• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 11 / 25 / 2010

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By RYAN DENHAM - Lee News Service Writer Herald-Review.com | Posted: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 4:01 am.BLOOMINGTON - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin told Illinois farmers Tuesday that the United States should do more to tap into new global markets for their crops, calling for eased restrictions on agricultural exports to Cuba.

Durbin, a Democrat, spoke at the Illinois Commodity Conference at the DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington, hosted by several agricultural trade groups. He praised President Obama's goal to double U.S. exports by 2015 and said he's a supporter of trade agreements so long as they're "fair and enforceable."

"We cannot get healthy as a nation doing each other's laundry," Durbin said.

Illinois' senior U.S. senator noted the technological changes that have powered a more productive Illinois agricultural economy, such as equipment steered by global-positioning systems and genetically modified seed.

But bigger yields require new export markets, Durbin said. Limited food exports to Cuba have been allowed since 2000, but financing and travel restrictions still hamper the market's potential and should be lifted, he said.

Ag exports to Cuba hit $710 million in 2008, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, but that fell to $528 million in 2009, and exports were off 35 percent in the first five months of 2010.

The U.S. International Trade Commission said eased restrictions, which are supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, would boost agricultural exports to between $924 million and $1.2 billion, Durbin said.

And corn and soybeans - Central Illinois' big crops - are the No. 2 and No. 4 food exports to Cuba.

"The one thing about farmers in Illinois ... is they have a view of the world that a lot of people in the big cities don't have," said Durbin, a Springfield native.

Meanwhile, the senator also told conference attendees he expected Congress to tackle the estate tax issue next week, when it debates extending the Bush tax cuts.

The estate tax, applied to the transfer of assets after death, is of particular importance to farmers because they are more likely to owe it than the general public as farmland value rises. It disappeared this year after being scaled back gradually but is set to return in 2011 with lower exemption levels and higher rates. Congress hasn't been able to reach a long-term solution.

But Durbin said waiting to tackle the issue until after January, when the new Congress is seated, will only cause further delays.

"Unfortunately, then it's gonna take months, and that's not fair to you," he said.

Source: www.herald-review.com/business/local/02cbd789-3163-516d-9e8b-0014ae444a0...