Welcome to the 1999 Illinois Farm Bureau Commodities Conference

1
Growing the Illinois Livestock Industry To
enhance and attract a profitable livestock
industry for Illinois
2
Livestock Expansion Plan History

• One of the top priorities of the January 2003 Ag
  Roundtable was to increase livestock production
  in Illinois.
• Illinois commodity industry staff identified the
  group to be involved in the project and developed
  key points outlining impediments to Illinois
  livestock growth.

3
Meeting FacilitationFrank Jan Beurskens
(AgriBiz Associates) facilitated a series of
meetings with leaders and staff from the
following associations/organizations

• Illinois Pork
• Illinois Beef
• Illinois Milk

• Illinois Soybean
• Illinois Corn
• Illinois Farm Bureau

4
Illinois Livestock Development Group (ILDG)
Strategic Goal

• Enhance and attract a PROFITABLE livestock
  industry to Illinois by
• Increasing livestock numbers
• Improving operational efficiency
• Developing domestic markets
• Developing export markets
• Facilitating new production systems

5
Further

• We must identify, promote and create a
  comparative advantage for Illinois from a supply
  chain and producer perspective.
• We must develop producer-driven integrated
  systems within Illinois.
• Long term, we must coordinate and attract funding
  for humanitarian projects with other industries,
  organizations and governments.

6
ILDGs Commitment

• The six originating groups have made commitments
  of over 600,000 for the next three years.
• IFB will provide the management of the ILDG
  project with Mark Gebhards involved in
  coordination, Sam Funk serving as project manager
  and Jim Fraley, Tamara White, and Lindsay
  Mitchell also assisting ILDG.
• A Steering Committee and 12-person Advisory
  Subcommittee have been formed for the ILDG.

7
ILDGs next stepsto reach our Goal

• Determine additional partners for problem-solving
  input and execution.
• Work with major agricultural consulting firms.
• Work with key livestock professionals from
  universities, USMEF and other livestock entities.
  
• Develop projects partnering with research
  institutions.
• Purchase market reports, research and existing
  studies to direct our strategies.

8
ILDG Timetable

• The initial project is a three-year plan.
• Action steps call for specific organizations
  and/or experts to be responsible for a project or
  activity.
• Timelines have been set and will continue with
  the input by the ILDG Advisory Subcommittee.
• IL Ag Roundtable will be needed for future
  direction.

9
Lest agriculture exits Illinois

• Quality, Quality, Quality -- never waver
  from it, even when you dont see how you can
  afford to keep it up. When you compromise, you
  become a commodity and then you die.
• Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Yogurt, ethic
  marketing of yogurt, gt100 M

10
There are no magic bullets.Mark Gebhards,
Executive DirectorIFB Governmental Affairs and
Commodities
11
ILDG is committed to... expanding livestock
agriculture in Illinois through a variety of
profitable, producer-driven integrated systems.
12
Continuing to improve Illinois Agriculture
through cooperative efforts Illinois Livestock
Development Group