture Committees. “We’re still going to start working on it,” Bost said. “We're hoping, according to the Chairman and the staff, to get it out first quarter from between January and March from the house. Now, what the Senate does with that, I don't know, but at least we've given a long enough landing spot with September that our farmers can feel secure.”