SVM_Today's Farm_030922

Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022

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Today’s Farm WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

Left and

Some rural residents are stuck in health care deserts, and an expert in the field says “alarm bells should be ringing” PAGE 17 ALSO INSIDE ...

Ag group not happy with some proposed Illinois laws 19 New rules help Illinois farmers and food sellers 20 Lee County farmer adds another title to his resumé: substitute teacher 21 Federal funds will be a ‘game changer’ for locks and dams 23 Climate change a challenge — and opportunity — for farmers 25 & 26 Need some extra sets of farm hands? El Salvador can help 27

Rusty Schrader/SVM illustration

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Left high and dry Some rural residents are stuck in health care deserts, and an expert in the field says ‘alarm bells should be ringing’

BY TAMMIE SLOUP | FarmWeekNow.com A rural health care advisory and analytics provider has found nearly half of rural hospitals have refrained from admissions because of nursing shortages this past year.

Additionally, more than a quarter of rural hospitals have ceased offering some services due to staffing challenges.

“Alarm bells should be ringing on this topic. This is a very big deal,” said Michael Topchik, the national leader of The Chartis Center for Rural Health, during the National Rural Health Association’s Policy Institute on Feb. 8.

Utilizing analytics and data to understand and address issues challenging the rural health safety net, including health disparities and inequity, provider vulnerability and sustainable performance improvement, Topchik said that while pandemic funding has pro-

vided temporary stabilization to rural hospitals, the emerging nursing shortage continues to worsen.

“This is the No. 1 need in our surveys and across a variety of ways we’ve looked at this, this is the biggest challenge rural hospitals tell us they have is staffing, staffing, staffing,” Topchik said.

The majority of nurses who have left rural hospitals exited for more lucrative positions, while others report being burned out from the pandemic and having to cover as a result of shortages.

Staffing shortages have also impacted services. While some services were suspended by law during the pandemic, Chartis data highlighted trends with obstetric and chemotherapy services, which did not fall under that umbrella.

DESERTS cont’d to page 18

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TODAY’S FARM: COVER STORY

Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022

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TODAY’S FARM: COVER STORY

BRIEF Extension survey seeks farmer feedback

DESERTS cont’d from page 17 Between 2011 and 2021, 198 rural hospitals ceased to provide obstetrics, while 311 rural hospitals ceased to provide chemotherapy between 2014 and 2017.

“I’m afraid to say that it’s really the story behind the story of the hospital closure crisis. It’s the story behind the story of the pandemic, which is that we’re seeing the loss of these services in rural areas, creating virtual deserts of care for very important services,” Topchik said.

Nearly half of rural hospitals are operating with a negative margin (excluding relief funds), with two rural hospitals closing in 2021, he said. The $12.6 billion in pandemic relief payments has helped, but only temporarily. And Topchik anticipates relative stability through 2022.

“There’s been some bright news, which is last year we didn’t see that many closures and we are predicting this year we won’t see that many either,” he said.

Attendees of the policy institute also met with members of Congress — including a handful from Illinois — to discuss emerging issues facing rural communities. Following his meeting with Illinois rural health representatives, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, issued a news release about the discus-

sion in which he highlighted the $1 billion secured in the American Rescue Plan for the National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps to build a more diverse pipeline of clinicians and recruit more health providers to serve in shortage areas.

To address other rural health care workforce issues, Durbin has introduced the bipartisan Rural America Health Corps Act, which would create a National Health Service Corps pilot program to test whether an expanded loan repayment award and service commitment – $200,000 over five years – would improve retention in rural communities, according to the news release.

The Chartis Group also announced the 2022 Top 100 Critical Access Hospi-

tals and the 2022 Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals. Based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX, this annual program honors outstanding performance among the nation’s rural hospitals.

A handful of Illinois hospitals made the lists, including Wabash General Hospital in Mount Carmel (critical access hospital); and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese, Jersey Community Hospital in Jerseyville and OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa (rural and community hospitals).

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association.

For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.

URBANA, Ill. — Farmers and commercial producers are invited to share their thoughts with Extension researchers by taking a survey at go.illinois.edu/AgNeeds.

The survey is anonymous and open to all Illinois producers and agriculture industry professionals through the end of March. It will take 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

“This survey will help us get an accurate picture of what our agriculture stakeholders’ needs are,” said Katie Bell, Illinois Extension local foods small farms educator.

