Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Small, independent meat processors are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to connect with lots of new customers if a draft provision of the 2007 Farm Bill becomes law.
An ongoing effort to change federal meat inspection laws may soon result in these small specialty producers being allowed to ship their products across state lines.
Under the federal laws that have been in place since the late 1960s, there are two types of meat processing operations: Those that are inspected by the feds, whose products are stamped with the "USDA" label; and those that are inspected by state agriculture departments. State inspectors are always required to meet or exceed federal guidelines, but state-inspected meat products are currently prohibited from being shipped across state lines.
An article on Forbes.com published on Monday reported that there are currently more than 2,000 state-inspected meat processing operations located throughout the United States.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, who is in favor of changes to the law to allow interstate shipment of state-inspected meat, told Iowa Independent in September that the current law makes for some strange situations. He cited, as an example, a state-inspected meat processor located in Davenport. That processor is allowed to ship its products as far as to Sioux City, Iowa…but can't drive across a bridge to sell his products in Moline, Ill.
The National Farmers Union today announced a major compromise agreement that has been included in the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee's version of the 2007 Farm Bill.
The NFU reports that the agreement has the backing of a long list of organizations that had previously been at odds over the issue of interstate shipment of state-inspected meat. Those groups include the Consumer Federation of America and the American Federation of Government Employees, two groups that had once published advertisements opposing such a change, saying that it would "weaken food safety standards."
NFU President Tom Buis said in a press release that it has taken many years to reach this compromise. "I am pleased smaller producers finally have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. For too long, small producers have been shut out of markets but will now be able to ship their high-quality products across state lines," said Buis.
A similar provision to allow interstate sales of state-inspected meat was included in the farm bill passed in July by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter