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Monday, August 23
Fairfield, Iowa Mayor Shaking Things Up (In A Good Way)
by
Jay Mattsson
on Mon 23 Aug 2010 08:05 AM CDT
Fairfield Mayor Shaking Things Up (In A Good Way)
 Democrablog
Top 20 Small Town Mayors Shaking Things Up (In a Good Way)
"If you live in a small town, then you may know your mayor personally. While we don’t know the following mayors personally (most of whom are elected, not public administrators), we chose these individuals as the top 20 small town mayors because they seem to be shaking up their towns in a good way with more jobs, better infrastructure and/or a positive interactive government.
This list is not, by far, the total account of top small-town mayors in this country. It is a broad representation from across twenty random states. The mayors are listed in order of town size, which is noted in parenthesis after each mayor’s name. [click here for the complete list]
#14. Ed Malloy (9,509) is mayor of Fairfield, Iowa, named by Mother Earth News as one of the 12 Great Places You’ve Never Heard Of.
Fairfield hosts an Eco-Fair every year, and has the most homes with solar energy or other green building features in Iowa. The county has the most acres of organic cultivation in the state and many small businesses thrive here."
In 2006 Fairfield was voted one of Iowa's Great Places. In 2003 they were named "The Most Entrepreneurial Community in America (10,000 population and under)" by the National Association of Small Communities and in 2004, "Iowa's Most Entrepreneurial Community."
Mayor Malloy:
"Fairfield is a community of people who share a deep sense of pride in our past, the traditions that sustain us, and the activities that create our future. We are in many ways an over achieving bunch, who consider ourselves fortunate to have such a rich community to build upon...We value good government, good schools and educational opportunities, healthy living, recreation, arts and culture."
Blog for Iowa congratulates Mayor Ed Malloy and the Fairfield community on their progressive achievements.
Tracy Kurowski's Labor Update will be back next Monday.
Wednesday, June 23
Iowa To Be Affected By Largest Slaughterhouse Ever
by
Molly Regan
on Wed 23 Jun 2010 08:00 AM CDT
Iowa To Be Affected By Largest Slaughterhouse Ever
 by Molly Regan
"...the tip of the environmental disaster iceberg"
Several miles from where the John Deere Classic golf tournament is held in Rock Island county Illinois, is the proposed location of a hog slaughterhouse. This slaughterhouse is slated to kill 16,000 pigs a day.
The result would bring nearly 250 semis a day from all around western Illinois and across the seven bridges that span the Mississippi River from Clinton to Davenport, IOWA. Hog waste, flies, mosquitoes, noise and light pollution, air filled with hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are just the tip of the environmental-disaster iceberg.
At the proposed site are four wetlands according to an employee at the Army Corps of Engineers. These wetlands act like a sponge. They help keep the Rock River from flooding worse than it already does, and at times, that can be quite extensive. Just ask someone who lives in Barstow or along Barstow Road. With these wetlands filled in, the flooding will increase. The Rock River flooded in February of 2009 after an early thaw and then iced over again.
Nearby, in IOWA, the rural country side will be riddled with an explosion of CAFO's small to huge to feed the appetite of those in Japan. It was reported several years ago by Triumph Foods that this proposed slaughterhouse would supply over 20% of its product to the Japanese. So, Iowa and Illinois are supposed to become the sewer for Japan so that Triumph can bring them meat that they don't raise. We are already the sewer for ourselves, the Mississippi, and for the Gulf of Mexico.
Infrastructure from bridges, interstates, primary and secondary roads including gravel roads, will need more maintenance...Who will pay for that? Not Triumph. You and I.
The last Friday in September 2006 on Highway 67 just north of LeClaire, IOWA a truck filled with animal parts and waste had an accident & spilled its load. Le Claire firefighters had to wash it off the highway. They washed it into a ditch about 100' feet from the Mississippi River. Guess where some of that ended up eventually?
On a late November day in 2004 when there were 30-40 mile an hour winds from the north, I could smell the stench of pig waste in Moline and knew the closest confinement was over five miles away, but still close enough for its smell to move miles.
It travels and it will travel to you. To your home, to the inside of your vehicle with your children as you travel across Scott county in Iowa or Rock Island county in Illinois. It will find you outside at a fair or a friend's graduation. Often one of the local bridges is backed up or closed for construction or an accident.
Hope you are not stuck on a bridge with one of these semis, loaded or unloaded. It will be too late then to speak out regarding this monstrosity when your nose and lungs are burning.