Extension agriculture educators regularly ask those working in the agricultural industry about their concerns and use the feedback to develop training for the public on emerging topics and develop research projects that address gaps in current understanding of crop sciences.

For more information about the survey, contact Bell at 618-687-1727 or klbell@illinois.edu.

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TODAY’S FARM: LEGISLATION

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Proposed laws would impact farmers, but an ag group taking a stand against some of them

BY TOM C. DORAN | Shaw Media AgriNews Publications BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Several bills in the Illinois General Assembly would impact agricultural production if approved, and the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association isn’t happy about some of them cropping up again.

Kevin Johnson, Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association president, hosted a recent webinar to give a legislative update on the legislative proposals.

Among the bills proposed ...

Dicamba

HB4363 states no person or entity may use any product containing dicamba for agricultural, commercial, or residential use within Illinois, effective Jan. 2, 2023.

The bill provides that the amendatory provisions do not apply to the use of dicamba that is purchased before the amendatory act’s effective day.

“This bill got kicked a couple different times in committee and got pushed back.

It was supposed to be heard Feb. 15. We

got word late Feb. 11 that the sponsor is not going to call this bill. We had put out an alert on this bill. We had a great response by IFCA members in opposition of this bill. We don’t put out alerts like that very often, but when we do it’s important that we show our unity on some of this legislation,” Johnson said.

“So, this bill is not going to be heard and it’s pretty much dead for this session.

This is probably just a hiatus for this bill.

We definitely think this bill will come back in the fall session or maybe the next spring session.

“No bad bill ever dies in Springfield; it just keeps on coming up.”

Neonicotinoids SB3862/HB4558 states that effective Jan. 1, 2023, no pesticide containing neonicotinoids may be used outdoors on any land owned or maintained by the state, except for use in structural pest control or abatement of non-native insect borers, subject to specific restrictions. It would make neonicotinoid a “restricted use pes-

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“This has probably been out there five to seven years trying to introduce a neonicotinoids ban. They have tweaked this bill this year to take out some of the seed coating on agricultural use, but there is some other questionable legislative language that’s in there. It would also give authority to the state Department of Agriculture director to ban or make any product a restricted use product,” Johnson said.

“We have some serious issues regarding that. What we have said to legislative members regarding not only the dicamba and neonic bills, but all of the pesticide bills that are out there that if it has to be banned or made a restricted use product that should be done by U.S. EPA, not the Illinois General Assembly.

“We think U.S. EPA has the scientists to do the review of these products. Our talking points have not really changed because it’s about all of the products. It should be a U.S. EPA decision to ban or make something a restricted-use prod-

uct, and that’s what you’ll see as the common theme of all these bills is the banning or making a restricted-use product.”

Pesticide penalties

HB4711/SB3721 provides that for any person applying a pesticide that results in exposure to the pesticide by a human, the penalty will be $2,500. It also states that an additional penalty of $1,000 will be assessed for each individual exposed to the pesticide. The bill would be effective immediately if passed.

“If there is a human exposure to pesticides, it would raise the fines. As many of you who know how the pesticides penalty works, there isn’t anything on human exposure. That would change under this legislation,” Johnson noted.

“We need some tighter definitions on what we see as IFCA to close some of the loopholes because right now I think it’s very much open-ended. Right now, the lead bill is the Senate bill, and the House bill is kind of following it.

LAWS cont’d to page 20

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Pesticides, pollinators and pushback

Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022

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TODAY’S FARM: LEGISLATION

An easier trip from their homes to yours New rules help Illinois farmers and food sellers get their goods to market

BY KAY SHIPMAN | FarmWeekNow.com The new year opened new markets and options for Illinois farmers and food entrepreneurs to sell their homemade products directly to consumers.

The changes make it easier for those who make food or drinks in their home kitchen, or an appropriate kitchen located on the farm, to sell directly to consumers. The Home to Market Act rules were signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker last year and took effect Jan. 1, 2022.

“There are way more avenues than there were in 2021,” said Mary Liz Wright, a University of Illinois Extension nutrition and wellness educator. Wright discussed the rules during the Illinois Specialty Crop Conference in January.

