Stories

Blogger Mike Stark, who has been asking congressional leaders who oppose health care reform on camera about the specific demographics of their own districts, caught up with U.S. Rep. Steve King, the Republican who represents Iowa’s 5th Congressional District.
When asked if how many people residing in his district were uninsured, King responded that the people [...]

An international team of scientists, funded with $10 million in grant money from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and supported by at least two Iowa entities, has completed the first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig — a scientific advance that holds promise for both future swine production and human medicine.
“Understanding [...]

Facing increased demand for behavioral health services, agencies in at least 28 states have been looking to Iowa for advice on the problem. A federal program designed to address the rural mental health crisis nationwide has been authorized by Congress, but hasn’t been funded.

More help is on the way for Iowa’s cash-strapped pork producers.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that his agency intends to purchase an additional $30 million in pork products this fiscal year for federal food and nutrition assistance programs.

Corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped significantly this morning after a report (pdf) from USDA predicted that this year’s crop will be much larger than investors and analysts expected:

We reported last month that a USDA program to expand rural broadband access was set to receive billions of stimulus dollars despite its less-than-perfect record of effectively spending money, revealed by an Inspector General’s report.  Undeserving suburban communities were getting loads of money to expand broadband to places that already had it, and deeply rural [...]

The Des Moines Register swung for the fences in today’s front page, above-the-fold story about Sen. Tom Harkin’s efforts to secure federal funding for a sewage treatment facility for the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville four years ago, but it is not clear that Harkin actually did anything wrong.

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.

Corn and soybean prices dropped sharply Friday following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s October crop production estimates.

Agricultural organizations expressed their displeasure today with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s implementation of a new food labeling law.
The National Farmers Union, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association and R-CALF USA joined together to voice their concerns about the USDA’s interpretation of the new Country of Origin Labeling provision that was passed in the new farm bill [...]