The John Deere Classic will go away. Every event in the Quad City area will be affected. Do you think over 10,000 runners will still want to navigate Brady Street Hill in Davenport for the Bix Beiderbecke Run while trying to catch their breath from pig fumes? It's a matter of physics & chemistry.
If this is built, they will go away.
We rest in a lowered elevation here along the beautiful Mississippi River Valley region. Our air will fill in with stench. You will have to keep your windows shut more often. The waste will be along our roads and the asthma causing toxins will fill the air.
This slaughterhouse will NOT cause economic development, it will cause people to move away.
One of the businesses that follows slaughterhouses is a semi wash. There was one built in a small IOWA town. It was so overused, it caused animal waste to come up into residents' washing machines and toilets.
This past year in a different state, waste from a livestock semi ended up on a highway, and children were injured when their school bus slid thru the * # * %
The hydrogen sulfide and ammonia and other toxins given off when hog waste accumulates in pits beneath the confinements, are extremely harmful to those who breath them in. According to Dr. Kaye Kimball in his book "Chemical Brain Injury," he (yes, he's a he) says hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from animal waste cause disorientation, memory loss and death.
Please contact your elected officials. Triumph foods wants their loan for this awful project to be backed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in case they default. If this backing is approved by the USDA, and if Triumph goes under or defaults, who will pay for it?...You and I, the taxpayers.
Certain business people want government regulators off their back, but the next day, they have an open, outstretched palm for a government subsidy or guarantee. Regulations should trump all.
This type of business and the CAFOs that follow, are not sustainable. They do not support the small independent family farmers.
When Triumph built its slaughterhouse in St. Joseph, Missouri, many were brought in from outside the area to build it. These are just several reasons why other citizens protested loudly when Triumph came to their town to try to build. Triumph was told ... NO!.
Read David Kirby's new book "Animal Factory" as he traces the true stories of how hog confinements robbed people of their livelihood and health. "Empire Of The Pigs" by Donald Bartlett & James Steele has excellent informational background on these confinements and their effects on people. Bartlet & Steele's articles appeared in Time magazine in 1998.
These award winning writers will tell you what happens when a slaughterhouse moves near or into a community.
This is our community. This is our playground.
Tell Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, NO to a
loan guarantee for Triumph. Call Vilsack's DC office at the USDA
202-720-3631.
Tell your elected officials to say NO!
And, tell Triumph...NO!Molly
Regan, activist extraordinaire, environmental facilitator, elected
official, and member of Progressive Action for
the Common Good in the Quad Cities. Don't forget to CPR...Conserve/Participate/Recycle
Tuesday, March 9
Health Care Reform Update: Covering the Uninsured in Iowa (and Illinois) is a Moral Issue
by
Alta Price
on Tue 09 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
Health
Care Reform Update: Covering the Uninsured in Iowa (and Illinois) is a Moral Issue
 by Alta Price, M.D.
Spring brings Cover the Uninsured Week, March 14 – 20, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I wrote about it last year, and you can read my post with more details here.
Check out the state-specific information for Iowa here. About 92 percent of Iowans can get health care when they need it, although if you scroll down the page for details you’ll see this is based on data collected in 2005-2006. With the poor economy, I assume more than 8 percent of Iowans today can not get health care when they need it. (The number of Illinois residents that can get health care when they need it is about 88 percent.)
For those of us on the left, health care is a right, and making sure everyone in the richest country in the world has access to health care is a moral issue. Since Americans share values of fairness, equity, and compassion for the less fortunate, our leaders should be making a stronger argument from a moral framework. I’ll quote this David Ignatius column from the Washington Post How Obama can shift the health-care debate:
Here’s what I want Obama to say: A just society assures its citizens’ basic needs. It protects their “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” irrespective of the circumstances they were born into. Citizenship in a great country should not be a DNA lottery, or a case of survival of the richest. A nation has a moral obligation to care for its people, and if it fails to do so, it is a lesser country.
Both the Senate and House health care reform bills that have passed Congress extend coverage to millions who are currently uninsured – a major step towards a more just society.
If you look at polls, like this Pew Research Center poll from January, you will see that only 26% of self-identified Republicans, versus 75% of Democrats and 41% of Independents, think providing health insurance to the uninsured is a “top priority.” Of course there is much more to the bill that Republicans and Independents will like, but they really don’t care about the 30 million people who will finally get health insurance if this bill passes.
