The Promise: Iowa farmer who voted for Trump concerned about trade talk

DECORAH - All Bob Hemesath ever wanted to be was a farmer.

He grew up on the northeast Iowa land that his great-grandfather, grandfather and father worked before him, and he never considered doing anything else.

What he didn't know as a boy was that he would use tablet computers and satellite technology to analyze his fields, guide his tractors and deliver precise mixes of fertilizers configured for the exact conditions of each square foot of the 2,500 acres of corn he raises with his brother Ron. Or, that farming would someday take him on trade missions - to Japan, China, Taiwan, Panama and Colombia - or that it would see him at the U.S. Capitol, lobbying members of Congress. That farming would connect with policy and politics.

Though the policy part of his life often finds him in a suit and tie, when he spoke with The Gazette he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, clothes that he would get dirty soon as he prepared his tractors and other equipment for spring planting.

The Hemesath farm is divided into chunks of land spread out over around 40 miles, tucked into the rolling hills of Iowa's Driftless region, near Decorah. He enjoys the tranquillity of the area, far from the chaotic rush of the city.

'I was in Washington, D.C., last week, and if you forced me to live there and fight the traffic every day, I wouldn't be a very happy camper,” he said. 'I've been to a lot of places, but I don't want to live anywhere else.”

He said he likes working outside, in the fields, seeing the changing of the seasons, from the fresh growth of early spring to summer's green bounty to the beauty of fall, when the trees change colors and the corn is ready.

'I just enjoy the rural life, and being out in the country. It's just the beauty of it, just being in nature, just watching crops grow,” he said. 'I love living in rural Iowa.”

The farm is a big operation - not only do Hemesath, 48, and his brother plant and harvest corn, they raise some 35,000 pigs a year. Forty percent of the corn they raise is fed to their pigs.

'You've got to learn how to be a marketer, a mechanic, a truck driver, learn how to take care of animals, how to mix feed, as well as do all the operations, doing all the managing of the operations,” Hemesath said. 'Every day is different.”

That's all in addition to his role as chairman of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, an advocacy body with 7,500 members across the state. Participation in the association is what has sent Hemesath on his international travels. And those travels have reinforced his patriotism.

'I think the biggest thing I take away after those trips is that we might complain about things in the United States, but we've got it pretty good here,” he said. 'We can complain about things that happen, but overall, it's still the best country in the world. It's a great place to live.”

He recalled a trip to China where he saw a man holding a protest sign on the street. The sign was taken away by police.

'We can differ on our opinions here and have a constructive conversation about it, whereas there, you don't get that option,” he said.

Focus on Trade

His travels have also sharpened his focus on trade and trade policy. Like about 51 percent of his fellow Iowans, he voted for President Donald Trump. Now, he watches the president's often scathing pronouncements on NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Agreement - and other international trade issues with trepidation.

'The Trump administration have said they understand the value of trade to agriculture, but some of the ways they're going about things are concerning,” he said in March, shortly after a trip to Washington. 'Ninety-five percent of the world's population lives outside the United States, and we grow a lot of food here. We need to have access to those markets.”

Hemesath was also disappointed when Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership - or TPP - though he points out that Hillary Clinton didn't support the deal either.

'Trade kind of got a bad rap in this last election. Both candidates were kind of bashing trade deals,” Hemesath said. 'It was unfortunate. Whether you liked the TPP or not, it would have been great for agriculture.”

Trade wasn't the only issue Hemesath was voting on during the presidential race. He said Trump was not his top choice, but he did like that he was a Washington outsider and a businessman. And one of Hemesath's major concerns is regulations.

'We as corn growers know the need for regulations, but we also need them to not be over-burdensome,” he said. 'We want them to do what they need to from an environmental or a food-and-safety standpoint, but also allow us the freedom to operate.”

Water Quality

One regulation he points to as burdensome is the 'Waters of the United States” rule, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers in 2015 under President Barack Obama. The Clean Water Act of 1972 gave the government authority to regulate 'navigable” waters, but courts and different government bodies had interpreted that term in widely varying ways. The Waters of the United States rule sought to clarify federal jurisdiction by including tributaries and bodies that connect to bigger waterways covered by the Clean Water Act.

Many farmers complained the Waters rule was overreach, fearing they would face more permitting for actions on their farms relating to small streams. The real world implications of the rule were never tested; in 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a nationwide stay blocking the rule from taking effect. And shortly after taking office, Trump directed the EPA to review the rule and said he was 'paving the way” for its elimination.

Water quality is a big issue in Iowa, meanwhile, and a frequent talking point among the state's policymakers, farmers and environmental advocates. Efforts have been underway for years to reduce Iowa farm runoff's contribution to a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Within the state, concerns over nitrates in drinking water made news last year when the water utility in Des Moines sued drainage districts in three Northern Iowa counties, contending the districts were allowing high levels of nitrates to drain into the Raccoon River, a drinking water source for some 500,000 Iowans. The utility said it needed to invest $80 million to bring the nitrates in the water to safe levels. High nitrate levels in drinking water can lead to 'blue baby syndrome,” which can be fatal to infants.

Earlier this year, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. Iowa's Republican Governor, Terry Branstad, praised the ruling dismissing the lawsuit, while at the same time advocated for a plan to spend nearly $850 million over 12 years to improve Iowa's nitrogen-polluted waters. His bill failed to get approval during the recently concluded state legislative session.

And, efforts to increase conservation practices are a frequent topic of conversation in the farm industry. Adoption of methods to reduce runoff and pollution - like planting cover crops or using no-till methods - has been slower than some environmental advocates would like.

Living Off the Soil

Hemesath said he wants those decisions left to farmers.

'It's like a menu where you have to pull the practices that fit your operation and your soil types and your farm,” he said. 'That's where voluntary efforts of water quality and soil conservation are still the best way to go, because it gives the farmer those options to choose the options that fit his farm the best.”

Still, he says he takes environmental conservation seriously.

'The soil is what we live off. It was here before we got here and it will be here after,” he said. 'I think every farmer who is working with the soil has a deep appreciation for and an understanding of how important it is, and how it needs to be maintained.”

Hemesath doesn't have children, but his brother Ron has three. He hopes they can take over the farm someday and keep it in the family for another generation. One of them, a high school senior, says he wants to farm.

'I want my nieces or nephews to be able to farm if that's what they choose, and I want to leave the farm in a better place than where I started,” he said. 'You know, we live here, we drink the water, we want clean water. We want to do all the things we can to keep it that way.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8434; alison.gowans@thegazette.com

- 'The Promise” is a weekly report from a collaboration between The Gazette, the Monitor in McAllen, Texas, the Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio, and The Big Roundtable. Journalists are sharing tales of people in their communities as they tell of three cities in the age of Trump. Catch up at thebigroundtable.com.