The Illinois State Fair is more than fun and funnel cakes — it’s a celebration of agriculture, youth leadership, and investment in our state’s #1 industry. Senator Doris Turner and Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello talk about upgrades to the fairgrounds, diversity in ag, and what the future holds for FFA, 4-H, and more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Sound of the Stay Podcast.
On Stay Senator George Turner, representing the forty eighth district,
joining me today is the Department of Agriculture Director Costello.
I am so excited to be here with you today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Senator Turner, you're well aware you're one of my favorite people.
I was a Stay representative for nine years, shared ag
in the House for five and a half of those
nine years. In what we've been able to do working
together for the betterment of agriculture, I appreciate you. Happy
to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I am excited. I appreciate you as well. You bring
a real clarity, knowledge and a real passion for agriculture,
and it shows and everything that you have been able
to do, and we've just phenomenal things together. We're getting
ready for the Illinois State Payer, one of my most
favorite things. I grew up on the north end of Springfield,
so that was one of the things that I really
look forward to.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So this is my fifth fair. And if we look
at twenty nineteen, we were at five hundred and eight
thousand attendees. Last year we were at seven hundred and
seventy three thousand attendees has grown leaps and bounds, thanks
in large part to a lot of your support and
to your point the.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Ribbon cutting the parade, it really is a culmination of
a year of hard work, because the work starts probably
two weeks after the fair is over for the next pair,
and when we hit that parade for the next eleven days,
there's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So the grounds look phenomenal. That was one of the
big things that's happened since you've been the director. So
talk a little bit about what's happened out at the fairground.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Sure, and thank you for especially the financial support there.
The Pritzgert administration, working with the legislature, has been able
to put about eighty six million dollars into the Illinois
State Fairgrounds in Springfield under the Capitol bill. Now outside
of that are buildings and grounds crew. Through our own budget,
we've put another probably fifty five million dollars into the fairgrounds.
(01:53):
So about one hundred and thirty million dollars infested into
the grounds. The Colisseum, which is the crown jewel of
the fairgrounds, about thirty million in that renovation, the multiple
Purpose Arena, about eight point six million, probably approaching close
to fourteen million in road resurfacing sidewalks, like ten million
(02:15):
in roof repairs, just so much. There were years of
deferred me and says, you know, it's so much wasn't
done under the previous administration. There were years without a
budget and so many of those buildings went without any work.
And having the fiscal ability to put those new roofs
on repay those roads, it's transformed the fairgrounds in a
way probably that hasn't been done in one hundred years.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
You're absolutely right, And you know, as a kid, I
remember when I would go to the Fear, the only
thing I would think about is the rides, the giant slide,
those kinds of things. But really the Safe Fear is
an agricultural showcase, and we see all of the young
people going around, you know, the FFA kids and the
four h kids. I actually spent a lot of time
in the FFA barn with the animals, those that sit
(03:00):
in with our youth than the livestock shows and those
kinds of things, because there's so much more on the
grounds than just the midway you're keying in on.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Probably my favorite part of this job and that is
youth and agriculture, And honestly, kudos to you and all
the help you've given us to fund youth and agriculture.
Some examples of that the FFA moneies that you were
able to work on to get into the budget. Five
hundred and fifty thousand dollars were on our third year
of that. In about two and a half years, we've
(03:30):
gone from twenty three thousand FFA members to over forty
three thousand FFA members in the state. That's amazing, it's huge.
Another thing that you were able to do is make
sure that fourage hours count for an excused absence in schools.
You know, a lot of people don't realize four age
is something that's done twelve months out of the year.
