Illinois Declared A Harvest Emergency

The state of Illinois was declared as a Harvest Emergency by Governor Rauner.

What does that mean? Is this a bad thing?

According to the Rochelle News Leader Gov. Rauner declared the state as a Harvest Season Emergency which "is meant to speed up crop transportation from the fields to grain elevators and processing facilities."

That means that "trucks hauling agricultural products are allowed to weigh up to 10 percent over the posted limits on state highways." Which will than "will increase the efficiency of the harvest."

Farmers basically can harvest more and haul more and get it to the grain elevators quickly.

Oh so it's actually a good thing. Whew! That's a relief.

According to Ron Kern, Ogle County Farm Bureau Manager, he said that “By all indications it is looking like we’ve got a sizable crop, particularly in northern Illinois. The Harvest Season Emergency declaration is going to allow us to have more efficiency in transporting these crops... It should hopefully get this crop out in a relatively timely manner. Because of the size, I could see some harvesting delays, but this declaration will help to mitigate that.”

Starting today, September 10th, "farmers and truck drivers may apply to the Illinois Department of Transportation to get a free permit to haul 10 percent over their gross vehicle weight and axle weight limits on state highways.”

Well it's nice to see that Governor Rauner understands and is looking over the farming community and getting the help they need.