Rep. Leonard Boswell believes family farms and small towns provide the heartbeat of America. The six-term Democratic congressman from Iowa's 3rd District has always had a passion for agriculture and now serves in a leadership position on the House Agriculture Committee.
As Congress has waged a pitched battle among regions while crafting the huge new Farm Bill, Boswell has been one of the key players, in his position as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry. But Boswell is waging a battle of his own back here in the 3rd District in Iowa. He's facing a Democratic primary challenge by Ed Fallon, the former Iowa state representative from Des Moines who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006.

A few weeks ago, Iowa Independent sat down with Fallon to talk about agriculture and the issues facing rural Iowa. This week, Iowa Independent conducted a telephone interview with Boswell. The congressman had just gotten back to his office in Washington, D.C. from the first meeting of the Farm Bill Conference Committee and reported that the House members on the committee had just presented their proposal to the members from the Senate. The give and take process of negotiation was about to begin.

Boswell's low-key, practical style has never made him famous. But just because he's not making headlines doesn't mean he's not effective, he says.

"Well, I don't go around beating on drums, making a lot of noise just for the satisfaction of it like some people," said Boswell. "Some people make a lot of noise but don't get anything done. I'd put it like this, I'd like to have the whole loaf of bread, but if I can't get the whole loaf of bread, then how many slices can I get? And so I'll do that and then come back the next time around and try to get some more. It's not that important for me to get the credit for it. It's just to get the job done. You can't just go make a lot of noise and end up with nothing. I just don't operate that way. I didn't when I was in the Legislature and I don't here."

Ask Boswell about his primary race, and he'll say he's ready for the challenge. He's proud of his record and isn't shy about criticizing his opponent. "I've had some very good success with different areas of conservation and energy and alternative fuels, which is something I've been involved in for many, many years. And I'll continue to be there," said Boswell. He said Fallon is always "trying to think of something to be critical about," when "by his own admission he knows very little, if anything, about agriculture."

"But I do know about agriculture, and I'm hands-on. I was actually born in a farmhouse. I spent my years growing up farming, and then my friends and neighbors called me off to the Army and I went off for a period of time. And when I came back, I went right back in the same neighborhood and took the risks and made the investment to farm. We went through a farm crisis, not only running a farm operation of my own but also in leadership of my local cooperative. You know, I have that under my belt. And by comparison, he doesn't have anything like that."

Boswell said federal agriculture policy is of the utmost importance to Iowa's 3rd District, and it's important to have an experienced hand in the Congress. "I think folks will figure that out," he said. "And so I'm just going to keep on trying to do the good job that I try to do. We're not going to hit every ball, but we sure try. And overall, I feel good about what I've done. So I bring to the table a lot of things that he just has no ability to bring to the table."

As Farm Bill negotiations continue, Boswell is hopeful that the contentious issues can be resolved so the bill can be finished soon. One of those issues involves a proposed federal disaster program for farmers, but the program has become one of the major sticking points that has slowed progress on the bill. At this point, the House proposal does not include a disaster program while the Senate's version does. Boswell said that maintaining a strong crop insurance program may be the top priority. "I'm still interested in a disaster plan, just to see what we could come up with," said Boswell. "There are so many things with what we do in agriculture and so many things that can happen that you just can't plan on. There are just a lot of risk factors in agriculture and I think a disaster program would be a good thing if we can figure out how to afford it and work it out. But meanwhile, affordable crop insurance is very important.

"Farmers face terrible risks," he said. "The risk was big when I was farming about a thousand acres of leased ground. I thought then it was quite a risk, but now it's probably gone up four or five times more. So we've got to be conscious of that. We've got to try to maintain the family farm, and I guess I'll be one of the last to ever give up on it. But I think there's still a need for family farmers. If you think of the small communities, whether it's Albia or wherever, small town communities are the heartbeat of America."

Boswell said that there's been a real fight over limiting farm program payments. He said it was a step in the right direction when the House version of the new Farm Bill eliminated the "three-entity rule," a provision in the current Farm Bill that allows producers to "triple-dip" and receive payments under three separate corporations or companies. "But [eliminating it is] not enough and I've been supporting a $250,000 limit for a long time," he said. "Whether that would make it through this conference, I don't know. But I'm quite confident that Sen. Chuck Grassley won't give up on that, and Sen. Tom Harkin is also supportive."

Boswell said that there is some talk of passing a limit of $500,000 instead of $250,000. He said that's a pretty high figure, but it "would be an improvement from where we're at now."

Another subject that Boswell said is very important to farmers involves competition provisions in the Farm Bill. He said he's worked hard to bring fairness and end mandatory arbitration in livestock contracts and will continue to push for a ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock. "The packer ban is something that there's some dissension on, but it's something that we'd like to have," he said. "We're still going to stir on that pot on the packer ban and we'll get into conference and just see what happens."