Bleeding Heartland - CAFOs

Another Iowa legislative victory for Big Ag

desmoinesdem — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:49:00 GMT

Factory farm advocates failed in 2009 to circumvent the Iowa DNR's rulemaking on applying manure over frozen and snow-covered ground. Then they failed in 2010 to win passage of a bill designed to weaken Iowa's newly-adopted regulations on manure storage and application.

But this year, the Iowa Pork Producers Association succeeded in convincing state lawmakers to relax requirements for CAFO operators to be able to store their own manure properly. All they had to do was dress up their effort as an attempt to help families with aspiring young farmers.
Last month Bleeding Heartland covered House File 512, the so-called "mothball" bill for farm structures. Proponents say it would help farm families who need to downsize temporarily, until a child has grown up, finished college, and decided to come home to farm.

The big "tell" during the House debate was that proponents rejected State Representative Chuck Isenhart's amendment, which stated:

During the period of election [to be a small animal feeding operation], a manure storage structure that is part of the confinement feeding operation is not used to store manure originating from a location outside the confinement feeding operation.

If the intent of the bill were to keep vacant buildings available for family use someday, the Iowa House should have approved that amendment. But they rejected it, because CAFO operators want to have the option to dump excess manure in the vacant buildings of neighbors. Transporting and offloading manure to another farm increases the risks of spills and water pollution.

Several environmental organizations and the Iowa Farmers Union had lobbyists registered against House File 512. Only the Iowa Pork Producers Association had lobbyists registered in favor.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action was mobilizing opposition to this bill. In early April, that group claimed victory when the legislation was placed on the Iowa Senate's "unfinished business" calendar.

But unfinished business doesn't always stay unfinished at the statehouse. Last week, Senate leaders revived their version of the same bill, called Senate File 418. As described in the Senate Journal for May 1 (pdf), Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Joe Seng received unanimous consent to replace Senate File 418 with House File 512. The Senate then approved by voice vote Seng's amendment to the legislation, and passed the bill by 43 votes to 6 (Jack Hatch was absent). The six no votes came from the following Democrats:

Joe Bolkcom
Dick Dearden
Pam Jochum
Matt McCoy
Janet Petersen
Herman Quirmbach

I am surprised Rob Hogg was a yes here.

Excerpt from a May 1 press release by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action:

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement member Lori Nelson of Bayard, Iowa released the following statement Wednesday morning before the Iowa Senate debates an environmentally hazardous bill that would de-regulate basic and common-sense manure management regulations:
"Senate File 418 - the so-called "mothball" bill - is a shameful attempt by one of Iowa's largest corporate ag lobby groups and Democrats like Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Ag Chair Joe Seng to de-regulate basic environmental protections that were designed to keep factory farm manure out of our water."
"Today we will hear false statements on the Senate floor, by Democrats and Republicans alike, that this bill is somehow meant to protect the environment because dumping overflowing toxic manure into an abandoned factory farm during bad weather is safer than spreading it on frozen or snow-covered ground. But this is a false comparison and is simply not true. There is a third option that was contemplated by legislators and regulators over five years ago that put the responsibility on the industry to solve this problem, and that is the correct approach we must continue to demand now."
"After the 2009 law banning liquid manure application on frozen and snow-covered ground, the Environmental Protection Commission and the Administrative Rules and Review Committee carved out a five year window for the factory farm industry to come into compliance with the new law, either by building extra storage capacity, reducing their herd sizes, or taking other steps to properly manage their manure over the winter months."
"The industry has had five years to fulfill their obligations, but they have refused, because they don't want to spend the money to do what's right. Now the Iowa Senate, under the leadership of Democrat Mike Gronstal, is set to give one of Iowa's most polluting industries a free pass for bad management rather than stand up for everyday people and the environment."
"We have 628 polluted waterways in this state. The amendment that will be proposed on the floor of the Senate today by Senator Seng is lipstick on a factory farm pig. There is no such thing as an emergency that would require dumping overflowing manure into an abandoned factory farm. That's not an emergency, that's bad management. Winter comes every year, and extreme weather is the new normal. The industry has had years to figure this out."
"Senators of both parties who claim that this measure is the lesser of two evils compared to spreading manure on snow are giving the factory farm industry a free pass for bad management. This is a horrible bill, it's bad policy, and legislative support for it demonstrates to every Iowan all that is wrong with state politics."

Yesterday the Iowa House took up the amended House File 512. According to the House Journal (pdf), floor manager Lee Hein moved that the representatives concur in the Senate amendment. Immediately afterwards, the House approved the bill by 85 votes to 14. Only these Democrats voted no:

Ako Abdul-Samad
Bruce Hunter
Marti Anderson
John Forbes
Lisa Heddens
Chuck Isenhart
Anesa Kajtazovic
Vicki Lensing
Mary Mascher
Kevin McCarthy
Jo Oldson
Cindy Winckler
Beth Wessel-Kroeschell
Art Staed

All House Republicans voted yes, joined by all of the other Democrats present. Dan Muhlbauer was absent but would surely have been a supporter; he supported House File 512 last month.

UPDATE: Cody McKinley, a lobbyist for the Iowa Pork Producers, told the Des Moines Register that

an amendment added to the bill by the Senate addresses CCI's concerns by allowing animal or manure storage in a mothballed facility only "on an emergency basis" and requiring farmers to inform the Department of Natural Resources of such circumstances.
"At any time, the DNR still has jurisdiction over that facility to go in and inspect and make sure they're fulfilling the full extent of the law," McKinley said.

That's not nearly as useful as Isenhart's amendment, which would have barred the use of mothballed facilities to store manure from other farms. So what if a CAFO informs the DNR that they are transporting manure to a vacant building? The DNR doesn't have enough CAFO inspectors even now, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency thoroughly documented. DNR staff won't closely scrutinize these "emergency" storage situations and won't be able to prevent spills during transport and offloading.

Iowa House votes to relax manure storage rules for CAFOs (updated)

desmoinesdem — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:15:00 GMT

In an ideal world, evidence that more than half of Midwest rivers and streams can't support aquatic life would inspire policy-makers to clean up our waterways. Rivers that are suitable for swimming, fishing, and other recreation can be a huge economic engine for Iowa communities.

We live in Iowa, where most of our lawmakers take the Patty Judge view: "Iowa is an agricultural state and anyone who doesn't like it can leave in any of four directions."

Yesterday the Iowa House approved a bill to relax manure storage regulations for large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). All of the House Republicans and two-thirds of the Democrats supported this bad legislation. Details on the bill and the House vote are below.
Proponents of House File 512 claim it would make life easier for farmers who want to "downsize" their operations temporarily.

"This bill allows you to notify the DNR [Department of Natural Resources] that you will no longer have animals above the 500 animal unit that requires the manure management plan," [Republican State Representative Lee] Hein said, "simplifies it and allows those buildings to remain intact in case, say, for instance the next generation comes along in a few years and wants to enter back into the hog operation."

If that were the intended goal of this bill, Iowa lawmakers should have had no problem with an amendment proposed by State Representative Chuck Isenhart, the ranking Democrat on the Iowa House Environmental Protection Committee. His amendment was short and simple:

During the period of election [to be a small animal feeding operation], a manure storage structure that is part of the confinement feeding operation is not used to store manure originating from a location outside the confinement feeding operation.

In other words, go ahead and mothball your barn in case your child wants to come back to the farm someday. But in the meantime, don't use your barn to store manure overflowing from someone else's CAFO. During yesterday's floor debate (audio available at Radio Iowa), Isenhart warned that House Fill 512 would become a "fall-back" option for CAFO operators who don't want to invest in adequate manure storage facilities. He noted that the original bill does not recognize potential hazards from manure spills during transportation to a neighboring farm and offloading.

House members rejected Isenhart's amendment by voice vote shortly before the vote on final passage for House File 512. Incidentally, Hein (the floor manager of this bill) chairs the House Environmental Protection Committee. We can see how committed he is to that mission.

But I don't mean to pin all the blame for this bad bill on House Republicans. Most of the Democratic caucus helped to pass it by 83 votes to 16. The roll call (pdf) shows that all 52 Republicans present voted yes, joined by the following 31 House Democrats: Bruce Bearinger, Deborah Berry, Dennis Cohoon, David Dawson, Nancy Dunkel, Ruth Ann Gaines, Mary Gaskill, Chris Hall, Curt Hanson, Dave Jacoby, Jerry Kearns, Dan Kelley, Bob Kressig, Daniel Lundby, Jim Lykam, Helen Miller, Dan Muhlbauer, Pat Murphy, Tyler Olson, Scott Ourth, Todd Prichard, Joe Riding, Patti Ruff, Kirsten Running-Marquardt, Art Staed, Sharon Steckman, Sally Stutsman, Phyllis Thede, Roger Thomas, Mary Wolfe, and Frank Wood.

I understand the political realities. Many of these Democrats represent rural areas; others represent urban districts where the livestock industry is important to the local economy. The bill's going to pass anyway, so why stick your neck out? The sad fact is, agribusiness interest groups will endorse challengers to most of these Democrats in the next election, ignoring the friendly votes cast to appease Big Ag.

Next time I receive a fundraising call from the Iowa Democratic Party or the House Truman Fund, I will let them know that this bill is one reason I'm keeping my checkbook closed. At least a dozen of the Democrats who voted for House File 512 represent rock-solid safe districts. That includes you, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Tyler Olson.

Credit goes to the House Democrats who had the guts to vote against House File 512 yesterday: Ako Abdul-Samad, Marti Anderson, John Forbes, Lisa Heddens, Bruce Hunter, Chuck Isenhart, Anesa Kajtazovic, Vicki Lensing, Mary Mascher, Kevin McCarthy, Jo Oldson, Rick Olson, Mark Smith, Todd Taylor, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, and Cindy Winckler.

The lobbyist declarations on House File 512 show that the Iowa Pork Producers Association is the only group registered supporting the bill. These organizations have lobbyists registered against the bill:

Iowa Environmental Council
Food & Water Watch
Des Moines Water Works
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund
Iowa Farmers Union
Sierra Club Iowa Chapter

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement's Action Fund is calling on Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal to block the Senate version of House File 512. That bill, known as Senate File 418, has already passed the Senate Agriculture Committee and is eligible for floor debate. Gronstal has the final call on what comes up for a vote. In the past, he has supported some bad legislation designed to support factory farms. But in those days, Senate President Jack Kibbie always had Big Ag's back. Now the Senate President is Pam Jochum, who has a strong environmental voting record. Maybe she can prevail on Gronstal.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Chuck Gipp does not agree with Iowa CCI's interpretation of this bill's potential impact on water quality. No big surprise there. The Iowa DNR's lobbyist is registered "undecided" on House File 512.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

P.S.- House File 512 originated in the House Agriculture Committee, currently chaired by Pat Grassley. He is considered a leading contender for Iowa secretary of agriculture in 2014 if current Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey runs for U.S. Senate.