It's not nine months like the regular school year. So
(03:51):
those kids are constantly working, they take a ton of
time off, and the teachers have to take a ton
of time off and work. So our youth and agriculture
has grown so much much in this state because of
investing back in them. What we've seen, and I think
what you're referring to, we've seen a huge jump in
participation as far as the exhibitors at the fairgrounds. Are
(04:11):
sheep numbers, our goat numbers, those aren't really up even honestly,
things like rabbits have done pretty well, are steer numbers,
so the cattle and swine, they've done well. Also, just
having that next generation involved in the number one industry
in the state of Illinois acts like a twenty six
(04:31):
point four billion dollar economic impact on this state. Five
years ago, when I came into this position, it was
just over seventeen billion. It's grown tremendously in the last
five years.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
That's what I tell everyone. They look at Springfield as
being the state capital, but it really is kind of
an oasis surrounded by farmland. I had a great opportunity
to meet with the leadership of FFA. Those kids were
here that goes probably about thirty of home and just
looking at that group, it was such a diverse There
were a lot of young girls that were in the group.
(05:03):
There were a couple of African American kids that were
in the group. And just to see the leadership of
that organization and their vision for the state and agriculture,
it was really phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So to that point, the minority participation and agriculture, the
monies that have come in to help maybe some of
those kids that couldn't have afforded to participate before. It's
been a big growth and well I'm doing this off
the top of my head, but last year the four
H numbers were up. It's either eleven or thirteen percent.
Over a third of those were minority participation. So just
(05:36):
giving kids a hand up, it's huge and that's going
to translate down the road into new opportunities in agriculture
and will only in my opinion, help us to exceed
even where we're at today.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I think you're absolutely right. And keep in mind the
youth that were here, that was the leadership, so those
kids are like section leaders. The state president was here
and you know that group, but then they were also
all the section presidents were here, so it was really
nice to see that demographic. And I don't want to
do any shay, but the State President is a woman.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It's an incredible time in the Capitol when we have
two African American women sharing House agg and Senateagg. You
and Representative Harper work so well together. The opportunities, the diversity,
it's just been great to see the strides that have
been made in the last three or four years.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And one of the things that I'm really excited about
when we talk about ag and the way that is changing,
is that we have the opportunity working with the youth.
And that's one thing that I absolutely love working with
the kids is that you see the diversity in the
employment opportunities. It's not just farming and digging and planting.
There's all kinds of opportunities. So we get to explore
(06:48):
that with our young people and encourage them to follow
their dream and what they want to do, but see
how that plays into them coming back on that family farm.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
No doubt about it. And there are so many tunities
in agriculture that people don't stop and think about. The
technology aspect of agriculture has changed so much nowadays with
drones and the GPS technology and combines and tractors and
planners and fertilizer. There are so many opportunities for kids
because people who are a little bit older. The average
(07:19):
age of a farmer in the state of Illinois is
about fifty eight and a half. When I came into
this position five years ago, it was about fifty six.
So farmers are for the most part getting older, bringing
that next generation in who can harness and use that
technology is so so important.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I think you're absolutely right. I had the opportunity to
visit the Borgee Pig Farms sure, and I was like,
oh my god, just a technology. I'm like you, I
don't miss around with that at all. I got peper
for that, I got grandkids for that. But you're right.
Technology has taken over just about everything, and we're in
that space. But I'm excited to see the egg community,
(07:58):
in the egg space growing with that technology and not
be lefty.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So phil borgic, I think, is who you're referring to.
