WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) hosted a meeting with representatives from the Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) last week to discuss the farm bill, energy bill and lock-and-dam appropriations.<br>

“Illinois farmland is among the most productive in the world,” Durbin told the corn growers.<br>

“I am looking forward to passing a farm bill that will maximize its potential and ensure we have the infrastructure to bring our agricultural products to market.”<br>

He stressed the importance of language in the farm bill that creates a revenue-based safety net embraced by the Senate Agriculture Committee.<br>

The committee passed a version of the bill that would create an optional revenue counter-cyclical program designed to improve the safety net for farmers by replacing current price-support programs with a comprehensive revenue protection program.<br>

The program, dubbed Average Crop Revenue, was introduced by Durbin and other legislators last year as part of the Farm Safety Net Improvement Act.<br>

Durbin also discussed the energy bill and its impact on Illinois with the ICGA delegates, focusing on the legislation’s Renewable Fuels Standard and its mandate for 15 billion gallons of U.S. biofuel production by 2015.<br>

The legislation will enhance farmer profitability and expand the share of homegrown energy, Durbin said, while driving the market toward the next generation of biofuel, such as cellulosic ethanol. The corn growers used the meeting the thank Durbin for his work in passing the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007 and to show their strong support for lock-and-dam appropriations for work on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) and Illinois River.
According to a news release from the National Corn Growers Assoc. (NCGA), for the 2009 federal budget corn growers are asking Congress for $50 million in Navigation and Ecosystem Sustain-ability Program (NESP) funding in the budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An additional $20 million is sought for the UMR Environmental Management Program.<br>

“We need to integrate the restoration of the river ecosystem with the modernization of the navigation system to reduce barge traffic delays,” remarked Art Bunting, ICGA president. “The NESP’s unique dual authority for meeting both ecosystem and navigation needs has been endorsed by environmental organizations, the commercial navigation industry and agriculture and labor groups.”
The NCGA is working with the UMR Basin Task Force to seek funding for lock construction and the NESP.<br>

An action alert urging Congress to fund lock construction and ecosystem restoration efforts has been established at the NCGA’s website, www.ncga.com<br>