Stories

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 [...]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently moved forward with a proposal to exempt livestock operations from certain federal air quality regulations. Public comments on the proposal will be accepted until March 27.
On Dec. 28, 2007, the EPA published in the federal register a rule change that exempts air releases caused by animal agriculture operations [...]

The U.S. Senate gave the green light to a major increase in renewable fuels standards Thursday night with the passage of the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007.
The bill requires that the U.S. produce 36 billion gallons of fuel per year from renewable sources by 2022. It would also require that 15 billion gallons of [...]

Agricultural commodity groups and food manufacturers are balking at a proposal to increase renewable fuels standards.
News reports surfaced this week about the opposition of livestock groups and manufacturers who use corn-based products to an energy bill provision being debated in Congress.A Brownfield Network article reported on Tuesday that the National Pork Producers Association and [...]

Now that he is settled into his new role as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey sees an exciting and dynamic future for Iowa's farm economy.
He has served almost five months of his first term so far, and his first legislative session is behind him. Northey, a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer from [...]

Farmers involved in contract disputes with large agribusinesses must often submit to mandatory arbitration, and are left with no other legal recourse to settle their disputes.
That may soon change if  a bill co-sponsored by Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is signed into law.