Farmers looking fo a little certainty and Mercado on Fifth celebrating and looking to the future in The Cities.

[lively music] [music ends] As we record this program, lawmakers in Washington are working to find a compromise and pass a five year U.S.

farm bill.

That's somethin that hasn't happened since 2018.

The farm bill is traditionally a five year plan that gives farmers a multiyear guarantee to allow them to better plan.

It always had been a bipartisan bill with the biggest divide between rural and urban lawmakers.

But that massive bill is onl one of the concerns that impact western Illinois and eastern Iowa farmers.

I talked with Illinois Farm Bureau board member and Henry County farmer Brian Corkil about these challenges, that is, that are facing agriculture today.

At the time of this recording, we know the house has passed, but the Senate has not yet.

But tell you about the fact that a farm bill has actually progressed to this point.

Farmers depend on future planning, not just this year.

And a five year farm bil used to be crucial to farming.

Yeah, and it's still crucial, still allows us to plan long term.

Not just from year to year.

Like we have been the last several years.

And knowing that there i some sort of backstop in place, so that, I mean, we do rely on things like, you know, conservation programs, crop insurance programs, you know, credit programs that are, that are gone through the farm bill, especially if you're a younger farmer trying to get it in, which is one of the good things that that the House version, they they did have, provided more access to, to beginning farmers and things like that through their, through their version that they passed.

Which is crucial, of course, because you nee the next generation of farmers, and it's very hard to find that.

And I know that, you know, that's been an effort of the Farm Bureau, particularly over the last few years.

But but walk me through, the last farm bill was in, 2018.

And that took extra time, extra innings, so to speak, but at least it was passed.

And you've gone now six, seven years of basically one year extensions.

Is that going to be the new norm?

You think?

I hope not, but it isn' out of the realm of possibility.

So we could look at smaller tranches within the farm bil that get passed over every year.

Because there are large portions of the farm bill that everyone agrees on, let's be honest.

Yeah.

But there are major sticking points.

There are, and then, with the, reconciliation bill that got passed last year, I mean, it pulled some things out of the farm bill.

So then no it makes it more difficult to, to move forward a comprehensive farm bill because they've decoupled some things.

And quite honestly, farmers are such a smal percentage of, of the population that we don't have a large voice.

So.

Well, I think it's important.

I mean, when you're talking about the politics of the farm bill, it never was really a Republican Democrat thing.

It was always an urban rural, lawmaker type of thing, which is one of the reasons why SNAP or food stamps, as it used to be called, was in the farm bill because it kind of guaranteed Yup.

urban, voters to support it.

Correct.

And like you said, there have been things that have been taken out of the farm bill, which only weakens the cobbling together of suppor that there's been in the past.

Correct.

No.

That's correct.

So it hasn't been so like SNAP benefits haven't been completely decoupled.

But but they did in the reconciliation bill.

They did cut back on some levels.

And I think, lawmakers want to see that kind of pulled back into the farm bill to a certain extent and provide more benefits, because quite honestly, that that is roughly 80% of the farm bill.

It is SNAP.

So.

What is the Illinois Farm Bureau?

I mean, what can you do other than lobbying your lawmakers?

And let's be honest, you've got sympathetic ears in in western Illinois o in the rural areas of Illinois.

So we have staff that goes out that goes out to Washington, DC and talks with a broader, number of lawmakers.

We have, a couple times a year, We have a program called Leaders to Washington.

So we send some some of our members out to DC to talk to lawmakers.

Not always sympathetic.

I can remember the last [?].

The first time I went, I ended up having to talk to a legislator from the Chicago suburbs.

And what didn't represent me wasn't from Western Illinois.

But talking about the farm bill at that point in time, and that would have been in around 2015.

So starting preparation to get a farm bill passed when it finally got passed in 2018, it was kind of interesting talking to it.

Didn't get to talk to him personally.

He was busy, get talked to his staff.

But they were like focused on portions of the farm bill that dealt with sugar and things like that, because there's a lot of candy manufacturing that happens in Chicago.

So those are and and also SNAP.

So, so yeah, that's it was very interesting.

And and seeing how the farm bill does affect a larger portion of the population than we might realize.

Yeah.

Because I know the, the sugar subsidies or the sugar support syste really is a huge southern issue, not so much here.

That we necessarily don't agree with.

Yeah.

But, that is what it is.

