(Radio Iowa) – Wade Dooley, a 43-year-old Democrat who farms northwest of Marshalltown, is running for state agriculture secretary. He says leadership in Des Moines is too focused on helping big businesses and political insiders. “We have the best soils in the world, the most innovative people and some of the best technology on the planet,” Dooley says. “We can do a lot. All we need is a little support and, for the folks that hold us back, to get out of the way.”

Dooley, a sixth generation farmer, rotates soybeans and rye on his family’s Century Farm. He also sells cover crop mixes and does custom seeding. “I’ve been trying to find more profitable, more environmentally sustainable methods to farm,” Dooley said. “We’ve done cover crops, I raised watermelons for a while, popcorn, you name it. We’re tried a lot of different things.” Dooley says he’s running to lead the Iowa Department of Agriculture because while there’s a lot of talk about helping farmers make changes to boost their income — and improve water quality — there’s not a lot of actual support at the state level for it.

“Farmers are on debt treadmills for the most part. They’re all trying to do what’s best for their family, they’re also trying to do what’s best for their land, they’re also trying to do what’s best for their community, but at the end of the day, they’ve got to make their bank payment,” Dooley says.”…It’s really frustrating, then, to hear people in the Democratic Party blaming farmers saying, ‘Well, it’s their fault they’re doing it.’ They’re doing it, in part, because they’re forced. They’re trying to save their farms.”

Dooley says it’s time to end the blame game about Iowa’s water quality issues and for the Iowa Department of Agriculture to lead the effort to figure out a resolution. Dooley is a graduate of Iowa State University and has served as a board member of Practical Farmers of Iowa. Another Democrat has indicated they’ll run for state ag secretary this year. Chris Jones, an author and retired University of Iowa researcher, is expected to officially launch his campaign later this week. Republican Mike Naig has been serving as State Agriculture Secretary since 2018 and is seeking reelection.