Previously limited to selling at farmers markets, farms and home bakers may now sell at fairs, festivals and pop-up events, according to Wright. They may also sell non-perishable products online directly to consumers within Illinois. Out-of-state online sales are prohibited.

Wright emphasized a direct-to-consumer focus underscores the law’s underlying principle of product traceability back to its origins. She explained that is why the rules do not allow sales to restaurants, grocery stores or distributors that would sell to customers.

What homemade foods and drinks can be sold?

Wright said the rules specify which ones are prohibited.

Prohibited foods and drinks include:

LAWS cont’d from page 19 “Where this came from was there was a human exposure a couple of years ago in DeWitt County where an aerial applicator turned over a few immigrant farmworkers that weren’t in the field of application and there was a fine delivered, but they think it should have been a per-person penalty, not just a single fine.”

Pollinator Protection

HB4237/HB5195 prohibits a certified applicator from applying to blooming crops a pesticide with a label indicating it is toxic to bees between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. if the site of the application is located within one-half mile of a registered apiary.

The bill also ...

• Requires a certified applicator to notify in writing each FieldWatch registered apiary location within one-half mile of the site of application of the intended date and time of the application at least 24 hours prior to the application.

• Requires a certified applicator to provide a copy of the label of the product

• Meat, poultry, dairy and eggs, except dairy and eggs used as ingredients in nonhazardous baked goods • Garlic in oil or oil infused with garlic • Low-acidic foods, such as soups, vegetables or food combinations • Wild, harvested mushrooms • Alcoholic beverages and kombucha.

Wright explained home cooks may acidify low-acid foods they plan to sell. A list of acidified or fermented foods would include tomatoes, pickles, sauerkraut and chilled coleslaw. For example, an acidified tomato recipe would include a tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or two tablespoons of vinegar or one-fourth teaspoon of citric acid.

“We encourage people follow a tested USDA or Cooperative Extension recipe,” Wright added.

Home to Market Act rules specify home-canned foods for sale must be done in a proper, safe manner with boiling water, a vacuum-sealed mason jar with a two-piece lid. Jars must be sterilized in boiling water for 10 minutes.

State-approved canning methods for low-acidic foods are a boiling water bath or pressure canning. “This is to kill potential deadly bacterium,” Wright noted.

The new rules also expanded sale opportunities for frozen and chilled foods and drinks.

Chilled products must be kept at a temperature of at least 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Wright suggested that could be accomplished with dry ice or chunks of ice.

Frozen foods must be maintained at a temperature of 32 degrees or lower.

The new rules update state labeling requirements to ensure important information is included for consumers and that the labels are prominent on packages

being applied upon request.

• Requires a certified applicator to maintain an active list of apiaries that are registered on the specialty crop registry on the first day of each month.

• Provides that any violation will be considered a use contrary to label directions and will be assessed the associated point value of 3 for purposes of determining appropriate administrative action or penalty under the Illinois Pesticide Act. “We are working with the sponsor and the Department of Ag on this bill. We think there are huge issues with this, especially on two issues. We understand where they’re coming from with the pre-notification, but for between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. that would mean we’d be spraying into an inversion. We’ve talked the last couple years with dicamba that we don’t want to spray into those types of scenarios and that means we would be spraying in those scenarios,” Johnson said.

“The other thing is the ‘blooming crop.’ Soybeans can be blooming for two months out of the year, so that means not

and at the point of sale.

Wright emphasized each label must provide the required information. “This is essential and what health departments will look for,” she said.

A label must include the seller’s name, county of operation, the product’s common food name, the processing date and the seller’s health department registration number.

Every label must also include the following language: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not subject to public health inspection that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.”

Labels must list all ingredients, including any food coloring, artificial flavors and preservatives. Those must be listed in descending order by weight as common names. In addition, allergen information, such as milk, eggs or wheat, should be included as specified in federal labeling requirements.

Wright explained posting label information on a placard at the point of sale as well as a product label. For online sales, the information needs to be posted online in a spot where consumers will see the product.

Potential customers may sample the product under the new rules. Wright explained two options for offering samples. Prepare and pre-package samples at home and bring them to the site. Samples may be made on-site, but the seller needs to first get a certificate from the local health department and meet sanitation requirements.

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association.

For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.

just a pesticide that’s harmful to bees, but any product couldn’t be sprayed in those fields within a mile of an apiary. Those are some major issues.