Tell your Republican friends that health care security is a major benefit of the health care reform bills for those currently insured. Just because you have insurance today does not mean you will have it tomorrow.
Without reform more employers will drop coverage.
Without reform if you lose your job because of a serious illness, you may not be able to afford to keep your insurance even for the limited period of time you are entitled to continue participating in your employer’s plan under COBRA.
Without reform people who get sick, or have a seriously ill family member, will continue to be dropped by their insurer.
Without reform people with pre-existing conditions will not be able to get health insurance if they want to start a small business or work for an employer who doesn’t provide insurance. Most of the people who go bankrupt because of health care expenses actually have health insurance.
Without reform, people with health insurance will continue to face financial ruin when they use up the annual or lifetime limits of their policy, or discover their insurance is junk insurance when they try to get the care they need. (See also this excellent editorial from the New York Times – If Reform Fails).
So even if your Republican friends don’t care about the 22,000 – 45,000 Americans who die every year due to lack of insurance, this bill may save their life some day should they have the misfortune of becoming ill or losing their job when they already have a pre-existing condition. (Note: The number of deaths varies depending upon the study/methodology.)
For those who do care, the Health Care Reform Issue Forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good, together with the Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care, will be having a “die-in” on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at noon. We are having the event in Rock Island, Illinois (we are a bi-state progressive community) at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 4501 7th Ave.
We will be using some of our Handprints for Health Care panels to depict the number of people who die every day from lack of insurance. Some participants will further dramatize the plight of the uninsured by “dying” – crumpling to the ground. The “die-in” will be videotaped and put up at YouTube. (If you want to come and be in the video, arrive at 11:30 am, dressed in black, for the rehearsal!)
Next week I’ll bring the link to the YouTube video along!
Alta
Price is a physician practicing Pathology in Davenport, Iowa. One of
the original Deaniacs, she stays involved with Democracy for America,
Iowa, and the Quad Cities. She advocates for quality, affordable health
care for all, primarily as a volunteer with Progressive Action for the
Common Good (Health Care Reform Issue Forum). Watch for Dr. Price's Health Care Reform Update every Tuesday here on Blog for Iowa. E-Mail Alta Price
Monday, March 8
Immigrant Rights and American Values: Postville, Iowa Revisited
by
Tracy Kurowski
on Mon 08 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
Immigrant Rights and American Values: Postville, Iowa Revisited
by Tracy Kurowski
[A
week of discussion on the Postville raids begins tonight. See schedule
below.]
Are we as a Nation willing to accept mass raids, arrests and
the detainment of human beings in a cattle warehouse, as an American
value?
It’s been almost two years since Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) committed what was then the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history at the Agriprocessors Plant in Postville, Iowa. Nine hundred officers from ICE swept into the Jewish kosher slaughterhouse arresting 390 men, women and children who worked at the plant, 306 of whom were ultimately held for prosecution.
The raid was so large that by the next day, one third of the town had disappeared, and in the days that followed, general panic ensued. American born children of the immigrants, as well as the undocumented, failed to show up to school for fear of arrest. Hundreds of men, women and children sought sanctuary in St. Bridget’s Catholic Church. Still others simply fled town.
Mothers who were released by ICE so they could care for their unattended children, were forced to wear ankle bracelets and remain under house arrest. Those women were prevented from working and could no longer provide for their families. They depended on the mercy of St. Bridget’s and others who provided charity so they and their children could eat. Stores were closed down across the small town, and school administrators and city officials began to wonder how they were going to pay their bills, now that the number of students and residents had declined overnight.
After the raid, ICE bused the arrested en masse to be detained and to appear before a federal magistrate at an ad hoc facility set up at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo. County officials later claimed they were misled about the nature of the use of their fairgrounds, where later that year cattle would be brought for the perennial rural American county fair tradition. County officials were led to believe that Homeland Security was going to use the fairgrounds for training exercises.
What instead happened was as shocking then as it remains today. Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, who was one of the federal interpreters hired to work at the subsequent arraignments held at the Waterloo National Cattle Congress, will return to Eastern Iowa this week to discuss his experiences. Before his very eyes, Dr. Camayd-Freixas saw mostly indigenous Guatemalans brought in groups of ten to be tried for not only the civil offense of illegal immigration, but for the much more serious criminal charge of identity theft:
"Driven single-file in groups of ten, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before being marched out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of ten." Link
Thanks to the organizing efforts of the six congregations of Catholic Sisters and colleges and universities in our region, Dr. Camayd-Freixas will lead a discussion titled, Immigrant Rights and American Values.