But it is interesting, like you just pointed out, is how interrelated, I mean, soybeans are used for s many different things as well.

Yup.

Yup.

I mean, and Illinois is either the first or the second largest producer of soybeans in the nation.

And, and so I thin a lot of people think of farming as just all these fields.

But you're right, it does touch on so many different industries.

Right.

Correct.

So fuel I think if we can talk about E15, that's a part of it.

Yeah.

Feed for livestock produces meat for people in the, yeah there's just a lot of facets to it.

Well, and you think of Illinois as kind of an urban, state, but, I mean, it does.

I mean, you've got that, that... Ag is the largest industry in the state.

Thats what I was going to get Yeah.

Exactly.

Is it has that.

Well, and you bring up E15, which is a really good point.

And the major push, in, in corn producing states, to make it a year round accessibility, a lot of fight against it about whether or not it's worth it, you know, and you've heard the arguments over and over again.

It was taken out of the House bill.

Some people are upset about that.

But there was the promise that it would be voted on independently.

Does that is that a major problem for you?

Because like, like like you were saying, if it's a part of the farm bill, it's got an easier passage.

If it's on its own, it's one of those things that it's so much more difficult to pass.

So I think what happened is when it came down to negotiations within the house, the farm bill probably wasn't going to get passed.

Having an E15 component to it, because of some representatives from oil producing states... Absolutely.

...and, and things like that.

So I think it was it was a negotiation to get the farm bill passed.

So now, yeah, we have t look at it as a standalone bill.

I don't know where that's going to go, but, obviously we will keep advocating, to get that passed even as a stand alone.

So, it's going to especially in this time in agriculture, where we have decreased grain prices, we have very much increased input costs.

And there are a lot of things that are going against this.

The far economy is not great right now.

Keep advocating for having, that, E15 is going to make a big difference.

Can we talk about that for one moment?

Because when you're talking about corn production, you're talking about feed you're talking about sweet corn, which is not as you know, you'r talking about human consumption.

And then you're also talking about ethanol.

How big of a deal is ethanol when it comes to the realm of corn farming?

So I guess if we move from E10 to E15, it'd be a huge difference.

And I should have thought about this, the math on this ahead of time.

But but it's it's going to be a huge difference.

So I mean the American Farmer is great about producing, producing, producing and we are overproducing.

So we need more markets for for what we raise.

So I think that's where that's important.

And I, you know, I hear people talk about food versus fuel and things like that.

But we are so much over producing what demand is that that isn't going to be a problem.

And even in previous years when, you know, maybe we didn't have, raise as good of a crop, whether it's due to drought or something like that, we were still able to, to satisfy all the markets that we had to satisfy.

Farmers have always said, just give us open markets because we can feed the world.

Yup.

And then you see the tariffs that have occurred.

You have seen China push back especially for soybean farmers.

Yup.

Yup.

You know, that Brazil is now producing soybeans to a great extent.

And once you lose a market, it's tough to get it back.

Is that a big concer for soybean farmers right now?

It is.

Yes.

Because you're 100% correct once you lose a market, and I came from serving on a board of a local retailer.

A large retailer.

But, you know, those ar the things that we talked about.

From a sales standpoint is once you lose a customer, it's easier to keep them than it is to get them back.

And it'd be the same thing here.

We lose China as a customer, it's going to be harder to get them back, especially, if they, and I know they're investing some money in Brazil and Argentina.

Because they want certainty, too.

They want certainty.

Absolutely.

And we're I don't know, I guess I would say we've been a little wishy washy here in the last decade or so.

And so I don't know if they're comfortable with us as a customer or not.

I hope they would be.

I know they do come to us at certain times of the year.

Just because of, of, of, our production versus South American production they kind of offset each other a little bit, bu we need a little more stability.

And that was some of the things that the, in the, in the house version of the farm bill that passed there, there is some more things in ther about, developing markets and, and trade agreements and things like that.

Let's talk about something else that's not really certain.

That's Mother Nature.

We have seen pretty much a wet spring which sometimes is really good because you want that soil moisture that you had depleted by the end of the fall.

I mean, we saw the drought, drought monito showing us some real concerns, but now it's really eating int your planting season right now.

At this point how serious is it the fact that, you really need some dry days?

Yeah, I think so.

I think, you know, farmers get nervous.

Sure.

