Duncan says farm bill, trade top list of priorities for new administration

POLO, Ill. — When it comes to what might happen to U.S. ag policy in the second Trump administration, the president of the Illinois Farm Bureau is urging fellow farmers to be patient.

“Let’s wait and see. Let’s not start chasing after things that we don’t know about,” Brian Duncan said.

Duncan spoke shortly after the November general election that saw former president Donald Trump and his running mate, Vice President-elect JD Vance, of Ohio, elected to a four-year term. Republicans also regained control of the U.S. Senate and narrowly retained control of the U.S. House.

“We certainly hope that the organization will have a voice in the Trump administration. Let’s just step back and see how things progress,” said Duncan, a grain and livestock farmer from Ogle County. Duncan just completed his first year as president of the farm organization. Evan Hultine, of Bureau County, serves as vice president of the IFB.

Duncan said the IFB will continue to push for a new farm bill. The 2018 farm bill expired on Sept. 30, 2023. The legislation was extended for a year and that extension expired on Sept. 30, 2024. As of Dec. 9, 2024, no new farm bill has been passed and the 2018 farm bill has not been extended.

“We’ve been sitting here with 2024 prices and a 2018 backstop. A farm bill for the benefit of all Americans is something we are eagerly anticipating and working toward,” said Duncan, who admitted disappointment with the delay on a new farm bill.

“Our backstop is based on 2018 income and our expenses are 2024 expenses. The uncertainty created by continuing to extend the farm bill has left a void. It’s really left a void for rural America. It already has affected farmers and it’s unfortunate that there hasn’t been movement. That is something we are hoping to see a remedy to,” he said.

Duncan said trade will continue to be a top priority for the Illinois Farm Bureau.

“We are going to continue to push hard for trade agreements. Trade is very important and we continue to look on upholding agreements and building new ones,” said Duncan.

Duncan is a wean-to-finish pork producer and he and his business partner, Keith Poole, market around 75,000 head of hogs annually.

As a pork producer, Duncan said finding a remedy to interstate agricultural production controls, such as California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts' Question 3, also remains a priority. Both pieces of state legislation place production controls on meat and poultry sold in their respective states, regardless of where the meat and poultry is raised and harvested.

“The House version of the farm bill had a fix for interstate commerce and provided some certainty for interstate commerce protection for agricultural products. We’ve seen challenges to that, whether it’s Proposition 12 or Question 3. I still think all of agriculture, not just the pork industry, is looking for some certainty when it comes to interstate commerce. Whether that comes as part of the farm bill or stand-alone legislation, that is something that we’re going to be working for, as well,” he said.

Duncan said the organization will continue to work on reforming the estate tax laws at the state level. The Family Farm Preservation Act, which would change the current $4 million estate tax exclusion for Illinois family farms to a $6 million exemption, was introduced in January 2024, but failed to make it to a final vote in either chamber of the General Assembly.

“We are going to continue to build on the momentum we’ve had for estate tax reform. We can continue those conversations with our local representatives, as well as our adopted legislators, our priority issues and certainly, estate tax reform is going to be one of the things that is top of mind for us,” he said.