(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey are hoping to win votes from farmers across Illinois.
Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson moderated the Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable in Shirley, Illinois on Monday.
GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey said he has been a Farm Bureau member since 1982.
“We can preserve the family farm by, at a bare minimum, matching the federal rates with the inheritance tax, and I pray that goes away because I’m leaving under the same fate that you are,” Bailey said.
Bailey also called for a cap on property taxes.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said state lawmakers should pass the Family Farm Preservation Act to raise the estate tax credit from $4 million to $6 million.
House Bill 2677 was introduced in March 2025 but has failed to advance in the General Assembly.
The governor touted his record on agriculture and said he held a meeting with the Illinois Soybean Association last week.
“I signed an agreement with the Indonesian government that is likely to result in hundreds of millions of dollars more in soybean sales from Illinois farmers,” Pritzker said.
Independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett said he was intentionally left out.
“Excluding the independent candidate from this major policy forum denies Illinois farmers, rural communities, and voters a real choice,” Corbett said in a statement.
Illinois Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy addressed the roundtable on Monday morning.
Tracy said the federal government has spent years operating under extensions of a farm bill written for a different ag economy and without an inflation adjustment.
“I will support a farm bill that protects crop insurance, provides a meaningful farm safety net and gives farmers more certainty when making decisions about planting, equipment financing and the future of their operations,” Tracy said.
Tracy said he supports permanent, year-round access to E15 gasoline nationwide.
“E15 access means another market for Illinois corn, more American-made energy and more choices for consumers,” Tracy said.
The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, did not participate in the event.
Independent candidate Whitfield Harrington Jr. is also on the ballot for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat Nov. 3.
