There’s also good news this week for local farmers.

In our last newsletter I wrote about working with the local and state Farm Bureaus in efforts to roll back recent changes in interpretation of federal rules regarding farm vehicles that would hurt Illinois farmers.  I’m very pleased to report that our efforts were successful…there will be no changes after all!

Here’s the background:

Earlier this year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) began to define crop-share tenant farmers as “for-hire” carriers and implements of husbandry as “commercial motor vehicles.” The “for-hire” designation for crop-share tenant farmers would have a dramatic effect on farmers because it would void exemptions from the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program and would require a minimum of $750,000 in insurance coverage for the farmer.

This new interpretation of farm vehicle rules would have hurt Illinois farmers and our agricultural economy. They would have increased costs and interfered with existing crop-share arrangements.

I’m very pleased that working with the Farm Bureaus and our Illinois Congressional delegation we were able to convince The FMCSA to reverse their decision.