The presentations are all free, open to the public and pre-registration is not required:
Monday, March 8th: The Canticle, 841 13th Ave. North, Clinton, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 9: University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls: 2:00 p.m. in the UNI Center for Multicultural Education (109 Maucker Union) and 7:00 p.m. at St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center (1019 W. 23rd St.).
Wednesday, March 10: Noon at Iowa City Foreign Affairs Council and at 7:00 pm. at Mount Mercy College at Basile Hall, Flaherty Community Room, 1330 Elmhurst Drive, Cedar Rapids.
Thursday, March 11: Clarke College, Jansen Music Hall in the Atrium, 1550 Clarke Drive, Dubuque, 7 p.m.
When he spoke out about the miscarriage of justice, Dr. Camayd-Freixas did something rare among professional interpreters. But what he witnessed so moved him that within months he had written a profound essay. He also wrote an OPED for the New York Times, directing national attention to the events in Eastern Iowa that the press had already since forgotten. He has since written more essays and appeared before Congress to answer questions raised about the raid.
Regardless of how one feels about immigration, what occurred in the days after the ICE raid in Postville and the damage done to the entire community since – to both the American born and the immigrants – is a shameful episode in how not to deal with American immigration.
It’s hard to imagine with the degraded nature of civic discourse today, that our country is in any mood to deal with immigration. Health care hangs in the balance, job losses continue to drive more and more families to the brink of poverty, and the two wars we fight on the other side of the planet continue to drain resources, cause untold deaths and return soldiers home with physical and emotional scars.
Yet this is a discussion that as a country of immigrants, in a world where gym shoes and television sets have more rights to cross borders than human beings, we have no choice but to bring into the light of day. Ignoring the issue won’t make it go away, but it may encourage other heartless bureaucrats to repeat the horrors of May 12, 2008.
Are we as a nation willing to accept mass raids and arrests, and detainment of human beings in a cattle warehouse, as an American value?
Tracy
Kurowski has been active in the labor movement
for ten years, first as a member of AFSCME 3506, when she taught adult
education classes at the City Colleges of Chicago. She moved to the
Quad Cities in 2007 where she worked as political coordinator with the
Quad City Federation of Labor, and as a caseworker for Congressman
Bruce Braley from 2007 - 2009.
Tracy Kurowski writes a labor update every
Monday on Blog for Iowa
Thursday, December 3
Hunger in Iowa
by
cathy lafrenz
on Thu 03 Dec 2009 05:00 AM CST
Hunger in Iowa
 by Cathy Lafrenz
It is the week after Thanksgiving and most of us have stuffed ourselves with turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie. We have had turkey sandwiches, turkey casseroles and pecan pie for breakfast. We are full and now we are searching for the next hip diet that promises 10 pounds lost in 2 days. That is many of us ....... not all of us.
This week of feasting and celebrating the harvest brings some very disturbing news. Iowa farmers feed the nation. Yet almost a half a million Iowans don't have enough food. Almost a half a million Iowans wonder when their next meal will be. Over a quarter of a million Iowans are on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) formerly, food stamps.
In this land of plenty ...... all I can see ..... is plenty of hungry people.
Forty percent of all infants born in Iowa receive WIC assistance. Forty percent of our babies don't have enough to eat.
Between June 2008 and June 2009 - the number of Iowans using food pantries has increased 24%!
Right now, Iowa ranks 21st in food security. For the last year, almost 15% of Americans have been deemed food insecure. The nationwide trend is not growing but exploding as noted by this New York Times report.
And the face of hunger is changing. It is our neighbors. Our friends. It could be you. It could be me.
Look around you. 1 in every 8 Americans is getting food assistance. Go to a school ......... 1 in every 4 children are getting assistance.
I live in Scott County. Look on the numbers on the map. There has been a 22% increase in SNAP use in 2 years!
Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas. One day. $450 billion.
It is time to trade consumerism for compassion.
In this land of plenty. In this year of a record-harvest..... we should not have hunger in Iowa. Please find it in your heart to give to place like this. 25% of all Iowa children will thank you.
