IL Corn Joins Over 530 Organizations in Push for Farm Bill

Jul 24, 2024

This week, the IL Corn Growers Association joined over 530 organizations in a letter to House and Senate leadership calling upon Congress to pass a bipartisan farm bill.

The letter was signed by representatives in the nutrition, agriculture, environmental and other sectors and relayed the coalition’s concerns of continued inaction.

“If Congress does not come together this year to enact a bipartisan farm bill, the legislative process will begin anew in the 119th Congress,” the letter said. “Given the significant legislative, and possibly administrative, duties of a new Congress including the seating of new leadership and committees, Senate nominations, and other essential actions during the first months of the 119th Congress, we have concerns that it may not be logistically or politically feasible to advance a new farm bill early in the next Congress.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.