P.P.S- Environmentalists living in the first Congressional district should ask Pat Murphy to explain this vote when he asks for their support in the IA-01 Democratic primary. In fairness to Murphy, he has voted against some other bad legislation favored by Big Ag in recent years.

UPDATE: Representative Isenhart responded to my request for comment on the passage of this bill.

Rep. Hein, the bill's floor manager and a hog producer, admitted in his remarks what environmental groups feared the bill will make possible: that so-called "mothballed" confinement facilities can still be used to house sick animals and the manure pits to store excess waste from other facilities, all without updated manure management and other plans to mimimize risks to the environment and animal safety.

APRIL 5 UPDATE: The Iowa Senate will not take up this bill during the 2013 legislative session, according to this Iowa CCI Action alert. In an article on legislation that will not clear the second "funnel" deadline today, William Petroski and Jason Noble mentioned that Senate Democrats are rejecting "a proposal to revise rules on hog feeding operations."

Six links to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers

desmoinesdem — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 01:15:00 GMT

March 14 is the International Day of Action for Rivers. These stories about water pollution and the economic potential of healthy rivers are worth a read.

Contrary to what agribusiness industry lobbyists would have you believe, a majority of Iowa farmers "support expanding conservation requirements for soil erosion and the control of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff."

Iowa's confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs or factory livestock farms) create more untreated manure annually than the total sewage output of the U.S. population.

Aging sewer systems in urban areas also allow too much sewage to leak into watersheds. The I-JOBS infrastructure bonding initiative (signed into law by Governor Chet Culver) included some money to improve sewer systems in Iowa, but we need to do much more on this front.

Iowa Rivers Revival Executive Director Rosalyn Lehman recently published a call to revive Iowa's rivers in the Des Moines Register. I've posted excerpts from her guest editorial after the jump.

The Metro Waste Authority has created an Adopt a Stream website, with "resources to help you organize a stream cleanup in the Greater Des Moines area."

Dam removal as part of a river restoration project supports local economic activity as well as the environment.
Note: Iowa Rivers Revival named Central City its 2012 River Town of the Year. In this excerpt from Rosalyn Lehman's Des Moines Register guest editorial she describes why the non-profit organization named Dubuque its 2012 River City of the Year.

River restoration efforts also address problems that have big price tags, like flooding, bridge destabilization and water impairments. Eroding stream banks are often a major contributor of sedimentation. Standard engineering solutions usually call for armored riprap revetments or other expensive "hardscape" approaches with questionable long-term results. "Softscape" restoration approaches can enhance stream bank stability at a fraction of the cost, while enhancing fish and wildlife habitat and increasing a stream's ability to filter nutrients and other pollutants. The results will also look more natural.
Dubuque, Iowa River Rivival's 2012 River City of the Year, has adopted a number of innovative, softscape approaches in its Bee Branch Creek restoration project. At Bee Branch Creek, the city is "daylighting," or opening up a stream long buried in a storm sewer. The changes will greatly increase storm water capacity and decrease flood risks for more than 1,000 properties in three historic neighborhoods. Other benefits include improved water quality and a new, mile-long linear park from north Dubuque to the Mississippi River.
Bee Branch Creek is just a small part of Dubuque's river renaissance, which focuses on the city's connection to the Mississippi. Highlights include downtown riverfront development around the Port of Dubuque and its stunning National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. Here, the city has transformed 90 acres of industrial brownfield into a bustling center of history, tourism, recreation, commerce - and civic pride.

EPA to give Iowa DNR until end of 2018 to inspect 8,000 CAFOs

desmoinesdem — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:20:00 GMT

Catching up on some news from late December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have negotiated a draft work plan on inspecting and issuing permits to confined-animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Iowa by the end of calendar year 2018. Follow me after the jump for background and details.
In July, a preliminary report from the U.S. EPA's Region 7 found that the Iowa DNR has not been adequately enforcing the Clean Water Act. In particular, DNR has not been issuing permits to CAFOs under the federally authorized, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program. The DNR's initial response to the EPA report was inadequate, according to several environmental advocacy groups in Iowa.

Iowa DNR Director Chuck Gipp revealed in November that he will ask state legislators to appropriate $1.3 million in additional state funding to help his agency hire eleven new livestock facility inspectors for next year. Gipp wants the money so that the EPA will not take over Clean Water Act enforcement with respect to Iowa agricultural facilities.

Perry Beeman reported for the Des Moines Register on December 30 that EPA Region 7 and Iowa DNR officials had negotiated a draft "work plan" for addressing this problem. Although neither agency has issued a news release about the draft work plan, you can view the seven-page document here (pdf). Under the plan, the DNR agrees "to promulgate NPDES permitting regulations for confinement CAFOs that discharge" and to improve "compliance monitoring and enforcement" for CAFOs as well as medium-sized animal feeding operations in Iowa. In early 2013, the DNR is to start rulemaking in several areas, as well as develop a new standard operating procedure for evaluating compliance and a new training curriculum for livestock facility inspectors.

Here is a key excerpt from pages 5 and 6 of the work plan:

Objective 5: To perform appropriate CWA/NPDES inspections at all large CAFOs and assessments at all medium AFOs in Iowa by December 31, 2018.
1. By February 1, 2013, the DNR will provide a complete listing of all known large CAFOs and medium AFOs in Iowa and a written plan to systematically locate and/or identify any unknown operations. These two items, among other things, will be used by Region 7 to verify implementation progress of this Work Plan over the next five years.
2. Consistent with SOPs developed pursuant to Objective 4, the DNR agrees to perform CWA/NPDES inspections at all known large CAFOs and assessments at all medium AFOs in Iowa by December 31, 2018 and to complete a minimum of 20% of these inspections/assessments annually, in accordance with the prioritization established in Paragraph 7, below.
3. The DNR agrees to inspect or assess all newly identified (i.e., identified for the first time during implementation of this Work Plan) large CAFOs and medium AFOs, respectively, in accordance with timeframes established in EPA's Compliance Monitoring Strategy and the prioritization established in Paragraph 7, below.
4. The DNR currently estimates that there are approximately 8,000 facilities that will need an CWA/NPDES evaluation. To evaluate all of these operations, the DNR has determined that additional full-time staff is required. The DNR agrees to pursue additional full-time staffing from the Iowa Legislature during the 2013 Iowa legislative session.
5. To immediately begin evaluating the facilities discussed in paragraph 4 above, the DNR will provide an interim Inspection Plan that will outline planned DNR inspection activities at CAFOs through December 31, 2013. This interim Inspection Plan will be submitted to EPA by March 1, 2013.
6. Following the 2013 legislative session, but no later than August 1, 2013, the DNR will assess available resources, determine their adequacy to meet the Objective 5 commitments, and provide EPA with a final Inspection Plan describing how the Department will meet the commitments pursuant to Objective 5. The final inspection plan will cover a period commencing January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2018.
7. The DNR and EPA agree that it is appropriate to prioritize inspections related to this objective. This prioritization will be based on threat to water quality and prioritized in the following order:
a. Inspection and evaluation of AFOs in response to spills or complaints. This is the highest priority because these are operations where DNR has timely information that a discharge may have occurred. The DNR agrees that for the duration of this Work Plan it will continue to timely inspect or assess as a highest priority any operations associated with a spill report or complaint;
b. Large open lot CAFOs and medium sized open lot AFOs. This sector is a high priority because open feedlots are exposed to precipitation and are most likely to discharge on a frequent basis;
c. AFOs, including confinement operations, which have previously discharged in the last 10 years. Past discharges may be indicative that discharge conditions persist;
d. Confinement operations that meet the definition of a large CAFO. While this sector is a large segment of Iowa's AFO universe it is EPA and DNR's opinion that, because animals are confined indoors and generally less exposed to precipitation, this sector is a lower priority for inspection from a water quality perspective; and
e. Medium sized confinement AFOs.
Indicia of Progress: The DNR establishes a baseline list of known large CAFOs and medium AFOs, to be shared with Region 7, by February 1, 2013. On an annual basis, the DNR inspects at least 20% of the known operations in accordance with the agreed upon prioritization scheme. All known facilities are inspected by December 31, 2018. The DNR inspects or assesses all newly identified facilities in accordance with the agreed upon prioritization scheme and timeframes established in EPA's Compliance Monitoring Strategy.

Under the draft work plan, the DNR also agrees to post quarterly progress reports on its website regarding its livestock facility permitting and inspections.

Gipp will seek funding for at least eleven new livestock facility inspectors next year, perhaps as many as thirteen new inspectors. Iowa House and Senate leaders have indicated that lawmakers are inclined to approve the funding request to prevent the federal government from taking over responsibility to enforce water pollution rules. Assuming the DNR has to inspect 1,600 CAFOs each year for five years (beginning January 2014), that works out to more than 30 inspections per week, not including the permitting work that will need to be done. I wonder whether an extra 13 inspectors will be sufficient.

I also wonder how committed the DNR will be to this process. By the end of 2018, we'll have a new president and new leadership at the EPA. Who knows whether federal officials will hold the DNR's feet to the fire?

Still, this work plan is better than the status quo ante, under which the DNR certainly would not have improved its enforcement of the Clean Water Act. As Beeman noted in his latest report for the Des Moines Register,

In the past, the DNR has maintained that the facilities don't need federal permits that control discharges because state law prohibits any releases into waterways. And the major livestock organizations here have agreed with that analysis.

None of the above would be happening if three non-profit organizations had not petitioned the EPA in 2007, so a lot of credit should go to Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter. Those groups and others, such as the Iowa Environmental Council and the Iowa Policy Project, submitted detailed comments to the EPA this fall on problems with the DNR's permitting and inspections process as well as Iowa's history of underfunding its water quality programs.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

Clean Water Act 40th anniversary linkfest

desmoinesdem — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 04:19:14 GMT

Forty years ago today, Congress enacted the Clean Water Act by overriding a presidential veto. Global Water Policy Project Director Sandra Postel is dead on: "As game-changing laws go, the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act ranks high."

