Rural America doesn’t ask for much — just a fair shot and a government that has their back.

Farmer leaders of the Illinois Corn Growers Association recently advocated for their peers on Capitol Hill.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s career as a venture capitalist and philanthropist from Chicago seems far-removed from agriculture, yet they parallel one another, according to the two-term governor.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy stressed the need for more certainty from Capitol Hill for farmers.

The House narrowly approved a $95 billion budget bill to send the measure — which contains $12 billion in additional agricultural assistance — to the Senate, where it faces an unclear path, reports Jim Henry.

One of the most consequential actions during the markup of the farm bill was the Senate Agriculture Committee vote on an amendment addressing mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef.

The Senate’s version of a new farm bill stalled in the Agriculture Committee, and its members will reconvene next month for another vote on the package.

At the Ag Policy Summit, two Indiana farmers discussed how the American Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board work together for U.S. farmers.

Additional financial support is critical to offset trade-related losses, rising input costs and the deep financial pressure facing U.S. row crop and specialty crop producers.

Alan Guebert experienced countless changes over his long career as an ag journalist, ranging from technology to news coverage.

Too many officials in the Trump administration and several farm-state Capitol Hill leaders believe that just saying something is true makes it true.

It’s been nearly a decade since Congress last passed a farm bill, making a new one long overdue.

Without federal assistance, the economic situation in rural America will only get worse, warns Jim Henry.

Lawmakers are taking weeks away from Washington while many of the nation’s most pressing problems remain unresolved.

There are many current issues important to Illinois cattlemen including the development of a new farm bill.

Why are today’s farm programs heavily skewered to support cotton, a crop we can’t give away, while wheat, a principle food grain and feed grain the world over, continues to lose planted acreage and production?

Few special ag interests today slide on more lard than the nation’s highly integrated pork giants.

Pesticides are an important tool for farmers, protecting billions of dollars in damages each year from weeds, insects and other pests.

The 2026 farm bill marks a new opportunity for Congress to take a bold step to upset the status quo by rebalancing the grazing livestock sector’s legal and regulatory framework.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood visited the Illinois Soybean Association’s headquarters to meet with ISA leaders, staff and soybean producers to discuss biofuels and other key issues impacting farmers across the state.

The Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers’ comprehensive annual farmland values report also includes various tidbits of interest.

Two weeks after the U.S. House passed its “skinny” farm bill — the law’s usual lard had been cut into last July’s reconciliation bill — applause is still yet to be heard in either Washington, D.C., or rural America.

The U.S. House passed legislation allowing for year-round, nationwide sale of E15 fuel May 13 and the bill advances to the Senate.

After years of economic pressure, farm families need the stability and certainty that comes with a new, modernized farm bill.

You’d think that the three extra years Congress has taken to update the 2018 farm bill might mean it stumbled upon solutions to today’s falling farm income, sagging ag exports, the need for more federal bailouts and the White House’s bubble-gum-and-baling-wire trade policy.

The U.S. House passed a new farm bill after the agriculture industry has operated for the past eight years under the previous legislation that included three extensions.

Rather than treating wetlands as an obstacle, mitigation gives farmers a defined, documented pathway to move forward without jeopardizing their standing with federal farm programs.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Legislative Conference is where grassroots policy meets action.

Global disruptions have tightened fertilizer supplies and driven up costs. At the same time, fuel prices continue to rise, further tightening balance sheets.

Precision Conservation Management has been selected as a recipient of funding through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Conservation Partners Program, part of $8.7 million awarded nationwide to support on-the-ground conservation efforts.

Whether you farm five acres or 5,000, you’re part of something bigger than your own farm. You’re helping support jobs, strengthen communities and power an economy that reaches every corner of this country.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture is relaunching the Infield Conservation for Operationalizing Vital Ecosystem Resilience, or I-COVER, Program to promote the early establishment of cover crops using new techniques or technology.

Warm and dry this early is both a bad combination and a bad omen.

The latest federal farm income forecast reinforces the difficult reality for U.S. agriculture.

We must ensure strong market opportunities here at home to keep family farms in business.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has now sharply lowered its 2025 farm income outlook by $25 billion, reinforcing that this downturn is deeper and more persistent than many anticipated.

Ultimately, federal taxpayer-funded payments are not a match for the tough reality of lost demand or damaged markets.

Markup of the new farm bill is underway and Illinois pork producers got a first-hand account of the legislation by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee chair.

While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made an important investment in strengthening the farm safety net, it did not replace the need for a new, modernized farm bill.

The farm bill moved through the House Agriculture Committee with a 34-17 bipartisan vote, encouraging ag organizations that have been worried about the bill’s uncertain future.

From progress on the farm bill to new trade agreements and growing momentum for year-round E15, there’s been meaningful movement that shows agriculture’s priorities are being heard.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture set its federal policy focus for 2026, prioritizing five main issues.

House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson must not be a superstitious man. If he were, he would not have introduced the biggest bill of his congressional career, the “Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026,” on Friday the 13th.

Farmers and ranchers have been promised a “new” farm bill every year since before the “old” law expired Sept. 30, 2023.

University of Illinois Extension and Illinois Farm Bureau are partnering for a series to help farmers and landowners build, sustain and share their farm’s legacy.

A word of caution: Do not get between reality and political forces in Congress when Republicans and Democrats agree to spend more money on farm programs rather than reform the very programs that are failing farmers and rural America.

Draining excess water from farm fields in Illinois is vital to food and renewable fuel production. However, the lack of adequate farm drainage is a serious problem.

Mark Gebhards, retired Illinois Farm Bureau executive director of governmental affairs and commodities division and chief strategy officer and adviser to the IFB president, was honored with the IFB 2025 Eagle Award for Excellence.

It’s fair to say that 2025 has been a year of meaningful progress for agriculture, on top of some very big challenges. Farm Bureau helped farmers and ranchers across the country navigate the roller coaster ride.

As 2025 draws to a close, Jim Henry looks back on some of the key moments that shaped the year in agriculture.