Army Corps Of Engineers

The farm-to-port export chain from Illinois to Oregon and beyond was the focus of a recent tour for 12 South Koreans hosted by Kansas State University’s International Grains Program.

Electric vehicles that typically weigh more than gasoline-powered cars can easily crash through steel highway guardrails that are not designed to withstand the extra force, raising concerns about the nation’s roadside safety system.

Corn Belt Ports, the Heart of Illinois Regional Port District and the Illinois Waterway Ports Commission have a new office in Peoria.

About 36.4 million tons of food and food products, including corn and soybeans, are shipped annually via Illinois waterways and are dependent upon locks and dams that were built in the 1930s.

Second chances don’t come along every day. But every once in a while, we get a chance to start fresh, learn from our mistakes and do better.

The first names were common in the last century: Clara, Woodrow, Elmer, Ethel. The last names, Anglicized over time, mostly reached back to Germany and France with a few stopping short in Ireland and Scotland.

In March, I had the honor of testifying before Congress on behalf of American Farm Bureau Federation and my fellow farmers and ranchers, to express concern and frustration with the new “waters of the United States” rule, known as WOTUS.

A second U.S. District Court ruling was made to halt the “waters of the United States” rule. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall called it a win for U.S. farmers.

It takes guts to spend almost 50 years fighting the federal government’s Clean Water Act and then claim its failure to overcome your decades-long foot-dragging and legal maneuvering has hurt your members.

A Florida Farm Bureau member, rancher, small business owner and environmental lawyer presented a firsthand account of the implications of the federal government’s overreach to the House Committee on Small Business.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its work plan for allocating funds provided in the fiscal year 2023 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.

Today, cattle producers across the United States face turbulent times. The return of longstanding issues like “waters of the United States” and new Endangered Species Act listings are just two examples.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new waters of the U.S. rule is a giant step in the wrong direction. Instead of making federal regulations more clear, the rule reinstates confusing standards that have already caused decades of uncertainty and litigation.

The U.S. Environmental Agency and Army Corps of Engineers announced a final rule establishing a definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.

Representatives from various agricultural group questioned the timing of the “waters of the U.S.” final rule and the lack of certainty.

Many Illinois farmers, including myself, are eagerly waiting to see how this year’s crop turns out. That’s the name of the game when it comes to farming: You make the best management decisions you can, learn from previous harvests and look to improve next year’s results.

Harvest of corn and soybeans in the U.S. Midwest is at full throttle, but whether — and how — those crops will make it to export markets has become a real concern for U.S. inland waterway authorities and shippers.

The new farm bill, conservation programs and regulations are among the areas the Illinois Farm Bureau has focused on in working on behalf of Prairie State farmers.

It’s been a historic year for the Illinois Corn Growers Association as it celebrated its 50th anniversary this past summer, and the organization continues advocating on behalf of farmers.

Questions relating to several high-priority legislative issues were posed to U.S. senatorial candidates at a recent candidate forum. The Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable forum featured incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Republican challenger Kathy Salvi.

Millions of Americans in the western United States continue to struggle with the effects of persistent drought.

For more than 40 years my father farmed within a mile of where the Kaskaskia River met the Mississippi deep in southern Illinois. That meant he had two, lifetime partners: the river and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

No one knows the benefits of clean water better than our nation’s farmers and ranchers. The food, fiber and fuel we produce to support the needs of all Americans requires clean water.

A project that will boost Great Lakes shipping in a crucial bottleneck and another intended to protect the lakes from invasive carp will get big funding increases under the Biden administration’s infrastructure package, officials said.

Funding to complete design and construction for Lock 25 near Winfield on the Mississippi River is included in the Army Corps of Engineers budget presented to Congress on Jan. 19 to allocate the funding named in the infrastructure package passed on Nov. 5. Total allocated funds for Lock 25 are $732 million.

Water is critical to our families and our farms. It breathes life into our crops and produces forage for animals on our rangelands. It is a priority for farmers and ranchers to ensure the water we rely on is clean because safe, clean water is critical to all life.

Two years ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, many of us thought we’d quickly get past it and get back to normal. But as we move into a new year, we continue to face the lingering and devastating impacts of this pandemic.

Despite the many challenges over the past year caused by the pandemic, Illinois Corn chalked up numerous successes and the leadership is optimistic going into the new year.

Agriculture organizations have been advocating for the modernization of the waterway transportation system for decades and the recent passage of the new infrastructure bill will finally address many of those concerns.

I know my farmland like the back of my hand. I can tell you what field our cattle are grazing and under which tree a new mama is tending her calf.

A new constructed wetland was showcased during the recent Vermilion Headwaters Watershed field tour in Livingston County. The constructed wetland was installed in August 2018 on Fulton Farms farmland and is designed to capture and remove nutrients from tile drainage.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army recently announced the intention to initiate a new rulemaking process for the waters of the United States. If the process reaches fruition this year, this would mark the third time in six years that WOTUS regulations have been revised.