Stories

Though much remains unknown about the spread of ‘Swine Flu,’ a potentially deadly strain of influenza that appears to have migrated from pigs to humans in Mexico and, now, the United States, a growing chorus of critics of industrial agriculture is asking whether confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are to blame.

A New York-based livestock advocacy group is using news of a blaze at a central Iowa hog confinement to speak out against industrialized agriculture.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement has filed an ethics complaint against State Rep. Dolores Mertz (D-Ottosen) on the grounds that her personal finances are too closely tied to the industry she helps to oversee as chair of the House Agriculture Committee.

Although former Gov. Tom Vilsack is likely to be confirmed by the Senate as secretary of agriculture after President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Organic Consumers Association continues to hold out hope that they can derail the nomination before that happens.
While Vilsack has promoted respectable policies with respect to restraining livestock monopolies, his overall record [...]

During his two terms as Iowa governor, Vilsack endeared himself to both the left and the right. But the Democrat who was both the first to enter and the first to leave the 2008 presidential campaign had his critics.

Iowa 3rd District congressional candidate Ed Fallon wants to impose a nationwide moratorium on livestock confinements built by corporations.

Fallon, a Des Moines Democrat, is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell in the June 3 primary election. Iowa Independent caught up with Fallon as he stopped in Albia Tuesday morning on a campaign swing across the [...]

More than 30 hogs were brutally injured and maimed when someone set them loose from a Story County farm and ran them down with a vehicle last weekend.

Finding “common ground” was the theme of a forum held Thursday in Pella that focused on the difficult issues involving livestock production.

Approximately 55 people braved icy roads to attend the “Tough Issues, Let’s Talk” forum and share their views on the various types of livestock feeding operations in Iowa.

Featured speakers at the event included Aaron [...]

Can Iowa livestock producers get along with their neighbors? That’s a question that will be examined in depth at a forum next week in Pella.

The “Tough Issues, Let’s Talk” forum will be moderated by Bob Leonard of KNIA radio and will feature presentations by two outspoken agricultural leaders: Aaron Putze, the executive director of the [...]

A bipartisan legislative study committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal to tackle the issue of livestock odor in Iowa.
The proposed plan, presented by Iowa State University, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the state agriculture department, would create a voluntary program to provide incentives to livestock farmers who utilize new odor-reducing technologies.
“Odors associated [...]