Though Iowa is still not in full compliance with this law (and may never be during my lifetime), there's still some good news in the links I've enclosed below.
First, a brief history lesson from Daniel E. Estrin:

In this age of partisan warfare, of politicians voting strictly along party lines, and of misguided efforts to eviscerate the Environmental Protection Agency and environmental regulation as we know it, it's fascinating to look back and revisit the passage of the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972-also known as the Clean Water Act. For while President Richard Nixon is often credited with establishing the Environmental Protection Agency, and with signing many of our federal environmental statutes into law, those who were not old enough at the time to remember may not be aware that President Nixon actually vetoed the Clean Water Act out of a stated concern for "spiraling prices and increasingly onerous taxes." [...]
[T]he Senate voted by 52-12 to override, with 36 Senators not voting. Of the 52 Senators who voted to override President Nixon's veto, 39 were Democrats, 17 were Republicans, with one (Buckley-NY) independent "Conservative." Democrats accounted for 4 of the 12 "nay" votes.
The House voted after debate by a staggering 247-23 to override, with one Representative answering "present" and 160 Representatives not voting. Of the 247 Representatives who voted to override President Nixon's veto, 96 were Republicans and 151 were Democrats. Democrats accounted for 10 of the 23 "nay" votes.

What the Clean Water Act accomplished

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency marked this anniversary with tons of information: a timeline of milestones in the battle to improve water quality across the country, core programs created to implement the Clean Water Act, "educational resources for students, parents and educators," and links to non-governmental campaigns for cleaner water.

Natalie Roy of the Clean Water Network recounted,

Since the passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972, many of our waterways have become less polluted. Lake Erie, for example, which was declared "dead" in the 1960's, now supports a multi-million dollar fishery. Pollution in river systems like the Mississippi from "point sources" such as sewage treatment plants and industrial facilities, has been dramatically reduced. In 1970, point-source contaminants from industrial facilities accounted for 85% of the pollutants in our waters, and today account for only 15%. The rate of wetland loss has declined by 90% since the 1970's.

The editors of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel commented,

In 1972, two-thirds of the United States' lakes, rivers and coastal water were considered unfit for one or more of their intended uses, such as fishing and swimming. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had famously and repeatedly caught fire. In Florida, 26 million fish died from contamination in one lake; dumping raw sewage into rivers and lakes was standard practice.
Since the bill was enacted, reports the Natural Resources Defense Council, discharges of organic wastes decreased in the U.S. by over 45% from publically-owned waste treatment facilities and by 98% from industrial facilities.
Milwaukee has been part of that success story. Federal funds helped pay for the water pollution abatement program and the Deep Tunnel system that reduced the combined sewer overflows from an average of 50 to 60 a year to two and a half per year. Say what you will about the system, Lake Michigan is cleaner now as a result of the work of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and the Clean Water Act.

How the Clean Water Act could be improved

Global Water Policy Project Director Sandra Postel suggested five ways to give the Clean Water Act "new teeth and updated tools":

First, clarify the scope of the Act. Recent Supreme Court cases have caused a great deal of confusion and ambiguity about what waters the Act actually protects. [...]
Second, provide stronger incentives (or requirements) to curb fertilizer and pesticide runoff from farms. [...]
Third, address pollution from urban storm water. [...]
Fourth, bring the energy production practice of hydraulic fracturing under the purview of the Clean Water Act (as well as the Safe Drinking Water Act) and establish permitting requirements that safeguard surface and groundwaters from contamination. [...]
Fifth, reinvigorate water conservation and efficiency. Water quality depends on having adequate quantity.

I couldn't agree more with Postel's action plan. Sad to say, there seems to be no political will in Washington to strengthen the Clean Water Act. On the contrary, the Republican-controlled U.S. House has repeatedly voted to weaken this law.

Of the 300-plus anti-environmental votes in the House during the 112th Congress, as toted up by Rep. Henry Waxman of California, perhaps three dozen were aimed in one way or another at undermining clean water protections or rejecting efforts to strengthen them. The most recent manifestation was the oddly-named "Stop the War on Coal Act," a House-passed bill that would effectively strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to step in when state water quality standards are not strong enough to protect public health, as well as its authority to do something about mountaintop mining. The House has also cut funding for municipal water treatment plants and resisted efforts to strengthen protections for small streams and wetlands threatened by development.
What's especially distressing is that over the last four decades few environmental laws have enjoyed as much bi-partisan support as this one. But bi-partisanship is becoming almost as faint a memory as the day when a Republican President and a Democratic Senate agreed on a whole series of laws protecting the air, water and endangered wildlife and, between them, constructed an environmental legacy of lasting value.

Iowa Republicans Tom Latham and Steve King have supported nearly all of those efforts, sometimes joined by Democrats Leonard Boswell and Dave Loebsack.

Local planners can do a lot to improve stormwater management, Natural Resources Defense Council Executive Director Peter Lehner writes.

In most cities, rainwater falls on paved surfaces, picks up oil, chemicals, and raw sewage, and dumps it into our waterways. This stormwater runoff is now the largest source of water pollution in many parts of the nation and a leading cause of beach closures. Water managers are realizing that if we design our communities to act more like natural systems, we can capture rain where it falls. A 1-inch rainstorm falling on a 1-acre meadow, for instance, would typically produce enough runoff to fill 28 bathtubs. The same storm falling on a 1-acre paved parking lot would produce 448 bathtubs of runoff-approximately 16 times as much.
We don't want to turn our built environment into grassy meadows, but we can create a similar effect throughout our communities. A solution called green infrastructure-things like permeable pavement, grassy traffic medians, pocket parks, and green roofs-has been proven to reduce runoff. It is also often much cheaper than conventional cement storm drains. When Staten Island tackled stormwater using green infrastructure, it saved the city $80 million, increased nearby property values, and brought much needed green space to urban neighborhoods.

Other problems can't be solved without federal action. Environment America Executive Director Margie Alt observed that a "frack-fueled drilling boom is putting our water at risk in several ways."

Fracking produces billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater laced with toxics like benzene, heavy metals, and even radioactive material. This wastewater has contaminated drinking water sources from Pennsylvania to New Mexico. In addition, frack fluid chemicals are leaking and spilling into streams and creeks, and methane and other substances are contaminating nearby residents' drinking water wells. Finally, with nearly a million gallons of water used in each frack job, this dirty drilling is placing an added strain on water resources.
Clearly, we need stronger rules and policies to safeguard our water. Yet two obstacles bar the path to tougher protections. First, our nation's clean water laws are now hampered by significant loopholes and exemptions. The very reach of the Clean Water Act has been undermined by a set of court decisions. As a result, nearly 60 percent of our streams -- including those feeding drinking water sources for 117 million Americans -- may no longer be protected. This loophole has hobbled literally hundreds of enforcement cases against known polluters. Similarly, despite its wide-ranging damage, fracking is exempt from key provisions of several laws designed to protect our water and our health -- including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Air Act.

Conventional agriculture is a leading source of "non-point source" water pollution. Research has documented a link between pesticide and herbicide in groundwater and surface water and health problems including birth defects. Atrazine has been found in "approximately 75 percent of stream water and about 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas."

The quest to bring Iowa into Clean Water Act compliance

While Iowa still doesn't fully enforce the Clean Water Act, some environmental groups have helped push state government in the right direction.

The Clean Water Act required states to enact "anti-degradation rules" by 1985 to "prevent the further pollution of lakes, rivers and streams." The Iowa Department of Natural Resources adopted rules, but in 1997 the EPA "informed Iowa that its rules were weak and violated federal law." Years of foot-dragging followed. The Iowa Environmental Council's blog picks up the story:

Repeated delays in rewriting the rules led a coalition of environmental organizations - Iowa Environmental Council, Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association, the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Environmental Law & Policy Center - to file a Petition for Rulemaking with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in 2007. This compelled the State to act immediately to initiate the rule-making process. Over a period of two years, a dozen meetings were held around the state to gather public comments, rule revisions were made in reaction to the comments, and a hearing before the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission was held.
From the beginning of the rulemaking process in 2007, Iowa Environmental Council staff traveled to various parts of the state, educating Iowans about Antidegradation rules and encouraging them to attend public comment meetings and mail written comments to the DNR. Members of lake protective associations in northwestern Iowa, river advocates from central and northeastern Iowa and people from around the state who care about water quality sent hundreds of letters and attended local meetings in support of the rules. In the end, over 900 Iowans provided the DNR with feedback about the rules.
At the December 2009 meeting of the state's Environmental Protection Commission, the revised rules were approved.

The state legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee allowed the anti-degradation rules to go into effect despite Republican opposition. The EPA formally approved Iowa's rules in the autumn of 2010.

Several interest groups representing polluting industries then filed suit to block the anti-degradation rules. But in March 2012, a Polk County District Court declared all the legal challenges "without merit" in a summary judgment. Plaintiffs have appealed that ruling, but I am hopeful that higher courts will uphold District Court Judge Mary Pat Gunderson's well-reasoned decision.

Environmental groups have also worked other angles to improve Iowa's Clean Water Act enforcement. The Iowa Environmental Council, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Midwest Environmental Justice Advocates requested help from the EPA in 2004 in prodding the Iowa DNR to implement "three key elements of the Clean Water Act."

In 2007, the Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement petitioned the EPA to address "Iowa's failure to issue adequate National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to open feedlots." In 2011, the same three groups notified the EPA of their intent to sue:

EPA has long recognized the need to regulate CAFOs that discharge pollutants into waters of the U.S. under the CWA NPDES permit program. However, Iowa has failed to meet its obligation to effectively regulate this industry through permitting, inspections, and enforcement. EIP, Iowa CCI, and Sierra Club petitioned EPA to exercise its oversight authority, asking it to review Iowa's CAFO program and initiate withdrawal proceedings if the state does not come into compliance. Nearly four years later, the state steadfastly refuses to implement federal CAFO regulations and unpermitted manure spills pollute the state's waters unabated. EPA has an unambiguous obligations to timely respond to the Petition, and its delay in doing so is unreasonable.

The EPA issued a damning preliminary report about Iowa DNR's failure to regulate water pollution from CAFOs. The DNR responded with an action plan that could be a lot stronger. The Iowa Environmental Council "identified several areas of concern regarding DNR's treatment of large animal feeding operations."

Earlier this evening (October 18), EPA regional officials held a meeting in Des Moines to hear from Iowans who favor stronger DNR enforcement of Clean Water Act rules on CAFOs. David Osterberg of the Iowa Policy Project discussed the DNR's inadequate staffing and funding. (The Iowa Policy Project posted Osterberg's letter to EPA staff here.) Several members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement submitted public testimony. The EPA could take over Clean Water Act enforcement from the Iowa DNR if state government proves unable to deal with these problems.

