IFB Weekly: Most Recent Talking Points as of 3/13/23

Note: For IFB’s full comprehensive talking points, please contact your local county Farm Bureau or visit the Leaders’ Portal.

AFBF-CNH Industrial, John Deere MOU

Overview:

We are very pleased to have reached agreements with John Deere and CNH Industrial that will ensure farmers’ and ranchers’ right to repair their tractors and other implements.
Combined, the two memorandums of understanding will cover John Deere, Case IH and New Holland equipment, which represent more than half of the U.S. market for tractors and agricultural machinery.
Right to repair has been an important issue for our members for years. This is the culmination of several years of discussions with John Deere, which paved the way for a second agreement with CNH Industrial.
The MOUs set parameters for addressing issues between farmers and CNH Industrial and John Deere dealers and creates a mechanism to address farmers’ concerns if a resolution is not achieved.
We believe these memorandums of understanding have the potential to serve as a model for other manufacturers.
Farmers are more dependent on technology than ever before. When a piece of equipment breaks down it can cause major disruptions on the farm, which is why it is so important that they have access to error codes, specialty tools and information on how to fix the problem.

Improving Broadband Access

Background:

The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program includes $42 billion for high-speed internet access. Under BEAD, states received funding to develop a five-year internet plan, which will be due in mid-August. Each state is to map out internet access by specifying unserved and underserved areas based on defined available internet speeds.

Key Messages:

Broadband service is no longer a luxury for farmers and rural residents. It is a necessity. Our members are demanding better, faster, more reliable, and more affordable broadband service.
Technology is an important tool on today’s farm. Whether it’s to access information about markets, the weather, or the use of precision agriculture technology, improved connectivity is critical.
Improved broadband is also important for rural economic development, rural education, and rural healthcare. It can help revitalize rural Illinois and boost our economy.
Quality and affordable broadband service can also be important to encourage the next generation of farmers to stay on the farm and to encourage people to remain or return to rural areas.
Data shows that for rural America, quality of life is an economic development strategy. Having high-quality public amenities is a key part of economic development and one of those critical amenities is access to high-speed broadband.

Supporting Messages:

Farm Bureau policy, established by our members, supports increasing broadband service in rural areas through any source, including wireless.
Our policy also supports multiple sources and increased levels of funding to improve broadband service.
IFB supports the BEAD program focusing on connecting unserved areas as its priority for funding broadband projects followed by unserved areas.
We often see projects that only provide service to rural towns without expanding service to rural farms and residences. Providing broadband to the countryside where our farms are located is vital.
Projects funded by BEAD must also protect the property rights of the landowners involved. Providers must work with farmers and landowners on broadband installation projects to avoid impacting their property. Working with landowners will help projects get constructed without conflict and delay.
We look forward to working with the State of Illinois to implement the BEAD program. This funding provides a real opportunity to finally provide broadband to unserved and underserved areas of Illinois that desperately need service.

IFB’s 2023 Farm Bill Priorities

Headline Messages:

Illinois Farm Bureau members believe the farm bill must be WTO-compliant, provide price and revenue protection for farmers, and link nutrition and commodity programs.
Maintaining the current crop insurance program remains IFB’s top priority in the upcoming farm bill debate.
Farm Bureau supports maintaining both SNAP and TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) in the farm bill in their current form.
In 2013, USDA calculated that roughly eight cents of every dollar spent on food purchases (including purchases made by SNAP recipients) returns to the farmgate.

Title XI – Crop Insurance:

IFB supports creation of a local or state-farmer committee to hear farmer appeals of RMA decisions on overspray and planting dates or on any decision that adversely impacts crop insurance policy holders.
IFB also supports allowing a producer who elects a Harvest Price Option (HPO) to receive the harvest price if it is higher on prevented plant acres.

