Illinois Farm Bureau’s urban agriculture manager seeks connections for Kane County growers

An Illinois Farm Bureau official told the Kane County Agriculture Committee on May 22 that a new Urban Agriculture program is building a statewide network to connect urban growers, community gardens and food‑access programs with technical and USDA resources.

Liz Repplinger, Urban Agriculture Program Manager with the Illinois Farm Bureau, said she has been in the role about a year and is based in Bloomington. She described the Illinois Urban Growers Network as open to urban farms, community gardens and partner organizations and said the network offers monthly Zoom education sessions on production, business planning and finance. "We do outreach with this network. We have monthly meetings on Zoom where anyone in the network can join, and receive education on kind of a seasonal relevant topic," she said.

Repplinger said the program works in partnership with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Illinois to help connect urban growers to USDA programs. She said the Illinois Farm Bureau is partnering this year with several sites, including Northern Illinois University’s Edible Campus program, to host trainings for urban farmers from across Northern Illinois.

Committee members discussed whether smaller acreage farms near urban areas and community gardens in cities such as Aurora and Elgin fit the program’s definition of urban agriculture. Repplinger and county members noted there is no formal, single definition used locally; the county has seen growth in small acreage farms (under 25 acres) and community garden projects along the Fox River Valley. Committee member Matt (last name not provided in the record) was named as the county point person to stay in contact with the Illinois Farm Bureau program.

Repplinger asked to be connected to Kane County’s Growing for Kane and local food‑access programs; committee members said they would follow up to link local groups to the Illinois Urban Growers Network.