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A man from Adams County is running in the June Primary for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. Ray Gaesser, a Republican from Corning, announced his intentions to run back in January. Since then, he’s gathered more than the required number of signatures to be placed on the ballot, along with current Iowa Republican Ag Secretary Mike Naig, three other Republicans, and one Democrat. Gaesser stopped by the KJAN studios this (Tuesday) morning, to explain what separates him from his fellow Republicans. He says he’s a life-long farmer. The sole income for himself and his wife comes from agriculture. They’ve been farming near Corning for about 40-years. He says he’s done a lot of work over the years developing policy for agriculture and Iowa agriculture, along with developing, opening and creating markets around the world and much more, all as a volunteer, not a professional politician.
Ray Gaesser
Before he farmed in Iowa, he worked on his parents’ farm in Indiana, along with his mom and younger siblings. He says he learned a lot about farming and personal responsibility after his father passed, when Gaesser was 15. He says the Sec. Of Agriculture needs to be personally responsible and lead by example, something he’s done his whole life. Gaesser was asked about activists calls for a ban on factory farms. He says “animal agriculture is an important way for Iowa to increase value in everything that we grow. It’s also a great opportunity for young people to get into agriculture. He says it’s a serious investment.
He says it bothers him when people talk about CAFO’s – factory farms – because in most Iowa cases, a factory farm is really a family farm that hasn’t told their story, because it is the family members [who] are caring for [the animals]. That’s how their family makes a living, and maybe allowing the next generation to come into the farm, which is all important to the future of Iowa. He believes it’s an investment in Iowa’s future. He acknowledges that we can do better and are using more technology to reduce the smell and apply animal nutrients at the right place, time and position.
Gaesser says agriculture is the circle of life, with just about everything created being recycled and used in many ways. He said there are ways using technology, of helping to prevent nutrient run-off into the waterways, which is a big concern for cities tapping rivers for their drinking water.
Ray Gaesser asks for your vote June 5th, because of his experience in trade, farm policy and actual hands-on farming.
(Learn more at www.gaesserforiowa.com)
A coalition of state and national groups are calling for a ban on so-called “factory farming” in the United States. Adam Mason of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement says large-scale livestock confinements have “decimated” family farms. “Thinking back to the late ’70s, there were over 80,000 family farm operations raising livestock across this state. Today, we have 10,000 factory farms,” Mason said. “That ain’t right.”
Bill Stowe is C-E-O and general manager of the Des Moines Water Works, which is among the 100 largest water utilities in the country. “At Des Moines Water Works, our mission is to provide safe, affordable, abundant drinking water for half a million Iowans,” Stowe says. “It’s a job that becomes increasingly difficult, unfortunately, because Iowa’s surface waters are filthy.”
The Raccoon River has pollution levels today that exceed federal standards, requiring additional and expensive treatment before it can be used as drinking water. Stowe says there’s “no question” what he calls “industrial farming” upstream is contributing to the pollution. “With bacteria, with soils, with chemicals and a growing concern for us is blue green algae and cyanotoxins,” Stowe said.
Stowe and the others who spoke at a midday news conference would like city and county officials to have the authority to regulate farming operations. Stowe says corporate interests ruined states like West Virginia and Iowa should take a different path.”We are not going to find ourselves left in a bone pile, a remanent of a failed industrial system like coal mining, because industrial farming and dirty agriculture is heading us on that same path,” Stowe said.
A national group called “Food and Water Watch” has released a report critical of the impact “massive amounts of manure” from livestock operations are having on the environment.of so-called factory farms. A spokesman for the Iowa Pork Producers Association says any moratorium on the pork industry “would greatly stifle rural Iowa economic activity” and limit entry into farming for the next generation. The pork association’s spokesman says modern Iowa pig barns “are designed to contain all manure” and “protect water quality.” He also noted there already are more than 200 pages of state regulations for the pork industry.
(Radio Iowa)
Officials with the Iowa Corn Growers Association said Friday, that the Harrison/Crawford County Corn Growers Association will host an Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Candidate Forum on May 23, from 7until 9-p.m., at the Boulders Conference Center at 2507 Boulder Drive, in Denison. The event will provide a special opportunity for a question and answer panel discussion with all six of the candidates vying for the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture position.
Those six candidates in alphabetical order include:
The discussion will be moderated by veteran Farm Broadcaster and former Iowa Corn District 4 Field Manager Bruce Gaarder. Th candidate forum is free and open to the public. It will provide a unique opportunity for the citizens of West Central Iowa to hear from all six candidates in one location, helping them decide who to vote for in the upcoming primary on June 5 and ultimately the general election this coming November.
East Pottawattamie sixth grade youth and home schooled youth, were invited to participate in the fourth annual Farm Safety Day, on May 8. The event was sponsored by East Pottawattamie Farm Bureau, East Pottawattamie Soil and Water Conservation, and East Pottawattamie 4-H, with donations, and presentations from area businesses. The event featured twelve Farm Safety learning stations including Animal Safety by Perdue Farms, Emergency Weather Safety by Pottawattamie County EMT Crew, Grain Safety Tug of War by Riverside FFA, Emergency Rescue Safety by Carson Fire Rescue Team, ATV Safety by AHSTW FFA, Hearing Safety by UNMC Education Team, Basic First Aid by Visiting Nurses Association, Power Take Off Safety by Avoca Titan Machinery and Colin Applegate, Electrical Safety by Nishnabotna Valley REC, Fire Extinguisher Safety by Horizon Equipment, Sun and Skin Safety by CHI Cancer Education, and Chemical Safety by Heartland Coop. The learning stations were hands-on, interactive, and full of information to make a lasting impression.
