Illinois Department of Agriculture Acting Director Philip Nelson is focusing on budget and personnel in his first few weeks on the job. (Carrie Muehling/WJBC)
By Carrie Muehling
SPRINGFIELD – Budget and personnel matters have been front and center for the acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture in his first month on the job.
Seneca farmer Philip Nelson said the governor’s budget proposal includes a cut in general revenue for the department, but he believes it is manageable.
“Everybody is going to have to share the pain with everybody else as we try to balance the books,” said Nelson, who is a former president of the Illinois Farm Bureau. “I applaud him for the job that he’s done on it, and I think agriculture will benefit as quickly as anyone being the number one industry in this state if we can turn around the business climate.”
Nelson said one goal he has is to make Illinois lawmakers and consumers more aware of what the agency really does.
“We need to sell what we do in our agency downtown. A lot of legislators are unaware of what the Department of Ag is about,” said Nelson.
He said that has changed a bit with the advent of medical marijuana, but stressed the department covers much more than that from weights and measures to food safety to marketing.
Nelson’s vision includes a facelift to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, with more consumer focus. He hopes to work with commodity groups and other agencies more closely on a number of issues.
“If you can work behind the scenes with these people, I think you’re going to produce more positive results up front. We’ve already started that process,” said Nelson.
Current priorities are hiring a state fair manager and taking care of other personnel issues. Nelson said the agency will need to further consolidate and streamline things, but updating the technology will help a great deal.
“We’ve got to bring our department up to speed with today’s technology and we’ll be able to do a lot more with less and at the same time, I think, producing a better product at the end of the day,” said Nelson.
Nelson was at the Illinois Beef Expo in Springfield last week.
Carrie Muehling can be reached at [email protected].
