[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who serves on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, met yesterday afternoon with the leaders of the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) to discuss legislation he introduced this week to provide assistance to Illinois farmers. Durbin also discussed the importance of the Water and Resources Development Act (WRDA) and the 2007 Farm Bill.

“I have been working with my colleagues in the Senate on both sides of the aisle over the past year to provide Illinois and other Midwestern farmers with critical relief needed to deal with last year’s drought,” said Durbin. “Unfortunately, the President, House Republicans, and USDA continue to challenge our efforts to provide Illinois farmers with disaster relief. This simple, bipartisan legislation will provide long overdue assistance to Illinois farmers.”

Durbin's new legislation would:

Durbin noted that in addition to coping with crop losses, farmers have had to deal with significantly higher operating costs, as a result of increased fuel prices. For Illinois farmers, increased fuel prices mean higher costs for operating farm machinery, as well as rising fertilizer and pesticide prices. Durbin added that the average Illinois farmer, with a 1,000 acre farm, is paying $24,000 more than he or she did in 2001 to operate a farm. This 30 percent increase in costs is a direct result of higher gas prices which have led to higher fuel, fertilizer and pesticide costs for farmers across the state.

At the meeting Durbin also updated Farm Bureau leaders on the status of the Water and Resources Development Act (WRDA). The Senate passed of a version of WRDA in July which includes Congressional authorization for locks and dam modernization on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. It also authorizes specific projects for navigation, ecosystem restoration, and flood and storm damage reduction. The House version of WRDA passed by a 406-14 margin in July of last year. The bill now goes to a conference committee that will reconcile differences in the House and Senate bills; it is expected members of the conference committee will be appointed in the next couple of days.

“Passing WRDA will mean over 50,000 new jobs for the region, shorter shipping times, and improved business for Midwest producers along the River,” said Durbin. “The Mississippi River transports $12 billion worth of products every year, affecting agriculture, commercial, and labor interests across the state. I discussed with the Farm Bureau the importance of working closely with members of the conference committee to ensure swift passage of this bill."

The most significant provision in the bill would increase lock and dam capacity and improve the ecosystem of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Sixty percent of all U.S. corn exports are shipped to export markets on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, including more than half of Illinois' annual corn crop. The legislation would authorize $2.3 billion for replacing and upgrading locks and dams and another $1.58 billion for ecosystem restoration.

Durbin also discussed the 2007 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill will likely contain a number of provisions important to Illinois farmers including improving protections for farmers in the event of natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, modifying the current commodity support programs, maintaining nutrition programs like Food Stamps and the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) and increasing federal support for innovative renewable energy projects. House and Senate Agriculture Committees are currently holding hearings around the country to gather information from farmers and other stakeholders on a variety of topics, including crop insurance, commodity programs, rural development, renewable energy and others. The Agriculture Committee is expected to begin writing the Farm Bill next year.

Illinois Farm Bureau leaders are in Washington this week for an annual Farm Bureau leadership meeting.