2018 Farm Safety Day
The event focused on sixth grade youth, because at this age many become more responsible on the family farm. Presenters also feel it is important to teach safety to those not living on the farm, as they visit family and friends and need to learn to recognize the dangers present. Many general topics were covered that kids can use every day. Lunch was provided to the youth and volunteers through many local donations. Participants took home a farm hat donated by area businesses that they got to wear for the event in addition to a draw string bag donated by UNMC Education Team. Special appreciation goes out to AHSTW FFA and Riverside FFA for providing leadership to our youth groups throughout the day.
“The impact of this great event shows the desire for a community to support its kids,” said Jamie Meek, East Pottawattamie Soil & Water Conservation Educator. “The willingness for individuals and businesses to give their time, dollar, and knowledge to our youth is what makes an event like this, not only successful, but outstanding.”
(From the East Pott. County Extension Office)
The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports the Local Fire Danger index will remain Moderate, through Monday. Officials say with the incoming rain, they expect to discontinue the Spring Fire Danger posting next week, due to increased green up, and more moisture predicted.
Iowa beef producers are touting their industry throughout the month of May as part of beef month activities. The Iowa Beef Center based at Iowa State University recently conducted an economic impact study on the state’s beef industry. Center director Dan Loy says the industry has been gaining ground here in the last decade. “In the early 1980’s there was a significant loss of cattle feeding numbers in Iowa to the plains states,” Loy says, “but in the last ten years, we’ve seen a gradual steady increase of market share for cattle on feed numbers moving from the Southern Plains to the Upper Midwest.”
He says the a resurgence is due in part to the growing ethanol industry and better competitiveness with the an abundance of ethanol by-products to feed to cattle. “But then in addition to that, I think an increase demand for high quality beef is something we’ve seen nationwide. Iowa certainly backs up its reputation as a state that produces a significant number of high quality beef,” according to Loy. Loy worked with Agricultural Economist Lee Schultz and determined the state’s beef industry is responsible for generating six-point-three billion dollars in revenue for the state. “Its certainly important to the state of Iowa. It ranks among the major commodities, and in northwest Iowa, interestingly — Sioux and Lyon county alone …beef resents approximately a one billion dollars of economic activity there,” Loy says.
He says the industry is responsible for around 32-thousand jobs. “Those are the direct jobs, or direct and indirect for both the cattle and slaughter and processing,” Loy says, “but it doesn’t include the jobs that are created by cattle marketed outside the state of Iowa. About 75 percent of the cattle are marketed outside the state of Iowa. We send a lot of cattle to Nebraska and a lot of cattle to Illinois as well.”
Loy says consumer demand for beef been on the rise again in both the domestic market, and the international export trade. He says check-off dollars spent on the “Beef, its what’s for dinner” campaign has assisted with that increase of demand for beef.
(Radio Iowa)
The leader the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says some good things came out of a White House meeting on ethanol Tuesday– but there are still some things that remain unsettled. I-R-F-A executive director Monte Shaw says the reports he got on the meeting from Iowa’s two U-S Senators was positive in one area. “There was some very good news,” Shaw says, “the president did agree to authorize the sale of E-15 year-round. That was talked about before, that was stated very clearly in the meeting and even (Texas Senator) Ted Cruz tweeted about that part of the meeting accurately. So, that’s something that we can take away from this.”
Shaw says there now needs to be action on the E-15 issue. “We need to see ’em do it, they need to get that process going,” Shaw says. One of the issues that Shaw says was left unresolved is handling the credits given to refineries for blending ethanol with gasoline that are commonly known as RINS. Shaw says Senator Cruz brought up a plan to let refineries get the credits for ethanol that is exported to count toward the gallons required under the Renewable Fuels Standard.
“It’s awfully hard for me to imagine how a program like that could even function number one — let alone be good for us,” Shaw says. “If you start allowing exported gallons of renewable fuels to count toward the R-F-S, it’s just gallon-for-gallon demand destruction. Every gallon we export is a gallon they don’t have to blend here in the United States.” Shaw says the reports he’s gotten indicate things should be moving the right way for ethanol.
“From what we’ve been told, everybody in that room from the president all the way down to Ted Cruz was on the same page that the president was going to move forward on E-15 year round sales. That is excellent news,”according to Shaw. “They all agreed — despite Cruz promoting this — that there was not going to be any type of RIN cap or R-F-S waiver scheme of the type that he was promoting. That is good news,” Shaw says.
He says another issue is the ethanol exemptions that were intended to help small refineries deal with the ethanol blend mandate that were given to large refineries. Shaw says Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and E-P-A Administrator Scott Pruit are exploring that situation and will report back. “That was I would say an outstanding discussion that was not finalized and we have to now see what E-P-A Administrator Pruit and U-S-D-A Secretary Perdue come back with . They were charged with coming up with a plan that would deal with small refinery exemptions,” Shaw says.
He says the outcome could go either way. “They could come up with a plan that we could support and that’d be great. Or they might come up with a plan that says ‘hey we’re just going to do these export RINS’ — and that would be horrible and we would oppose that. So, we’ll just have to wait and see and the story continues,” Shaw explains.
Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing nearly four-point-four (4.4) billion gallons annually.
(Radio Iowa)
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