(Des Moines, Iowa/Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Bills updating the grain indemnity program and allowing the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship clean titles on livestock they take over, advanced Thursday from the Iowa House. Lawmakers appear to have resolved differing opinions on grain indemnity limits and including credit-sales, which has been a roadblock for similar bills in the past, though the Senate will have to give final approval to the amended bill. Rep. Norlin Mommsen, R-DeWitt, who managed the bill, said there were a lot of opinions on the policy, which left him feeling “caught between a rock and hard spot.”

“I believe, at the end of the day, we have a better product because of that cooperation between everybody,” Mommsen said. Although the House accepted some of the Senate’s version of the bill, Mommsen proposed an amendment to Senate File 608. Mommsen explained grain indemnity as being “like FDIC insurance on a savings account.” Since the 1980s, when it was created, the grain indemnity fund has helped farmers get paid for sold grain when their buyers go broke.

Farmers pay a per bushel fee into the grain indemnity fund when the fund is below its lower boundary, and they stop paying once it reaches the upper boundary. The fund stayed above the minimum for nearly 30 years until 2023, when the bankruptcy of a soybean dealer triggered more than $3 million in indemnity claims from affected farmers and depleted the funds. Mommsen said the goal was to “upgrade” the rules around the fund to “better respond to today’s market conditions.”

One such upgrade included increasing the fund’s minimum from $3 million to $8 million, and the maximum from $8 million to $16 million to reflect the changes. These figures reflected the original version of the House bill, but were an increase from the $5 million and $12 million figures in the version that passed the Senate. Cash-sale contracts would be reimbursed at 90% under the bill, which is consistent with current law. The bill updates the fund to include some credit-sale contracts and Mommsen’s amendment provided definitions for two different types of credit sales.

Harvested corn is piled near Lake City in western Iowa. (Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Per the amendment, a deferred-payment contract means the dealer and seller agreed on a price for grain but the payment will take place more than 30 days from the date of delivery. These contracts are not eligible for indemnity claims. A deferred-pricing contract means the grain was delivered without an agreed-upon price. Farmers with these contracts can claim indemnity for 75% or up to $400,000 of their losses.

Earlier versions of the bill in the House only covered 70% of these types of sales, and the version of the bill that passed the Senate did not differentiate between the different types of credit sales.  Mommsen said it was important to differentiate because deferred payments are like “an unsecured loan.”

Rep. J.D. Scholten, R-Sioux City, said it felt “pretty impactful” to have a bill in the House updating a fund that rose out of the farm crisis of the 1980s.  “When we do have an agricultural recession we’re dealing with, when we’re dealing with tariffs that are causing uncertainty, farmers need to make sure they have the protection they (need),” Scholten said. “This may not be the perfect bill, but this is a good enough bill.”

IDALS announced in April the fund would stop collecting the fees in September since the current grain indemnity fund balance sits above $10 million, after collecting the fees since Sept. 2023.  Mommsen said because the current balance is within the boundaries set by the bill, “there would be no need to reinstitute” assessment fees for the fund if the bill becomes law.

The amended bill passed 81-3.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) –  A report from a national conservation group says the Mississippi River is the nation’s most endangered river, because of federal plans to cut flood relief programs as severe weather threats grow. American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, issued its annual list of U.S. rivers it views as most at-risk for the past 40 years. The Mississippi’s place at the top comes as communities along the lower river flooded from torrential rain in early April, and as Trump administration officials consider eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which helps state and local governments respond to disasters.

The list calls attention to the threats rivers face and prioritizes those for which the public can influence policies that affect their well-being, said Mike Sertle, senior director for American Rivers’ Central Region. For the Mississippi River, he said, the organization’s goal is to press the federal government to maintain a role in disaster relief, which it says is critical to safeguarding people in river communities.