It's a great example of a lot of changes that
have taken place and the changes in technology that have
really helped to increase agricultural production. It's a tremendous example
of someone who's been in business for decades and they
are really taking things to a new level.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Absolutely. So, we can't talk about agriculture without talking about
the Illinois Safe there, and we've done that. We can't
talk about agriculture without talking about are you, and we've
done that. But we also have to spend just a
little bit of time talking about our last legislative session
and a few of the things that we were able
to accomplish I think a lot and do some really
(08:43):
meaningful things, which your take on where we were with
the sessions.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So I will tell you just in general, probably my
largest take and again being in this position five and
a half years, is from a budgetary aspect, the priority
that's been put on agriculture by the Pritzgurg administration and
by the legislature, a large part under your leadership as
Chair of Senate agg in extremely tight budgetary times. The
(09:09):
fact that the governor yourself find a way to make
sure that we're still investing in our youth in agriculture,
finding that ag education is still a major priority and
there weren't cuts there. My biggest takeaway from the legislative
session the overall investment by the state into agriculture, whether
you want to talk about the fairgrounds, if you want
(09:30):
to talk about education, youth in agriculture, and honestly industry
in general, it's been fabulous. Five and a half years ago,
when I came into this position, we had two hundred
and ninety nine employees at the Department of Agriculture. We're
at I believe the last count was four hundred and
forty five, so four hundred and forty nine would represent
a fifty percent increase in five years under the Pritzgurge administration.
(09:54):
That's the type of priority it is being put on.
Agriculture are state's number one industry, and I can't thank
you and Governor Pritzker enough for the fact that you
all recognize and keep investing in agriculture to move us forward.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Agriculture is the engine that drives our state, and I
really have been able to see that when I actually
started my political career, I was on the Singamoon County
Board and represented a hybrid district, part in the city,
part in the county, and that's when I really got
a real feel for understanding how important agg is to
this state, because I saw how important it was to
(10:30):
singam the county. And so it is the honor of
my life to be able to cheer the Senate Agriculture
Committee and work alongside Representative Harper and you and the
Pushgri administration to continue to move our state forward. And
we're not just a leader here in the United States,
we're worldwide leader when it comes to egg Congratulations on
(10:50):
the phenomenal job that you were doing as director of
a Congratulations on being able to cut that ribbon on
another phenomenal Illinois State Fair, and I'm ready to get
walking a toss and candy.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Well. I can't thank you enough. Being around politics, my
father was in politics, my grandfather was in politics, obviously
I have been. There's people that talk and make promises,
and there's people that you can judge them by their actions.
And thank you for being a person of action. Your sincerity,
your passion for agriculture, your district in the state. It's
(11:23):
easy to see in your actions, not just your words.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I appreciate that, thank you and look forward to walking
the grounds with you.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Sound of the Stay Podcast.
On Stay Senator George Turner, representing the forty eighth district,
joining me today is the Department of Agriculture Director Costello.
I am so excited to be here with you today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Senator Turner, you're well aware you're one of my favorite people.
I was a Stay representative for nine years, shared ag
in the House for five and a half of those
nine years. In what we've been able to do working
together for the betterment of agriculture, I appreciate you. Happy
to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I am excited. I appreciate you as well. You bring
a real clarity, knowledge and a real passion for agriculture,
and it shows and everything that you have been able
to do, and we've just phenomenal things together. We're getting
ready for the Illinois State Payer, one of my most
favorite things. I grew up on the north end of Springfield,
so that was one of the things that I really
look forward to.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So this is my fifth fair. And if we look
at twenty nineteen, we were at five hundred and eight
thousand attendees. Last year we were at seven hundred and
seventy three thousand attendees has grown leaps and bounds, thanks
in large part to a lot of your support and
to your point the.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Ribbon cutting the parade, it really is a culmination of
a year of hard work, because the work starts probably
two weeks after the fair is over for the next pair,
and when we hit that parade for the next eleven days,
there's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So the grounds look phenomenal. That was one of the
big things that's happened since you've been the director. So
talk a little bit about what's happened out at the fairground.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Sure, and thank you for especially the financial support there.
The Pritzgert administration, working with the legislature, has been able
to put about eighty six million dollars into the Illinois
State Fairgrounds in Springfield under the Capitol bill. Now outside
of that are buildings and grounds crew. Through our own budget,
we've put another probably fifty five million dollars into the fairgrounds.
