The Gardner Agriculture Policy Program is funded by the Leonard and Lila Gardner/Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies endowment. This generous gift is dedicated to the memory of Len Gardner, a leading voice on agricultural policy for decades. The program will coordinate and prioritize analytical and outreach efforts for farm, conservation and international trade policies, elevating the University of Illinois’ voice in the national debate.
The cover crop project seeks to provide farmers with a practical web-based decision support tool designed to help manage cover crops in their fields. The project makes use of existing research to demonstrate the potential for cover crops, as well as providing useful information for decision making and management of this practice. It will also seek to apply future research on cover crops as results are incorporated into updates and new iterations of the tool. This remains a work in progress with a goal towards adapting with the science.
Latest in Gardner Policy Series
Climate Change and the Farm Bill: A Brief History
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 invested approximately $19 billion in farm bill conservation programs for conservation practices that address climate change (farmdoc daily, August 11, 2022). In addition, USDA…
Mulling Over Margin, Part 2: the “Elusive” Cost of Production
In policy, definitions matter. As part of a forthcoming Farm Bill, Congress may consider changes to farm programs to incorporate margins, expected to be defined as the difference between a…
A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: Economic Perspectives on Title I Commodities
Note: This article is based on testimony given before the House Agricultural Committee Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management on June 9, 2022. Full video of the committee…
Reviewing the Latest CBO Farm Bill Baseline
Last week the Congressional Budget Office released its ten-year estimates for the mandatory farm bill programs for Commodities (Title I), Conservation (Title II), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, Title…
Farmdoc 20 Year Retrospective on Agricultural Trade (In Chart Form)
For some of us, 1999 doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. We were two years into the Asian financial crisis, and commodity prices were in the dumps. We…
Wet, Cold, & Gloomy: Comparing Early Spring 2022
Strong and consistent flow of Pacific air masses brought frequent rain and persistently cool, overcast weather that harkened back to challenging springs like 2011 and 2019. But how does this…
Price Later Contracts and the Illinois Grain Code: An Update from the Court’s Decision in Miller v. Department of Agriculture
In 2003, Illinois significantly revised its Grain Code to provide additional protection to famers in the event a state-licensed grain dealer or warehouse fails. A grain elevator that stores grain…
On Agriculture & Antitrust: A Brief Summary of Legislative History
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Increased prices, new and continuing supply chain problems, and more in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic may be reinvigorating discussions and questions about…