By WJBC Staff

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner is signing a package of bills in honor of Agriculture Day at the Illinois State Fair.

Some of the bills are designed to reduce regulations and cut red tape within the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Another makes corn the official state grain.

“They might think nothing of that, but let me say, corn is the core of agriculture in Illinois, frankly in America,” Rauner said. “We are the corn capital of America and America is the corn capitol of the world.

Another bill strives to improve ag education in Illinois and attract quality ag teachers.

“We need to do everything we can to identify, recruit and retain outstanding educators who specialize in agriculture,” Rauner said. “We need to train our young people. There are going to be tens of thousands of good-paying careers in agriculture in the coming years and we need to make sure our that young people are education and trained to be able to take advantage of those good-paying careers.”