A rising cancer rate blamed on water quality in rural, red Iowa has become a looming midterm campaign issue

A series of issues affecting rural America is giving hope to Democrats as the midterm elections approach, including data centers that are supported by President Trump but opposed by many communities, concerns about health care access, Medicaid cuts by Republicans that threaten the future of clinics and hospitals, housing shortages and inflation. Now in heavily red rural Iowa, Politico reports that a rising cancer rate blamed on water quality is        overshadowing other issues and is “changing Iowa politics.”

Photo by Shawn Schroeder on Unsplash

From the report by Tom Philpott and Nina B. Elkadi: “Iowa’s lakes and ponds are often murky and fetid from algae blooms fed by fertilizer runoff, a byproduct of the state’s vast agricultural industry’s reliance on farming chemicals … People are angry and worried about the quality of the state’s water, the health risks it poses and its increasingly undeniable tie to the state’s signature industry: agriculture.”

Politicians in Iowa have been hesitant to criticize the industry, Politico reports, but candidates in both parties are taking shots at the big companies and their use of chemicals and fertilizer that they claim has seeped into drinking water and has the state’s cancer rate rising dramatically.

The issue not only has raised the hopes of Democrats seeking statewide office in November, but appears to have delivered victories to Republicans who are bucking the establishment wing of the party.

Perhaps the best example of the strength of the issue is in the positions of the candidates for Iowa secretary of agriculture. The Democrat, Chris Jones, accuses the large farming operations of trying to control nature, “ … and what has controlling nature done for us?,” he asks. “It’s polluted all our water. It’s really destroyed a lot of Iowa.” 

Jones’ Republican opponent is the current secretary of agriculture, Mike Naig, who Politico observes, “can’t run on water.” Naig once worked for Monsanto, the producer of Roundup, a controversial herbicide. Naig thinks farming operations can be convinced to voluntarily pollute less, which is the current approach, and rejects the need for regulation. In a June press release, Naig said, “We have made tremendous progress working with farmers and landowners and hundreds of public and private partners to incorporate responsible farming practices, but there’s no finish line when it comes to conservation.”

Angry voters want results, and the election may come down to who they believe will deliver on water quality. Jones observed that, “Cancer doesn’t care what party you belong to. Republicans don’t like drinking poisonous water any more than Democrats do.”

Trump traveled to Iowa to show farmers his support and to tout $12 billion federal aid package

Trump poses for photos with younger
"fans" during his Iowa visit.

President Donald Trump returned to Iowa this week to reassure farmers of his support and to tout his administration’s recent $12 billion farming aid package. 

But as farmers face economic headwinds, "some are growing frustrated with how his policies, including his far-reaching tariffs, have hurt the agricultural economy," report Patrick Thomas and Ken Thomas of The Wall Street Journal.

Trump told an audience of diners at the Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, that he "'gave farmers $12 billion . . . because they were treated unfairly by foreign countries," the Journal reports. The crowd applauded.

Despite the rousing crowd support the president received, some U.S. farms are hurting. Thomas writes, "In the first nine months of 2025, nearly 300 farms filed for bankruptcy, up almost 40% from 2024, according to U.S. court data."

Mark Mueller, who is president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, told the Journal, "We’re getting a lot of lip service. He’s saying that he’s going to do all these things to make things wonderful. We’ll have a new golden era of agriculture. No, that’s not been the case.”

Last month, Trump angered cattle producers by taking to social media and demanding that they lower beef prices. American livestock owners, who have made abysmal profits for years, are just now realizing steady profits.

Other farmers have been "irked by a lack of ag-friendly policy victories in Washington, such as expanding the blending of corn into gasoline and soybeans into diesel," the Journal reports. Farming advocacy groups have pushed for "increasing the use of gasoline with 15% ethanol, known as E15, [that] would increase demand for U.S.-grown corn and push up prices."

Meanwhile, the state will have some intensely competitive midterm elections where Democrats are working to gain traction. Steve Scheffler, who leads the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, "recalled that former President Barack Obama carried the state in the 2008 and 2012 elections," Thomas adds. "He warned that Democrats would try to make inroads in this year’s midterms — without Trump’s name on the ballot."

