Per-acre crop production costs across the United States have climbed 29 percent since the last farm bill became law, rising from $181.9 billion nationwide in 2018 to $235.3 billion in 2025, according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service data.

The average total expenditure for a crop farm rose over the same period, from $208,026 in 2018 to $284,017 last year, the agency reported. For Illinois soybean growers, those numbers frame the central demand voiced at the Illinois State Fair's Ag Day.

Tim Scates, a Carmi farmer and Illinois Soybean Association District 16 director, said the policy stalemate is the single largest threat to operating margins heading into harvest. "One of our main issues is the farm bill and just trying to get it over the finish line," Scates said during an Aug. 14 interview. "It's been eight years and in the past three years they've been trying to get something else accomplished. It's time to get a farm bill. We need that stability with farming, with the products that we're trying to purchase and some of the prices."

What does the cost squeeze look like on a per-bushel basis?

Corn averaged $3.47 per bushel in 2018 and $4.29 per bushel in 2025, a 24 percent gain, NASS reported. Soybeans moved from $9.15 to $10.17, an 11 percent increase. Wheat rose from $5.14 to $5.20, a gain of about 1 percent.

Those price moves, Scates argued, have not kept pace with fertilizer, fuel, seed and equipment inflation. The farm bill, he said, must address commodities, conservation, trade, nutrition, agricultural credit, research, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance and other titles that govern producer risk across the rural economy. Congress has granted one-year extensions of the 2018 law in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Why does biodiesel matter for ISA?

Illinois ranks fourth among U.S. states for biodiesel production, with annual capacity of 192 million gallons, the association reported. Scates, who chairs the ISA Government Relations Committee and represents Clay, Wayne, Richland, Edwards, Lawrence, Wabash and White counties, said renewable fuel demand directly supports per-acre revenue on his own operation.

"We burn biodiesel on our farm, and we use E85," Scates said. "Those are all things that help our bottom line by having a market for that. We need the legislation to back that up and make it easier for our products to go toward that renewable fuel."

What does this change for a southeastern Illinois grower?

Scates farms in White and Gallatin counties with his father, brother, uncles and cousins, a multi-generation operation he described as tracking for strong yields. Early planting and timely rainfall, supplemented by irrigation where needed, have defined the 2026 season on his ground.

"We've been getting rains, basically when we need them, and when we don't, we've had to supplement it with the irrigation," Scates said. "But, for the most part, we've had a real good year, and hopefully we'll have a real good harvest, too."

Where does technology fit into the policy debate?

Scates pointed to artificial intelligence as the most consequential on-farm shift since 2018. He urged measured adoption that limits unintended consequences while capturing efficiency gains, a balance he said growers will press on Capitol Hill as part of any new farm bill.

Beyond the ISA board, Scates serves as a representative for the Waterways Council Inc., the Soy Aquaculture Alliance and the Soy Transportation Coalition. With harvest approaching and another extension cycle likely, he and other Illinois directors will press federal negotiators to replace a law written before the current input-cost regime took hold. The 2018-era balance sheet continues to erode, leaving policy and margin questions unanswered into 2027.