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.
Most of Iowa’s farmland enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program will now be released for livestock grazing.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released CRP acres for livestock grazing in 97 of Iowa’s 99 counties on Monday. The release of CRP acres in Iowa and 15 other states will allow the conservation land to be used for livestock grazing only, and landowners will suffer a 25 percent reduction in their CRP payments if they choose to use the land for grazing. The release will not allow the land to be harvested for hay.
The release only allows grazing in counties that were designated as primary and contiguous Presidential Disasters Areas because of flooding, but the move could provide relief to livestock producers who have been struggling with rising costs of feed.“We have a crisis situation in the Midwest and other parts of the country that calls for drastic action,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer when he announced the CRP release. “Major flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries came at one of the worst times for agriculture. Flood waters inundated thousands of acres that cannot be salvaged for production this growing season, and it happened at a time of record crop, food and fuel prices.”
The USDA’s release of CRP land for grazing only could be seen as too little, too late for some in the agriculture community. All of Iowa’s congressional delegation recently called for a complete release of all CRP acres in Iowa for haying and grazing in an effort to alleviate pressure on feed prices caused by the historic floods.
Iowa has approximately 1.8 million acres of land enrolled in the CRP program. When enrolled in the program, landowners sign 10- to 15-year contracts with the USDA and agree to leave the acres out of production. The farmers receive a payment from the government, and the program protects environmentally sensitive land and provides wildlife habitat. But CRP acres can be opened up for production when deemed necessary by the USDA.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said in a press release Monday that the release of CRP acres for grazing “is a step in the right direction.” Northey said he had requested the immediate release of CRP for both haying and grazing, but added that the release will still be beneficial to some producers.
To be approved for CRP release, participating farmers need to write their county USDA Farm Service Agency office, obtain a modified conservation plan and receive county office approval before beginning grazing.
Iowa counties where CRP acres are released for grazing include Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clay, Clarke, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Monies, Dickinson, Dubuque, Emmet, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Howard, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Kossuth, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Mitchell, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, O’Brien, Osceola, Page, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Sioux, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Woodbury, Worth and Wright.
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