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.
In 2006, the election of Bill Northey as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture was one of the few bright spots for state Republicans. Four years later, Northey is one of many shining moments for the Republican Party of Iowa.
In winning his re-election bid, Northey, a Spirit Lake Republican, overcame a national tide of support for Fairfield Democrat and dairy farmer Francis Thicke.
Outcry against Northey began in the wake of a half-a-billion egg recall from Iowa producers on the heels of a national Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds from coast to coast. Although Northey maintained that his office did not have the authority to regulate the egg producer at the heart of the scandal, a family that had previously been named the state’s first “habitual violator” for issues connected to hog production, national critics pushed for additional regulations at both the state and federal level.
“For the food movement, the most important election this year may be Francis Thicke’s in Iowa,” said Michael Pollan, author of “Omnivore’s Dilemma.”
“The triumph of a reform candidate like Francis Thicke would demonstrate to Washington that a change in agricultural policy would, in fact, be welcome in much of the farm belt and that legislators who purport to represent farm states by simply blocking reform more closely reflect the interests of agribusiness than that of their own constituents.”
In the end, however, it may have been such national support, along with its calls for significant change within agriculture, that served as a local detriment for Thicke among large and small farmers in the state who have found at least current compromise with larger agribusiness and now depend on those relationships to maintain the family income and property.
On Sunday evening, just two days prior to the election, a former Iowa Democratic Party and Polk County chairman, long considered a powerhouse campaigner and fundraiser for Democrats tossed his support behind Northey. While it is unlikely that the late endorsement changed many minds concerning the race, it did reinforce the simplistic message of Northey being in favor of biotechnology and Thicke being against it — primarily because Jerry Crawford, the Democratic powerhouse who professed his support for Northey, has significant ties to both U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Monsanto Co.
What the endorsement might cause is further deterioration within the Iowa Democratic Party as the party faithful who supported Thicke’s calls for local control and sustainable agriculture begin to view Crawford and other historically large monetary donors as threats to grassroots candidates.
With most precincts reporting, it appears that Northey has won a decisive victory by carrying roughly 63 percent of the vote.
Agriculture in the state of Iowa represents roughly 25 percent of the state’s economy.
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