The Mississippi River rises to flood stage surrounding a highway outside Memphis in 2016. Memphis is again flooding this week after heavy rains. (Photo by Andrew Breig / Daily Memphian)

The Mississippi River has always flooded. While flooding threatens human structures, it is an important part of the Mississippi River’s life cycle and actually builds land. But experts say floods are growing more frequent, erratic and severe due to climate change. In 2019, the river’s most recent major flood, water stayed at or above flood stage for months and caused $20 billion in damage.

FEMA assists communities during floods and other types of disasters, provides funds for recovery and oversees preparedness efforts, like its flood maps that predict risks in different areas. And it’s doing so more often today. A January 2025 report to Congress found that the average number of major disaster declarations has increased by 61% from the 1980s and 1990s, partly due to climate change.

But it has faced broad criticism for not moving quickly enough after disasters and not helping disaster survivors equally. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of dismantling the agency and in February the agency fired more than 200 of its staffers as part of Trump’s push to shrink the size and scope of the federal government. The White House did not comment on the American Rivers’ report’s criticism of these actions.

DES MOINES – Drought conditions have improved across the state despite below-normal rainfall in April, according to the latest Water Summary Update.  The Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s says after a wetter-than normal March, April saw below-average precipitation across all regions of the state. However, recent spring rains have helped alleviate drought and abnormally dry conditions across Iowa. April’s average statewide precipitation was 3.33 inches, or 0.34 inches below normal.

The state also experienced warmer weather, with statewide temperatures averaging 50 degrees, or 1.4 degrees warmer than normal. At the end of April, Iowa’s Drought Plan dry conditions improved or remained the same in all drought regions except the southeast, which only degraded slightly. A drought watch issued in March for the northeast region has been removed as severe drought has significantly decreased. Conditions remain stable in the other drought regions, with the entire state carrying a normal drought designation.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), just over half of Iowa continues to experience abnormally dry conditions or drought conditions. The May precipitation outlook from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center indicates a chance of below-average precipitation across the northeast and eastern half of the state, and an equal chance for above, below, or near-average precipitation for the rest of the state. Reduced rainfall in May could raise concerns about deteriorating conditions.

Iowa DNR Environmental Specialist Jessica Reese McIntyre says “Drought and dry conditions improved across the state due to spring rain in March and April, but most notably in northeast, west, and central Iowa. The drought watch issued in March for northeast Iowa has been removed. The National Weather Service precipitation outlooks predict an equal chance for the entire state for above, below, or normal precipitation for much of the state through July.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Natural Resource Commission today (Thursday) approved the state’s purchase of a former Boy Scout camp that covers nearly 18-hundred acres in the Loess Hills of western Iowa. D-N-Rs Land and Water Bureau Chief Travis Baker, spoke before the vote.

The D-N-R is purchasing the property from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for five-point-one million dollars, three million less than the appraised value.

The D-N-R says the land acquisition will protect one of the largest contiguous regions of forest in western Iowa and result in more than 100 miles of connected public hiking trails. The former Little Sioux Scout Ranch is at the heart of the property with a 20-acre lake. Four Boy Scouts died when a tornado hit the camp in 2003. A memorial to those scouts will remain.

Baker says the D-N-R will close on the property this summer and it will be open to the public this fall. The purchase is funded by a four-point-six-five million dollars U-S-D-A Forest Legacy Grant and 500-thousand from the REAP Open Spaces funding.

(Radio Iowa) – The state budget lawmakers are developing includes five MILLION dollars for construction of an Agricultural Education Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. State Fair C-E-O Jeremy Parsons says it will be a key component of what will be called the “My Iowa Ag Learning Campus.”

The plan calls for the center to be built near the Animal Learning Center where fairgoers can see live farm animals, watch the births of baby pigs and chicks, and learn about the different parts of a farmstead. The new building will focus on crop development, Iowa soils, farm equipment and jobs in agriculture.

Parsons says there are other concepts like this at other state fairs.