Iowa's water is polluted with farming nitrates and pesticides, but a potential solution challenges the 'status quo'

Crop and animal farm runoff has polluted at least
four Iowa rivers. (Adobe Stock photo)

In agriculturally dominated Iowa, what's good for corn producers gets top billing while residents face a deluge of polluted water. "In Iowa, which by some measures has the most polluted water in the U.S., people who advocate for the environment are widely scorned as enemies of farming," reports Peter Waldman of Bloomberg.

In a state where farmers spread copious amounts of pesticides, nitrogen fertilizers and nitrogen-rich manure, towns like Remsen, which is surrounded by Iowa corn country, are "saturated with pollution," Waldman writes. "Researchers have linked trace exposures to nitrate in drinking water to cancers, birth defects and thyroid disease. Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the U.S., after Kentucky."

Although concerned citizens, including many farmers, have pushed for fewer pesticides and nitrates, most efforts failed. "The state government has crushed almost every effort to hold farmers and agribusinesses accountable for their increasingly dirty footprint," Waldman explains. Last year, the EPA ordered Iowa to "add parts of four rivers to the state’s list of impaired waters needing cleanup, including the drinking supply for about a fifth of Iowa’s population."

Even with some of the state's drinking water in question, the state complained about the EPA's sanction, which the Trump administration lifted. Waldman reports, "Now even the feds defer to Big Ag, led in Iowa by the industry’s undisputed champion in the state, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation."

Remsen is located in eastern Plymouth County, 
in the heart of Iowa's corn belt. (Adobe Stock photo)

Without support, Remsen's water continued to be polluted. Despite investigations, area wells were allowed to fill with possibly toxic nitrates. "From 2016 to 2020, Remsen’s five-year rate of colorectal cancer, one of the cancers associated with nitrate exposure, was 19% higher than Iowa’s," Waldman adds. "By 2017, the shallow wells that supplied Remsen’s drinking water were so loaded with nitrates they had to be shut down."

Farming without so many nitrates and pesticides is possible. Matt Liebman, a retired agronomy professor at Iowa State, told Waldman, "What it takes to grow food with less pollution isn’t a mystery. . . .But the solution threatens the status quo. You can’t sell as much fertilizer, hybrid seeds or animal feed. For those companies, the solution is the problem.”

Quick hits: Wayne County murals showcase 'Walldogs'; a Midwestern state of mind; the eclipse capital is in Illinois

Willie Nelson singing at the first Farm Aid concert in 1985.
(Wayne Walldogs photo via Successful Farming)

Murals in Wayne County, Iowa, stand as a testament to the region's dynamic and resilient history. "Wayne County, a part of the Mormon Trail, where Brigham Young led his followers from Illinois to Utah in 1846, is also known for its excellent hunting opportunities, large Amish community, and well-appointed historical museum," reports Lisa Prater Froust of Successful Farming. "Last year, these historical events and figures were vividly brought to life in 16 murals painted during the five-day Wayne County Walldogs Festival." Not sure what 'walldog' is? Click here.

The Midwestern United States 
(Wikipedia map, from Census Bureau data)

Think you're a Midwesterner? For most residents, the answer depends on geography, but some people have other ideas. "Everyone knows places such as Ohio and Minnesota are solidly in the Midwest. But a recent poll finds that the Midwest is more a state of mind than just a place you can point to on a map," report Ben Kesling and Jennifer Levitz of The Wall Street Journal. "People from Colorado (42%), Oklahoma (66%) and even Wyoming (54%) think they live in the Midwest. . . . Some locals are baffled: 'Who ARE you people?'"

Pluto was demoted to one of dozens of dwarf
planets. (NASA photo via Nat Geo)

In 1930, a farm boy turned astronomer from Streator, Illinois, Clyde William Tombaug, discovered Pluto, which was designated our solar system's ninth planet, but then in 2006, Pluto got demoted. "Mike Brown, CalTech professor of astronomy and author of How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming, crashed the party and took away Pluto's planetary classification," reports Eric Alt of National Geographic. "Ever since the worlds of science and pop culture have debated Pluto's fate. . . . the matter seems far from settled."

