Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The sequel to "Dorgan-Grassley" was released Thursday.Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is prepared to compromise in his quest to cap federal farm program payments. Grassley and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., were defeated last year when their amendment to cap commodity payments at $250,000 failed to pass with the new farm bill.
The Midwestern duo is back with a new plan, and they're calling it "Dorgan-Grassley II." It's all part of an effort to keep wealthy urban landlords from cashing in on federal farm programs.
In a conference call with agriculture reporters Wednesday, Grassley announced that he would be writing a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner to "encourage substantive conversations on payment limitations" because, Grassley said, the issue hasn't adequately been dealt with.
Grassley said that farm bill negotiations have revealed the significant difficulty in finding consensus on funding mechanisms that can meet the demands of the farm bill. He said a "sizable amount of that gap" in funding can be covered by adopting a four-point program that limitsfarm program payments.
Grassley and Dorgan revealed details of their four-point proposal Thursday in a statement released to the press.
Rather than setting a "hard cap" on payments at $250,000, the plan would reduce payment limits only when prices of commodities are above a target price.
Participants in the farm program would be required to be "actively engaged in farming," a provision that was included in the defeated Dorgan-Grassley amendment. To be "actively engaged in farming," a participant would be required to spend at least 1,000 hours annually or at least 50 percent of the labor and management required on the farm. Management would be required to involve "regular and direct supervision of on-site farming activities."
The proposal would also enact measures aimed at "softening the impact of reduced limits on cotton, rice and peanuts in recognition of the differences between northern and southern agriculture." There would also be new limits on eligibility based on adjusted gross income, and payments on cash-rented land owned by high-income landlords would be reduced.
The press release noted that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the proposal would save approximately $1.86 billion over 10 years.
Current farm programs will expire on April 18 unless the 2002 Farm Bill is extended or a new farm bill is signed into law.
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