PEORIA, Ill. – Leaders in business and agriculture in central Illinois are looking for ways to help each other out.
They came together at Peoria’s USDA Agriculture Lab on Tuesday to discuss the latest technologies and research developed at the lab. It’s information that both sides hope can be used by entrepreneurs, businesses, and farmers to help all sides grow in an ag ecosystem.
Morton Economic Development Council CEO Leigh Ann Brown says there’s plenty of resources in central Illinois to help with that ecosystem.
“What advantage we have here in the greater Peoria region for the USDA Ag Lab, to truly, there’s businesses sitting on shelves here to be commercialized and advanced,” Brown said.
Brown says biofuels is one industry that can benefit from an ecosystem involving business and agriculture. She says the partnerships can also help transition farms into the next generation of technology.
Lab Director Todd Ward says everyone can see a benefit from agriculture and business coming together.
“All of us eat, we want our food to be safe and nutritious, and so we’re conducting research to help with that. We also do research that leads to a lot of consumer based goods, like sunscreens or cosmetics, things like that,” Ward said.
Ward says the researchers at the lab are not business people, so developing an ecosystem where everyone can collaborate together can benefit everyone. He says they want to develop research around the needs of an industry, then share their findings with those who can benefit the most from it.
Some of the developments at the forum included sustainable aviation fuels, carbon capture technology, and bioenergy research.
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