What individuals can do to keep water cleaner

Some water pollutants are so widespread that reading about them becomes depressing and overwhelming. Nevertheless, individuals can help reduce these problems locally.

The Chesapeake Bay News published a great post this week on 10 things people can do to improve water quality. These ideas range from simple (dispose of medications properly, use non-toxic household cleaners) to ambitious (install a rain garden in your yard, grow oysters, "a natural filter feeder").

Please share any relevant thoughts in this thread.

State environmental commission fails to ban manure on soybeans

desmoinesdem — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:18:51 GMT

Yesterday the State Environmental Protection Commission opted not to ban the practice of spreading manure on soybeans. It was another sign that Governor Terry Branstad's mission to reorient that commission toward agricultural interests has succeeded.
Most famers do not apply nitrogen-based fertilizers to soybean fields, because the plant takes nitrogen from the air. The corn/bean rotation became standard practice in Iowa precisely because soybeans fix nitrogen in the soil. In contrast, growing corn year after year would rapidly deplete the soil.

The Sierra Club's Iowa chapter provided background on the issue in this action alert (emphasis in original):

In consideration of the potential for nitrogen from manure applied to soybeans to contaminate water resources, the Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) in November 2006 initiated rulemaking to limit liquid manure applications to soybeans to 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre and to impose a total ban on applying liquid manure to soybeans five years later, unless further scientific research supports alternative action.
As part of the rulemaking, the EPC stipulated that it must review available scientific evidence and affirm or rescind the ban of applying manure to soybeans. The EPC will vote to affirm or rescind the ban at its October 16, 2012, meeting.
Soybeans are a legume crop and they can biologically absorb the nitrogen they need from the atmosphere. Therefore, nitrogen fertilizer is traditionally not applied to soybeans. However, with the increasing numbers of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Iowa, liquid CAFO manure - containing high levels of nitrogen - is now sometimes applied to soybeans.
Published scientific research - as well as common sense - indicates that applying manure to soybeans increases the potential for nitrogen to leach into tile drains and contaminate our water resources.
Five years later, two peer-reviewed studies and one unpublished report indicate that applying liquid manure to soybeans significantly increases the amount of nitrates in our water. The three studies appear to be the only studies that have measured nitrate leaching when manure was applied to soybeans. All of these studies found increased leaching of nitrogen to groundwater, and all were published since the 2006 EPC rulemaking, which stipulated that in five years "the commission shall review the available scientific evidence and determine whether any further or alternative action is necessary."
Given that recent studies have documented increased nitrogen leaching to water resources when manure is applied to soybeans and that the agronomic advantages of applying manure to soybeans are negligible, the Sierra Club strongly urges the Environmental Protection Commission to affirm the ban on applying manure to soybeans. The convenience of disposing of manure on soybean ground is not worth the water quality degradation it can cause.
See more information about the rule and the studies as they were presented to the Environmental Protection Commission in September 2012, and read an analysis of the studies by Francis Thicke, Ph.D.
Tell the EPC to ban liquid swine manure on soybean fields.

The published research articles are here (pdf). Thicke's two-page analysis is less technical and more accessible to people outside the field of agronomy. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement boiled down the case against manure on soybeans to a few paragraphs.

Members of the state Environmental Protection Commission were persuaded by the major agricultural groups that testified against banning manure application on soybeans. I can't say I'm surprised. The commissioners tend to defer to CAFO interests, and one of them builds factory farm facilities for a living.

It's unfortunate that the headline for the Des Moines Register's blog post on the commission meeting was "Environmental panel calls cops on CCI, adjourns meeting without acting." I appreciate the work Iowa CCI does to call attention to water pollution problems, but something is wrong when your disruptive protests become the news lead for a good environmental reporter like Perry Beeman. The story should be about how runoff from soybean fields affects groundwater and why soybeans don't need hog manure to grow. Shouting down members of a state commission drew the media focus away from that issue, as happened when Iowa CCI members heckled Paul Ryan at the Iowa State Fair.

UPDATE: Thicke commented on Facebook,

The first [Iowa State University] presentation by Dr. Matt Helmers clearly showed how applying manure to soybeans -- even at the lower rate of 100 lb of N/acre -- significantly increased nitrate leaching to groundwater. The second ISU presentation by Dr. John Sawyer muddied the waters by using irrelevant data, extrapolation and speculation to conclude that theoretically 100 lb of manure N/acre shouldn't cause nitrogen leaching -- even though Dr. Helmers had just showed real, multiyear, replicated data to the contrary. The second presentation no doubt confused the EPC [Environmental Protection Commission] and the reporter, leading them to believe the flawed theory over the actual data. ISU couldn't have orchestrated that better if it had intentionally intended to carry water for the pork industry.

Speaking of CAFOs and Iowa water quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has extended the public comment period on regulation of CAFO pollution until October 31. Click through for the contact information of the relevant EPA staff. This comment period relates to the EPA's preliminary report criticizing the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for not enforcing the federal Clean Water Act on CAFOs. The DNR responded to the EPA's findings a few weeks ago.

A few links on making Iowa's water cleaner (updated)

desmoinesdem — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 12:45:00 GMT

To coincide with today's annual conference of the Iowa Environmental Council, I've compiled some recent news related to Iowa water quality after the jump.
Voters in Polk County, the largest in Iowa by population, will find a bonding initiative near the bottom of the back page of their ballots. Background on the Polk County Land and Water Legacy Bond:

Conservation supporters say their research shows central Iowans are willing to back projects aimed at expanding regional trails, enlarging county-owned greenbelts and improving rivers and streams. The move, if voters approve, would cost Polk residents an estimated $9 per year in new property taxes on a home assessed at $100,000 if the entire $50 million were borrowed at once. [...]
According to language now planned to be on the Nov. 6 ballot, the $50 million would be used "for the purpose of acquisition and development of land for public parks, or other recreation or conservation purposes to be managed by the Polk County Conservation Board, including protecting the water quality of rivers, lakes and streams, including the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers and their tributaries, protecting drinking water sources, wildlife habitat, and natural areas, prevention of flooding, and construction and improvement of trails and conservation facilities in Polk County." [...]
Conservation officials say the money as of now would be spent on previously identified capital improvement projects including roughly $1 million to $2 million in dredging and creek-bank stabilization projects at Thomas Mitchell, Fort Des Moines, Jester and Easter Lake parks; $3 million to $4 million in land purchases to extend the Chichaqua Bottoms, Raccoon River and Four Mile Creek greenbelts; $5 million to $6 million in park facility improvements such as a Fort Des Moines Park outdoor classroom and new rental cabins at Jester Park; and $3 million to $4 million in new connections and improvements to the Gay Lea Wilson, Chichaqua Valley and Easter Lake trails.
That detailed list, which is expected to cover roughly the first three years of work, would expand in later years to include other already-proposed capital improvement plans. Supporters intend, among other things, to build previously planned trail connections and buy upstream land to slow water in creeks and prevent flooding. Conservation Director Dennis Parker said his department has identified roughly $78 million worth of possible land purchases as part of various watershed and wildlife protection measures.

I voted yes on measure A for many of the reasons cited here.

A new website called In Iowa Water features a range of stories related to Iowa waterways. The Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center created the site. Current links on the front page include an upbeat feature on the new white water park in Charles City and a depressing story about how open coal storage piles and coal ash ponds diminish the quality of drinking water and the Mississippi River. Each story also has a link that allows readers to "take action," for instance by sending an e-mail asking the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to investigate runoff from coal storage piles.

The impact of conventional agriculture on water quality will be a topic discussed during an upcoming Iowa talk by Ken Cook, president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group. He will speak on Tuesday, October 9, at 7 pm in the University of Northern Iowa's Lang Auditorium.

Why have farm interests had to resort to PR campaigns and social media initiatives just to redeem what used to be one of the most admired occupations in America? Why are those efforts likely to backfire and further isolate agriculture? Why do farm lobbyists defend agricultural technologies and policies that farmers themselves question? Why do the agriculture's leaders denigrate local food initiatives and organic farming? Environmental Working Group's Ken Cook shares candid observations from his 35 years of experience in agriculture policy.

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation isn't happy about Cook's upcoming talk. That group's environmental policy adviser, Rick Robinson, wrote recently to Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Chuck Gipp,

I hope the Iowa DNR does not use any of its limited resources to publicize the anti-agricultural propaganda of the Oct. 9 UNI event... There are some well-intentioned folks in the Cedar River Watershed trying to build new coalitions and continue to make progress on very challenging issues. The approach the UNI event takes, unfortunately, is divisive, and the solutions to the issue of water quality are complex and require true collaboration - something the speaker from the Environmental Working Group is not proposing.
I wish they would have instead invited Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, you or the ISU science team to the event to discuss the results of the water quality research and some of the solutions underway, or perhaps including some folks from other watersheds that have made progress to discuss their strategies so that the event is focused on real solutions.
The DNR, other public institutions or the coalition should not be associated with promotion or funding this kind of negative rhetoric.

Speaking of the Iowa DNR, a few weeks ago the agency sent its formal response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which criticized Iowa's factory farm enforcement program in an investigative report this summer. The non-profit groups Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club Iowa chapter have been trying to get the EPA to take action on Iowa's failure to regulate pollution from CAFOs since 2007.

The EPA's preliminary report is here (40-page pdf). Bleeding Heartland summarized its findings here. You can read the DNR's full response here (13-page pdf). Iowa CCI summarized the key points in a September 12 news release:

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued a formal response yesterday to a July investigative report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that was highly critical of DNR's factory farm enforcement program for:
* Failing to issue permits to factory farms when required,
* Not having an adequate factory farm inspection program,
* Frequently failing to act in response to manure spills and other environmental violations,
* Not assessing adequate fines and penalties when violations occur, and
* State setback distances for manure application not meeting federal requirements.
In their response, which you can read here, the DNR promised to:
* Initiate new rulemaking beginning November 1, 2012 to bring Iowa into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act,
* Ask the state legislature for more funding to hire 13 new full-time field staff,
* Develop a plan to inspect every factory farm in the state of Iowa, and
* Change other protocols and procedures to bring Iowa's program up to par with federal standards.

