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Shimkus talks agriculture, regulations with advisory board

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Rep. John Shimkus discussed EPA regulations, the Farm Bill and several other issues of concern to farmers at a meeting with his agriculture advisory board.

Several who came to the meeting, held at the Dixon Springs Agriculture Center, were concerned about a pair of possible regulatory proposals from the Environmental Protection Agency. One would regulate the emission of particulate matter during farming activities. That amounts to regulating dust, Shimkus told the group. Without an exemption for farming or rural areas, a dust regulation would require farmers either to pave or water down dirt roads around fields. Harvesting that produces dust likely would require spraying water behind equipment.

An audience member pointed out the proposal could require townships to pave gravel roads, which would be a huge financial burden on cash-strapped townships.

There also is talk of regulating farmers who mix fertilizers or other chemicals for farm use as "chemical producers," which brings with it a tougher set of regulations, Shimkus said.

In a recent interview, Shimkus was asked about Republican proposals to reduce the budget of the EPA by 30 percent.

"I hope we cut 30 percent out," Shimkus said.

Shimkus rhetorically asked whether the EPA is more focused on health and safety problems, "Or are they focused on dust on country roads."

The Agriculture Committee, under the chairmanship of Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., is working on the new farm bill.

"He&#39;s a beef guy from Oklahoma. He&#39;s still a rancher," Shimkus said of Lucas.

The bill will be audited this summer; hearings will be held in the fall. The current national debt of $14 trillion and rising makes it hard to find much room for anything new in the bill, Shimkus said.

The tax credit for corn-produced ethanol is not likely to be extended, Shimkus said. The credit now stands at 45 cents per gallon and is in place through the end of the year.

Shimkus reiterated his support for ethanol production as part of a comprehensive energy plan, often called "all of the above energy policy" by Republican supporters.

"I ask people, &#39;What have we done to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Biofuel and ethanol is all we&#39;ve really done," Shimkus said.

Shimkus also gave a stump speech that has become a common refrain in GOP circles - the debt is rising and possibly going out of control.

"Everyone is talking about money," Shimkus said.

If the year&#39;s expenditures could be divided neatly into borrowed and not-borrowed money, it could be said that this year the federal government will operate on borrowed money after July 27, Shimkus said. The rising tide of entitlement spending - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - is driving the debt upward, Shimkus said.

Non-discretionary, or entitlement spending, has not been touched in years, Shimkus said, which means it continues to mount.

Currently, only 38 percent of federal spending is directed toward discretionary spending like national defense, agriculture programs or transportation. By 2040 entitlements could be 76 percent of federal spending.

"Entitlements will keep squeezing that money; we will have less money to provide services," Shimkus said.

Dixon Springs

Those in attendance learned about the purpose and activities of the Dixon

Springs Agriculture Center.

Frank Ireland, an animal research scientist at the ag center, said the animal sciences division has about 850 breeding cattle, plus offspring on 350 acres, making Dixon Springs one of the largest beef cattle research programs in the nation. All of the breeding cattle are currently impregnated; the offspring are part of the research being done at the center, Ireland said.

Genetic research in Angus, Simmental and Charolais cattle have led to greater feed efficiency, translating into an average $200 per-head added value, Ireland said.

The center is also working on reducing the toxicity of tall fescue for cattle.

Steve Ebelhar, an agronomist and the visiting operations coordinator, updated the group on crop science projects at the center, and on crop agriculture in Southern Illinois generally.

If Southern Illinois were a state, we would be 14th in the nation in corn production, 11th in soybeans and 19th in wheat, Ebelhar said.

Dixon Springs conducts 60 research projects annually on over 7,000 plots.

"So it is a very busy place to be," Ebelhar said.

Current studies include use of pesticides and strategic placement of fertilizer.