‘Agriculture’

There is only one way for agriculture to move forward safely, argues Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson, and that’s through increased government regulation of its industries.
Since there is currently no way to satisfy demand for meat and poultry products using traditional farming techniques, Swenson wrote in a recent post on the blog Insider Iowa, [...]

Federal agents have paid another unannounced visit to two Iowa egg producers currently embroiled in a voluntary recall of Salmonella-tainted product.
Wright County Egg, owned and operated by the DeCoster family, and Hillandale Farms, owned and operated by Orland Bethel, have come under increased government scrutiny in the wake of a voluntary egg recall of more [...]

Federal officials have released the results of inspections at both Iowa egg farms associated with more than 1,300 illnesses linked to Salmonella-tainted eggs, and the news isn’t pretty.

Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller announced Monday that he will return a $10,000 campaign contribution in 2005 from an Iowa family implicated in a national voluntary recall of more than half a billion eggs.
The Iowa Independent first reported about the donation Friday, finding that since 1999 Jack DeCoster, owner of DeCoster Farms, and members of [...]

The owners of two Iowa egg farms that have been implicated in a national voluntary recall of more than half a billion eggs have declined interview requests and dodged members of the press, but that might be about to change.
A U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee announced it will hold hearings on Sept. 14 and [...]

The voluntary recall of more than half a billion Iowa eggs has advocacy groups on both sides of the issue ready to make their case in the court of public sentiment.
The Iowa Poultry Association and the Humane Society of the United States have not been on the same side of any issue for quite some [...]

Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has drawn scrutiny — and a new moniker: “lapdog” — for his department’s possible role in allowing the distribution of Salmonella-tainted eggs from Iowa-based Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice will begin hearing testimony Friday in Colorado from the nation’s livestock producers, but many producers met Thursday night in advance of the scheduled workshop to discuss their concerns about competition and government intervention in their industry.

In two press releases Wednesday U.S. Rep. Steve King criticized the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack for his comments on the connection between immigration and the nation’s food supply and the handling of a U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel matter involving former employee Shirley Sherrod.
King, a Republican representing Iowa’s 5th [...]

Citing a need for Iowa voters to be given a side-by-side comparison of the candidates for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Democratic challenger Francis Thicke has released the questionnaire he completed for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation’s “friend of agriculture” designation, and is pushing Republican incumbent Bill Northey to do the same.
The designations, presented by Iowa [...]