Some news sources say the U.S. economy is recovering from the dark days of the pandemic, with most measures reporting a healthy rebound despite inflation's hold on grocery and housing costs. That's one picture. Talk to a local pawnbroker, and you'll hear a different report. "Accumulating pawnshop inventory means fewer buyers than sellers – a sign that for the lowest-income Americans, times remain tough," reports Lauren Villagran of USA Today. "Some Americans – people with retirement plans, savings and stock holdings – may gripe about inflation and the economy, but they're doing all right. Others are surviving pawn to pawn."

Location of Mikanda in Jackson
County, Illinois. (Wikipedia map)

 

The U.S. eclipse capital is the unassuming southern Illinois town of Mikanda, Illinois, pop. 500. It has been "blessed by the cosmos for the second time in under 10 years," reports Hunter Bassler of KSDK in St. Louis, Missouri. "Mikanda is the exact intersection for both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses, an astronomical wonder that rarely ever happens in such a short time span, according to NASA. . . . Village officials are preparing for bigger crowds this year."

Rainbow over Cheesebox Butte. Cheesebox Canyon is a popular Bear Ears hiking trail.
(Photo by Stephen Trimble, Writers on the Range)

Without knowing the region's history, Bear Ears National Monument evokes thoughts of strength, softness, and beauty. Dive deeper into the story of this 1.36 million-acre site in southeast Utah, and a timeline of battles, historical power dynamics and unresolved conflict emerges. "The political tussle over this stunning expanse of red rock canyons exemplifies all the cultural dissonance in the rural West," writes Stephen Trimble in his opinion for Writers on the Range. "White residents never envisioned challenges to their political power. But in 2009, the feds came down hard on generations of casual pothunting by local white families. Then, after a century of oppressing their Indigenous neighbors, lawsuits strengthened Native voting rights."

Recent Midwestern derecho was like an 'inland hurricane' but hasn't seen comparable news coverage from outsiders

On Monday, Aug. 10, a storm known as a derecho wreaked havoc over a 700-mile stretch of the Midwest. But though the storm was as strong as a Level 2 hurricane and destroyed or damaged nearly half of Iowa's corn crop, the disaster isn't getting the same kind of outsider coverage that a hurricane would, Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Lyz Lenz writes for The Washington Post.

"While the storm did garner some coverage, mostly via wire stories, its impact remains under-reported days later. The dispatches, focused on crop damage and electrical outages, have been shouted down by the coverage of the veepstakes and the fate of college football. Conservatives’ consternation over the new Cardi B single has gotten more attention than the Iowans left without power or food for what may be weeks. And all this, as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc throughout the state," Lenz writes. "Iowa’s last disaster, breathlessly covered by the media, was the caucuses. After that, everyone moved out. The dearth of coverage means we are struggling here, and no one knows."

In Iowa alone, a quarter of a million people are without power, and nearly half of the state's corn crop was damaged or destroyed. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency, about 8.2 million acres of corn and 5.6 million acres of soybeans in the state were in the path of the storm, Natalina Sents reports for Successful Farming. Preliminary estimates say the storm also damaged or destroyed more than 57 million bushels of permanently licensed grain storage that will cost more than $300 million to remove, replace or repair.

Democrats see a trade-war opportunity among farmers, but some remain skeptical that many votes are there to get

Mainstream journalists are catching up to cracks in President Trump's support among farmers. Two major news organizations have stories today, and a third has an analysis doubting that the trade war will hurt Trump much among agricultural interests.

Tim Reid and Joseph Ax report for the Reuters wire service, "Seizing on mounting Farm Belt frustration with President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, Democratic rivals are stepping up their push to take back part of rural America, whose overwhelming support for Trump helped propel his upset 2016 election victory."

