Franklin County Farm Bureau News – FARM BILL, SECTION 179 & WOTUS

Gay Bowlin, Manager

Doug Yoder was in the office on Tuesday giving a Farm Bill update. There is not much time left to make your decision on what you will be doing with your farm ground. February 28 is the deadline to make your decisions and all paperwork must be competed and signed by all parties.

I cannot even begin to explain any of this in a short article so the best thing to do if you have not done this or if you have questions is to call the FSA office at 438-4021 ext. 2. You can go to www.ilfb.org/farmbill for more information.

So far this month, corn prices are averaging $4.13 vs. last year’s $4.62.  Soybean prices this month are currently averaging $9.58 vs. last year’s $11.36. We still have the remainder of February to go. I know that some of you out there reading this think that farming is a “money making” machine. These falling prices show that farmers are not making the amount of money now that they did last. If you take into consideration that the cost of literally everything is going up including the cost of fuel and seed and machinery then farmers are making much less per acre.

U.S. House Republican leadership put H.R. 636 on the schedule for today (Friday February 13^th).  The bill makes the Section 179 small business expensing option permanent at $500,000, indexed to inflation.  IFB is also supporting permanent deductions for charitable contributions of food and for donations of conservation easements.

The Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 594) now has 143 cosponsors, including six Illinois republicans — Reps. Bost, Kinzinger, Schock, Shimkus, Rodney Davis, and Hultgren.  We expect to hear in the coming days about a bill that will be introduced in the Senate.  Several Illinois environmental groups are using Twitter and other social media to encourage our elected officials to stay off any anti-WOTUS bill that is introduced in the Senate.

For those of you who are using TWITTE we will need your assistance in the coming days to remind Sen. Kirk of his strong past statements against EPA over-regulation and encourage him to sign on to the #ditchtherule effort.   We will also continue to focus on Sen. Durbin and all members of the Illinois delegation.

The Franklin County Farm Bureau has many businesses giving discounts and/or support to our members. Here are just a few:

Benton Dairy Queen – 1218 N Main St, Benton, IL (618) 439-3378

• $1.00 off round of mini-golf or $1.00 off a Royal Treat (not valid with other offers)

The Wild Trillium – 807 Public Square, Benton, IL (618) 435-3744

• Local Artisans – unique gifts – follow us on Facebook for special “party” information

Extreme Auto Care & Service – 210 W Main St, Benton, IL (618) 438-0024

• Free detail with service work of $300 or more – 10% senior discount (55 and over)

West Frankfort Bowl – 108 E Poplar St, West Frankfort, IL (618) 937-9096

• Free drink with purchase of meal or free shoe rental with paid bowling

Rhino Linings of Southern Illinois – 1201 W. Webster, Benton, IL (618) 438-6144

• 10% off Rhino and Accessories (not valid with other offers)

For more information on joining the Franklin County Farm Bureau please call our office at 435-3616. There are many more discounts available to anyone who has been a member in good standing for at least 30 days. So don’t wait – call or come by and join now. The savings are amazing and it is a great organization.

Remember we are farmers working together. If we can help let us know.