MORTON, Ill. – In 2024, the livestock industry in Illinois was estimated to add $7.8 billion in total value to the state’s economy. In addition, 69,829 total jobs were in the livestock sector, resulting in $27 billion in total output (sales) and $4.9 billion in total labor income. This is according to a “dual impact” study of environmental stewardship and economic value of the Illinois pork and beef industries, which was discussed by Jennifer Tirey, executive director of the Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA), during a recent pork industry roundtable in Morton.

“We rank fourth in the nation in pork production, but Indiana is right on our tail at number five,” Tirey said. “We create billions for the economy, and 30,000 jobs. Those are the things we talk to stakeholders about and the things we want to keep relevant to our members of the general assembly. We want legislators to know that we have a real strong stakeholder in our state.”

Total tax revenue from the Illinois pork industry was over $353 million dollars in 2024, according to Tirey. This total is broken down by county on a state map accessible through IPPA’s website.

“That tax revenue helps our local schools, helps our local businesses and helps bring jobs. But a lot of time the general consumer does not know that. We want to advocate for you, we want to protect pork and we want to build the future,” Tirey told several dozen pig farmers who gathered for the Dec. 16 roundtable at the Morton Park District’s Freedom Hall.

Tirey noted that the IPPA is now made up of just over 800 members, down by around one-third of the 1,200 or so memberships when she assumed leadership of the association in 2015. “We know that things have changed, and a lot of people are getting out of the business. But we still have more than 800 members made up of investors, allied industry and youth membership,” she said.

IPPA farmer-leaders developed a roadmap for the Illinois pork industry in 2023 that includes priorities such as animal wellbeing, increasing domestic pork consumption, providing resources for producers, advocating for legislative issues and improving producer and stakeholder engagement. A five-person IPPA leadership team, including Tirey and IPPA community development director, Jackie Wible, are working to fulfill these priorities while also reaching out to engage the next generation of pork producing families.

“As we’ve talked about there are not many in the next generation of farmers coming into our industry, so (Jackie) is helping us to build that next generation,” Tirey said, adding that another important issue IPPA is continuing to focus on is labor. “We have really been a leader in helping with the TN visa (for Mexican and Canadian citizens) challenges. There was a bottleneck and we were getting a lot of calls from producers who were having a lot of issues with getting their TN visas approved. We worked with the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and actually got members of the state department on a farm in central Illinois so they could get a better understanding of what these jobs entail, and what these job titles needed to look like.

“A lot of times you’ve got government officials making decisions about our industry and they just don’t understand (what) our farms need. We have been able to leverage our information and get those TN visas approved at a lot faster clip.”

To further assist members, IPPA has developed a free International Workers Resource Guide for farm and ranch employers who hire foreign or seasonal workers. In addition, IPPA has established an apprenticeship program through the U.S. Department of Labor for animal care technicians. Currently, six Illinois junior colleges are participating in the program, which is a combination of schoolwork and a paid apprenticeship on a local pig farm. The program, which offers tax credits to pig farmers willing to employ an apprentice, begins at Kaskaskia Community College in the spring, Tirey said.

Perhaps most importantly, IPPA lobbies on behalf of producers in both Springfield and Washington, D.C., keeping board directors and members of their Junior Leadership Class busy. “We are working very hard on the Proposition 12 issue. Our pork-producing board members have gone to D.C. on multiple occasions talking to members of Congress and the Senate and House agriculture committees about Prop 12 and other issues. We work in tandem with our NPPC staff to make sure that we are on top of things in matters of the Congress,” Tirey said.

The Illinois beef industry was ranked among the top 30 in the nation in 2024, with a cattle inventory of roughly 11 percent of the national herd. Jo Daviess County in northwest Illinois has the highest beef cow inventory, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The fact sheet on Illinois’ beef and pork industries, titled “The Dual Impact: Environmental Stewardship and Economic Value of the Illinois Livestock Industry,” was developed by the IPPA and Illinois Beef Association to highlight the positive impacts of the industries in Illinois.

The report noted that economic benefits from the Illinois livestock industry are felt at the county level, where the industries directly contribute to:

• Local school district funding

• County and municipal tax bases

• Employment opportunities in rural communities

• Increased demand for grain grown by Illinois corn and soybean farmers

• Business activity for local service providers, from construction to trucking

Explore county-by-county economic data for Illinois pork production through IPPA’s website at ilpork.com/ippa/pig-farming-by-county.