Alan Rappeport writes for The New York Times, "The predicament of farmers is becoming a political problem for Mr. Trump as he heads into an election year. For months, farmers have remained resolute, continuing to pledge support to a president who says his trade policies will help the agricultural industry win in the end. While there are few signs of an imminent blue wave in farm country, a growing number of farmers say they are losing patience with the president’s approach and are suggesting it will not take much to lose their vote as well. . . . As the trade fight gets uglier, farmers are beginning to panic."

Reuters notes, "Farmers and ethanol producers are also upset with the administration’s latest decision to allow more oil refiners to skirt biofuel laws and use less corn-based ethanol," and says several Democratic presidential candidates have made the two issues "the central plank of their pitches to rural America."

The Times report begins with the Aug. 7 episode in which Minnesota soybean farmers vented to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and he responded with a joke that drew boos. Citing a report from the American Farm Bureau Federation, Rappeport notes, "Farm bankruptcy filings in the year through June were up 13 percent from 2018 and loan delinquency rates are on the rise," and adds, "Losing the world’s most populous country as an export market has been a major blow to the agriculture industry. . . . Deere & Co., the maker of agricultural equipment, said this month that it was cutting its profit forecast for the second time this year. The administration has tried to mollify farmers by rolling out two financial aid packages totaling $28 billion." The help has depleted the funds of the federal Commodity Credit Corp., which would require action by Congress to replenish.

Farm Journal surveys in July and August showed Trump's support among 1,100 farmers polled dropped from 79% to 71%, the Times notes. But Greg Sargent writes in his "Plum Line" column for The Washington Post,  "There is likely zero chance that farmers — or rural voters — break with Trump in 2020. Still, this illustrates the limits on Trump’s lying powers: If they stick with Trump, it isn’t because he mesmerized them into ignoring reality; it’s that they still see other reasons for sticking with him. Those are likely rooted in partisanship more than anything else; farmers are overwhelmingly Republican voters."

Nevertheless, Reuters notes, "Even a small erosion in Trump’s support among rural voters could make a difference in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, where Trump won by razor-thin margins in 2016, Democratic strategists say."

Sargent adds, "Trump also seems to have zero fear that gaslighting his own constituencies might cost him politically. Why? One possible answer: Fox News. According to indefatigable Fox tracker Matthew Gertz, as of Tuesday morning Fox hadn’t said anything about the report of farmers getting angry at Trump’s agriculture secretary for accusing them of 'whining,' but it did feature a farmer who pledged his undying 'trust' in Trump’s handling of the trade war. . . . It probably won’t be a big story that Trump’s agriculture secretary got booed by farmers for being dismissive of their travails — or that some farmers’ reps don’t like it when Trump lies about their difficulties. . . . Trump frequently makes such claims as 'farmers are starting to do great again'."

Americans are eating more pork, and the Midwest is trying to meet the demand

(Image from The Washington Post)

Americans are eating more pork now than they have in years, and new farms are starting up to meet the demand for everything from pork bellies to pig ears.

In Iowa alone, meatpackers recently began construction on new slaughterhouses worth well over $500 million, Caitlin Dewey reports for The Washington Post. By the end of 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that pork production will equal — sometimes even exceed — that of beef, though neither red meat yet rivals chicken.

"Some of that demand will come from growing foreign markets. But Americans have developed a new taste for pork, particularly bacon, as well. According to the market research firm Euromonitor, sales of pork are up 20 percent in the United States since 2011," Dewey reports.

A multitude of factors seems to lie behind pork’s growing popularity. Last winter, demand for bacon grew so high that the U.S. pork-belly supply hit a 50-year low — sparking fears of a bacon shortage. "The growing influence of Asian cuisines, particularly Korean and Vietnamese, have also made some cuts of pork newly popular. In its 2016 food trends report, Google named char siu, bulgogi and banh mi — which frequently include pork — among the year’s hottest foods. And Americans are increasingly turning to fast-food restaurants for breakfast, where bacon and pork sausage are both popular," Dewey explains.