“We also need a better understanding of what they mean on toxicity because a lot of labels just have a bee warning label on a pesticide. We need some clarification on some of that. This bill is one that’s very problematic to the industry.”

Chlorpyrifos

HB5378 relates to chlorpyrifos, the active ingredient in products such as Lorsban. The EPA has made this a restricted-use product on some of the products. The bill would expand the definition of “restricted-use pesticide” to include pesticides containing chlorpyrifos or malathion as an active ingredient.

“The bill is now in the House Rules Committee, so it’s kind of stuck right now. Our dialogue with the sponsor is that this should be U.S. EPA’s decision.

They’re doing some of that already. Let U.S. EPA do their job. Also, this is going to be phased out in the coming years, so

why do we need duplicate legislation on that,” Johnson said.

Glyphosate HB3370 states that no person shall distribute, sell, offer for sale, or use glyphosate or any products containing glyphosate within Illinois. It provides that the state Department of Agriculture may adopt any rules it deems necessary to implement the provisions.

“This was introduced last year, but it’s still lingering out there. We have talked to the environmental groups about this. They would like to weed it down to just homeowner use. I think if we do a ban, it should be by U.S. EPA,” Johnson said.

“They have not pushed this one as hard in this session, but it’s still lingering out there. The Department of Ag is opposed to this and has been opposed to most of these pieces of legislation.”

Tom C. Doran can be reached at 815-4102256 or tdoran@shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at: @AgNews_Doran.

TODAY’S FARM: LEE COUNTY

21

When he returned to the family farm after college, coaching high school girls basketball was a natural next step for Aaron Book, a self-described “sports nut” — but he wasn’t so sure about the step after that: substituting teaching. But he jumped in with both feet and it didn’t take long for him to land in a classroom.

There’s more to a Lee County farmer than just his field of expertise: He’s also a coach, substitute teacher, and a proud role model

BY JEANNINE OTTO | Shaw Media AgriNews Publications DIXON — For Lee County farmer Aaron Book, coaching a local high school basketball team was a natural next step.

“I have always loved sports, I’m a sports nut,” said Book, who farms with his parents, uncle and brother on the family’s grain farm between Amboy and Dixon.

As a student at the University of Illinois, Book coached a co-ed track and cross country team at University High School in Urbana.

He returned home to farm after graduating from the U of I in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in ag business.

It wasn’t long before a friend called asking Book to coach at the local high school level — but with a bit of a twist.

“He asked whether I would be interested in being the freshman basketball coach. He said it’s the girls team. I thought about it and I said I’ll give it a try,” Book said.

Jeannine Otto/ Shaw Media AgriNews

BOOK cont’d to page 22

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You can’t judge a Book by the cover

TODAY’S FARM: LEE COUNTY BOOK cont’d from page 21 More than a decade later, Book is a fixture in Dixon High School girls basketball, still in the role of the DHS Duchesses junior varsity basketball coach.

And as a coach, Book has seen the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the school, on teachers and students up close.

“In January, we had a lot of teachers out, we had a lot of students out sick, we were just trying to keep the schools open. We had principals teaching.

We had other teachers who were using their planning periods to go cover other classrooms,” Book said.

The other coaches on the DHS basketball coaching squad urged Book to add another credential to his coaching résumé.

“They were joking with me, saying you farm and it’s cold outside, would you ever think about getting your substitute teaching license?” Book said.

Book, a decade away from college and his classroom days, had doubts.

“I thought: I haven’t done algebra in a while, and all the other subjects I haven’t done since college,” Book said.

But he did some research into how to obtain a substitute teaching license and what exactly substitute teachers are expected to do.

Book applied via the Illinois State Board of Edu-

I’m a big fan of supporting my local community and helping out as much as I possibly can. I think it’s important to help out and whenever there’s a need, to fill it if you can.”

Aaron Book, discussing his decision to take on the role of substitute teacher cation website, sent in his U of I transcript, paid a fee and in a few days he had a substitute teaching license.

“I’m a big fan of supporting my local community and helping out as much as I possibly can. I think it’s important to help out and whenever there’s a need, to fill it if you can,” Book said.

With a few days of teaching now under his belt, Book said his fears about not knowing how or what to teach were put to bed by the teachers whose classes he’s covered. He’s substituted for classes including choir, band, a study hall and special education.