There are farmers that I get started on April 1st or whatever the date is.

Right, right, right.

And so I think, you know there's been some stress there.

And we've had, in my place, I have a weather station.

I've had 7.5 inches of rain.

Well, I had 7.5 inches of rain in April.

So we didn't get a lot done in April.

There's been a fair amount of headway made in the last week.

You make the most out of the dry periods you get.

You, correct.

That's right.

But but we didn't need the moisture as you talked about.

You know.

So there is a such a thing.

It's called a water year.

It runs from October 1st to September 30th.

So at the end of September 30th, 2025, in my area, we're 15 inches behind for that year.

And then going forward from October 1st until the end of March, we're at 25% of the rainfall that we would normally expect in that time or or moisture, including snow.

So we have caught up, so that is a good thing.

But now, yes, we need some dry weather and, and, need to get moving forward.

Dry weathe then a little beneficial rain, and then a nice summer and that's all you need.

Yup.

No storms to knock anything over.

No storms.

Well, this year hasn't been good.

No, it has not.

So we have to be careful about that.

I just have a few moments lef and I know we want to talk about family farm preservation.

Yup.

I mean, it's we're looking at generatin the next generation of farmers.

Correct.

Tell me why this is so important.

So it's important because, as the older generation, when they pass away, I think it's hard to, to pass on to the next generation.

And the average farmer is about 55 plus years old.

Is it older?

Probably over 60.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's bee it hasn't been getting better.

No, it hasn't been getting better.

And we're not attracting new people basically.

It's just becoming more concentrated in agriculture.

And some of it is because of, so if if someone passes away, like currently, the way the law states is, is you get up to $4 million, you hit that $4 million threshold.

If you get to $4,000,001, you get tax on everything back to dollars zero.

So one of the things in the farm, Family Farm Preservation Act is, raising that threshold to $6 millio and making it a true exemption.

So you only pay above $6 million, you don't go back to dollar zero.

$6 million, makes it sound like a huge operation.

Its not.

Yeah.

So, you know, I would look at it my own farmin and I'm not large by any means.

But the ground that my family owns and then the equipment and everything else, you know, we'd be way above that.

So there there is also, support of portability in, in the Family Farm Preservation Act.

So you can transfer to other, people within the family.

And there's definitions o what, what qualifies for that.

So you can spread out that risk.

And so then you don't have to you don't have to go and sell off a third of your farm... Just in order to get under that threshold.

...just to pay the taxes.

Yeah.

Correct.

so.

How how optimistic are you that because this has been ongoin I mean every session it seems.

Yeah.

So it's it's been a big push the last couple of years.

I think there is some I think there is I think there is some confidence that possibly we can push that over the threshold this year.

I know Illinois Farm Bureau has had some good discussions with, Governor Pritzker.

I know I was at a, conference back in February where, President Harmon and Speaker Welch were there, an they were both supportive of it.

It has bipartisan, both the bill and there's a bill in the House.

There's a bill in the Senate.

They both have bipartisan support.

We just need to get it over the the finish line.

So hopefully this year is the year.

And, we can get that done.

It'll, it'll it'll mak a big deal to, to family farms to be able to pas that on to the next generation, give the next generation an opportunity and not have to sell it to an investor who's going to rent it out to whatever the big farmer is i the area and things like that.

Our thanks to Illinois Farm Bureau board member and Henry County farmer Brian Corkill.

Just ahead, a Mercado milestone and a call for action to improve its services.

But first, welcome to May.

Hopefully, the last of the frost and the freeze warnings are over.

Let's look at some of the hot events you can enjoy in our area Thanks to Visit Quad Cities.

[soft music] Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities.

From 6 to 9 a.m., the Quad Cities Bicycle Club will offer breakfast if you bike to work.

Then you can visit the Davenpor Civil Rights Traveling exhibit to learn about Davenport's role in the broader civil rights movement.

Next, watch as over 150 golfers compete in the NAIA Men's Golf National Championship.

Next, check ou the NJCAA Division One Women's Golf National Championship at Oakwood Country Club.

Finally, watch as handball teams from across the globe compete at TBK Bank Sports Complex.

For more events like these, check out our events calendar at VisitQuadCities.com [music ends] Mercado on fift says it wants to be a resource and catalyst for minority entrepreneurs, while also celebratin the Latin culture in the cities.

