By Lindsay Croke
On behalf of the 50,000 Illinois farmers that grow more than 11 million acres of corn in Illinois, the IL Corn Growers Association looks forward to pursuing the following priorities. Our mission is to create a future for Illinois farmers to operate freely, responsibly, and successfully through grassroots advocacy.
“We are in a downward cycle of the ag economy and the quickest way to turn that around is to build demand. There are lots of opportunities for our state and federal governments to create environments for corn demand to grow, and it’s the job of the IL Corn Growers Association to help them understand the opportunities and make them a reality,” said ICGA President and Waterloo farmer Garrett Hawkins.
Create ethanol demand: IL Corn will pursue policies that build new domestic ethanol demand, while opposing regulations that limit domestic ethanol demand. Our association continues in a lawsuit against the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Transportation positing that their de facto electric vehicle mandates are outside of their regulatory authority. These regulations seek to eliminate corn-based ethanol use over time. In a new session of Congress, IL Corn will work with the Illinois congressional delegation and our national association to revise and reintroduce a Next Generation Fuels Act type legislation to standardize higher blends of ethanol for U.S. use.
Increase export demand: IL Corn is a proponent of free trade and will support and encourage trade policy that builds demand for corn and corn co-products like ethanol, red meat, and poultry. We have always endorsed the adoption of new free trade agreements but will also encourage increasing funding for trade promotion programs like the Foreign Market Development and Market Access Programs that build a superior brand for U.S. grains, meats, and fuels.
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