Vision for Ag assesses progress, challenges
The state’s agriculture industry is making strides on some of its agenda but is facing challenges on other parts, industry leaders learned last week.
Kay Shipman
Published: Feb 13, 2012
Vision for Illinois Agriculture marked its fourth year with status reports from groups that focused on certain issues.
Vision members acknowledged progress in certain areas, such as increased awareness of ag-related careers, but daunting challenges remain to restore the state’s fiscal health.
“The big gorilla in the room is the fiscal situation in Illinois,” said Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson.
When Nelson asked if the Vision should continue its efforts, many members nodded in agreement. The principles established four years ago remain valid, members noted.
One principle -- attracting an educated workforce to the ag sector -- has received attention on a couple of fronts.
Last year for the first time, Illinois FFA chapters developed multimedia campaigns to interest high school students in agricultural careers, said Mariah Dale-Anderson, IFB youth activities manager. A competition was held with top winners advancing to the Illinois State FFA Convention.
Dale-Anderson noted the winning video focuses on the students’ points of view and uses current communication technology compared to an older ag career video that was produced on VHS tape.
The need to inform students about ag careers is great, according to Bob Hauser, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois.
“It’s surprising how little high school students understand what (collegiate agriculture) programs are offered,” Hauser said. “We’re constantly educating folks who aren’t aware or prepared.”
Agriculture also is one of nine industry sectors for which the State of Illinois is developing career-based learning.
Last year as part of the P-20 Pipeline and Career Pathways initiative, ag and education leaders developed career and education information to help students, parents, and educators understand the skills and education required for ag-related careers. This information will be integrated into the Illinois State Board of Education efforts.
For the second year, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has included agriculture issues in an education innovation talent project.
Teams of students compete to solve real-world problems, and five diverse schools have chosen agriculture issues, reported Mike Baker with DCEO’s workforce development department.
Improvements also were made to improve the process of obtaining some permits from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce led the effort to pass legislation that developed an IEPA permit website, said Bill Bodine, IFB associate director of state legislation. The idea dovetailed with the Vision’s ideas to improve the permitting process.
Through the website that became active two weeks ago, companies are able to monitor the permit process. “This makes the process faster” for smaller businesses, Bodine explained.
Vision members also sought to gain a better understanding of agricultural research and funding at the four state universities with ag programs. The members heard traditional government sources of ag research funding continue to shrink. More researchers are competing for funding from other government sources, such as the National Institutes of Health, and the private sector.
Federal research funding is moving toward larger, broader research projects instead of locally oriented ones, reported Richard Vogen with the U of I’s ACES.
As a next step, the Vision research recommends pursuing independent review and evaluation of public agricultural research in Illinois.
Efforts will continue to inform members of the state’s deteriorating fiscal situation. As Don Borgman, industry relations manager for John Deere, noted: “I hate to over use the word crisis, but the State of Illinois is in a fiscal crisis.”
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