A different September 12 statement, jointly released by Iowa CCI, the Environmental Working Group, and the Sierra Club Iowa chapter, described the DNR's response as "incomplete." Excerpt:

Although DNR's proposed work plan includes a timeframe to develop new rules for factory farm permitting requirements, the DNR work plan falls short of what is needed to keep more manure out of Iowa's rivers, lakes, and streams, say members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI), the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter.
"The bottom line is, every factory farm in Iowa needs a Clean Water Act permit that is strictly enforced with tough fines and penalties for violators, and there is very little in the DNR's response that shows they are serious about cracking down on this kind of corporate pollution," said Barb Kalbach, a fourth generation family farmer and Iowa CCI member from Dexter, Iowa.
"Permitting rules are a long overdue first step, but they will not lead to real improvements in water quality if DNR continues to assume that the state's factory farms are meeting its 'zero discharge' standard," added Tarah Heinzen, attorney for Environmental Integrity Project. "DNR's work plan does not adequately address EPA's finding that DNR cannot even currently identify confinements in need of these permits. Clearly rules alone will not be enough," Heinzen added.
In addition to changing certain inspection and penalty protocols, DNR's work plan acknowledges that staff and resources to regulate factory farms have dramatically decreased, while the industry continues to grow, and the agency called for increased state funding in fiscal year 2014.
"We support DNR's efforts to increase staff to better comply with the Clean Water Act," said Neila Seaman, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter director. "We are pleased that the Iowa DNR has taken EPA's recommendations seriously for its CAFO permitting program. It is our hope that the Iowa Legislature also supports the DNR in this effort."

UPDATE: This year's drought has many Iowa rivers, lakes and creeks at the lowest levels seen in decades. Perry Beeman reported on a few "silver linings" for the Des Moines Register on October 6.

The drought already has saved the Iowa Department of Natural Resources hundreds of thousands of dollars on lake-restoration projects. The low water makes it easier to rehab shorelines and remove carp, so the state accelerated work in several places, including Black Hawk Lake near Lake View, said Mike McGhee, who oversees the work at DNR. [...]
McGhee, the DNR lake-restoration staff member, said the low water levels prompted the agency to move more quickly to kill all the fish in Black Hawk Lake, which had been dominated by carp and other rough fish. The lake will be fully restocked with bass, bluegill, muskellunge and walleye after the restoration work.
The DNR saved $250,000 on the chemicals used to kill the fish, because the water was so low.
"We haven't had conditions like this for 25 or 30 years," McGhee said. The state also will do some work on streams leading into Black Hawk Lake while they are dry.
New water-level controls will be added at Little Storm Lake, too.
The low water means that many shorelines are exposed to the sun, essential for wetlands restoration. Many have been underwater since the floods of 1993, McGhee said.
The sunlight will germinate seeds, which will restore plants that provide habitat for fish and other creatures when the lakes refill, just as fire helps restore prairie.

Lake restoration funding took a hit in Iowa during the past couple of years, but at the end of the legislative session got a small boost to $6 million in the current fiscal year.

Public pressure stops proposed CAFO in Dallas County

desmoinesdem — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:51:35 GMT

Farmers have withdrawn an application to build a 5,000-head hog facility in northern Dallas County, amid strong local opposition to the project.
The confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) would have been located near Minburn (Beaver Township). Nearly 350 Iowans signed the following online petition to the Dallas County supervisors:

Deny the permit for a 5,000-head hog confinement
This CAFO will harm the community by producing toxic air pollution, potential water pollution, damage to the roads, and dampening economic development in the area. It will also adversely impact neighbors including Picket Fence Creamery, Small Potatoes Farm, the new bike trail near Woodward, and many others.

Many central Iowa stores carry milk, butter, ice cream, or other products from the Picket Fence Creamery, a small dairy near Woodward. Small Potatoes Farm grows certified organic produce and sells vegetables to their community-supported agriculture members as well as through outlets like Wheatsfield Co-op in Ames and the Des Moines-based Iowa Food Coop. The bike trail mentioned above is the High Trestle Trail, which runs from Ankeny to Woodward.

Neighbors concerned about potential new water and air pollution noted that the developers live several miles upwind of the site where the CAFO would have been located. One neighbor told KCCI-TV that a local realtor said her family's home would be worth $55,000 less with a hog confinement facility nearby.

Yesterday the Dallas County supervisors were scheduled to hold a public hearing on the permit application for this CAFO. However, that hearing was cancelled at short notice. From Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement's May 15 press release:

The scheduled public hearing for a 5,000 head hog factory farm proposed by Mike Brelsford and Cargill in Beaver Township, Dallas County has been cancelled. Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) and concerned citizens of Dallas County were demanding the Dallas County Board of Supervisors fail the Master Matrix and recommend denial of the Brelsford Pork factory farm construction permit. In the wake of Brelsford pulling the permit application, we are holding a press conference to announce this victory.
Local residents and neighbors in Beaver Township opposed the construction of this factory farm because of the environmental and economic damage it will cause to their local rural community. The proposed site was located in the Raccoon River watershed where over 500,000 people in the Des Moines Metro area receive their drinking water. It is in a heavily populated area in eastern Dallas County near organic CSA Small Potatoes Farm and other family farmers and local food producers.

When I heard the news yesterday, I wondered whether the Brelsfords were withdrawing the application in order to tweak it and re-submit the proposal. However, the letter from the farmers suggests that they have dropped the project:

Brelsford Family Farms
May 15, 2012
Our family has made the decision to withdraw our application to build a hog confinement building in Dallas County.
As a Third Generation family farm, our values are deeply rooted to farming the land today, and for future generations. We also believe in being a strong supporter of our rural community.
After taking into account and addressing the concerns from immediate neighbors, our decision is to withdraw our application.
We would like [to] thank the people who have shown positive support for our family farm and to the people committed to growing Iowa agriculture.
Mike and Susan Brelsford
Brelsford Family Farms

I didn't find any reference to the CAFO application or its withdrawal on the Brelsford Family Farms website. The Small Potatoes Farm site has a prominent front-page link to the Dallas County Farmers and Neighbors Facebook community, which was coordinating opposition to the CAFO.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement has helped fight scores of factory farm proposals around Iowa and recently mentioned more than a dozen other controversial CAFOs in planning around the state. Opponents don't win every battle, but I appreciate their hard work, since this state's political leaders do nothing to stop massive hog farms from further diminishing air and water quality. Iowa CCI's willingness to take on this challenge is one reason I have no patience for professional Democrats who tried to demonize this organization last year.

Iowa Senate passes two bills favored by Big Ag (updated)

desmoinesdem — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:03:49 GMT

The Democratic-controlled Iowa Senate passed two bills today favored by corporate agricultural interest groups. House File 589, the notorious "ag gag" bill, seeks to prevent whistleblowers from reporting alleged abuse at agricultural facilities. Senate File 2172 would reduce the number of sows that confined-animal feeding operations need to report for manure management purposes. Details on the bills and how senators voted are after the jump.

UPDATE: Bypassing normal legislative procedures, the Republican-controlled Iowa House also passed the "ag gag" bill on February 28. Scroll down for details on how the state representatives voted.
The livestock industry has pushed for "ag gag" bills in several states. In March 2011, most Iowa House Republicans and some Democrats voted for House File 589, which would have criminalized the possession and distribution of unauthorized recordings at an agricultural facility. The Iowa Attorney General's Office warned the Iowa Senate that the bill could be challenged on First Amendment grounds.

In response, Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport and Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, worked on a provision that scrapped the House version in substitute for a provision that did not deal with recordings.
The Senate version doesn't address audio or video recordings issues. Instead, it would create a new crime: Agricultural production facility fraud.
A person who obtained access to a facility by false pretenses or lies in their job application with the intent to commit an act not authorized by the owner could be found guilty and face serious or aggravated misdemeanor charges.

Click here for the full text of House File 589. The lobbyist declarations show that just about every farm industry group supports the bill. A range of animal-welfare, environmental, progressive and civil rights groups registered against the bill.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette editorial board commented recently,

The Senate measure would have a sharp, chilling affect on activists, journalists and even facility employees who took a farm job under no false pretense whatsoever. Even the chance of being charged with a crime would likely be enough to keep many of them silent. [...]
Basically, we believe throwing a criminal net this broad and potentially damaging to head off a public relations problem is the wrong use of legislative authority. Food safety and animal treatment laws are meant to benefit the health and welfare of all Iowans, and should be fully and rigorously enforced. Lawmakers should not seek to create bubbles of special protection for certain industries, no matter how important or influential.

All 24 Iowa Senate Republicans voted for House File 589 today. Next time GOP lawmakers claim to be against government "picking winners and losers," they should be asked to explain their vote for this bill.

The following 16 Senate Democrats also voted for House File 589: Daryl Beall, Dennis Black, Tom Courtney, Dick Dearden, Gene Fraise, Mike Gronstal, Tom Hancock, Wally Horn, Jack Kibbie, Amanda Ragan, Tom Rielly, Brian Schoenjahn, Joe Seng, Steve Sodders, and Mary Jo Wilhelm.

These ten Senate Democrats voted against House File 589: Joe Bolkcom, Jeff Danielson, Bill Dotzler, Bob Dvorsky, Jack Hatch, Rob Hogg, Pam Jochum, Liz Mathis, Matt McCoy, and Herman Quirmbach.

The other bill backed by agribusiness that passed today was Senate file 2172 (full text here). This legislation is a successor to Senate File 2022, which Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action described in a February 10 press release:

SF 2022 would allow factory farm operators to exempt replacement sows bred onsite for farrowing operations in their total head count at a factory farm site. Factory farm producers would not have to report these animals, or their manure to the DNR, on permitting documents, or in manure management plans.
Senate President Jack Kibbie introduced the bill at the request of lobbyists for the Iowa Pork Producers, under the guise of biosecurity issues.
"Sen. Kibbie is selling us out. Instead of working on bills that will benefit everyday Iowans and stop factory farms from polluting our air and water, our elected officials in the Senate are just opening the door for the factory farm industry to keep expanding," said Jim Yungclas, a CCI Action member and retired county agricultural extension director, "This bill could potentially open the door for all kinds of loopholes from the corporate livestock industry like allowing extra cattle on feedlots, extra layer hens in chicken factory farms. Where would they draw the line?"

A farrowing sow produces manure, just like other hogs. The whole point of a manure management plan is to deal with all the manure produced in a CAFO. I can't see any justification for this bill, other than letting CAFO operators get away with not cleaning up their mess.

Apparently, 49 senators did find some logic behind this legislation, because Senate File passed by 49 votes to 1 today. Joe Bolkcom was the only no vote.

