Stories

Iowa’s flood disaster is causing some to call for the release of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for haying and grazing.

As it stands now the 2007 Farm Bill is far from perfect, but there's still time for it to be improved. That was the message at a forum Tuesday hosted by the Iowa Farmers Union and the Center for Rural Affairs in Ankeny.
Rep. Leonard Boswell, who chairs the U.S. House Agriculture subcommittee on livestock, dairy [...]

The Iowa Farmers Union and the Center for Rural Affairs will host a forum in Ankeny next week to discuss the 2007 Farm Bill with U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell.
Boswell, an Iowa Democrat who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, will discuss the ag legislation and other rural issues with constituents at the forum on the [...]

The U.S. House Agriculture Committee unanimously passed the 2007 Farm Bill Thursday, sending the $285 billion legislation to the full House for a vote that could occur next week.

There was a victory in the bill for lawmakers who have been pushing for mandatory country-of-origin labeling on food products.

State and federal officials claimed a major victory today in the battle against methamphetamine production in Iowa.
Law enforcement officials recently completed a project to install locks on tanks of anhydrous ammonia in all of Iowa's 99 counties.An anhydrous ammonia tank lock was demonstrated today at a press conference with state officials in Des Moines. Tracy [...]

U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, won approval in the House Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee last week for an amendment that would limit the power of large agribusinesses to force arbitration in contract disputes.
The amendment is similar to legislation introduced in the Senate by Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Boswell [...]

Stress corrosion cracking–that's probably not a phrase you're familiar with, but it is something that has been weighing heavily on the minds of ethanol producers in Iowa.
Stress corrosion cracking in pipelines is blamed as a major reason why ethanol cannot currently be pumped from the Midwest through the nation's existing pipeline infrastructure.
Finding a solution to [...]