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92_HB3085eng HB3085 Engrossed 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 HB3085 Engrossed -2- LRB9203877TAtm 1 Research andresearchfarm system areisessential 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 HB3085 Engrossed -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.