Parsons says the total construction cost for the new building is projected to be 15 MILLION dollars. In January, Governor Reynolds recommended that the state provide five MILLION dollars over the next two years for the project. Bills that have cleared initial review in the House and Senate would provide similar withdrawals from the state fund where gambling taxes are deposited.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Agriculture Secretary says she’s open to federal action in response to a California state law that would restrict the way farmers in Iowa raise pigs. Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, asked about the issue in a House budget hearing. Supporters say California’s Proposition 12 improves animal welfare, but Hinson and many in the pork industry say it imposes a financial burden on producers.

The California law requires certain cuts of pork sold in the state to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of space. U-S Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said state laws that have a significant impact outside their borders are not sustainable.

Hinson has introduced legislation in the past to prevent states from enacting stricter regulations on animal agriculture than federal law requires.

(Radio Iowa) – A 36-year-old man is charged with causing a diesel fuel spill near Dallas Center, at a site owned by his former employer. Aaron Wayne Peek of Des Moines is charged with theft, criminal mischief and trespassing. The Dallas County Sheriff says video footage from cameras at the site showed Peek, a former employee of the farm company, tampered with an above ground tank early Saturday morning, releasing four-thousand gallons of diesel fuel.

About 10-thousand dollars worth of diesel was spilled and it reached a creek near Waukee.

State officials estimate the environmental cleanup will cost over 100-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds has signed a bill into law to make it a crime for unauthorized drones to be flown over anything on an Iowa farmstead that covers at least 40 acres. A 2024 has already prohibited drones from flying over animal feeding operations and homesteads. The new law will forbid secret surveillance of farm equipment, crops and any farm animal as well as barns, sheds and other structures on the farm. Representative Derek Wulf, a farmer from Hudson, says it’s an important expansion of last year’s law.

Senator Dan Zumbach (ZUM-bah), a farmer from Ryan, says drones scare livestock.*

It will be a simple misdemeanor to fly a drone over a farmstead — and a serious misdemeanor if the drone can capture audio or video. The law will not apply to farm property that is within city limits.

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Other bills signed-into law Tuesday by Governor Reynolds include:

Washington, D.C., May 6, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will require States to make certain all records associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and allotments are shared with the federal government. The announcement was made today (Tuesday), but U-S Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, who said “President Trump is rightfully requiring the federal government to have access to all programs it funds, and SNAP is no exception. “

Rollins said “For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data. The Department is focused on appropriate and lawful participation in SNAP, and today’s request is one of many steps to ensure SNAP is preserved for only those eligible.”

On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14243, Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos, requiring agency heads to “take all necessary steps, to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure the federal government has unfettered access to comprehensive data from all State programs that receive federal funding, including, as appropriate, data generated by those programs but maintained in third-party databases.”

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is federally funded, administered by States, and includes relationships with processors and retailers, among others, all of which are information siloes. Today’s guidance prioritizes program integrity and will allow FNS, for the first time, transparency into the data long only held by States and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) processors.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Connections Area Agency on Aging report Farmers Market vouchers are available for seniors meeting income requirements. Vouchers can be used at participating area Farmers Markets to buy $50.00 worth of fresh, locally grown fruit, vegetables, herbs and honey. The Vouchers are valid June 1st through October 31st. Connections says they regret that not being able to distribute vouchers at the same level as in previous years. The USDA provided Connections with 1900 sets of vouchers in 2024. This year the Agency received 750 sets of vouchers for its 20-county service area.

Applications will automatically be mailed to anyone that received vouchers in 2024. Individuals will be randomly selected to receive Farmers Market vouchers. Only one set of vouchers per household.

2025 Farmers Market Process:

• Applications will automatically be sent to last year’s voucher recipients
• Applicants must complete an application and meet eligibility criteria to receive vouchers.
• ONE set of vouchers per household is allowed.
• Voucher distribution is limited. Completed applications must be returned no later than May 30th.

Farmers Market distribution will be done by mail ONLY.

Connections encourages citizens to voice their support for the program by contacting your US members of Congress and share why the program is important to you:

Joni Ernst DC Office (202) 224-3524 Zach Nunn DC Office (202) 225-5476

Chuck Grassley DC Office (202)224-3744 Randy Feenstra DC Office (202) 225-4426