Cathy
Lafrenz is a regular contributor for Blog for Iowa on the topic of
food. She serves on the board of the Quad-Cities chapter of Buy Fresh-Buy Local. She raises hens for egg production and is Animal Welfare Approved. In
her spare time she advocates for health care reform, spins yarn, and
knits every pair of socks she wears. Check out her blog, Miss Effie's Diary
Sunday, November 29
Iowa Doesn't Have to Stink
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 29 Nov 2009 05:00 AM CST
Iowa Doesn't Have to Stink
The following is reprinted with permission from the author, an Iowa traveller from Missouri, who posted this e-mail on a list-serve we are on, explaining why she decided to write a letter to Governor Culver. Below that, we have posted the actual letter to Culver. (While there is some overlap in content, we wanted you to see both).
Here is the e-mail to the group:
I was up in Spring Valley, WI this past weekend for a MOSES Board meeting and drove up through Iowa from Missouri, taking 63, 163 then I-35 north of Des Moines. I love driving into Iowa from northern Missouri - suddenly there are no billboards and the gentle rolling hills are gorgeous.
But the stretch of I-35 north of Des Moines was so rank from the smell of hog manure, that I felt compelled to write to the Governor as soon as I got home.
I thought of all those people who had to live in the stench, and how going outside to enjoy nature, let alone exercise must be impossible. I'm sure their property values have plummeted as well. The only thing that seems to have saved some (sadly, not all) communities in Missosuri facing CAFO encroachment, has been local control, and the politically pro-active, Missouri Rural Crisis Center. John Ikerd says that when communities get desperate for income, they invite a CAFO, waste dump or prison to set up shop.
I know how beautiful many parts of Iowa are and I don't mean to be "negative" about your home state - but I was most troubled by the destruction of the "common good."
I wanted you to see the email I sent to the Governor (copied below).
P.S. the Missouri Rural Crisis Center has created a wonderful document titled: Don't believe the Hogwash about CAFOs. If you haven't already seen it, perhaps you'll find it helpful as we continue to fight this battle for justice.
Melinda
Dear Governor Culver,
I am on the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Services Board and I traveled this weekend from Columbia, MO to Spring Valley, WI for one of our bi-annual meetings. My route to the meeting took me through IA, on highways, 63, 163, and I-35. Normally, I enjoy driving into IA from highway 63 - Iowa is breathtakingly free of billboard blight. However, when we left Des Moines, and headed north on I-35, I became increasingly angry over the truly repulsive air quality. That entire stretch of highway had an unpleasant stench from hog manure. I wonder how Iowa's political leaders can allow that kind of air pollution to destroy what could be a beautiful driving experience through an otherwise lovely state.
It is so sad that concentrated hog production has contributed to the destruction of the common good in Iowa - clean air and water. I will try my best to never drive that stretch of highway again in order to avoid the sickening stench.
Surely this can't be good for tourism. Surely, this must erode citizens' property values. Surely, this must add to your state's public health costs. Our Missouri Rural Crisis Center has calculated that just as much pork can be produced on smaller, more biodiverse farms that naturally incorporate animal waste back into the land, without the stench and pollution.
I hope your state's leaders are able to find a way out of this terrible predicament and sickening stench that threatens to harm Iowa's image.
I don't believe we can afford the "cheap" meat that the owners of these hog confinements promise.
Sincerely,
Melinda Hemmelgarn, M.S., R.D.
Melinda Hemmelgarn is formerly the Director of the Nutrition Communications Center at the University of Missouri - Columbia, and currently, an independent freelance speaker, writer, and nutrition/health consultant. Melinda asked to be contacted if we ever need a testimonial. So, put her info. in your e-rolodex. Check out her blog, Food Sleuth. You can also listen to Food Sleuth Radio Thursdays at 5:00 pm Central via livestream at KOPN Community Radio
Wednesday, November 18
Meet Francis Thicke - Progressive Democrat for Iowa Agriculture Secretary
by
Jay Mattsson
on Wed 18 Nov 2009 05:00 AM CST
 Meet Francis Thicke - Progressive Democrat for Iowa Agriculture Secretary
by Jay Mattsson
I’ve known Francis Thicke and his wife, Susan, for over 30 years, and I can testify that he is the real deal. Francis is running for Agriculture Secretary because he has a sincere impulse to engage in public service for the sake of improving Iowa. Interviewing Francis gave me a chance to experience his brilliant grasp of complex, pressing issues. Francis has the best mix of qualifications, knowledge and experience that I could hope for in a progressive Democrat seeking to be Iowa’s Agriculture Secretary. I’ve come away from this interview convinced that he’s a viable candidate who has the integrity, humility and wisdom this state needs.
