IFB MONITORS DOGE 2/25/25 Illinois
Farm Bureau is closely monitoring the Trump administration’s efforts to
downsize the federal government and the impact on Illinois farmers. President
Donald Trump has cut more than 1,000 Natural Resource and Conservation Service
(NRCS) jobs nationwide, 550 jobs from USDA Rural Development and dozens more
from the Foreign Agriculture Service. IFB
Director of National Legislation Ryan Whitehouse said, “Our farmers still like
to go into their county Farm Service Agency offices and have people to talk to
that have technical expertise. They don’t want to do it through the internet,
don’t want to pick up a phone. Communication and having staff that is able to
implement those programs and explain those programs is really important to our
membership.” Whitehouse
provided an update on national issues to attendees of IFB’s Governmental
Affairs Leadership Conference February 18th in Springfield. All
NRCS service payments and contracts were frozen if funded through the Inflation
Reduction Act. However, USDA announced Thursday the release of some
conservation funding. “Even
with everything that’s going on, we are going to focus on our policy book,”
Whitehouse said of the IFB national legislative agenda moving forward. “What
our long-standing policy is, and what our national legislative priorities are,
that’s what we will continue to respectfully push out in Washington, D.C.” A
five-year bipartisan farm bill is still a priority to ensure a crop insurance
safety net and a fix to California’s Proposition 12, but Whitehouse said the
administration remains focused on reconciliation, budgets, tax reform and
border security. “For
now, we got to stay on top of it, have a conversation with them so they know,
and then when it’s time to fire, we’re there to do it,” he said. With
a razor-thin Republican majority in the House and Senate, Whitehouse emphasized
it is important to get bipartisan support to get things done. IFB will also
use the opportunity of a new administration to meet with appointed staff and
ensure the organization has relationships with secretaries under the USDA and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He said strong relationships help IFB
have important conversations on both sides of the aisle as the organization
focuses on issues important to its members.