Share any relevant thoughts in this thread.

UPDATE: Radio Iowa posted the audio of the 52-minute Iowa Senate debate of House File 589. Excerpts:

"People are trying to get into these places, saying they're a plumber or they're this or that, they're going to take care of your livestock with no intention of that whatsoever. They're trying to bring down this business," [Senator Joe] Seng said. "That is false pretenses. It's a claim that they're going to do one thing, but they're not going to do it. They're going to do something else." [...]
"This is the way to chill the whistleblowers and to bring the cover of darkness over this and to give immunity to big agriculture so they can do whatever they please, however they please and do it with immunity," [Senator Matt] McCoy said.

The Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund released this statement on February 28:

Senate Democrats sell out to factory farm lobby
Two bad factory farm de-regulation bills pass the Iowa Senate today
Des Moines, IA - A bipartisan sell out to the corporate factory farm lobby was on full display in the Iowa Senate today as a majority of Senate Democrats joined their GOP counterparts to pass two bad factory farm bills that give away special treatment to big-moneyed corporate ag interest groups like the Iowa Pork Producers and the Iowa Farm Bureau at the expense of everyday people and the environment.
Senator Joe Seng managed HF589 on the Senate floor, the so-called "Ag Gag" bill, which criminalizes factory farm watchdogs and whistleblowers by increasing legal penalties for everyday people who hold factory farms accountable for exposing animal abuse. The Senate passed this bill 40-10.
Senator Jack Kibbie managed SF2172 on the Senate floor, a bill that carves out a giant loophole in Iowa's public oversight laws by allowing factory farm breeders to raise gilts on-site without counting them towards the total number of hogs in confinement that could trigger construction permits and other requirements. The Senate passed this bill 49-1.
"Seng, Kibbie, and the rest of the Iowa Senators who voted for this bill sold out their constituents to the corporate factory farm industry today," said Barb Kalbach, a fourth generation family farmer and the CCI Action Fund Board President from Dexter, Iowa. "And Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal deserves a fair amount of blame for allowing these bills to be brought to the floor for a vote in the first place."
"Iowa CCI Action Fund members are particularly disgusted with Jack Kibbie, who spent most of his career standing up for family farmers and is now throwing his legacy away in the name of corporate profits. He will now go down in Iowa history books as a man who gave away his principles to the corporate factory farm lobby."

SECOND UPDATE: Iowa House Agriculture Committee Chair Annette Sweeney called House File 589 up just hours after the bill cleared the Senate. She moved that the House concur in the Senate amendment, and the motion carried. After that, state representatives voted 69 to 28 to approve the bill. The House Journal for February 28 (pdf) has the roll call. All 57 House Republicans present for the vote supported the bill. (Rich Arnold, Steve Lukan, and Dan Rasmussen were absent.)

These 12 House Democrats joined Republicans in backing House File 589: Deborah Berry, Mary Gaskill, Curt Hanson, Dan Kelley, Kevin McCarthy (the House minority leader), Helen Miller, Dan Muhlbauer, Brian Quirk, Roger Thomas, Andrew Wenthe, Nate Willems, and John Wittneben.

Note: Eight of those 12 Democrats also voted for last year's version of the "ag gag" bill. Gaskill, Hanson, McCarthy, and Willems voted against the original version last March but for the Senate-amended version today.

Prediction: The Farm Bureau and other corporate groups will endorse every Republican challenger running against those Democrats. In other words, this bad policy probably isn't even good politics.

The following 28 House Democrats voted no on the ag gag bill: Ako Abdul-Samad, Dennis Cohoon, Ruth Ann Gaines, Chris Hall, Lisa Heddens, Bruce Hunter, Chuck Isenhart, Dave Jacoby, Anesa Kajtazovic, Jerry Kearns, Bob Kressig, Vicki Lensing, Jim Lykam, Mary Mascher, Pat Murphy, Jo Oldson, Rick Olson, Tyler Olson, Janet Petersen, Kirsten Running-Marquardt, Mark Smith, Sharon Steckman, Kurt Swaim, Todd Taylor, Phyllis Thede, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, Cindy Winckler, and Mary Wolfe.

Note: Swaim is the only Iowa House Democrat who voted for the original version of the bill last year but against today's revision. He is not seeking re-election this November.

Today's votes are exhibit A for why I stopped giving to the Senate Democratic Majority Fund and the House Truman Fund.

MARCH UPDATE: Governor Terry Branstad signed House File 589 on March 2. He defended the bill in his March 5 press conference:

Iowa's governor suggested so-called "whistleblowers" won't be prosecuted.
"If somebody comes on somebody else's property through fraud or deception or lying, that is a serious violation of people's rights and people should be held accountable for that," Branstad said. "That's very different from a whistleblower that sees something that's wrong, that's there in an appropriate and legal manner."
Other critics, like the Animal Legal Defense Fund, are lobbying officials in other states and cities around the country to ban the purchase of Iowa-raised food as a response to the state's new law. And fast-food giant McDonald's recently announced it would not buy pork from operations where sows are confined to stalls or crates. Governor Branstad signed the bill into law late Friday, and he told reporters this morning that he's not concerned about a back-lash to Iowa-grown and raised products.
"Agriculture is an important part of our economy and farmers should not be subjected to people doing illegal, inappropriate things and being involved in fraud and deception in order to try to disrupt agricultural operations," Branstad said, "so I think if people look at this objectively, this is a reasonable public policy for the State of Iowa and I think a number of other states will probably follow."

Adventures in cynical finger-pointing

desmoinesdem — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:25:00 GMT

I've seen a lot of hippie-punching by professional Democrats, but the Iowa Democratic Party's attack on Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement yesterday was a particularly cynical example.
Here's the Iowa Democratic Party's August 31 press release in its entirety:

Iowa CCI continues to rely on outlandish behavior
"unproductive, embarrassing, and has no place in a serious debate"
DES MOINES - Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky released the following statement today denouncing the behavior of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI). The group has continued to obstruct town halls and other events, even physically blocking Senator Grassley from talking with the media and getting into his car after an event on Monday night.
"The behavior of Iowa CCI is unproductive, embarrassing, and has no place in a serious debate. Yes, we should be working to protect Social Security, doing everything to keep our air and water clean, and ask our elected officials tough questions. Unfortunately, this group has become less focused on results and more focused on creating chaos that gets their name in the paper.
"Iowa CCI is doing a disservice to the state, to true progressive values, and to their members who signed up to make a difference and change our state for the better. Instead of bragging about 'crashing' a town hall, designed to give citizens a forum to discuss their concerns, they could be educating Iowans about what's really at stake and actually make a difference.
"It's unfortunate that they continue to mistake screaming for persuasion and embarrass themselves in this manner."

This story by Carroll-based reporter Douglas Burns inspired Dvorsky to condemn Iowa CCI. The non-profit organization disputes Burns' account and quickly responded with their own press release. Excerpt:

CCI Members Stand by Principles
Independent media confirms critics accusations baseless
In a recent statement by Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky, Iowa CCI members were characterized as "less focused on results and more focused on creating chaos that gets their name in the paper." Specifically, Chairwoman Dvorsky references a recent Grassley town hall in Carroll that neither she, nor any official representatives of the Democratic Party attended, and relies completely on one account of the event.
Independent video of that town hall is available here and here. Additional video and photos can be made available on request.
"It's unfortunate that Sue Dvorsky and the Iowa Democratic Party have this view of the town hall based off of one reporter's distorted account of what happened," said Rosie Partridge, small business owner and CCI member from Wall Lake. "I was there. People raised their hands, asked questions, and it was anything but disruptive."
Iowa CCI members stand by their beliefs and their behavior at this event and others.

Without witnessing Grassley's forum in Carroll, I can't say whether Iowa CCI members tried to block the senator from getting to a media interview, or into his car, as Burns asserts. The Iowa CCI members I know don't resemble the "despicable" "angry mob" of "moon-howlers" Burns describes, "a collection of mad-eyed characters who should have their local pharmacies on speed dial so they can pop pills to silence the voices in their heads." He's entitled to his opinion, of course.

Dvorsky's statement merits a closer look. She deplores Iowa CCI's "outlandish behavior." But Democratic leaders didn't view the group as "unproductive" or "embarrassing" when Iowa CCI members disrupted Mitt Romney's speech on the Des Moines Register's soapbox during the Iowa State Fair. On the contrary, Democrats did all they could to make "Corporations are people, my friend" go viral. Romney's comment was featured in an advertisement by the Democratic National Committee and in multiple DNC press releases. I also received several Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraising e-mails highlighting the quote.

Dvorsky herself tried to get this story into the media. Listen to her comments during Iowa Democrats' August 11 press conference (beginning around the 1:15 mark):

Partial transcript:

"Today at the Iowa State Fair, Mitt Romney stood and, in answer to a question from a voter that had to do with corporations paying their fair share, he told that voter that 'Corporations are people, my friends.' Well, corporations are not people, and the people that he was talking to are not his friends," Dvorksy said. "This was just absolutely a tone-deaf response, and yet, I'm afraid that maybe Mitt Romney accidentally spoke his mind. I'm afraid that he spoke the truth and actually articulated what the rest of the Republican field clearly believes."

But wait, wasn't it "outlandish" for that voter to "crash" Romney's stump speech?

Back to Dvorsky's press release from yesterday:

Yes, we should be working to protect Social Security, doing everything to keep our air and water clean, and ask our elected officials tough questions.

I couldn't agree more. Tell me, what tough questions has the Iowa Democratic Party asked Democratic elected officials in the past few years? Specifically, what did the state party say this summer when President Barack Obama begged U.S. House Speaker John Boehner to join him in cutting Social Security as part of a "big deal" on the debt ceiling? Nothing. Iowa CCI members called Congressional representatives, urging them to vote no on the debt ceiling bargain.

Never mind "everything"; has the Iowa Democratic Party done anything this year to keep our air and water clean? I save most of the umpteen press releases I receive from the state party every week. For all the times Dvorsky has bashed this or that action by Governor Terry Branstad, I cannot recall a single statement criticizing his terrible environmental record. Why hasn't Dvorsky said anything about cuts to the Department of Natural Resources budget, or stacking the Environmental Protection Commission with friends of agri-business? Maybe because some Democratic state legislators support Branstad's efforts to undermine Iowa's water quality programs.