This year, it's celebrating its 10th year, the ten year anniversary, by not only looking back, but also looking ahead.

We talked with its executive director, Frances Williams.

10th anniversary for McConnell.

I mean, it's really been a transformative decade for the west side of downtown Moline.

Yeah.

The Floreciente neighborhoo has definitely been revitalized in significant ways.

Whether it's the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley or Community Health Car Center, but definitely Mercado.

And, you know, you can't miss our building if you're going down Fifth or Sixth Avenue.

Yeah.

And the expansion that's happened over the last ten years really has underlined the success, but it's also underlined the need and the ability to build a community that was really already there but wasn't quite unified.

Yeah, Jim, I don't know if you remember downtown and particularly in that neighborhood, a lot of, you know, micro entrepreneurs that were selling out of their garages.

Right?

So one of our co-founders, Bob Ontiveros, you know, he grew up in Floreciente.

He was from a big family.

He never forgot where he came from.

And he saw an opportunity to be able to help other entrepreneurs realize their dreams.

And he said, let's get him out of those garages, get them onto Fifth Avenue, and let's have a great night market.

Now, his granddaughter, Maria Ontiveros right, was able to bring in some of the experiences that she had traveling throug Asia to create a night market.

So we're 5 p.m.

to 10 p.m., every Friday night starting in three weeks.

Well, and let' talk about the Ontiveros family for just a moment, because the did spearhead this, of course.

And you mentioned Maria.

It's amazing that she's so worldly.

She came back to the Quad Cities and she was a driving force as well to make sure that her father's vision continued.

Yeah.

Her grandfather really had the vision.

Grandfather.

Im sorry.

No, no, no.

Youre fine.

I went after you there.

Ha, ha, ha, ha.

Im sorry, her grandfather.

Yeah.

He had the vision, right?

And he had the idea and had talked to a lot of different people in the community, you know trying to get it off the ground.

But when Maria came back from, you know, her travels through Asia, she'd been teaching English, you know, in that region.

And she was really the force behind bringing it really to, to reality, which was incredible.

So, it took a community, you know, she partnered with a lot of folks from Floreciente neighborhood from different community organizations like the Greater Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, with Hola America, you know, to be able to get this really launched and off the ground, and then it's just evolved since then.

So it's been an organization, and the Ontiveros family is they, again, are so incredibly giving, family, you know, they do it in multiple ways.

And they would not want to just look back.

They want to look forward.

So tell me a little bit about your ability to look forward, because you're marking ten years, but you're really looking forward to the next decade.

Yeah.

We, we decided this year to work with the board to kind of restructure our mission vision values.

We had a mission.

But it was, it's been rewritten.

Last year we created values and identified those.

And then really that vision for us to be going forward.

So we do want to be that preeminent hub where culture meets entrepreneurship.

Now, you've been doing a survey, and what are you going to do with that information?

That's an opportunity to really incorporate the community's voice and choice in what Mercado's going to look like in the next decade.

Right?

So we've been working with Wasson and Associates to put together that strategic plan.

We have so many stakeholders at Mercado.

It's not like this organization was, you know, just one family or just one group.

It was really the community that came together.

So we want to ensure that that voice is included in where we're going.

You know, the next 5 to 3 years or 3 to 5 years are going to be really important for Mercado.

And, we've got we're constantly changing and adapting, but we want to make sure that we've got a good road map.

You say the next 3 to 5 year are going to be very important.

What do you mean by that?

Yeah.

Just in terms of, you know, we this year, because it's our 10th anniversary, we're really leaning in t supporting our local community.

So a lot of local bands, our vendors are from primarily the Quad Cities area.

There's a fe that are from like Kewanee or, you know, Monmouth area.

But, we're really leaning into that local.

We want to be able to continue to be an incredible place for culture to be expressed and to be shared.

But we want to make sure that we are, you know, looking ahead in terms of what does that look like from a financial perspective?

What does that look like from a community engagement perspective?

How do we continue to grow the organization?

We're not junior anymore.

Isn't that the truth?

Ha, ha, ha.

But let's talk about what you just mentioned was, was to embrace the culture and also to move it forward through education and through celebration.

Yes, we have an incredibly diverse community here in the Quad Cities.

I mean, you know, look at these manufacturers that have been drawing in people from around the globe for decades, right.

That is contributing t an incredibly diverse community that we have, the Hispanic community.

