Sen. Harkin says next 2 decades vital to farming

2007-09-15

Source: Kankakee Daily Journal

The U.S. Farm Bill helps set the nation's food policy -- and on Thursday, farmers and legislators from Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties met with U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa to discuss how the new farm bill will take shape.

During a toolshed meeting at Will County Executive Larry Walsh's Elwood farm, Harkin talked for nearly 90 minutes on issues ranging from the importance of ethanol and diesel fuels to the need to find money for Farm Bill initiatives in a budget year that is in the red.

"We put it on the plate for the senator in charge of the Farm Bill," Will County Farm Bureau Manager Mark Schneidewind said.

"It's so beautiful out, if I didn't know better, I'd think we were in Iowa," Harkin quipped as he arrived at the Elwood farm. "It's good to be here."

Harkin is chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and a fourth generation Iowa farmer.

This decade and the next will be a "pivotal point in agriculture," Harkin said. The Farm Bill will tackle four key issues: creating an option for a revenue based safety net for farmers, a conservation program that's incentive-based, an energy program that encourages the use of corn and other crops for ethanol and biodiesel production, and rural development.

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