“The teachers I substituted for were very organized. They had templates made out of specific directions, with what to do. The students all have Chromebooks and they do their work on those or they have packets of worksheets and they keep

themselves busy with those,” Book said.

One thing he enjoys about the coaching and, now, the substitute teaching, is that both jobs leave him the flexibility to devote time to his family and the family farm.

Book and his wife, Kathy, have two young sons.

Working with young people and giving time to the local community is something that runs in their family.

Kathy is the 4-H Youth Program coordinator for U of I Extension in Lee County.

“With the substitute teaching, you don’t have to do it every single day. I want to work around my schedule and be flexible. I still need to be at the farm a lot of days, but when it’s cold and snowy, I can take a day and go help out,” Aaron said.

From the basketball court, now to the classroom, one of the most important things Book said he wants to do is to be a strong, positive role model for young people.

“A big reason I coach is to be a good role model. I want to be someone they can come to for support, if they need to. It’s about more than basketball or agriculture, it’s about showing up and being a mentor and a positive role model for these kids, to be someone who is here for them as they are growing up in our community,” he said.

Jeannine Otto can be reached at 815-410-2258, or jotto@ shawmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Otto.

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Lock and Dam 13, between Fulton and Thomson, is one of several along the Mississippi River that will benefit from $1.3 billion in federal funds.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media

It’s the river’s day Federal money will be a ‘game changer’ for locks and dams on the Mississippi

BY TIMOTHY EGGERT | FARMWEEK If farming is a school of patience, then securing federal funding for the agriculture industry is, too.

Just ask U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who joined other Illinois legislators in finally harvesting their own 15-year infrastructure crop, yielding $829 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to upgrade a pair of locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River.

“It’s about time,” Durbin said during a news conference from inside the lockhouse at the Peoria Lock and Dam on the Illinois River. “Today, it’s the river. Tomorrow it’s the highways. The day after, it’s the bridges. You’re going to hear a lot more about this.”

LOCKS & DAMS cont’d to page 24

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TODAY’S FARM: ILLINOIS

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Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022

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TODAY’S FARM: ILLINOIS LOCKS & DAMS cont’d from page 23 In total, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will spend more than $1.3 billion starting in fiscal year 2022 to upgrade inland waterway systems across Illinois.

A majority of those funds — $732 million — will be used to build a new 1,200-foot lock chamber just north of the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, while $97.1 million will cover a new fish passage at Lock and Dam 22.

Another $50 million in various repairs will be split by Locks and Dams 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20 and 21, according to Corps plans.

Facilities along the Illinois River will also undergo $83 million in improvements, including repairs to the Dresden, LaGrange, Lockport, Marseilles, Peoria and Starved Rock locks and dams.

“The monumental infrastructure package that we passed on to the Biden administration is what is making this happen,” U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, said during the January news conference. “You have to go back to the Eisenhower administration to see this kind of investment.”

The work to land the funding for upgrades to Illinois’ water infrastructure, however, started nearly two decades ago.

“We decided as a delegation to fight for, see if we could bring money in for locks and dams in the state of Illinois and in the Midwest,” Durbin said.

“And we frankly weren’t getting anywhere.”

The hang-up, Durbin said, was that cost-benefit ratio calculations to invest in locks and dams weren’t appetizing enough — more tax dollars

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The economic impact is a game changer for our farmers, (who are) more competitive now in the world than they’ve ever had to be. They’re going to get a boost and an opportunity in that regard.

Sen. Dick Durbin, Discussing the lock and dam upgrades would be spent than economic advantages gained.

So, Durbin and Bustos tied infrastructure investments with ecosystem restorations through the Navigation Ecosystem Sustainability Program — and it worked.

“Spending less than a billion dollars on these locks and dams on the rivers, we’re going to get a payback of $72 billion,” Durbin said. “How about that for cost benefit?”

Illinois farmers will especially experience those benefits, Durbin and Bustos said. Larger locks mean barges carrying corn and soybeans can move up and down the river faster, getting products to market more quickly and reducing transportation costs, they said.

“We’ve had record yields in corn and soybeans, so we’ve got to make sure that we have efficient ways to get these to market,” Bustos said, noting how a modern 15-barge tow transports the equivalent of 950 bushels of corn.