(01:53):
So about one hundred and thirty million dollars infested into
the grounds. The Colisseum, which is the crown jewel of
the fairgrounds, about thirty million in that renovation, the multiple
Purpose Arena, about eight point six million, probably approaching close
to fourteen million in road resurfacing sidewalks, like ten million
(02:15):
in roof repairs, just so much. There were years of
deferred me and says, you know, it's so much wasn't
done under the previous administration. There were years without a
budget and so many of those buildings went without any work.
And having the fiscal ability to put those new roofs
on repay those roads, it's transformed the fairgrounds in a
way probably that hasn't been done in one hundred years.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
You're absolutely right, And you know, as a kid, I
remember when I would go to the Fear, the only
thing I would think about is the rides, the giant slide,
those kinds of things. But really the Safe Fear is
an agricultural showcase, and we see all of the young
people going around, you know, the FFA kids and the
four h kids. I actually spent a lot of time
in the FFA barn with the animals, those that sit
(03:00):
in with our youth than the livestock shows and those
kinds of things, because there's so much more on the
grounds than just the midway you're keying in on.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Probably my favorite part of this job and that is
youth and agriculture, And honestly, kudos to you and all
the help you've given us to fund youth and agriculture.
Some examples of that the FFA moneies that you were
able to work on to get into the budget. Five
hundred and fifty thousand dollars were on our third year
of that. In about two and a half years, we've
(03:30):
gone from twenty three thousand FFA members to over forty
three thousand FFA members in the state. That's amazing, it's huge.
Another thing that you were able to do is make
sure that fourage hours count for an excused absence in schools.
You know, a lot of people don't realize four age
is something that's done twelve months out of the year.
It's not nine months like the regular school year. So
(03:51):
those kids are constantly working, they take a ton of
time off, and the teachers have to take a ton
of time off and work. So our youth and agriculture
has grown so much much in this state because of
investing back in them. What we've seen, and I think
what you're referring to, we've seen a huge jump in
participation as far as the exhibitors at the fairgrounds. Are
(04:11):
sheep numbers, our goat numbers, those aren't really up even honestly,
things like rabbits have done pretty well, are steer numbers,
so the cattle and swine, they've done well. Also, just
having that next generation involved in the number one industry
in the state of Illinois acts like a twenty six
(04:31):
point four billion dollar economic impact on this state. Five
years ago, when I came into this position, it was
just over seventeen billion. It's grown tremendously in the last
five years.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
That's what I tell everyone. They look at Springfield as
being the state capital, but it really is kind of
an oasis surrounded by farmland. I had a great opportunity
to meet with the leadership of FFA. Those kids were
here that goes probably about thirty of home and just
looking at that group, it was such a diverse There
were a lot of young girls that were in the group.
(05:03):
There were a couple of African American kids that were
in the group. And just to see the leadership of
that organization and their vision for the state and agriculture,
it was really phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So to that point, the minority participation and agriculture, the
monies that have come in to help maybe some of
those kids that couldn't have afforded to participate before. It's
been a big growth and well I'm doing this off
the top of my head, but last year the four
H numbers were up. It's either eleven or thirteen percent.
Over a third of those were minority participation. So just
(05:36):
giving kids a hand up, it's huge and that's going
to translate down the road into new opportunities in agriculture
and will only in my opinion, help us to exceed
even where we're at today.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I think you're absolutely right. And keep in mind the
youth that were here, that was the leadership, so those
kids are like section leaders. The state president was here
and you know that group, but then they were also
all the section presidents were here, so it was really
nice to see that demographic. And I don't want to
do any shay, but the State President is a woman.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It's an incredible time in the Capitol when we have
two African American women sharing House agg and Senateagg. You
and Representative Harper work so well together. The opportunities, the diversity,
it's just been great to see the strides that have
been made in the last three or four years.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And one of the things that I'm really excited about
when we talk about ag and the way that is changing,
is that we have the opportunity working with the youth.
And that's one thing that I absolutely love working with
the kids is that you see the diversity in the
employment opportunities. It's not just farming and digging and planting.
