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.
The Practical Farmers of Iowa gathered in Des Moines Friday and Saturday for an annual conference featuring a full schedule of educational seminars.
The organization serves Iowa farmers by promoting ecologically-sound and profitable farming techniques. There are approximately 700 members of the organization in Iowa and neighboring states.
Workshops held at the conference included sessions on soil quality and organic farming, a discussion on the new federal farm bill and a seminar exclusively for beginning farmers.
On Friday, the organization held a screening of the documentary film “King Corn,” followed by a session hosted by the film’s director Aaron Woolf and co-star Curt Ellis.
One of the major initiatives led by PFI is an effort to create a new “Iowa Food Cooperative” that would operate as an internet-based food distribution system linking farmers and consumers. The cooperative would bring together Iowa’s existing farmers’ markets and community-supported-agriculture programs to help put fresh Iowa foods on the tables of Iowa consumers.
Iowa Independent visited with PFI executive director Teresa Opheim, who explains the organization in this short video:
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