Demographics also play a major role. Pork is a popular meat in Latino cooking, and recent growth in sales reflects the growing Latino population and cultural influence. Pork has also benefited from a rebound in Americans' food spending, particularly at restaurants. "According to the USDA, Americans have spent more money at restaurants in each year since 2010. A 2013 study by researchers at Purdue University found that spending on meat, in particular, spiked after the recession, especially for high-quality cuts of chicken, pork and beef," Dewey writes.

Foreign demand for pork is also strong in markets such as Mexico, China and Japan, where hog farms and processors are becoming ever more productive. This means many companies back in the States are expanding. "In Sioux City . . . Seaboard Triumph Foods is building a huge, $300 million plant that will span almost a million square feet and process upward of 20,000 hogs a day. Prestage Foods, a large producer of pork and turkey, recently broke ground on a new pork plant in Eagle Grove, Iowa, that will process 10,000 hogs each day," Dewey explains.

The USDA predicts than when these facilities open, an additional 900 million pounds of pork will hit the U.S. market, which may force prices down a bit and further stimulate demand. "In either case, by the end of 2018 U.S. farmers are expected to produce as much pork as beef — which is, for the pork industry, an unprecedented accomplishment," Dewey notes.

Iowa county's economic strategy: help local farmers grow different crops and expand sales

Pottawattamie County, Iowa, with just under 100,000 residents and thousands of acres of farmland, may not be a place that comes to mind when one is looking for a hub of innovative regional economic development, but that is what the county has become in the past several years. The county has "collaborated with towns and cities beyond its borders to boost the reach of its local farmers and to foster a different kind of agricultural sector that grows fruits and vegetables for its own residents to buy and eat," Nancy Cook writes for the National Journal. "It has worked to train the next generation of farmers and to help existing farms with small-business coaching.

According to the National Association of Counties, the end goal of the collaboration is for Pottawattamie and its partners to combine economic efforts to create a stronger economic region than they could establish individually. One of their strategies was to change the type of farming from large and industrialized to small operations growing food for local people to keep the money in the state.

 In 2005, a group of longtime farmers gathered to discuss the future of farming. After a series of meetings, the Southwest Iowa Food and Farm Initiative was born. The group now works in education and outreach, helping farmers learn more about business through workshops and coaching and connecting farmers to farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture networks, Cook writes. The group also found and mentored promising young farmers, hoping they would stay in the area.

"If you go to a grocery store, you're buying produce from California and South America," said Lance Brisbios, project coordinator at the Golden Hills Resource Conservation & Development, the nonprofit that runs SWIFFI. SWIFFI is trying to change that by encouraging farmers to sell produce to local restaurants, schools and hospitals.

Denise O'Brien, owner of Rolling Acres Farm, was one of the original farmers who helped establish the group. She said the area is seeing the results of the efforts to influence people to buy and sell locally. "Chefs want to take our food, and we're taking our produce in today for community-supported agriculture."

"The county has created new market for fresh fruits and veggies and new jobs for county residents," Cook writes. "That's a much different economic portrait for a rural county once just rooted in corn and soybeans. (Read more)

Chinese veep returns to Muscatine, 'old friends'

The people of Muscatine, Iowa, welcomed a friendly and familiar face back to town yesterday: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping. He made a stop there in 1985 during an agriculture research trip before he became heir apparent to his country's highest office. He met the locals, spent the night with some of them, and when he returned to town, invited 17 of those people to tea, reports Kirk Johnson of The New York Times. (Times photo by Kevin E. Schmidt)

Chinese officials said the trip was a chance for Jinping to "relive a pleasant period from his past" and reconnect with farmers and other residents he met 25 years ago. The Times implies his visit was a propaganda event to show U.S. and Chinese audiences "the deep connection that the presumed future Chinese president ... feels with the people of the American heartland." The paper also implies the trip was possibly "meant to highlight China's growing dependency" on U.S. food. Iowa is one of China's biggest soybean suppliers.

