The head of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) is keeping a close eye on bills being debated in the statehouse.

Kevin Johnson, president of IFCA, says there are several proposals targeting pesticides…

“There’s a dicamba ban,” he says, “There’s a 2-4-D ester ban. There’s a ban that pretty much bans dicamba, atrazine, and 2-4-D.”

He tells Brownfield there are two specific measures the organization is watching…

“The bill to get rid of pesticide preemption.”  He says, “There’s also a piece of legislation that is mirrored off the New York language that passed last year through New York that bans pretty much any seed treatments of a pesticide starting in 2029.”

But he says it’s early in the legislative process…

“I do think most of the focus will go back to the budget,” he says, “and I think there’s going to be probably a lot more noise than actual action on stuff this session just because it’s an election year.  We’ll just keep on pushing through and trying to educate our members as best as possible.”

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