Lindsay Blough, with the Illinois State Board of Education, explained the timeline and potential challenges during the Everything Local Conference. And farmers can play a role by connecting with their community’s schools about the potential funding and sharing what local foods may be available. READ MORE

During these times of high food prices as a result of inflation, there’s one step consumers can take to ease the pain on their wallets — buy local, says Illinois Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II. Learn more about his rationale and his advice to help those in agriculture recover from disruptions to the food supply chain.

An additional 20,000 acres has been added to the 2023 Fall Cover for Spring Savings program in Illinois. Applications typically exceed the number of available acres, and this year the applied-for acreage set a record of 182,688 acres by the Jan. 15 deadline. The additional acreage announced by the Illinois Department of Agriculture Wednesday brings the available acreage to 160,000. READ MORE

Over 18 months ago, on June 1, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to list the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act. With the final rule released, implications of the listing on agriculture in the affected region are becoming more clear. This Farm Bureau Market Intel describes some of these possible implications, which could undermine years of voluntary conservation efforts by farmers and ranchers. READ MORE

Local growers with questions on state or federal programs can rest assured they’ll be helped. “If you have a need and if we can’t help, we’ll point you to IDOA (Illinois Department of Agriculture) or someone else,” said Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Scott Halpin during a panel discussion at the Everything Local Conference. Representatives from IDOA, Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Department of Human Services, Rural Development and Natural Resources Conservation Service Illinois shared program highlights and how they can work with local food producers. READ MORE

We’re 60 days out from spring and farmers have spring planning well underway, according to Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr. He discussed the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention, the latest with WOTUS, Illinois Young Leaders success and IFB’s member strategy this year. Listen to his Jan. 19 interview with RFD Radio’s Rita Frazer.