Residents, though, didn't focus on the politics, Johnson reported. They were happy to have some good publicity for Muscatine and eager to extend open arms to an "old friend." Mayor DeWayne Hopkins said the city displayed its work ethic and value for friendship to Jinping. "If that message can be disseminated into the rest of the United States in encouragement for people to be interested in Muscatine and perhaps relocate here — and I mean people all the way from households up to retail and manufacturing — then that’s a plus," he said. (Read more) The Muscatine Journal reported some local reaction Jinping's visit.

Iowa doctor permitted to provide abortion pills to rural women via video

The Iowa Board of Medicine has decided to allow Planned Parenthood of the Heartland to continue using a video system to provide abortion pills to women in rural areas, reports Tony Leys for the Des Moines Register. The system, the first of its kind in the nation, allows a physician in Des Moines to deliver the pills to patients in remote clinics around the state, writes Leys. The doctor reviews each patient's records, speaks to her for a few minutes via videoconferencing, then pushes a computer button that opens a drawer in front of the patient. The patient reaches in the drawer to retrieve the pills, then takes the first dose while the doctor watches. She takes the rest of the pills at home, where she has an induced miscarriage.

The national anti-abortion group Operation Rescue complained to the Iowa board  that the practice did not meet the requirements of state law. The board deliberated the case in a closed session, then told Operation Rescue that it would not sanction the Planned Parenthood doctor. Jill June, president of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said the system is used by other medical specialists to treat rural patients. "It would be turning the clock backwards and really discriminating against people who want and need health care but don't happen to live in urban areas," June said. (Read more)

Biodiesel struggles to gain truckers' approval

The continued reluctance of truckers to use biodiesel continues to pose a significant threat to the renewable fuel, and one trucking company is lashing out against an Iowa biodiesiel group's misinterpretation of its report on a test of the fuel. In a letter read Thursday at the state Capitol, Decker Trucking of Fort Dodge reported its 2-million-mile study "proves that biodiesel is not a cost effective solution at this time," Dan Piller of the Des Moines Register reports. Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would mandate biodiesel use.

Decker launched the study in 2007 to examine "the impact of regular use of the fuel, particularly in winter where biodiesel has been prone to gel in colder temperatures," Piller writes. That remains a significant problem for the fuel, the study concluded. The company also criticized several industry groups for misrepresenting the study's findings. "Iowa Biodiesel Board, Iowa Soybean Association and REG [Renewable Energy Group] are promoting the Two Million Mile Haul as a success. But, if the report is read, the true results are buried in a mountain of data," Steve Lursen, a special projects manager who managed the study, told Piller. (Read more)

Iowa representative of U.S., so no reason to alter presidential system that makes it first, study says

Political scientists at the University of Missouri and the University of Iowa argue that the Hawkeye State fairly accurately represents the make-up of the United States, so "There seems to be no cause to take away Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential status."

The findings of Peverill Squire and Michael Lewis-Beck, published in Political Science & Politics, are based on a study of 51 factors of economics, diversity and social problems. They "show that the overwhelming majority (39 of 51) were typical of the broader U.S. population, or within one step from the national average," writes Lynda Waddington of The Iowa Independent. They also note that it is pretty much in the middle in terms of size, location and time it entered the Union. (Read more)

We think the Iowa caucuses have a lot going for them; the state's electorate is well educated, and it gets to see the candidates up close. So do Iowa's rural journalists. However, we can't help but note that the study apparently ignores the fact that, in 2000, Iowa's population was 39 percent rural, while the rest of the nation was only 21 percent rural. To read the study, click here.

Vilsack defends Obama budget, calls for 'improved targeting' of direct farm payments

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has again signaled the Obama administration's willingness to change its proposal to bar direct farm-subsidy payments to farms with more than $500,000 in annual sales. In an op-ed article in The Des Moines Register about Obama's proposed budget and its impact on agriculture and rural areas, Vilsack describes the proposal as "improved targeting of direct payments to those who really need support."

