News Update
March 5, 2009

Local Food System has $30 Billion Stimulus Potential for Illinois

A statewide task force report delivered today to the Illinois General Assembly presents a local farm-and-food development strategy that experts say could trigger $20-$30 billion in new economic activity every year, creating thousands of new jobs while revitalizing rural communities.

Legislation has been filed in both the House and Senate to get key elements of the plan under way.

Even though Illinois has one of the nation’s largest agricultural economies, only a tiny fraction of Illinoisans’ estimated $48 billion annual food expenditures is spent on products grown in-state. The report of the Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force concludes that even small increases in the amount of food grown for local consumption can generate an enormous amount of new economic activity, all of it within the state, for farmers and others in food-related businesses.

The report presents a strategy for increasing the amount of money spent on Illinois-grown food to 10% of the statewide total by 2020 and to 20% by 2030, generating $20-$30 billion in economic activity and thousands of new jobs in farming and the food industry each year.

“This plan proposes dramatic expansion of the local farm and food networks in Illinois’ already world-renowned agricultural infrastructure. It encourages Illinois farmers to respond directly to consumers’ demand for fresh, tasty, locally-produced foods, and shows how to do it,” said Wes Jarrell, chairman of the 32-member task force that wrote the report “Local Food, Farms, and Jobs: Growing the Illinois Economy.” Jarrell is professor of sustainable agriculture and natural resources at the University of Illinois, and a farmer himself.

Jarrell said that a local farm and food system in Illinois will bring jobs and economic opportunity to the urban and suburban areas of the state as well as to the rural economy through expanded food processing systems and the growth of urban agriculture projects.  

Based on the report’s findings, Hamos and State Senator Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) have filed new legislation, which when enacted, will set in motion important elements of an Illinois local farm, food and jobs economy.

Key findings from the report include:

• The market for local food is growing. The number of farmer’s markets in Illinois grew from 97 in 1999 to 270 in 2008. The number of community-supported agriculture organizations, which allow consumers to “subscribe” to a variety of Illinois-grown food products throughout the season, grew from 14 to 68 in the past eight years. In general, there is far more demand than supply for locally grown food.
• Demand extends into wholesale markets. Illinois colleges and universities, as well as corporate kitchens, schools, hospitals, prisons, restaurants and grocery stores want to buy farm products from nearby sources. Inadequate local food production and delivery channels pinch supply. Illinois’ predominant farm and food systems are designed to serve distant markets, not link farm production with in-state markets.
  
• Local food system development is a nationwide phenomenon. Many states are taking steps to satisfy consumer demand to know how food is produced, where and by whom. State government’s role is to help jumpstart job creation, lending and investment in the local food system so that entrepreneurs can grow the economy. By participating in this effort, Illinois is helping to create a new form of interstate commerce.

The Task Force is comprised of farmers, distributors, retailers, community organizations, and government representatives from across the state, convened to develop a plan to expand and support a local food system and recommend ways to overcome obstacles farmers face in growing diversified crops and bringing them to local markets.

The legislation filed by Hamos and Collins includes the following measures seen as vital in launching a statewide local food system: The most immediate action would involve creating new policy that directs state agencies to utilize existing staff, resources, and authorities to facilitate community-based farm and food networks.

The report and press materials are now available at www.familyfarmed.org/foodfarmsjobs.html.

AgriLife Extension pledges support for “Operation New Fences”

Texas AgriLife Extension Service has pledged support for “Operation New Fences,” a new volunteer relief effort for Southeast Texas ranchers affected by Hurricane Ike. The initiative was outlined March 5 by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples during a press conference in Houston.

Staples designated April 25 to be dedicated toward efforts to rebuild approximately 1,700 miles of fenceline in Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, Liberty and Orange counties.

“It’s only fitting that we go back to our volunteers to help the producers in these devastated counties get back on course,” said Ed Smith, director of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. “It was volunteers who were first on the scene to help soon after Hurricane Ike left thousands of cattle stranded and thousands of acres in ruin.”

Smith was referring to AgriLife Extension’s key role in livestock rescue efforts during “Operation No Fences,” a massive post-Ike livestock rescue effort.

Operation No Fences began the day after 20-foot storm surges from Ike destroyed almost all of the fences throughout Chambers and Jefferson counties, forcing livestock to make a desperate run for high ground. Rescue and restoration efforts from that program continue to the present day.

During Operation No Fences, AgriLife Extension worked in cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), Texas Animal Health Commission, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), Independent Cattlemen’s Association and other agencies to help ranchers affected by the disaster.

Operation No Fences resulted in the delivery of more than 9,000 hay bales, 165 tons of feed and 400 water troughs for ranchers who were unable to feed their cattle, according to Staples.

Staples called on all Texans to “lend a helping hand to ranchers in rural Southeast Texas still dealing with the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike almost six months ago,” including assistance through donating items such as fencing materials and livestock feed.

While approximately 30,000 cattle roamed the affected area before Ike, the hurricane’s impact took such a severe toll that now only about 7,000 are able to graze in the region as a result of fence loss and high soil salinity, he added.

Smith also encouraged ranchers wanting assistance to sign up through the new web site created by the state’s agriculture department, http://www.TexasAgriculture.gov, and clicking on “Operation New Fences.”

According to the TDA, the site also provides the opportunity to donate specific needed supplies, including fences, posts, barbed wire, fencing staples and hay bales.

Smith added that those wanting to make a monetary donation toward helping ranchers affected by the disaster could do so through the Texas AgriLife web site at http://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu under the heading Donating to “New Fences” Hurricane Ike Horse and Cattle Relief.

— Adapted from a Texas AgriLife Extension Service release.

Ruminant nutrition conference set for Arlington

The annual Mid-South Ruminant Nutrition Conference has been set for April 6-7, organizers said. The conference will take place at the Hilton Arlington Hotel, 2401 East Lamar Blvd., in Arlington, Texas. The event is sponsored by the Texas Animal Nutrition Council and Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

The program will begin at noon April 6 with a golf tournament, which is a fundraiser for educational scholarships. The tournament will be followed by registration at 4:30 p.m. and a hospitality hour at 6 p.m. Registration continues at 7:30 a.m. on April 7. The final session will start at 3:50 p.m.

Conference registration is $80 before March 23 and $95 thereafter. The golf tournament costs $70 per person.

Presenters will provide nutrition consultants, veterinarians and dairy allied-industry professionals with the most current research results. Topics will include:

• Amino Acids —Beyond Lysine and Methionine
  
• Dairy Economics From a Global View
  
• Getting the Most Out of Your Forages
  
• Understanding Feeding Behavior to Maximize the Potential of Dairy Rations
  
• Use of Glycerol in Dairy Rations
  
• Optimal Production vs. Maximum Production
  

To register, make checks payable to the Texas Animal Nutrition Council and mail them to  Eln. Jordan, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, 17360 Coit Rd., Dallas, TX 75252-6599.
For more information, call 972-952-9201 or visit www.txanc.org/index.html.

— Relase provided by Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

— compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.