Iowa CCI has been "educating Iowans about what's really at stake" on environmental protection for a long time. While the Iowa Democratic Party said and did nothing, Iowa CCI opposed bad bills on spreading manure in wintertime during the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions. The goal of "local control" or agricultural zoning never got through the Iowa House or Senate, but Iowa CCI members have stopped a number of factory farm (CAFO) projects. Most recently, the Department of Natural Resources denied a construction permit for a CAFO project in Adair County. Iowa CCI members had helped persuade the Adair County supervisors to oppose the CAFO and lobbied DNR officials.

Iowa CCI works on several economic and social justice issues. The non-profit mobilized activists against a proposed new Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Des Moines, which the city's zoning board recently voted down.

CCI members argued an expanded ICE facility would create an "atmosphere of fear" for immigrants.
"Des Moines does not need a bigger immigration detention center," said CCI member Judith Lonning of Des Moines. "We don't need more families terrorized and torn apart."

Iowa CCI backs real reform in mortgage lending practices. In contrast, the Iowa Democratic Party says nothing as Attorney General Tom Miller tries to negotiate a sweetheart deal for big banks.

Iowa CCI advocates for payday lending reform. In 2010, prominent Democratic legislators vowed to address this issue. Then the Iowa Democratic Party stayed silent as conservadem State Representative Mike Reasoner kept the payday lending bill stuck in subcommittee. Iowa CCI is part of a coalition that continues to advocate for payday lending reform, but Dvorsky and her fellow party leaders were nowhere during the fight to get this done in 2010.

Iowa CCI supports campaign finance reform. Democratic politicians used to say they did too, before they got back into power. Then very little happened on that front, which apparently suited the state party fine.

Dvorsky claims to stand for "results," not just getting your name in the paper, as if the Iowa Democratic Party hasn't staged its share of publicity stunts: rallies outside the state capitol, a thank Mitt Romney for health care reform event.

Dvorsky's predecessor Michael Kiernan came out swinging against any plans to primary incumbent Democrats who blocked pro-labor or environmental bills during Governor Chet Culver's administration. Yet Dvorsky claims Iowa CCI is doing a disservice to "true progressive values"?

Blogger John Deeth joined the chorus criticizing Iowa CCI this week, suggesting that the group does nothing but make useless public "demands." He doesn't like it when Iowa CCI confronts "Democrats with whom they 80% agree." He finds that approach counterproductive and believes "the most effective means to making the most positive changes is through contesting and winning elections."

That's a valid point of view, but Democrats controlled the governor's chair and both chambers of the Iowa legislature for four years. During that time, they did nothing on most of the issues at the core of Iowa CCI's mission. It would be dishonest for the group not to confront Democrats from DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on down when those politicians fall short. Community activists lose credibility when they become surrogates for a political party.

Deeth didn't approve of Iowa CCI board member Barb Kalbach's attempt to replace Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge on the Democratic ticket in 2010. He wanted Kalbach to run against her Republican state representative or senator instead. In the end, state convention delegates changed party rules to allow the gubernatorial nominee to choose the lieutenant governor candidate. Of course Kalbach never would have won a vote on the convention floor, but I don't blame her for trying to make a point about the Culver-Judge administration's record.

Oh, and pardon me for splashing gasoline on a flamewar, but I doubt it's a coincidence that the three people attacking Iowa CCI were all early supporters of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Dvorsky, Burns and Deeth spent a lot of time and energy pushing the "Yes We Can" brand in 2007 and 2008. I don't hear them holding the president accountable for failing to accomplish or even attempt most of what he promised to do during his campaign. How convenient to denigrate committed activists as a bunch of crazy publicity hounds.

Iowa CCI speaks out for policies that would serve the public interest. Their tactics and media stunts may not be your style. I don't agree with every action by the group either. Give them credit at least for standing for something.

UPDATE: Iowa CCI Executive Director Hugh Espey responded to Dvorsky here.

Lax oversight of Iowa CAFOs spurs legal action against EPA

desmoinesdem — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:21:23 GMT

Three non-profit organizations may sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for "unreasonable delay" in responding to a 2007 petition seeking to revoke the state of Iowa's authority to regulate pollution from CAFOs.
The Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sent EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson today a notice of intent to sue. The full text of their letter to Jackson is here (pdf). Excerpt:

Since EIP, Iowa CCI, and the Sierra Club filed the Iowa Petition in [September] 2007, very little has changed with regard to Iowa's implementation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for CAFOs. The Petition documented Iowa's failure to issue adequate National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to open feedlots--including those that registered under the state's permitting program--as well as the state's failure to issue a single NPDES permit to a confinement CAFP, despite hundreds of discharges to waters of the United States. The Petition also demonstrated that Iowa has disregarded critical conflict of interest regulations and failed to establish adequate programs for CAFO inspections and enforcement, creating a culture of non-compliance that persists today.
Nearly four years later, Iowa CAFOs continue to illegally discharge manure and the state still has not issued an NPDES permit to a single confincement operation. EPA Region 7 has sent several letters to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), in which EPA concurred with several claims in the Petition. However, htese letters failed to address several of the Petition's most significant issues, including Iowa's failure to issue permits to confinement operations and its inadequate CAFO inspection and enforcement programs. Moreoever, EPA's letters did not bring Iowa's CAFO program into compliance with federal law and have not prevented numerous illegal discharges.
Between the Petition filing date and January 6, 2011, IDNR assessed penalties for approximately 60 discharges from animal feeding operations, many of which were confinement hog facilities. This list does not include discharges for which the agency did not issue penalties or discharges unreported to the state. In 2010, the state finally initiated a rulemaking process to establish CAFO NPDES permit requirements for confinement operations that discharge, only to abandon the proposed rule in June [2011]. IDNR has not proposed an alternative plan to come into compliance with the CWA, despite its own extensive records of illegal discharges. [...]
EPA has long recognized the need to regulate CAFOs that discharge pollutants into waters of the U.S. under the CWA NPDES permit program. However, Iowa has failed to meet its obligation to effectively regulate this industry through permitting, inspections, and enforcement. EIP, Iowa CCI, and Sierra Club petitioned EPA to exercise its oversight authority, asking it to review Iowa's CAFO program and initiate withdrawal proceedings if the state does not come into compliance. Nearly four years later, the state steadfastly refuses to implement federal CAFO regulations and unpermitted manure spills pollute the state's waters unabated. EPA has an unambiguous obligations to timely respond to the Petition, and its delay in doing so is unreasonable.

If the Iowa DNR didn't act on this issue during Governor Chet Culver's administration, it's obviously not going to act on it now. Governor Terry Branstad has repeatedly claimed environmental regulations on Iowa farms are already too strict. The question is whether the U.S. EPA, which is under plenty of political pressure, will take matters into its own hands.

I enclose below today's joint press release from the three groups that may sue the EPA. Share any relevant thoughts in this thread.

August 18, 2011
Environmental Groups Intend to Sue U.S. EPA over Iowa's Weak Factory Farm Rules
Lawsuit will move forward without decisive federal action to strengthen Iowa's public oversight over factory farm polluters
DES MOINES, IA-
Three state and national environmental justice organizations served the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a notice of intent (NOI) to sue the federal agency for its failure to act on a 2007 petition to revoke the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) authority to regulate factory farm water pollution. A copy of the NOI can be read here.
The 2007 de-delegation petition demanded that EPA revoke the state of Iowa's authority to issue Clean Water Act operating permits to factory farm polluters because the state's program does not meet federal minimum standards and Iowa has failed to implement critical factory farm regulations, at great cost to water quality. In addition to issuing the mandatory response, the groups asked that EPA act by notifying the state that it is not administering the permit program for manure spills in accordance with the Clean Water Act, and hold a public hearing on the matter. Almost four years have passed with no response from EPA or significant improvements in the state's permit program.
In June, the DNR's Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) voted to indefinitely put on hold new rules designed to bring Iowa into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, a move that has already prompted Iowa CCI members to file a conflict of interest complaint against EPC commissioner Brent Rastetter, who also owns a multi-million dollar factory farm construction company.
"The EPA needs to do its job and force the Iowa DNR to start issuing Clean Water Act permits to factory farms," said Lori Nelson, a CCI board member from Bayard in Guthrie County. "DNR keeps kowtowing to the factory farm industry and our Governor keeps appointing people who are hostile to environmental regulations to key positions in the DNR and EPC. They will do nothing unless EPA forces them to act."
"Enough is enough. We have a record number of polluted waterways and have had over 700 manure spills-with two giant manure spills that caused massive fish kills just in the last two weeks. EPA needs to act now-it's time to put the people of Iowa before polluters."
EPA's own rules require it to issue a response to the de-delegation petition. All three groups expressed their strong desire to avoid legal action against EPA in this matter.
Since we filed the petition in 2007, EPA has sat idly by while Iowa DNR continues to allow hog factories to pollute the state's waters," said EIP Attorney Tarah Heinzen. "Despite hundreds of illegal manure spills and devastating fish kills, Iowa DNR continues to blatantly ignore federal law and refuses to regulate factory farms."
"EPA's nearly four-year delay in addressing our petition is unreasonable and unlawful, and its continued inaction in the face of Iowa's broken regulatory program is unacceptable. The water quality and in turn the public continue to suffer in Iowa. Iowa agreed to regulate polluters when it took control over the water program, and it hasn't lived up to its end of the deal. Iowa citizens have waited long enough - it is past time for EPA to do its job by stepping in to protect public health and the environment from factory farms."
The notice letter filed this week buttresses the groups' initial request for a formal response from EPA, granting or denying the 2007 petition and providing a reasonable basis for its decision. A sufficient response to the petition will include an Investigation Report similar to that issued by EPA Region 5 with regard to Illinois' CAFO program, and will establish a plan to either bring Iowa's CAFO program into compliance with the CWA or initiate formal withdrawal proceedings.
For more information and a copy of the full EIP, CCI and Sierra Club notice of intent to sue and the 2007 petition at: http://www.environmentalintegr...
BACKGROUND
Since Iowa DNR received authority to implement and enforce the Clean Water Act in 1978, its program has failed to keep pace with dramatic changes in Iowa's livestock industry. Iowa DNR is aware of its failure to regulate CAFOs under the Clean Water Act, and even acknowledged that "the most obvious threat to maintaining good chemical water quality in Iowa surface waters is the recent expansion of the confined animal feeding industry."
Federal law allows citizens to petition EPA to withdraw the power of a state to issue Clean Water Act permits. EPA regulations list the relevant criteria that would justify removing a state's authority. This petition demonstrates that Iowa meets those criteria, and concludes that EPA should withdraw Iowa's authority to issue CWA permits if the state does not begin regulating factory farm polluters.
ABOUT THE GROUPS
The Environmental Integrity Project (www.environmentalintegrity.org) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for more effective enforcement of environmental laws, including the federal Clean Water Act. EIP works to improve state and federal regulation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and to improve water quality in the Upper Mississippi River Watershed.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (www.iowacci.org) is a group of everyday people who talk, act and get things done on issues that matter most. With thousands of members from all walks of life -- urban and rural, black and white, immigrants and lifelong Iowans -- CCI has been tackling tough issues and getting things done for more than 35 years. The mission of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement is to empower and unite grassroots people of all ethnic backgrounds to take control of their communities; involve them in identifying problems and needs, and in taking action to address them; and be a vehicle for social, economic, and environmental justice.
The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Inspired by nature, we are 1.4 million of your friends and neighbors, working together to protect our communities and the planet. In Iowa, the Sierra Club's more than 6,000 members are working to reduce pollution from animal feeding operations.