Vilsack writes, "Direct payments are provided to large operations and done so regardless of crop prices, losses, or even whether the land is still in production. I acknowledge that capping farm program payments and tightening eligibility for direct payments may not be popular with some of Iowa's farmers or producers from around the country, but we must remember that direct payments were never intended to be around this long. They were temporary payments in the 1996 farm bill, and although they were scheduled to expire, they were included in the 2002 and 2008 farm bills, at a cost to taxpayers of about $5.2 billion per year." (Read more)

Obama appears unlikely to keep promise to hold national rural summit during his first 100 days

The White House "appears to be modifying a campaign promise that arguably helped propel Barack Obama into the White House," reports Howard Berkes of National Public Radio.

In October 2007, Obama promised voters in Iowa that he would hold a summit in the state on rural issues during his first 100 days in office. He was trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls, but three months later, he won the Iowa caucuses and was on his way to the Democratic nomination. But now, 44 days after assuming power, his administration has still not made plans for a summit on rural issues and earlier supporters are growing skeptical.

Just after November's election, two key rural figures spoke out about the importance of rural vitality. Obama "made a very strong commitment on coming back to Iowa to hold a summit on the future of rural America," said Chuck Hassebrook of the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs said in a November interview with NPR. Berkes also reports that Debby Kozikowski, vice chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and founder of Rural Votes, a group that campaigned for Obama, is raising questions. "Keeping that promise is critical to moving rural economies and rural life forward," she told Berkes.

A week after the inauguration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, indicated the summit might not be held in the time frame promised. The White House indicated likewise this week when questioned by Berkes and The Rural Blog. While not directly saying the summit would have to wait, spokesman Shin Inouye said, “The greatest issue facing rural America, and all Americans, is the need to get our economy back on track. As he works to address this critical issue, President Obama is committed to hearing from and addressing the needs of rural America. In both the stimulus bill and his budget overview, his administration is taking affirmative steps to help strengthen rural America. He is working with his cabinet, advisors and Congressional allies to form a comprehensive rural agenda, and is planning on hosting a forum to discuss those ideas.”

Inouye is director of specialty media in the White House Office of Media Affairs. For Berkes' story, click here.

Iowa farmland values down 6% last quarter of '08

In another sign that the recession is beginning to hit rural areas, land values in Iowa dropped by 6 percent in the last three months of 2008 according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Dan Piller of The Des Moines Register reports, "The decline in farmland values was the first such drop in a decade, but it surprised few agriculture experts who have watched corn and soybean prices plunge by more than 50 percent since last summer."

The drop could make it harder for farmers to buy land since banks might start requiring larger down payments. Currently, down payments are on average 35 percent of the appraised value but could increase to 40 percent or 45 percent if the downward trend continues.

Piller writes, "The Chicago Fed report didn't put a dollar amount on farm values. Iowa's 6 percent fourth-quarter land value decline was the largest percentage decrease in the region, which includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan." (Read more)

USDA, EPA talk raising share of ethanol in gas

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Bloomberg News Friday that he is in talks with the Environmental Protection Agency about the possibility of increasing the percentage of ethanol added to gasoline. In November, the EPA set a requirement that ethanol be 10.2 percent of an ethanol-gasoline blend; some in the ethanol industry have suggested 15 or 20 percent.

The industry is facing significant challenges. The high gasoline prices seen last year lowered demand for fuel, and ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland Co. says U.S. ethanol production is only making 79 percent of what it could be making. The industry's second-largest producer, VeraSun Energy Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection in October. "By increasing the blend, demand for ethanol will be boosted even as gasoline use falls," writes Bloomberg's Tina Seeley.

“I do think it’s important for us to look for strategies to make sure the infrastructure of the ethanol industry is preserved, because it is a key component to this new energy future the president’s laid out," Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, a big corn and ethanol state, told Seeley in an interview Friday.
(Read more)

Eagle's comeback spurs tourism in Dubuque

Once endangered as a result of pesticide use, bald eagles are off the federal endangered species list, but are still rare enough that areas where they congregate attract a number of tourists hoping to spot the national bird in the wild. The Environment Report's Shawn Allee went to Dubuque, Iowa's Eagle Watch to witness eagle tourism firsthand.

