Clean water advocate and author Chris Jones formally launched his campaign for Iowa secretary of agriculture Thursday with a sharp critique of the state’s farm economy — calling for a “retreat from ethanol” and a fundamental shift in how Iowa produces food in order to improve water quality.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa Democratic governor, held an “Investing in America” town hall Thursday in North Liberty where he highlighted efforts by President Joe Biden’s administration to create additional income opportunities for producers and entrepreneurs.
The Gazette sat down with Matt Gent, a pig farmer from Wellman who in January was named president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the industry,
The Iowa Supreme Court Thursday reversed a longstanding precedent that allowed landowners to sue for damages when a neighboring hog farm causes water pollution or odor problems that affect quality of life.
Democratic gubernatorial challenger Deidre DeJear called for the state to fully fund education from preschool to college and to make at least 30 hours a week of child care available to families. She would support a moratorium on “factory farms” and more funding for Department of Natural Resources water quality efforts.
During a rally at the Iowa Capitol on Monday, a coalition of advocacy organizations called for a moratorium on new factory farms. Elsewhere at the Capitol: Senate Republicans advance changes to Iowa’s unemployment system, including a reduction in the time to receive benefits.
For the second time in four years, an influential nationwide pork dealer has been sanctioned by federal regulators for illegal buying practices that cheated hog sellers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With seven pigs to each Iowan and total pork production in the state up 30 percent in a decade, Iowans …
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