Kalona

Last Friday, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig visited Sinclair Tractor in Kalona for a campaign stop with farmers and employees.

Naig discussed conservation, animal health and water quality, along with the upcoming November election. During his remarks, he said manufacturing, agriculture and financial services are three major parts of Iowa’s economy.

Agriculture

Naig said a strong agriculture industry benefits more than farmers; it helps communities and the state as a whole. He pointed to Iowa’s natural resources and the work done across the state. “We make, grow and build things here.”

He also discussed international trade, expanded markets and year-round access to E15. “We’ll fight for markets anywhere where we can,” he said.

Naig said Iowa should lead efforts to expand year-round access to E15. “E15 is one of those pieces that we need to be fighting for, and Iowa needs to lead the charge. We’re number one in producing ethanol and biodiesel.”

Naig said he was encouraged by farmers’ progress in adopting no-till practices and cover crops. He acknowledged that more work remains to reduce nutrient loss and protect soil.

Choose Iowa program

Naig also discussed Choose Iowa, a program he started to connect consumers with food, beverages and agricultural products grown, raised or made in Iowa.

He said the program aims to create markets for Iowa producers and keep more spending within the state. “It’s good for business, good for farms. Process locally, sell locally, and all those dollars stay local.”

Farm to Faucet bill

Naig discussed the Farm to Faucet bill, which was signed into law in June. He said it directs $320 million over 12 years toward water treatment infrastructure and other water quality efforts without increasing taxes.

He explained that reducing nitrate levels requires work both before water reaches a treatment plant and at the treatment plant itself.

“If we’re going to reduce nitrate levels, there’s two ways you can do that. You work upstream through proven conservation practices like cover crops and buffer strips, wetlands, but you also need to recognize that we’re using more water in our cities. We need to treat more water, and it’s not one or the other.”

Water quality

Naig said Iowa has been working to reduce nutrients in its waterways for years, but more work is needed.

“We finalized the nutrient reduction strategy in 2013, and the goal that was established at that time was to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, nitrate and phosphorus, in our streams by 45 percent. We’ve set records for conservation adoption that reduce nutrient loss from fields since that time that we had full funding. So there’s a major investment being made on the part of USDA and the state of Iowa on these practices, but we need to do more.”

Cancer concerns

Naig also addressed concerns about cancer rates in Iowa. He said more research is needed to understand the causes, including whether nitrates in water play a role. He said the state is working to reduce nutrients in streams.

“We must understand what’s happening, and work to address that. I don’t think there’s enough research that’s been done to definitively say that is the cause of all of it. We know it’s a complex issue, and we need to not minimize it.”

Beef

Naig discussed the size of the U.S. beef herd and efforts to help farmers expand their herds in Iowa.

“We have the smallest beef herd in the United States since the 1950s, and yet demand is up from consumers, but our cow herd is down. What we’re doing is offering an incentive to take row crop acres that either have eroding soil or nutrient loss, or are underperforming, and seed them down to grass for pasture. We’ve seen significant interest on the part of farmers.”

Wetlands

With the area recently experiencing flooding, Naig also discussed how wetlands can help. “Some of the conservation practices that we can implement, like wetlands, actually can help reduce some of the flooding.”

Election

Naig encouraged attendees to research the candidates and cast their ballots in the November election. “I would encourage you to look at his stuff,” he said. He added, “Vote early, vote once, but vote.”