Vermilion County farmers have made it through some major June heat. The Vermilion County Farm Bureau’s Tom Fricke says there seems to have been enough rain along with it to get both the corn and soybeans to a decent place heading into July 4th. Fricke says the trick now is to continue that proper balance in July, especially at this critical time for corn.
AUDIO: Before the rain we had, there were parts of the county where they were seeing cracks in the ground; out walking beans and what not. But with some of the rain we’ve gotten; we’ve not developed any long term relief, but we’ve developed some short term. Right now, I think our biggest fear is to go into a long stretch of hot, dry weather right when the corn’s getting ready to go into the pollination phase. You want moderate temperatures then, you want some breeze so the pollen can circulate and help form the kernels on the cobs. And that’s what makes the corn crop.
Meanwhile, the wait continues, as it has been for quite a long time, on a final brand new federal farm bill. But as Fricke points out, much of the arguing slowing it down has been over the actual “food” side of things,” rather than the “growing” side of things.
AUDIO: Eighty-five percent of the farm bill is food and nutrition programs. The school lunch program, the SNAP program, other nutrition programs. So a lot of the focus in Congress is not necessarily over the farm side of the farm bill, but it’s the parts that are the other part of the Agriculture Department’s purview.
So while sometimes feeling on the sidelines, the Illinois Farm Bureau and American Farm Bureau continue to work for that final updated Farm Bill; lobbying on issues such as crop insurance programming and revenue protection.
