When Farmers Need Help Weathering the Storm

This summer, I was awakened by a tremendous storm in the middle of the night. My first thought was how much I don’t like the rain.

I didn’t always feel this way. As a kid, I loved playing in the rain.

I think my attitude started to change when baseball games were rained out. I also distinctly remember my first job detasseling corn really turned me against the rain. By the time I got through the field, my shoes were covered in 5 to 10 pounds of mud, my clothes were soaked, and when the sun eventually came out, the cornfield felt as steamy as a tropical jungle. Ever since I got glasses as an adult, I have really despised the rain. (Those of you who have glasses will understand.)

But my second thought that evening was how important this rain was for our farmers, who are now starting to see the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor.

Except for a few extreme drought years in 1988-89 and 2012, Illinois farmers have been blessed with pretty consistent rain. Many farmers in the West and South must irrigate their fields. Most farmers here are spared that expense.

But they haven’t been spared the increasing expenses of fuel and fertilizer caused by higher tariffs and an ongoing war in the Middle East. They also have been hurt by falling prices for their crops caused by the president’s erratic tariffs.

I often say that we can’t solve all the world‘s problems, but that doesn’t stop us from being part of the solution for Illinoisans. In the case of our farmers, we have dramatically increased the amount we are loaning our farmers at a reduced interest rate.

Before I came into office, we had about $62 million in Ag Invest loans. Today, we have more than $1.1 billion. We did that by modernizing our program and letting more people know that we are here to help.

Demand from farmers has grown, but we also have partnered with more local financial institutions because we listened to them and worked with them. I think that is a nice model for other people in government to follow.

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