When a barge approaches the current 600-foot chamber at Lock and Dam 25, it must decouple, a process that takes two to three hours. With the

1,200-foot chamber, a barge can pass in 30 to 45 minutes.

“The economic impact is a game changer for our farmers, (who are) more competitive now in the world than they’ve ever had to be,” Durbin said.

“They’re going to get a boost and an opportunity in that regard.”

Investments in the Upper Mississippi River locks and dams are also expected to generate thousands of new jobs and spread other economic benefits across the region.

The project, which is funded to completion, is expected to take five to six years.

Asked by FarmWeek if it will take another 15 years to receive funding for other lock and dam improvements along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, Durbin said it’s both a matter of “matching up the need, which is obvious, with the resources” and marrying economic and environmental goals.

“These barges and what they move, the alternative is a lot of trucks burning a lot of diesel fuel,” Durbin said. “And we have a much more efficient way to do it from an environmental viewpoint.

When we put that combination together and sold the (Corps) on the project ... we started a long process. So, as fast as we can appropriate the money and they can get the work done, we’re going to be moving forward with many more projects in the future.”

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.

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TODAY’S FARM: CLIMATE CHANGE

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Report details climate change’s threat to agriculture, and what the industry must do to address it

BY TIMOTHY EGGERT | FarmWeekNow.com

A changing climate poses a serious threat to American farmers and the future growth of agricultural productivity.

That sobering statement is one of five top-line conclusions in a 40-page climate adaptation and resilience plan released by the USDA in August.

“We are operating in new territory, and the changing climate creates immense uncertainty and threatens the resilience of the American agriculture and forestry sectors,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in the plan.

“Not only does climate change have a direct impact on a producer’s ability to plan and manage risk, it has wider impacts on the natural systems we rely on to support production of food and fiber, keep our waters clean, and maintain cultural resources,” he wrote.

The threat to agricultural productivity, according to the department’s plan, stems directly from changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, increased pest and disease pressures, decline in pollinator health, reduced crop and forage quantity and quality, and infrastructure damage.

Productivity also can be vulnerable to impacts to water supply and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, the plan said.

Read the reports Go to sustainability.gov/pdfs/usda-2021-cap.pdf to read the USDA’s “Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience.”

Go to https://tinyurl.com/4vz63d9e to read the USDA’s “Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Strategy: 90-Day Progress Report.”

In addition to crop and livestock production suffering from climate change, soil quality can decline, pests and diseases can spread more easily and pollinator health can deteriorate, the plan warns. And with more intense weather events forecasted, prices for insurances protections against those risks and other financial losses could rise significantly. To address those vulnerabilities, the department intends to: • increase implementation of on-farm adaptation strategies and practices.

• support active landscape-scale management and disturbance responses.

• improve access to data and tools.

• enhance systems for monitoring and mitigating vector and disease spread.

• continue research into climate impacts on ag pro-

ductivity and adaptation strategies and practices.

The four other major conclusions reached by the department are that climate change poses a threat to water quantity and quality; risks disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities; causes shocks due to extreme climate events; and stresses infrastructure and public lands. To address those issues, the department ultimately proposes to ...

• build resilience across landscapes with investments in soil and forest health.

• increase outreach and education to promote adoption and application of climate-smart adaptation strategies.

• broaden access to and availability of climate data at regional and local scales for USDA Mission Areas, producers, land managers and other stakeholders.

• increase support for research and development of climate-smart practices and technologies to inform USDA and help producers and land managers adapt to a changing climate.

• leverage the USDA Climate Hubs as a framework to support USDA Mission Areas in delivering adaptation science, technology and tools.

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association.

For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.

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Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022

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State climatologist says changing weather patterns could spur demand for specialty crops in Illinois

BY TOM C. DORAN | Shaw Media AgriNews SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Extreme weather impacting specialty crop production in western states could expand demand from Midwest producers.

Trent Ford, Illinois state climatologist, spoke about the impacts and opportunities from climate change at the Illinois Specialty Crop Conference in January.

“Climate change isn’t this sort of issue that’s going to cause the complete demise of agriculture in Illinois. It’s also not something that should be ignored.

It’s something that we would manage against just like some sort of emerging pest or disease that could threaten the viability of our crops,” Ford said.

“We’re trying to understand climate change not just from a climate science standpoint, but actually how it’s affecting the specialty crop sector and hopefully get that information to all of you in an effective way to make better management decision-making.”