There's all kinds of opportunities. So we get to explore
(06:48):
that with our young people and encourage them to follow
their dream and what they want to do, but see
how that plays into them coming back on that family farm.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
No doubt about it. And there are so many tunities
in agriculture that people don't stop and think about. The
technology aspect of agriculture has changed so much nowadays with
drones and the GPS technology and combines and tractors and
planners and fertilizer. There are so many opportunities for kids
because people who are a little bit older. The average
(07:19):
age of a farmer in the state of Illinois is
about fifty eight and a half. When I came into
this position five years ago, it was about fifty six.
So farmers are for the most part getting older, bringing
that next generation in who can harness and use that
technology is so so important.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I think you're absolutely right. I had the opportunity to
visit the Borgee Pig Farms sure, and I was like,
oh my god, just a technology. I'm like you, I
don't miss around with that at all. I got peper
for that, I got grandkids for that. But you're right.
Technology has taken over just about everything, and we're in
that space. But I'm excited to see the egg community,
(07:58):
in the egg space growing with that technology and not
be lefty.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So phil borgic, I think, is who you're referring to.
It's a great example of a lot of changes that
have taken place and the changes in technology that have
really helped to increase agricultural production. It's a tremendous example
of someone who's been in business for decades and they
are really taking things to a new level.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Absolutely. So, we can't talk about agriculture without talking about
the Illinois Safe there, and we've done that. We can't
talk about agriculture without talking about are you, and we've
done that. But we also have to spend just a
little bit of time talking about our last legislative session
and a few of the things that we were able
to accomplish I think a lot and do some really
(08:43):
meaningful things, which your take on where we were with
the sessions.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So I will tell you just in general, probably my
largest take and again being in this position five and
a half years, is from a budgetary aspect, the priority
that's been put on agriculture by the Pritzgurg administration and
by the legislature, a large part under your leadership as
Chair of Senate agg in extremely tight budgetary times. The
(09:09):
fact that the governor yourself find a way to make
sure that we're still investing in our youth in agriculture,
finding that ag education is still a major priority and
there weren't cuts there. My biggest takeaway from the legislative
session the overall investment by the state into agriculture, whether
you want to talk about the fairgrounds, if you want
(09:30):
to talk about education, youth in agriculture, and honestly industry
in general, it's been fabulous. Five and a half years ago,
when I came into this position, we had two hundred
and ninety nine employees at the Department of Agriculture. We're
at I believe the last count was four hundred and
forty five, so four hundred and forty nine would represent
a fifty percent increase in five years under the Pritzgurge administration.
(09:54):
That's the type of priority it is being put on.
Agriculture are state's number one industry, and I can't thank
you and Governor Pritzker enough for the fact that you
all recognize and keep investing in agriculture to move us forward.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Agriculture is the engine that drives our state, and I
really have been able to see that when I actually
started my political career, I was on the Singamoon County
Board and represented a hybrid district, part in the city,
part in the county, and that's when I really got
a real feel for understanding how important agg is to
this state, because I saw how important it was to
(10:30):
singam the county. And so it is the honor of
my life to be able to cheer the Senate Agriculture
Committee and work alongside Representative Harper and you and the
Pushgri administration to continue to move our state forward. And
we're not just a leader here in the United States,
we're worldwide leader when it comes to egg Congratulations on
(10:50):
the phenomenal job that you were doing as director of
a Congratulations on being able to cut that ribbon on
another phenomenal Illinois State Fair, and I'm ready to get
walking a toss and candy.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Well. I can't thank you enough. Being around politics, my
father was in politics, my grandfather was in politics, obviously
I have been. There's people that talk and make promises,
and there's people that you can judge them by their actions.
And thank you for being a person of action. Your sincerity,
your passion for agriculture, your district in the state. It's
(11:23):
easy to see in your actions, not just your words.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I appreciate that, thank you and look forward to walking
the grounds with you.
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