State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB3085

 
                                               LRB9203877TAtm

 1        AN ACT concerning agriculture.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Sustainable Agriculture Act is amended by
 5    changing Sections 2 and 5 as follows:

 6        (505 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 5, par. 2652)
 7        Sec.  2.   Findings.   It  is  the intent of this Act  to
 8    provide for funding of  the  developmental  research  program
 9    that  serves production agriculture in Illinois.  Illinois is
10    blessed with some of the richest agricultural soils  and  the
11    most  favorable  agricultural climate of any land area in the
12    world  of  similar   size.    An   economically   competitive
13    production agriculture in Illinois is essential to sustaining
14    Illinois  farmers  plus  a vast infrastructure of the State's
15    input, processing, distribution and marketing industries  and
16    financial  institutions  and  provides  the economic base for
17    many rural communities and municipalities.
18        Production agriculture in Illinois faces rapidly  growing
19    competition for international markets, for which the basis of
20    competition  is  cost  of  production.   In  order to compete
21    effectively, agricultural producers in Illinois must  be  the
22    early     and     most     effective    adapters    of    new
23    productivity-enhancing,  cost-cutting  and  quality-improving
24    technology.
25        In  addition,  in  order  to  sustain  a  high  level  of
26    agricultural production into  the  twenty-first  century  and
27    beyond,  it  is critical to determine the optimum methods for
28    production agriculture which result in the  best  return  for
29    the  farm and best preserves the environment and the farmland
30    of Illinois.
31        The Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station's Office  of
 
                            -2-                LRB9203877TAtm
 1    Research  and  research  farm  system  are  is  essential  to
 2    conducting  research  that  tests  and compares promising new
 3    agricultural practices and products, selecting those that are
 4    most appropriate for Illinois, tailoring them to the specific
 5    agricultural   conditions   of   Illinois   and    generating
 6    information  that  helps  Illinois farmers assemble them into
 7    effective  farming  systems,   thus   achieving   competitive
 8    advantages for Illinois.
 9        Tremendous  numbers  of  new  practices  and products are
10    becoming available because of increased  public  and  private
11    research  around the world, and this rate of development will
12    increase in the future, requiring a much  stronger  and  more
13    sophisticated  adaptive research program.  Research conducted
14    in the research farm system permits Illinois to  capture  the
15    economic  benefits  of  worldwide  agricultural  research and
16    product development.
17        The  State's  investment  in  utilization  and  marketing
18    research will have little benefit for the present and  future
19    of   Illinois   unless  Illinois  farmers  are  the  low-cost
20    producers of the raw materials  for  new  food  and  non-food
21    uses,  use production methods which preserve the farmland and
22    guarantee  future  productivity,  and  employ  some  of   the
23    utilization   and   marketing   technologies   which  can  be
24    implemented  on  Illinois  farms  as   efficient   production
25    practices.
26    (Source: P.A. 86-1022.)

27        (505 ILCS 135/5) (from Ch. 5, par. 2655)
28        Sec.   5.  There   is   hereby  created  the  Sustainable
29    Agriculture Committee which shall consist  of  7  members  as
30    follows:   one  member  representing  and  appointed  by  the
31    Governor; one member representing and appointed by the  Board
32    of Higher Education; one member representing and appointed by
33    the Department of Agriculture; and 4 members appointed by the
 
                            -3-                LRB9203877TAtm
 1    Department  of  Agriculture who are farmers actively involved
 2    in production agriculture.  Members of the Committee shall be
 3    appointed for a term of 5 years.
 4        It is the duty  of  the  Committee  to  seek  sources  of
 5    funding  for  projects described in Section 4.  These sources
 6    may be private or public, or federal,  State,  or  local,  or
 7    designated  for agricultural, environmental, or other related
 8    purposes. The Committee shall act in an advisory capacity  to
 9    the  Department  of Agriculture in program administration and
10    funding recommendations.
11        The Department of Agriculture may accept funds  from  any
12    public  or  private  source  for  the  purposes  specified in
13    Section 3.  Funds received shall be deposited into the  State
14    treasury  into a State trust fund to be held by the Treasurer
15    as ex-officio custodian and subject  to  the  Comptroller  --
16    Treasurer,  voucher  --  warrant system.  Such funds shall be
17    used by the Department only for  the  purposes  specified  in
18    Section 3.
19    (Source:  P.A. 86-1022; 87-998.)

20        (505 ILCS 135/6 rep.) (from Ch. 5, par. 2656)
21        Section  10.   The Sustainable Agriculture Act is amended
22    by repealing Section 6.

23        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
24    becoming law.

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