Climate change can open up opportunities for Illinois specialty crop growers.

Trent Ford “One of the biggest ones is the expanded crop production in the Midwest that may have to be pushed due to decreased production elsewhere,” Ford said.

“Climate change is not just affecting us. In fact, I would argue that it’s affecting us here in the Midwest to a lesser extent than it is in other places in the U.S. or globally.

“One of the most vulnerable places to have the increased hazards because of climate change is California. And we’re seeing the part of the country that’s growing the largest percentage of specialty crops is also the most vulnerable to droughts and wildfires which have the strongest ties to climate change.

“We talk about the impacts of climate change in Illinois — flooding, extreme heat — but those are more management strategies, not really asking the question of “Can we grow this crop in Illinois anymore?” like they are in California.

“What that means is a lot of the sort of prime real estate for agriculture we have here in the Midwest we may have that push, that need to grow more of those specialty crops for food production because of the lack of ability to grow those elsewhere.”

Increased growing season degree days and growing season temperatures resulting from climate change could also provide opportunities to grow new crops that were previously not suitable for Illinois’ weather.

There’s also an increasing interest in priority on locally produced produce and support for small scale production, as well as improved knowledge and technology for semi-protected cultivation.

“There is continuing and expanded Extension expertise in specialty crops — including integrated pest management, genetics and climate resilience and funding for that information — so Illinois can be on the forefront of building a more resilient specialty crop sector to climate change,” Ford said.

Tom C. Doran can be reached at 815-410-2256 or tdoran@ shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at: @AgNews_Doran.

Climate change in Illinois: By the numbers According to information presented by state climatologist Trent Ford ...

Temperatures

Over the past 125 years statewide, the temperature has risen 1 to 1.5 degrees and the precipitation 5 inches, with every county experiencing increased temperature and precipitation.

Northern Illinois is projected to get warmer and wetter at a faster rate than southern Illinois.

However, Ford doesn’t believe it will ever reach the point where northern Illinois is warmer and wetter than southern Illinois.

Data from the recent climate assessment going back 70 years found the last spring freeze in northern Illinois in the 1950s and 1960s was typically the last week or two of April. In the last 30 years the last freeze has moved to the first half of April on average and the trend is expected to continue.

Overall, the growing season is being extended at the front- and back-end, resulting in more growing-degree days accumulated through the season. The change is much larger in southern Illinois compared to northern Illinois. For example, the growing average growing-degree days in Carbondale increased from 3,596 from 1961 to 1990, to 3,690 from 1991 to 2020, compared to growing-degree days at Freeport increasing by three over those same periods.

An extended growing season could make it possible to grow new crops in Illinois in a more temperate climate than before. With the accumulation of more growing-degree days, perennial or annual crops — especially in northern Illinois where they may not have been able to produce good yields — could be considered.

Models are projecting a continuation of increased maximum and minimum temperatures during the growing season, as well as increased exposure to extreme heat during the day and very warm nights. We’re not necessarily seeing days where it’s 100, 105 degrees like in the 1950s and in drought years like 2012; those are decreasing. What we’re seeing is more consistent and more frequent days where we’re seeing high 80s, low 90s, and very high humidity. That can be even more dangerous, especially if nighttime temperatures don’t drop below that 70-, 72-degree threshold.

High temperatures can impact the physiology of plants. For example, very high temperatures, especially at night, can increase tomato

flower abortion and cause a disproportionate formation of male versus female flowers in pumpkins.

The impacts of humidity seen in 2021 included fungal disease; fewer cool fall nights, which can create issues with poor development of certain apple varieties; and pest and disease issues in specialty crops. There also were some positives: Summer humidity can partially offset drought impacts that northern Illinois experienced last year.

Precipitation

Since 1895, spring rain has increased 0.16 of an inch per decade in northern Illinois, 0.10 of an inch per decade in central Illinois and 0.25 of an inch per decade in southern Illinois.

The impacts of increased precipitation include higher risk of excessively wet soils and flooding (which increases the risk of disease and other soil quality issues), and delayed planting for annual crops. In thinking about the commodity or specialty crop farmer over the next 50 years, the larger risk is extreme precipitation in the spring.

Recently published research found that the projections for the next 50 years show that a spring like 2019 in Illinois becomes five times more likely.