BFIA: Francis, I went to your [campaign] website and I found a lot of really interesting things about your background. It said that you got your master’s degree in Soil Science and a PhD in Agronomy with a Soil Fertility specialty, and after completing that PhD, you worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC and served as National Program Leader for Soil Science at the USDA - Extension Service, then you returned to full-time farming in 1992. So, tell us about that transition from working for government to going back to private farming.
Thicke: It was an interesting transition, Jay. As a matter of fact, my colleagues at USDA rolled their eyes and wondered out loud how somebody who worked for USDA as a bureaucrat could actually go farm, and some of them were taking bets about how long I'd make it. It was really interesting working at USDA in Washington because, in my position, I had the opportunity to travel around the country a lot and see agriculture in the West, the South, the Northeast, and all across the country, as well as in Europe. So, I learned a lot. I learned a lot, too, about how government works and how USDA in particular works, so it was an interesting experience. Coming back to the farm was an interesting transition. But it was like riding a bicycle, once you've been farming you remember what you've done and it was easy to get back to it again.
BFIA: Tell us about the farming background you had growing up and how did you come to know dairy farms?
Thicke: I grew up on a farm in a family of nine children. The farm was mostly dairy when I was young but we also had hogs, chickens and other animals — including sheep and ducks, at times. Over time our family’s farm became more specialized in dairy production, so I learned dairy first-hand from the family. However, the first time I went to college, I got a degree in music and philosophy. I then came back to work on the family farm for nine years. So I had quite a bit of full-time farming experience before going off to graduate school.
BFIA: Speaking of experience, I saw on your website that you have been appointed to many different boards. It said you served on the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, the Iowa Food Policy Council, and the Iowa Organic Standards Board. Can you talk about being appointed to those and who appointed you to those?
Thicke: Those were all appointments by governors, two by Governor Vilsack and one by Governor Branstad. Probably the most interesting experience was serving on the Environmental Protection Commission. The EPC, as it’s called, is a nine-member citizen commission that has oversight over the Department of Natural Resource’s environmental programs. Serving on the EPC was an interesting experience. Probably the most interesting times had to do with the controversies over Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs as they are called. Frequently we had to deal with conflicts between people in the countryside who had been living there, often for their whole lives, and people who wanted to build a CAFO close by those residences. We heard a lot of first-hand accounts of people who said their quality of life was compromised, their health was compromised, their property values were reduced, and so on. The EPC sometimes was in the position of making a determination of whether or not a permit would be issued for the construction of a new CAFO.
BFIA: And also in terms of qualifications, I’m always interested to see what kinds of things a person could bring to a position like Secretary of Agriculture in Iowa. It says here [on the Thicke campaign website] that you served in other positions, like the USDA State Technical Committee, the Scientific Congress on Organic Agriculture Research, the Iowa State University Extension Advisory Committee, the Organic Farming Research Foundation Board of Directors, the Governing Council of the Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture Research, and the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service Board of Directors. What kind of experiences do you remember from those advisory boards that will help you in being the Secretary of Agriculture?
Thicke: I have had a lot of great opportunities to serve on boards and commissions and committees — and it has helped me to see how government works, and how private, non-governmental organizations work. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet people from all across the country through some of these experiences, so it’s been very good and has helped broaden my perspective in a lot of ways. I still serve on some of them now, but I have been getting off some boards as I’ve been trying to gear up my campaign for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.
BFIA: It also says that you testified before the U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee twice, and I was wondering what kind of things you remember from that experience?
Thicke: They were interesting experiences. The last time I testified before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee was to speak about priorities for agricultural research in the 2008 Farm Bill. I was testifying on behalf of the interests of sustainable agriculture organizations. There were other panelists representing the interests of other sectors of agriculture. For example, one panelist represented the interests of multinational agribusiness corporations involved in agriculture. It was interesting to observe that that panelist had with him a whole contingent of lobbyists who would pass him notes as he was preparing and speaking — and it made me feel a little bit isolated since I was there by myself and had no other support. But I took a little risk at that point since I was the last on the panel to speak. The other panelists had read out their prepared speeches word for word, which the Senators read along from copies of the speeches they had received earlier. Although I had a prepared speech, which I handed in, I spoke extemporaneously, and started out with a couple of humorous remarks to loosen up the Senate Committee. This may have been a little unusual in a Senate hearing, but I think it went well because I wasn't just reading and they weren't just reading a copy of a written speech. I think it helped hold their attention and got them to listen better to what I was saying.
