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 name of a former Iowa governor was among four nominations sent by the White House to the U.S. Senate for confirmation Monday.
Former Gov. Chet Culver was nominated to serve on the board of directors for the Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corporation, which is better known as Farmer Mac.
The government sponsored enterprise (GSE) was established by the government in 1988 to provide a secondary market of rural loans on agricultural real estate and housing. It has been granted additional authority four times since it was established — to create a new lender program at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to purchase securities, establish the Farm Credit Administration’s Office of Secondary Market Oversight, to streamline its operating structure, to purchase (and guarantee) securities backed by loans made by cooperative lenders to borrowers to finance electrification and telecommunications systems in rural areas.
It is based in Washington, D.C., generally meets six times per year and works closely with the USDA. led by Tom Vilsack, another former Iowa governor.
A full list of programs is available on the Farmer Mac website.
The board of directors for Farmer Mac is comprised of a mix of presidential appointees and directors elected by holders of two types of common stock. Lowell Junkins, a former mayor of Montrose, Iowa Senator and a political affairs consultant for Lowell Junkins & Associates, currently serves as chairman of the board and has been a member of the body since 1996.
As of June 30, Farmer Mac had a capital surplus of more than $200 million above its statutory requirement; and the GSE has provided more than $2.2 billion in funding to the ag industry to date.
Following his nomination, Culver will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Members of the Board of Directors receive a salary of about $30,000 per year and receive a per diem allowance to reimburse for travel, food and other expenses while conducting Farmer Mac business.
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