July 12, 2023

Duckworth Discusses Agricultural Priorities with Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Soybean Association

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with leaders and members of the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) as well as with leaders from the Illinois Soybean Association today to discuss Illinois’s agricultural priorities as Congress is set to reauthorize the Farm Bill this year. Duckworth and the members also discussed the state’s ongoing drought conditions. Photos from today’s IFB meeting are available here, and photos from today’s Illinois Soybean Association meeting are available here.

“America has always depended on our nation’s farmers to grow the food and fuel we need, and I’m proud to advocate for them on both the national and international stage,” Duckworth said. “The work of Illinois’s farmers is so important to the strength of our state and our nation, and I look forward to continuing my work with the Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Soybean Association and farmers across the state to make sure they have the resources and information they need.”

In response to severe drought conditions through significant portions of Northwest and Central Illinois, last month Duckworth joined U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to initiate the process for permitting emergency haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program acres.

In the Senate, Duckworth has been a leader in supporting biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). To help increase the availability of E15 biofuels, Duckworth helped introduce the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 to allow the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent. Duckworth additionally helped introduced the Home Front Energy Independence Act to ban Russian oil and expand use and production of biofuel that’s grown in the American heartland, while providing American families with a less expensive option to fuel their vehicles. The Senator also created a pilot project in the last National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to promote the use of SAF at military installations and will continue to increase these efforts to expand the use on biofuels whenever possible.

Global exports of agricultural products from Illinois totaled over $10.6 Billion in 2022 alone and in support of this major industry, Senator Duckworth recently led a Congressional delegation to Japan to highlight how Illinois is uniquely positioned for greater investment and to encourage increased exports as a hub for corn, soybean, pork and ethanol. Senator Duckworth also helped introduce the Expanding Agricultural Exports Act of 2023, which would support the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program. 

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