Dubuque's convention center hosts booths selling eagle-related items, from photographs to bobble-heads. The main attraction is not inside, but at the Mississippi River, where the town's dam provides easy food for the birds, stunning the fish as they pass through. Locals say they can tell that today's eagle population is much healthier than it has been. “Twenty years ago, we read about eagles, we heard about eagles but we never ever saw one," photographer Robert Eichman told Allee. But, now, during the winter, "there may be 400 to 500 eagles roosting on the bluffs on either side of the river.” (Listen to the story; read the transcript)

Fertilizer runoff from Midwest farms must stop, National Academy of Sciences says after study

Fertilizer runoff from Midwest farms, which has been blamed for the large "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico and can have adverse affects on drinking water, needs to be reduced, according to a new study by the National Academy of Sciences. The study "recommends launching a national initiative aimed at improving water quality throughout the Mississippi River basin states," reports Kim McGuire of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register's Washington bureau writes, "It will take at least a decade to start seeing results once the first measures are taking to curb pollutants, much of it excess fertilizer that washes off corn farms in Iowa and other states."

"The study, which was conducted at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency, recommends setting reduction targets for watersheds, or river drainage areas, that are the largest sources of the pollution," adds Brasher. The gulf''s "dead zone" has grown over the last eight years because the problem was largely ignored. An algae bloom was discovered in the Raccoon River which is a source of Des Moines' water supply. Bacteria linked to the algae is dangerous to human health. (Read more)

Weekly newspapers covered Agriprocessors Inc. and its big immigration raid differently than dailies

The weekly Postville Herald-Leader in Iowa faced an unexpected challenge last May when the town suddenly became the center of a then-record immigration raid and a symbol for the nation's immigration debate. An article in Grassroots Editor, published by the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, highlights the work of the Herald-Leader and other weeklies in covering the raid at Agriprocessors Inc. and its aftermath.

Agriprocessors was a story years before the raid. The company began in 1987, and, by 1996, had become the "world's largest kosher slaughterhouse." With the resulting "influx of Hasidic Jews and an international workforce, the town came to be seen as an experiment in multicultural living," writes Patricia Berg. "In a region almost entirely populated by Christians descended from German and Norwegian immigrants, Postville had suddenly become a mosaic of Anglo Christians, Jews, Latinos and Eastern Europeans." University of Iowa journalism professor Stephen Bloom wrote a book about it, Postville.

With this year's raid, however, Postville was national news, with major dailies focusing on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and immigration policy. Local weeklies not only had to report that story, but also lived the story, as friends and neighbors were arrested and deported. "Even a few miles down the road their perspective is different from mine, because they don't live right here," said Sharon Drahn, editor of the Herald-Leader. The dedication required to report on many of the stories still emerging from the raid is also much harder on local staff. Janell Bradley, owner and editor of three area weeklies, says that she has begun studying Spanish three nights a week, so that she is no longer dependent on interpreters.

Gerald Blue, editor of the Fayette County Union, 15 miles from Postville, says that weeklies' proximity to the story has enabled them to report areas of progress. "The dailies chose to ignore anything that was positive" about Agriprocessors, he said. He says that while daily papers did not report on company changes for the better, such as a new staffing agency, the weekly papers did. (Read more)

Iowans pick Obama; how important was ethanol?

Ethanol subsidies played a part in Barack Obama's victory in Iowa. While many say that John McCain's opposition to the subsidies hurt the candidate, it appears that it was just one issue that led to Obama's victory in the state. "John McCain used his long opposition to farm subsidies and ethanol incentives to burnish his credentials as a political maverick," writes Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register. "Republicans say it hurt his campaign in agricultural counties that were key to President Bush's narrow victory in Iowa four years earlier."

Obama supported ethanol subsidies throughout his campaign. That buoyed his support in rural Iowa, where President Bush had been strong in the last election, but it appears to be only part of the reason rural voters chose him. Dennis Goldford, a professor of politics at Drake University, told Brasher, "It's unlikely rural voters went for Obama solely because of his position on ethanol. The economic slowdown was a major issue, and McCain had largely ignored the state in his previous campaigning." (Read more)