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Farming has always played a productive role in the Kankakee County’s economic engine, and the County Board wanted to emphasize the importance of agriculture in the county.
In Kankakee County, approximately 72% of the land is dedicated to farming, and agriculture generates 17% of the local economy, according to the Kankakee County Farm Bureau. Roughly one in 12 jobs in the county is tied to agriculture.
In Tuesday’s County Board meeting, it unanimously approved a resolution that “recognizes the value agriculture contributes to our county and that the rural way of life is the backbone of our county.”
The board’s resolution also pointed out that Illinois is home to 71,000 farms, 96% of which are family owned. Kankakee County accounts for 738 of those farms, totaling 322,007 acres.
In addition, agriculture supports 6,184 jobs in the county, which is an estimated 11% of the total. Agriculture and related businesses generate a total sales output of $367.5 million.
“The Kankakee County Board acknowledges and supports agriculture within our county,” according to the resolution. “The jobs created, taxes generated, technologies embraced and environmental practices implemented by farmers make agriculture a valuable industry within our county.”
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Board Chairman Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand thanked Korbin Collins, manager of the Kankakee County Farm Bureau, for bringing it to his attention.
“We appreciate the farmers here in Kankakee County, and we’ll pray for a little rain but not too much,” he said.
Road use agreement
The board also approved a resolution authorizing a road use agreement between the county and Illinois Generation LLC.
The agreement is related to Illinois Generation’s construction of the ComEd Essex substation.
Illinois Generation intends to use county roads to construct the substation and ancillary facilities to handle solar and wind farm projects in that area.
The company “has provided to the county engineer a construction plan for the project that shows the approved haul route to the site and construction access roads,” according to the resolution.