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

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.

There was so much blarney and puffery flying around the Cabinet Room during the White House farmer and rancher gathering Dec. 8 that it became impossible to tell fact from fiction.

Financial stress is severe and persistent across farm country, according to a new Market Intel report from the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Mark Bunselmeyer was elected president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association for 2025-2026 at its annual re-organizational meeting.

Jim Henry forecasts an unprecedented financial crisis, a perfect storm of soaring input costs and plummeting commodity prices.

While farm equity slipped this year, it remains relatively stable due to large “contemporary,” or same-year, federal payments. Overall, however, farmers remain under threat in 2026.

The past few years have tested even the most seasoned farmers. Facing rising input costs, unpredictable market access and many other challenges, farmers and ranchers are working harder while margins grow thinner.

Together, we can help farms of all sizes succeed to ensure America’s ability to be food independent long into the future.

Did farm and ranch leaders forget the enormous impact SNAP spending has on rural America’s bottom line?

Jim Henry notes that federal shutdowns and late farm bills aren’t unusual – but having both at once complicates the path forward.

A new economic impact report shows there’s more to Illinois farms than just corn, soybeans and wheat along the highways.

Work at a new research farm dedicated to advancing the Illinois Soybean Association’s farmer-focused efforts was featured at a media event.

The sobering reality is that many farmers are hurting. Talk to any farmer who grows row crops, and he or she will tell you they’re struggling with the lowest prices in almost 20 years.

With low commodity prices, high input costs, weather, taxes, personnel and other concerns, farmers and ranchers face a myriad of stresses in their lives — and free resources are available to help get through those tough times.

Sending the nation’s dwindling number of farmers ever-bigger federal checks isn’t a solution. It is, in fact, an admission of failure.

Eliot Clay didn’t know it in his youth but his later career as an advocate for conservation was in his DNA.

Several provisions specific to crop insurance that the industry pushed for were included in the budget reconciliation package that Congress recently approved.