By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Appointed the new director of Illinois agriculture by Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Oct. 8, Tom Jennings was made acting director in March 2008, but he has worked for the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) for more than 30 years.

Jennings graduated from the University of Illinois in 1978 with a degree in agricultural economics. He chose it because of an interest in farming, which turned out to serve him well.

“I was interested in agriculture because I had worked on a farm and thought it was pretty intriguing. It was something I picked when I went to the University of Illinois,” he said.

Soon after his graduation, he landed his job at the IDOA. “Before I found that job, I helped a guy farm and roofed houses,” he added.
The new director didn’t grow up on a farm, but in the state’s capital. “I grew up in Springfield with a big family and married a farmer’s daughter. Since then, I’ve been helping on our operation,” he explained.

The farming operation he refers to includes cattle and horses. “We grow alfalfa and some wheat; it depends on the rotation,” he said. “We also grow corn and beans.”

As for this year’s crop, Jennings had some good things to say: “I think the Illinois crop, on the whole, is going to surprise people.” With many farmers completing soybean harvest and just getting into the corn, yields are starting to trickle in.

“We have some good yields coming out this year,” he added. “The fields are yielding pretty well. I know there are some spots that have had some flooding that were problematic. It is kind of a timing thing. Some farmers were late with planting corn and beans.”

With the late plantings, Jennings has been pleased with the quality of the crops. “We don’t have any soy rust in Illinois,” he shared. However, “we will continue to monitor that.”

With soybean rust found south, in Kentucky, the IDOA is keeping an eye on the Illinois crop. As far as the corn is concerned, he also had good news, so far.

“We are doing micotoxin samples as the harvest progresses,” he said. “Out of almost 70 samples, there was no evidence of any micotoxins in corn.”

Jennings selected food safety and inspections as among the more important jobs in the IDOA. “Inspections and things of that nature are number one. Risk management, in terms of promoting commodities, with prices being so volatile, is also important.”

He said the IDOA takes pride in its consumer protection programs such as weights and measures, which he said provides the quality control of petroleum.

He also said the IDOA follows strict standards to protect the producer and the quality of what they need to buy to get their job done.

“This includes those things being purchased, such as seed output traits and germination, which are checked in the purity lab to ensure that producers are getting what they are paying for,” he said. “Same thing in livestock feed.”

The IDOA is also tracking markets such as the cost of cows, grain and, of late, fertilizer. “We do this in cooperation with the federal government,” Jennings said.

Illinois commodities are going global, with the IDOA leading in outreach for domestic and international marketing of agricultural products. “Corn is the biggest commodity that we export internationally,” he said.

Livestock sales, however, just had a huge boost. “We just sold $1.7 million of breeding livestock to China,” he said.

Ag World, Inc. of Bloomington recently shipped 1,226 Landrace, Duroc and Yorkshire hogs to South Golden Valley Agri-Husbandry, Ltd. of Chongqing. This happened through a 2006 pork tour. “The relationships we’re building through marketing activities like the pork tour and VIV China are as valuable as the sale itself,” Jennings added.

Illinois is the nation’s second-leading exporter of livestock to China, with sales of $6.5 million through June 2008.
Jennings added, “We have 350 million dollars of sales through our marketing. We are keen on improving and trying to grow those relationships.”

Working his way through various jobs in the department, Jennings knows IDOA inside and out. When asked his favorite part about being director, he laughed and said, “The idea that I have the job.”
If he has a favorite place and activities, it would probably be the hustle and bustle at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. As a Springfield native, he grew up with the background and the traditions of the State Fair. “There is always something fun going on here,” he said.