BFIA: Is this something that you would have to do as Ag Secretary of Iowa? Would you have to testify for different governmental organizations?
Thicke: Good question. I do think that there would be opportunities, as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, to interact with both the USDA and Congress to try to get priorities for Iowa, and Midwestern, agriculture in front of them, and help them understand our concerns and needs. One example, in today’s Des Moines Register there was an article about a new USDA program that was created to subsidize the development of second-generation biofuels, but that program is being largely subverted by paper mills and power companies, who are getting most of the subsidies. Through loopholes in the rules, the program is being diverted from its original intent, which was to foster growth of second-generation biofuels. If I were Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, I would step forward and talk to Iowa’s Congressional delegation and also to USDA — go right to the Secretary of Agriculture for USDA — and request that the loophole in the rules be closed in order to get the program back on track to foster the growth of second-generation biofuels. I think the Secretary of Agriculture from a state like Iowa would be in a perfect position to step forward and get the attention of both congress and USDA, and get that corrected immediately.
BFIA: Speaking of getting the attention of Congress and USDA, I'd like to hear about what you'd like to achieve. What would be your vision for being the Iowa Ag Secretary?
Thicke: We need to recognize that it’s taken decades for Iowa agriculture to get to where it is today. And, I'm not saying we need to change it overnight, but if we want to get somewhere, we need to know where we're going. As the saying goes, “if you don't know where you're going you might end up someplace else.” My vision for Iowa agriculture includes more diversity on the landscape. Right now, two thirds of the surface area of Iowa is covered in just two crops every year, corn and soybeans. And, frankly, as scientists would point out, these are not very resilient crops. They're vulnerable to, for example, the effects of heavy rainfalls, particularly during times of the year when corn and soybeans are not actively growing. Last year during the flooding, we saw not only that the soils under these cropping systems were not able to absorb as much rainfall as more resilient cropping systems could, but the corn and soybeans did not do well in protecting the soil from erosion. So, Iowa lost a lot of soil from this heavy rainfall and flooding. We need more diversity and more resilient crops on the landscape.
One thing I'm talking about here is the inclusion of cover crops to be grown during times of the year that annual crops, like corn and soybeans, are not growing. For example, a crop like winter rye can be planted to grow during the fall and spring months, which would help protect the soil from erosion and from the leaching of nitrate out of the root zone and into water resources. Another thing we can do to make our cropping systems more resilient is to include more perennial crops in our crop rotations. In the past, years ago, we used to have more alfalfa and other hay crops in rotations. These perennial crops protect the soil from erosion during the winter and during heavy rainfalls, and help keep nitrogen from leaching out of the soil.
We know that nitrate leaching from soils growing corn and soybeans is one of the main causes of the hypoxia zone [also called the dead zone] in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf’s hypoxia zone, which grows to about the size of New Jersey each summer, is caused by nutrient-rich water from the Mississippi River causing algae growth. When the algae dies, the algae decomposition causes the water to be depleted of oxygen, a condition in which fish cannot survive. If we had more perennial crops and cover crops on the landscape it would help reduce nitrate leaching from corn and soybean production, which would reduce loadings of nitrate to the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, I would like to see more animals integrated onto the landscape in ways that are ecologically sound. As an example, I would point out how we manage our dairy farm. Instead of our cows being in confinement and us having to haul all of their feed to them, and haul their manure back to the fields, we allow the cows to harvest their own feed by grazing, and at the same time they spread their manure on the land in a way that is ecologically sound. We have our whole farm planted to perennial crops of grasses and clovers. The cows graze all through spring, summer and fall. We have the pasture area divided into many small pastures. After each milking, twice a day, the cows go to graze a new pasture area, just enough to feed them for that one twelve-hour period.
There are many benefits to this type of system, but in the context of our previous discussion, the benefit is that it keeps the soil covered all the time, which helps hold the soil in place and keeps nitrogen from leaching out of the soil profile. So, if we design and manage more of our animal production systems so that they are ecologically sound though the use of perennial crops and grazing animals, we will create more diversity on the landscape.
BFIA: I saw you and your wife, Susan, on the cover of Touch the Soil magazine last year. Can you tell us about that article and more about your planting system of having a section for the cows to feed on each day?
