An Ashland man is one of seven Illinois farmers traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to lobby for climate issues to be a priority in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Chad Wallace of Oak Tree Organics is president of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance board of directors. He is taking part in the "Farmers for Climate Action: Rally for Resilience" today through Wednesday.
The three-day event will include a rally and march, as well as an opening ceremony, grazing demonstrations, press events, and a lobby day.
"I think it is a great opportunity to speak to people who make decisions for farmers. We have some good appointment and we will talk to important people and tell our stories and try and make an impact to help everyone," Wallace said.
Members of the alliance have meetings scheduled with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Peoria, among others. Wallace said they also want to meet with the chairman of the House Agriculture committee, U.S. Rep Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania.
The trip is part of a grassroots alliance of farmers, farm workers and farmer allies that are gathering in Washington to ask policymakers to make climate change policy a priority in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Led by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Farm Aid, and supported by an alliance of organizations, the event aims to bring a mass mobilization of producers to Washington, reminiscent of the 1979 Tractorcade.
The mission of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, which Wallace represents, is to cultivate a local food and farm system that is economically viable, socially just and environmentally sustainable.
"We are talking about climate. I'm 54 and been in farming my entire life and there have been definite changes in the weather and I know there is a lot of information out there. But we are in Illinois and 70% of it is farmland and in conservation, so climate change is important to the state and our area. We want to work with Congress so we move forward with out-of-the-box ideas," Wallace said.
He also pointed to difficulties with infrastructure as things need to be available for smaller producers in terms of capacity.
"Most of the money goes to the industries like Tyson Foods. But some changes could have a large impact for small producers," Wallace said.
"Take Jones Meat and Locker in Jacksonville. I butcher through them. The number of people who want to process animals has jumped greatly since COVID and they can only do so much through that facility. If there were incentives or grants to get more freezer space, among other things, so they could handle larger numbers of animals, that would be great," Wallace said.
"Anyone with one to three acres is raising some kind of animal for food. They may have a pig to process, and those small facilities have been hit pretty hard. Raising meat is my bread and butter. So scheduling is a problem. We are trying to figure out a schedule to butcher animals that haven't been born yet," Wallace said. "That's why we need increased capacity for small operations."
According to the alliance, the next Farm Bill needs to explicitly empower farmers to tackle climate change by providing resources, assistance, and incentives that will allow for the implementation of proven climate solutions.
Source:https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/ashland-farmer-wants-climate-priority-2023-farm-17818366.php
Categories: Illinois, Sustainable Agriculture