Governor JB Pritzker has spent recent months working his way through Illinois farm country, touring grain and cattle operations, promoting fuel-cost relief, and talking up a new low-interest loan program as he campaigns for a third term as governor. The tour has taken him from a 200-year-old farm near Shirley, a town of just 135 people, to a family grain and cattle operation outside Gardner, roughly 70 miles southwest of Chicago.
At Funk Farms in Shirley, a corn, soybean and livestock operation once represented by a young lawyer and future president named Abraham Lincoln, Pritzker told reporters that agriculture drives an enormous part of Illinois' economy and that the state must help farmers weather the storm and get Washington to change course, according to Reuters. At Halpin Farms near Gardner, he toured the grain and cattle operation and joked that he had eaten enough of the farm's black Angus cows, per the same report.
Diesel Relief and a Grain Storage Loan Pilot
The farm visits have come paired with concrete policy moves. On October 7, Pritzker issued an executive order directing IDOR and Illinois State Police to allow on-road use of dyed diesel through year-end, according to Brownfield Ag News. The outlet also reported that farmers were facing high diesel costs.
That same day, the governor and the Illinois Finance Authority announced a pilot loan program offering an anticipated 2% interest rate on portions of loans for farmers building on-farm grain storage and buying related equipment, the Geneseo Current reported. On-farm storage lets farmers hold harvested grain until crop prices improve rather than paying immediate commercial storage and handling fees, per the same outlet.
Tariffs, the Iran War and Soaring Costs
In an interview with Reuters, Pritzker said family farms are going bankrupt and that high diesel prices, the Iran war and trade wars make it nearly impossible for farmers to profit. Trade wars have cut off markets for U.S. soybeans, and the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has caused fuel and fertilizer prices to soar, according to the Reuters report. The White House has said it has strengthened the farm safety net, and the Trump administration is expected to send more than $50 billion to farmers this year, a relief package Reuters notes ranks as the second-largest in U.S. history.
John Bartman told Reuters that farmers are “getting beat up.” Republican nominee Darren Bailey, a third-generation soybean farmer and former state lawmaker, has said Republican administration trade policies and the Iran war have hurt farmers, and that he hopes the Iran conflict ends and that tariffs which should have ended long ago are lifted. Bailey has argued that slashing property taxes and eliminating the estate tax would help farmers more than Pritzker's focus on President Trump.
A Rematch With Echoes of 2022
Pritzker defeated Bailey by about 12 percentage points in 2022, and political forecasters currently give him a solid lead in the rematch, per Reuters. That 2022 result, in which Pritzker won 54.9% of the vote, was the highest vote share for a Democratic governor in Illinois since 1960, according to Ballotpedia, with Pritzker carrying Cook County and nearly all collar counties while Bailey dominated downstate rural counties. No Republican has won statewide office in Illinois since 2014, Reuters reported, and Pritzker has already put $65 million of his own money into his campaign.
A National Audition in Farm Country?
Political scientist Brian J. Gaines told Reuters that Pritzker is auditioning for a future presidential contest, and analysts cited by the wire service describe the farm tour as part of Pritzker cultivating a rural profile ahead of a possible 2028 run. Pritzker himself told Reuters he would not discuss whether he plans to run for president in 2028 and said Democrats should focus on the midterms instead. He is not alone in testing the terrain: Representative Ro Khanna flew to rural Georgia to highlight the impact of tariffs and higher production costs, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to rural Virginia to rally for congressional candidates, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has visited the Midwestern corn belt and the Deep South in recent months. Emanuel told Reuters that Democrats have a political opportunity in rural areas.
Pritzker's national political infrastructure extends well beyond Illinois farm fields. He launched the Ready for the Fight PAC in September, seeded with $20 million of his personal wealth, to support Democratic House candidates in competitive and Republican-leaning congressional districts nationwide, as previously covered by Hoodline's PAC coverage.
Trade Missions and the Stakes for Illinois Agriculture
Pritzker has also worked the trade angle directly. He signed an agreement with Indonesia, the fourth-largest market for U.S. soybeans, to expand agricultural trade in August, and previously led trade missions to Canada and Japan in 2024. Pritzker's Mexico trade mission ran from March 30 to April 2, 2025. Pritzker has acknowledged that a governor can do only so much about federal policy.
Illinois agriculture is a major part of the state's economy.
Whether the farm tour is campaign strategy for November or an early dry run for 2028, Pritzker has made rural Illinois a visible stop on his itinerary this fall.