Thicke: Yes, there was an article on our [organic dairy] operation in that magazine. Over the years, many articles have been written about our farming operation, focusing on various aspects of the farm, such as our grazing system, organic production, our on-farm dairy processing, and local marketing of our dairy products. As for our grazing system, we have about 60 small pastures, which we call paddocks. And this is not something we invented, about 25% of the dairy farmers in Wisconsin use this kind of rotational or intensively managed grazing. In our case, each paddock is about 2 acres, and often we'll give the milking cows just half of a paddock for a 12-hour grazing period between milkings, depending on the time of year and how tall the grass is.
So, the cows rotate around the farm paddocks, and we have three groups of cows that are each separately rotating through the paddock system. One is the herd of cows that is being milked twice every day. There is also a herd of dry cows. Each mature cow has a 2-month dry period every year before they have their next calf. The dry-cow herd also includes the older heifers — female calves — that are growing up to become cows in the next few months. The third group is a group of yearling heifers that are younger — you might say the “teenagers” — that are in their own rotational group that moves around the farm.
Jay Mattsson, previously a Minneapolis school teacher, stayed in Iowa after getting his MA in Professional Writing. He had experience hosting an interview show on the radio every week for 18 months and worked as a book editor, associate producer and freelance writer/editor before joining a full-service audio-production company in 1998. Active in Democratic politics, Jay was a member of the Statewide Leadership Committee on the Obama for President Campaign.~
Check back next Wednesday for Part II of BFIA's exclusive with Francis Thicke. Visit the candidate's website thickeforagriculture.com
Saturday, November 14
Searching for Iowa's Agricultural History
by
cathy lafrenz
on Sat 14 Nov 2009 08:18 AM CST
Searching for Iowa's Agricultural History
by Cathy Lafrenz
I am a farmer. Plain ... simple.... a farmer. I grow food.
And I am bothered by the fact that we as Iowans, know more about our I-phones and our cars than we do about the food we eat. Most of you can tell me every app your phone can do...... but know nothing about where your meat comes from. We know what type of leather is on the seat of our SUV's but have no idea about the pesticides on our vegetables. We don't know how the vegetables are raised or when they are harvested.
In 1952, there were over 200,000 farms in Iowa. Now there are almost 93,000 farms. The good news is that is an increase since the 2000 census. We have 4000 more farms.... most of those are under nine acres.
The bad news.... we continue to lose farms and therefore, we continue to lose the agricultural knowledge and history that comes from living in a rural/farming community. We are two and three generations away from the farm. We don't know the difference between disking and plowing or between a ram and a wether.
We can not know what we eat ..... unless we know agriculture.
We are so lucky to have the National Heritage Area Silos and Smokestacks, located in Eastern Iowa. Bordered by I-80 on the south and I-35 on the west, Silos and Smokestacks is one of the largest National Heritage Areas, with 37 counties encompassing 20,000 acres.
America farms in all 50 states. Why does Story of American Agriculture Comes to Life in Iowa? Might be Grant Wood's American Gothic but most likely, our rich diverse agricultural history is the reason. Our farms were settled by Swedes, Germans, Irish and Norwegians. Our northeastern counties are dotted by dairy farms. And our central counties are filled with the tall corn fields. We raise hogs and cattle and soybeans and grapes.
With over 100 partner sites, Silos and Smokestacks gives us the opportunity to learn and discover the depth and the breadth of agriculture.
A visit to the Franklin County Fair and Grandpa's Farm can show old-time farming demonstrations with horse-drawn plows and steam threshing machines.
A day at Tabor Winery can teach you the history of wine making in Iowa at the oldest estate winery in Iowa. And an evening at Farm House Bed and Breakfast can have you gathering eggs, milking the cows and feeding the baby calves........ all before eating a full-course farmers' breakfast in the morning.
And no one in the state is teaching the history and the future of agriculture better than Living History Farms in Urbandale. With 500 acres, Living History Farms spans over 300 years of Iowa agriculture.
So start your journey for agricultural knowledge here at home. Visit and support Silos and Smokestacks and its partner sites.
A farmer like me, will thank you.
Cathy
Lafrenz is a regular contributor for Blog for Iowa on the topic of
food. She serves on the board of the Quad-Cities chapter of Buy Fresh-Buy Local. She raises hens for egg production and is Animal Welfare Approved. In
her spare time she advocates for health care reform, spins yarn, and
knits every pair of socks she wears. Check out her blog, Miss Effie's Diary
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