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.
Visitors to the Iowa State Fair this year will no doubt notice a new 24,000-square-foot building east of the midway.
Construction was just completed this week, and the result is the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center, a state-of-the-art facility focusing on animal agriculture.
It's all part of the state fair's legacy of providing agriculture-based learning opportunities for visitors young and old. One of the main attractions is that visitors will have the opportunity to watch livestock animals give birth and care for their newborns right before their eyes. Several of the exhibits' cattle, sheep and pigs are very near their due-dates and could give birth at any moment. And baby chicks, just hatched from the egg, provide plenty of entertainment and education for fair-goers.
The new facility was made possible in part by a donation of $750,000 to the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation from Iowa businessman William Knapp, and named in honor of his brother and lifelong business partner. A long-term sponsorship commitment for the center has been pledged by Christensen Farms, a major swine-production company based in Minnesota.
Livestock at the displays were provided by Iowa State University, Dwayne Faidley and Sleezer Select Stock, and the project has received input from the College of Veterinary Medicine at ISU and the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association.
Located just south of the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit on the fairgrounds, the center features a stage for a variety of educational programming throughout the fair, as well as six plasma TVs and two projection screens playing pre-recorded and live footage of animal births. While this is not the first animal birthing display at the fair, this is the first facility at the fair dedicated to many different types of livestock educational programs.
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