Title I – Farm Programs:

IFB supports allowing farmers to update base acres and yields, increased commodity loan rates, inflation-adjusted farm program payment limits, and allowing producers or landowners - subject to a new or a previous farm reconstitution - to either combine farms or maintain an individual farm number.
A producer who elects to include a Harvest Price Option (HPO) should be allowed to receive the harvest price if it is higher on prevented plant acres.
IFB supports dairy risk management programs that address negative price differentials; changing or eliminating state-by-state adjustment factors in Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) that greatly limited support to producers; improving the accuracy of the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) feed price component; providing NASS with sufficient resources to more accurately estimate alfalfa prices.

Title II – Conservation Programs:

IFB supports improvements to USDA Conservation Programs including:
- A five-year CRP contract.
- A flexible, renewable one-year program that pays rates similar to CRP that incentivizes nutrient loss reduction and other programs that incentivize water quality improvements.
- Carbon sequestration incentives for farmers who use cover crops.
- A new water quality credit for producers.
- Using CSP to reward operators for practices they have already adopted and allow them to earn more points for maintaining practices over time.
- Hiring more conservation engineers.
- Providing additional flexibility for harvesting cover crops for feed during normal growing conditions.

Dicamba Talking Points

Background:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new cutoff date and other restrictions for Dicamba. In Illinois, over-the-top applications of products containing dicamba must be made before June 12 or soybeans’ V4 growth stage. The new federal cutoff date replaces the June 20 date issued by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) in spring 2022.

Headline Messages:

Illinois Farm Bureau recognizes the timing of this announcement creates difficulties and challenges for our members who have purchased products containing this technology and are 40 to 50 days from planting soybeans.
IFB has conveyed those challenges to IDOA and US EPA and will remain engaged with state and federal regulators on this issue.
Farmers are committed to using only safe products and using them wisely.
Dicamba is a key tool in farmers’ sustainability strategy in that it supports no-till and conservation tillage practices, which reduce water use, retain nutrients in soil and lower emissions.

Supporting Messages:

Not every farm faces the same challenges.
Farmers need options to make the best decisions to ensure that they can get healthy crops to America’s families.

Illinois Agriculture at a Glance

Headline Messages:

96% of Illinois’ 70,900 farms are family owned.
Illinois has 27 million acres of farmland – 24 million cropland acres, 824.1K pastureland acres, 1.4 million forestland acres.
In 2021, Illinois ranked:
- #1 in the nation in soybean and pumpkin production
- #2 in corn production.
- #4 in the nation in pork production.
- #2 in the nation for farmers markets.
Renewable Fuels in Illinois:
- Illinois ranks 3^rd nationwide in ethanol production and 4^th in the nation in biodiesel production.
$1 out of every $10 generated in Illinois comes from agriculture.

Supporting Messages:

More than $137 billion in Illinois’ economic activity stems from production-agriculture-related industries.
Illinois food and agriculture businesses account for more than $359 billion in economic output in the state.
Cook County derives $17.8 million in economic activity from agriculture and related industries.
1 in 17 Illinois jobs are related to agriculture; agriculture and related industries account for more than 482,000 jobs in Illinois.
Illinois agriculture contributes $25.1 billion in gross receipts from sales of crops & livestock.

Why Does the Farm Bill Matter for Everyone?

Food security: America’s public investment in agriculture through farm bill programs helps secure our domestic food supply and keep our country strong while consumers get the benefits of high-quality, affordable food.
Jobs: The food and agriculture industry supports nearly 21.5 million U.S. jobs (that’s more than 14% of U.S. employment) and contributes more than $1 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product.
Conservation: The farm bill’s investment in ag research and conservation programs are critical to ensuring the productivity and sustainability in our farms and domestic food supply.
Risk Management: We all depend on the success of American agriculture so it’s important for America’s farmers and ranchers to be supported by strong farm programs as they face down weather disasters, high supply costs and inflationary pressures. Managing risk is critical to keep food on our tables.
Addressing Hunger: The farm bill includes nutrition programs intended to ensure the most vulnerable among us have access to healthy, affordable food.