SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Reliable processing for duck eggs, patients filling doctor prescriptions for fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, and challenges for small-acreage growers aren’t usually things Adam Nielsen hears about in his listening sessions for the 2023 Farm Bill.
But these were among the topics that came up when Nielsen, director of national legislation and policy development for the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB), asked for input from those attending the From Food to Flowers: Everything Local conference in Springfield on Jan. 12.
Nielsen gathered information from people at the three-day Illinois Food, Farmers Market & Specialty Crop Conference about what issues they would like to see the IFB advocate for in the 2023 farm bill.
New ideas
Those involved with local foods told him about some of their special challenges and talked the about unique projects going on in Illinois.
“I never heard of that,” he said when told about a farmers market which works with health providers. Patients can buy the healthy food prescribed by their doctors at a farmers market in Lincoln, Illinois, he learned.
Growers talked about the challenges for beginning farmers — something Nielsen hears often from other commodities groups.
Keeping in mind the average age of farmers, there is a need to encourage small and beginning farmers, he was told. Some of the existing programs to help beginners are very difficult for someone who isn’t from a farming background to navigate.
Another participant talked about a program in California that offers incentives to larger land owners to provide space for urban growers. Some vacant land can then produce more food. Some of the incentives are tied to water accessibility, she said.
Nielsen said he attended about 20 farm bill listening sessions across the state last year. Feedback he gathers from producers is combined with information in IFB’s policy book to set IFB priorities for the next farm bill.
Small processors needed
Several people called for more incentives to create light processing and distribution in Illinois. Not having a place to take produce is a bottleneck, he was told.
Local farmers want to scale up operations but lack the resources to process, and preserve products and make them available to local buyers including schools and hospitals. The FarmFED Cooperative (Farm-Fresh Enterprise Development Cooperative) in Mount Pulaski was created to fill those gaps and could benefit from support. The community has its own cooperative grocery store, Market on the Hill, on its town square. It is really one of a kind at this point, he was told.
Kyle McAdams of Pink Tiger in Goreville, in southern Illinois, also sees the need for more processing there. The former Chicago man grows chili peppers, ginger, turmeric and garlic and wants to expand to offer duck eggs, but there are no reliable processing options in his area. McAdams is a member of FarmWorks which works with FarmFED Co-op.
“This is the right time to have that discussion,” Nielsen said of programs supporting regional processors. The pandemic drew attention to the need for a food processing of various kinds in different locations. Other talked about programs for food security for consumers and programs to encourage buying of local produce.
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On the other hand, one participant said, “Don’t create a bunch of new wheels. Put money and funding into what is already successful.” He said that funding should be spent, with some tweaking, on things that have a good track record.
During the pandemic there were multiple ad hoc disaster assistance programs, but there seems to be a more effective way to help producers, Nielsen said.
One local grower agreed, but said some of the programs were helpful for them to adjust to changing markets.
Ag did get a lot of attention from some people during the pandemic.
“We can’t take attention for granted or expect it to last forever, Nielsen said.
Some people will now think farmers and growers got their share and now there is a need to tighten belts.
Nielsen said that he expects both political parties will work well together on farm bill issues within the Ag Committee. The problem will come when the farm bill gets out of the committee. Some of the people who blocked the speaker could slow the progress, he said.
“That group was empowered by the speaker debate,” he said. That is one of my worries with the farm bill.” He said it could end up being the 2023 or 2024 farm bill.
Crop insurance
Corn and soybean growers often remind Nielsen of the importance to keep crop insurance as it is. Crop insurance is effective from a government standpoint and for most farmers as well, he said.
There is a big lobby circling wagons around crop insurance.
”We are one of those wagons,” Nielsen said
Mark Schleusener, Illinois State Statistician at USDA-NASS, asked attendees how many of them are using crop insurance and good it is for them. He noted that it is easier to design crop insurance for 90 million acres of corn than it is for specialty crop growers.
Several said crop insurance is too complicated for specialty growers. While there are new options, most said they aren’t very effective. It isn’t worth the time to fill out the paperwork.
Need for crop diversity
Dave Bishop, a farmer from Atlanta, Illinois, who also teaches regenerative farming at Heartland Community College, told Nielsen more diversity in crops grown is needed in the Corn Belt. He said Purdue University, Iowa State and the University of Illinois are working on initiatives to increase diversity in agriculture. There is a need for additional funding for this, he said.
“Stories would help,” Nielsen told Bishop. Letting legislators and ag advocates know the stories of how farmers have benefited from adding diversity on their farmers would help make a difference, he said.