Action Needed on Iowa Senate Ag. Bill
By the IFU
Urgent action is needed to
influence members of the Senate Ag Committee to get three bills out of
committee and onto the Senate floor where they can be debated and voted
on. There is a Senate Ag Committee meeting this afternoon.
Please contact your Senator on the Ag Committee TODAY or as many as you
like (include Gronstal) to let them know that you support these bills,
which not only will protect the independent hog producer but also work
to return the rights of rural families and farmers in Iowa.
THE SENATE SWITCHBOARD NUMBER IS (515) 281-3371. If you can't get through, please leave a short message.
Also contact GOVERNOR CULVER'S OFFICE: (515) 281-5211.
Bills:
1.) SF 10 (Bio-Security Bill): If passed, this bill will establish firm
separation distances between farrowing units and other animal
confinements. This bill is important because it will help return an
important $1 billion industry to Iowa. Due to the increased number of
confinements being built across the state and thus the increased
concentration, Iowa has become an epicenter of disease in the livestock
(especially hog) industry.
In a recent interview, the newly
elected President of the Iowa Pork Producers Association openly
admitted that it is hard to establish farrow hogs in Iowa because of
the density of nearby large confinements that spread disease. Now their
lobbyists are actively
working against a bill that would protect
farrowing units and help young farmers get started in raising hogs. We
wonder where their true loyalties are?
2.) SSB 1140 (Master
Matrix Bill): This study bill tightens the requirements on confinement
operators to fill out all portions of the matrix and also attain a
passing score in each of the following three areas: air quality, water
quality, and communities.
Tightening the matrix is an
important first step to returning clean air, clean water and healthy
rural communities back to Iowa, currently those with a D - can get a
passing grade (440 out of 880).
3.) SSB 1165 (Supervisor
Committee Bill): This study bill calls for the county board of
supervisors to appoint a five-person committee with staggered five-year
terms that will review the all applications for the construction of new
confinements. The committee is to be made up of the county's
environmental health officer, a commissioner of soil and water
conservation, a real estate broker, a city/town resident, a farmer
engaged in livestock operations.
The board shall make its decision to accept or reject the proposed operation based on the results of the master matrix.
While none of these are perfect bills, we believe that they are a
reasonable compromise that can be achieved between the livestock
industry and the health and property concerns of rural residents and
all Iowans during this legislative session.
We urge you to
contact the following Senators who sit on the Senate Ag Committee and
help influence them to make the right decision on these important
matters. (If you don't a Farm Bureau and Pork Producer lobbyist gladly
will.)
Democrats
Senator: Tom Rielly (Vice Chair of Agriculture Committee)
Home Town: Oskaloosa
Counties: Iowa, Keokuk, Mahaska, Poweshiek, Tama
Senator: Dennis Black
Home Town: Grinnell
Counties: Jasper, Polk
Senator: Thomas Courtney
Home Town: Burlington
Counties: Des Moines, Louisa, Muscatine
Senator: Tom Hancock
Home Town: Epworth
Counties: Delaware, Dubuque, Jones
Senator: Rich Olive
Home Town: Story City
Counties: Hamilton, Story, Webster, Wright
Senator: Dr. Joes Seng
Home Town: Davenport
Counties: Scott
Senator: Staci Appel
Home Town: Ackworth
Counties: Dallas, Madison, Warren
Republicans
Senator: David Johnson (Ranking Member)
Occupation: Hired Hand on a Dairy Farm
Home Town: Ocheyedan
Counties: Clay, Dickinson, O'Brien, Osceola, Sioux
Senator: Nancy Boettger
Home Town: Harlan
Counties: Adair, Audubon, Cass, Guthrie, Pottawattamie, Shelby
Senator: Thurman Gaskill
Home Town: Corwith
Counties: Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hancock, Winnebago, Worth
Senator: Hubert Houser
Home Town: Carson
Counties: Fremont, Mills, Paige, Pottawattamie
Senator: Dave Mulder
Home Town: Sioux Center
Counties: Sioux, Lyon
Senator: John Putney
Home Town: Gladbrook
Counties: Emmet, Humboldt, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Webster
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Wednesday, February 21
Action Needed on Iowa Senate Ag. Bill
by
Sam Garchik
on Wed 21 Feb 2007 09:18 AM CST
Wednesday, February 7
Iowa’s Local Food Systems: A Place to Grow Report Shows Iowa Can Benefit if Iowans Buy Locally
by
Sam Garchik
on Wed 07 Feb 2007 08:00 AM CST
Iowa’s Local Food Systems: A Place to Grow Report Shows Iowa Can Benefit if Iowans Buy Locally
by the Iowa Policy Project Iowans can boost their economy by producing more food to sell locally, a new report shows. “Iowa’s leaders need to implement policies that encourage profitable local food systems,” said Teresa Galluzzo, co-author of the report and a research associate for the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project. “Research shows the state’s economy would benefit.” Galluzzo and Laura Krouse, a Cornell College biology instructor, examined the potential for local food systems in Iowa and their impacts, and how policy makers could encourage this developing industry. They cited a recent study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture that projected the impact if Iowans met 25 percent of their demand for 37 different fruits and vegetables with products grown in Iowa. The study found the net value added to the state’s economy would be almost $140 million in sales, $54 million in workers’ income and over 2,000 jobs. “Not only are there benefits specifically for Iowa farmers, there are environmental, health, social and security benefits for all Iowans,” said Krouse, who surveyed many Iowa local food producers and consumers. “The primary recommendation I heard again and again is that Iowa needs to increase financing for local producers through small targeted loans and cost share for beginning farmers as well as farmers transitioning to local production,” Krouse said. She said it is vital for the state to “increase the market access for local producers by helping to establish marketing networks and fostering links between producers and distributors.” Other recommendations include: -- Support for programs that provide technical assistance to producers; -- Grants for processing infrastructure throughout the state; and -- Making local food systems a state priority through measures such as purchase preferences and developing an “Iowa Grown” label. “Strong local food systems can make Iowa a better state. Policymakers at all levels from school board officials to state legislators can get started by recalling the previous state slogan, ‘A Place to Grow,’ and making it apply to the food Iowans eat,” Galluzzo said. Krouse added the state would particularly benefit from policies that target help to “young farmers and farmers with middle-sized operations that are being squeezed by globalization and market consolidation.” The full report is available at www.iowapolicyproject.org. The Iowa Policy Project (IPP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and analysis organization based in Mount Vernon. IPP reports cover a broad range of topics, most in the areas of economic opportunity, energy and the environment, and tax and budget issues. |
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