Water management becomes much more important with a changing climate. The likelihood of 2-plus inches of rain has increased by 40% in the last 50 years. The impacts include crop inundation and standing water (which Illinois experienced in 2019, 2020 and 2021); soil erosion; nutrient runoff; soil compaction; and delayed planting and harvest.

Summer precipitation overall is increasing and the models suggests it’s not going to really change all that much over the next 50 years. But that is a long-term change, not the variability. We will still get droughts in northern Illinois in the future. Overall, the risks will be similar to those of the long-term droughts, such as those in the 1950s, 1988-1989 and 2012-2013, when they spanned multiple growing seasons. The risk of those droughts is decreasing, and when going into those droughts, because spring is so much wetter than before, there is a lot more water in the ground. That’s what we saw last year: Soils were near saturation across northern Illinois going into the spring of 2021, and therefore there was a bit of that buffer against the dry conditions that happened; whereas in 2012 that wasn’t the case.

TODAY’S FARM: LABOR

Providing insurance coverage for local homes and farms

Program offers skilled, and deep, labor pool

Asked about unfamiliar Illinois crops, Guerrero said, his government will work to help the workers prepare “once we learn what you (growers) need. We will start working with our

BY KAY SHIPMAN | FarmWeekNow.com minister of agriculture so they can learn El Salvador offers Illinois farmers the theory so once they come here it will thousands of skilled workers seeking be a little easier. It will only be tough the seasonal, 10-month jobs through a 2020 first month, but then you’ll have people agreement between the U.S. and El who will become experts. They will go Salvador governments, the El Salva- back and share that with more people.” dor Consulate general counsel said Guerrero emphasized the tempoduring a Jan. 6 speech in Springfield. rary workers will return to their coun“This (labor program) is a win-win- try and families. “We assure 100%, win,” Consul General Federico Guer- they will go back home,” he said. rero told attendees of the Illinois SpeThe El Salvador government will put cialty Crop Conference. Based in individuals accepted into the program Chicago, Guerrero worked in the mul- through health screenings to assure tinational tech industry before joining they’re healthy, Guerrero said. To date, his country’s foreign service, first as each one in the provice consul in Los gram has been fully Angeles in 2019. He vaccinated for There is no was later promoted COVID-19 and most recruitment fee, to general consul in already have had [and] it’s completely legal.” booster shots. “Before Chicago.

In 2020, the two Federico Guerrero, they come here, we governments estab- El Salvador Consulate general counsel will assure everyone lished programs has had a booster allowing Salvadorans shot,” he added. to apply for H-2A and H-2B visas to work After the workers arrive, 21 El Salin temporary U.S. agricultural and non- vador consulates across the U.S. will agricultural jobs. “Our main ally is support and monitor them while USAID (U.S. Agency for International they’re temporarily in the U.S. Development) in every step. It is backed Interested Illinois farmers should up by the embassy of the United States,” first contact an immigration attorney Guerrero said. who specializes in the H2 program, Guerrero highlighted the program’s Guerrero said. “That’s where they will benefits. send all the information and have to “There is no recruitment fee,” the fulfill some steps they will abide by. general consul noted, adding the El Sal- They will choose El Salvador as the vador government handles recruiting. citizenship of this program.

“It’s completely legal. We take the “Then, the Department of State will person to the U.S. consulate” for give you clearance for you to be able to approval, he explained. The recruit- bring Salvadorans in. That’s the point ment and visa process takes 21 or fewer where you contact us, or you can even days, and the El Salvador government contact us once you start this process,” will help workers fill out forms and with Guerrero said. the application process. During the pilot During the pilot program, Salvaprogram, 97% of visas were approved. doran H-2A workers were employed in The program doesn’t limit the number Mississippi, Louisiana and several of Salvadorans an employer may hire. other states, but not in Illinois.

Illinois farmers will find a wide “We look forward to having them in selection of potential employees.

Illinois in 2022,” Guerrero said.

A database of 50,000 Salvadoran proThis story was distributed through a files has been compiled. Agricultural cooperative project between Illinois workers have field experience with Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Assocorn, vegetables, fruit, beans, coffee and ciation.

For more food and farming news, sugar crops. “We can match workers with experience” to jobs, Guerrero said. visit FarmWeekNow.com.

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