From the President:
Illinois Farm Bureau hosted Ag organizations, IDOA, and university representatives from around the state last week.
At the Roundtable, IFB encouraged fellow ag organizations to seek resolution for property and drainage issues in potential state legislation.
HB 4412, an energy omnibus bill that passed during the recent lame-duck session, sets maximum statewide siting standards for commercial wind energy and solar energy facilities. It has provisions that create potential negative impacts on farmland.
- Lack of required enforcement by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to implement Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreements.
- No requirement for a plan to develop and implement a drainage plan to address water resulting from rainfall.
- A facility could cross a drainage district facility without the district’s approval. Impacting drainage district facilities not only affects the land that the facility is on but potentially all the land within the drainage district.
The bill’s sponsors heard agriculture’s concerns and have expressed interest in discussing potential follow-up legislation. We encouraged ag groups to consider writing the sponsors of the bill about those concerns and asking them to concentrate on them in a bill during the spring session.