There's no denying that they have made significant contributions to our Quad Cities region.

And to continue to have a space, you know, where they are celebrated, wher all of those different cultures are celebrated through food, through art, through music.

Performance is so important.

And then let's talk abou the Fridays, the celebrations, the the markets.

Tell me a little bit about this year, because opening day is coming up.

Opening day.

If there's one day o the calendar year for Mercado, you're going to go go that day.

It is a program unlike any other.

We have four main bands on the mainstage.

We've got four acoustic bands on the patio.

It is going to be you know, performances galore, people walking around, you know, from like our Lucha Libre community, the wrestlers that we, you know, contracted to be able to come in and put on those, different, different, you know, exhibitions.

And so to be able to have that all in one night, it's like Mercado on steroids.

So.

That's a good way of putting it.

[laughter] It's going to be an incredible night.

And it's definitely an acknowledgment of all of those organizations and people that got us to where we are today.

We talk a lot about the merchants.

And perhaps that generation of the Hispanic population.

But but there's a whole new generation, the children of today, th teenagers and the young adults.

How i Mercado really impacting them?

We are creating that space.

I'm going to date myself here.

When I grew up, you know, we had The Cellar in Moline to be able to go and dance and hang out.

As young people who are not yet 21.

There were spaces like that.

Mercado is now that space, right?

So young people are so important to the energy and vitality of Mercado.

I absolutely love what they bring.

They are creating some incredible dance performances on their own that really add to the energy and the beauty of the market.

So again, to have them involved in what we're doing, is, is really an important part.

That's another key element to the strategic plan, what is that going to look like the next three, 3 to 5 years.

But you know, we we serve such a diverse crowd, right.

It's children, you know.

You know any any age.

Right.

And then all even into like our seniors.

So we want to be able to create space that's safe and welcoming for everybody.

You were talking about, the history and you think that, you know, creating this entity and then having it grow takes so much time.

Now you're at that second part almost like a relay race, and now you're at that second part where the baton is being passed to really solidifying what you're doing here and moving it forward.

Yeah.

What do you think is the biggest goal that you have moving forward?

Making sure that we have, you know, good financial sustainability.

So, you know, last year we di launch an endowment fund to help Mercado ensure that, you know we even in bad years.

You know, that's true in any kind of business or any kind of organization, you're going to have ups and downs.

But how do you help protect?

How do you ensure that, you know, you continue that sustainability?

We also created a reserve fund for emergencies if it's ever needed.

You know, creating I think those those types of tools and having, you know, that that kind of, incorporating more of like the feedback from the community too is super important.

So those are great things to in terms of focus for our sustainability and growth.

And once again, Mercado opening Day is coming up.

What do you say to the community?

Friday, May 22nd.

Mark your calendars.

It is going to be a night unlike any other night in the program.

Make sure that you're following us on Facebook.

There's so much information being shared there, and we've got an incredible lineup for the entire season, including key appreciation nights like teacher appreciation nights and first responder appreciation nights, and even an appreciation night for our attorney or legal community.

So we want to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to come down to Mercado and have that experience.

Our thanks to Mercado on Fifth executive director Frances Williams.

The countdown to the 4th of July continues, and this year's Independence Day is special.

It's the 250th birthday of our country.

Over the past few months we've asked Quad City residents about their contributions to our society.

What was their Civic Spar that helped them decide the path they chose?

That includes East Moline School superintendent Doctor Kristen Humphries.

So, Doctor Humphries, what's your Civic Spark?

[soft music] When I was a young child, I grew up, I was very fortunate, I grew up with wonderful grandparents that, supported my mom.

I grew up with a single mom, but they they they supported our family.

And I used to sit on the back porch with my grandfather in Dubuque, Iowa, and he would eat his Limburger cheese and have a small little glass of warm Blatz beer with a salt shaker.

And we would listen to Cub games.

And I always wanted to be a baseball player.

I love baseball, and my grandfather, though when I was a young child, said, that's great, but what are you going to d to make an impact in the world?

And I'll never forget that.

And I told my grandpa that if I can't be a baseball player, I want to be a teacher because teachers can change the world for change, the world for everybody And that's why I do what I do.

[music ends] Our thanks to East Moline School superintendent Doctor Kristen Humphries for sharing his Civic Spark.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device and streaming on your computer, thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues on The Cities.

[lively music] [music ends]