Brent Rastetter target of ethics complaint

desmoinesdem — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:41:34 GMT

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement members filed an ethics complaint yesterday against Brent Rastetter, one of Governor Terry Branstad's appointees to the state Environmental Protection Commission.
Brent Rastetter is the owner and CEO of Quality Ag Construction, a company he and his better-known brother Bruce Rastetter created in 1992. Quality Ag Construction's market niche has been building hog confinement facilities. Bruce Rastetter was Branstad's top campaign donor in 2010 and now serves on the state Board of Regents. He was also an early financial backer of the 501(c)4 American Future Fund, which had many close connections to the Branstad campaign. Brent Rastetter chipped in at least $30,000 to Branstad's gubernatorial effort and became one of the governor's four appointees to the Environmental Protection Commission. That nine-member body is part of the Department of Natural Resources, charged with providing "policy oversight over Iowa's environmental protection efforts."

Rastetter wasn't present for the EPC's August 16 meeting, but members of the non-profit Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement were there to demand his resignation from either the commission or from Quality Ag Construction. Iowa CCI has advocated stronger limits on factory farm pollution for many years. An ethics complaint prepared by the group charged that Rastetter's dual role is illegal:

Iowa Code 68B.2A, "Prohibited outside employment and activities - conflicts of interest" states:
Any person who serves or is employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state shall not engage in...outside employment or an activity that is subject to the official control, inspection, review, audit, or enforcement authority of the person, during the performance of the person's duties of office or employment.

After the EPC meeting, Iowa CCI members submitted their complaint to Megan Tooker, executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. This pdf file contains the full text of the ethics complaint and supporting documents. The conflict of interest charge boils down to three points.

First, Iowa CCI asserts that Quality Ag Construction's "business practices are directly affected by the environmental rules and regulations under the EPC's jurisdiction."

Air and water quality rules considered by the EPC are all but certain to impact the facilities Rastetter's firm has built in the past and will build in the future. [...] He has already voted to scrap a rulemaking package to bring Iowa's factory farm industry into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act--a vote that put his personal financial interests as the owner of Quality Ag, Inc. ahead of the interests of everyday Iowans and the environment.

In general, I see Rastetter's day job representing a conflict of interest with his work on the EPC. He may reasonably view any regulation of CAFOs as affecting his current and potential customers' profits. I don't know whether there is legal precedent for forcing commissioners to resign under article 68B.2A of the Iowa Code.

I suspect that the the specific vote cited in this complaint won't convince members of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Mike Wiser reported here on the EPC's June meeting:

At issue was a permitting requirement that mandated operators of confined animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs, obtain a Department of Natural Resources permit before they could discharge animal waste.
The state was expected to adopt the federal regulations - which were approved in 2008 - but those federal regulations were overturned in a federal appellate court in March. So the commission decided it would wait until the new federal rules came out before they voted, which is what the vote accomplished. [...]
DNR Attorney Randy Clark said state law requires that the department's rules cannot be stricter than federal regulations. He said when the Environmental Protection Agency comes up with new permitting rules, the committee will consider adopting them then.
In the meantime, he said, current state rules don't allow for confinement operations to have any discharge. "The operators have to have filters in place to prevent that," he said. "So that's how it remains."

Viewed from that perspective, the June 21 EPC action doesn't look like a rejection of federal regulations on principle and doesn't appear to weaken current Iowa rules on CAFO discharges. There's no smoking gun that proves the EPC action advanced Rastetter's "personal financial interests."

The second point in the ethics complaint notes that Rastetter gave Branstad's campaign more than $30,000, while Branstad promised to loosen regulations on factory farms.

After the election, Branstad appointed big-moneyed political donors and others with documented ties to the corporate factory farm industry to key positions inside his administration, including not only Brent Rastetter, but also Roger Lande (DNR Director), Bruce Rastetter (Board of Regents), and Chuck Gipp (Deputy DNR Director).
The DNR and the EPC are the only government institutions with mechanisms that allow everyday Iowans personally affected by factory farm pollution to weigh-in and have a voice in the public oversight process. However, Branstad's appointment of Brent Rastetter to the EPC--in conjuction with his other nominations listed above--undermines Iowans' trust in government and Iowa CCI members consider it a deliberate attack on the democratic process itself.

This point doesn't belong in an ethics complaint against Brent Rastetter. Governors appoint high-dollar donors to state boards and commissions every year. The practice reflects poorly on our political system, but it doesn't violate Iowa Code.

I agree with Iowa CCI that Branstad set out to stack the EPC with advocates for agribusiness. Not only that, he sought to move Iowa's water quality programs to the agriculture department. His DNR Director Lande imposed staff cuts that will hurt water monitoring efforts. Gipp's new job with the DNR concerns me too. But none of that creates legal grounds for demanding Rastetter's resignation.

The third point in the ethics complaint relates to comments Rastetter made during the Iowa Senate confirmation process:

At one point during the [confirmation] interview [with members of the Iowa Senate], Rastetter called government regulations "stupid" and said he preferred voluntary compliance to public oversight and regulation, according to Iowa CCI members present during the interview. [...]
It is reasonable to assume Rastetter's comments were based on his ideological opposition to strong and effective public oversight over the corporate factory farm industry, loyalty to the Farm Bureau's advocacy of voluntary compliance [...] and his own self-interest in preventing existing and new environmental regulations from impacting the bottom-line of Quality Ag, Inc., his factory farm construction company.

Unfortunately, Iowa law does not require the governor to appoint people who support environmental protection to the Environmental Protection Commission. State senators had a chance to review Rastetter's fitness for the position, including his potential conflicts of interest. Only one state senator voted against confirming him to the EPC.

According to an Iowa CCI press release of August 16, Tooker promised to review the complaint before making her recommendation to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Bleeding Heartland will follow up when the board has determined whether Rastetter's corporate holdings constitute "prohibited outside employment."

Final note: during the June EPC meeting, Iowa CCI members also alleged that Branstad appointee Dolores Mertz had a conflict of interest, due to her family's factory farm operations. I am seeking comment on whether Iowa CCI plans to file a formal ethics complaint against Mertz. In 2009, the group filed an ethics complaint seeking her removal as chair of the Iowa House Agriculture Committee because of her family's business operations. The Iowa House Ethics Committee dismissed that complaint. Mertz retired from the state legislature in 2010.

UPDATE: Iowa CCI is not currently planning to file an ethics complaint against Mertz.

Philip Brasher has a new food policy blog

desmoinesdem — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:21:40 GMT

Philip Brasher, the agriculture and food policy reporter recently laid off by the Des Moines Register, launched the FoodWatch blog yesterday to cover "the politics of what we eat, how it's produced, and why that matters." His first two posts were about a Senate deal to replace current ethanol subsidies with different biofuels incentives and a "landmark deal" on improving conditions for caged hens, announced by the industry group United Egg Producers and the Humane Society of the United States, a leading animal welfare organization.

Many sustainable food advocates were alarmed when the Des Moines Register let Brasher go and closed its Washington bureau. The FoodWatch blog doesn't have the Register's high profile, but at least it keeps Brasher's reporting accessible to the public for now.

Register publisher Laura Hollingsworth assured Paula Crossfield of the Civil Eats blog that the newspaper's remaining staff and the Gannett Corporation would be able to "provide comprehensive political and agricultural coverage for our readers in Des Moines and beyond." What passes for a business section in today's Des Moines Register includes a Gannett Washington bureau report on the Senate ethanol deal and an Associated Press story about the egg industry's agreement with the Humane Society. The AP report lacks some of the details and context Brasher provides on his blog.

LATE UPDATE: Brasher rejoined Gannett in late August 2011; his articles about food and agriculture appear in several newspapers, including the Des Moines Register.

Branstad stacks environmental commission with agribusiness advocates

desmoinesdem — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:35:26 GMT

Governor Terry Branstad announced more than 200 appointees to various state boards and commissions yesterday. He named Dolores Mertz, Brent Rastetter, Eugene Ver Steeg, and Mary Boote to four-year terms on the Environmental Protection Commission.

Mertz retired last year after more than two decades in the Iowa House. She was the most conservative House Democrat and chaired the Agriculture Committee for four years. She was a reliable vote against any attempt to limit pollution from factory farms and regularly assigned such bills to subcommittees that would bury them. Her sons own large hog farms and have been cited for several environmental violations. She also earns income from renting farmland to those operations. On the policy side, last year Mertz fast-tracked a bill that would have undermined new rules on spreading manure over frozen and snow-covered ground. She pushed (unsuccessfully) for a bill that would have given landowners until 2020 to comply with regulations passed in 1997 to prevent water contamination from agricultural drainage wells. Mertz has spoken of her "passion" to advocate for agriculture.

Brent Rastetter gave Branstad's gubernatorial campaign at least $30,000. He is the owner and CEO of Quality Ag Construction, a company he and his brother Bruce Rastetter created in 1992. Quality Ag Construction's market niche has been building hog confinement facilities. UPDATE: It's also worth noting that Bruce Rastetter built a business empire in large-scale hog production and later ethanol. Groups representing agribusiness and biofuels producers are suing the Environmental Protection Commission and the Department of Natural Resources over water quality protection rules.

Ver Steeg was first named to the Environmental Protection Commission by Governor Chet Culver in 2008 for the position on the nine-member body that must be filled by "an active grain or livestock farmer." Ver Steeg owns a hog farm and is a past president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

Boote is a "longtime Republican activist" who founded and runs an organization called Truth About Trade and Technology. The organization's mission is to "support free trade and agricultural biotechnology." It is primarily funded by "U.S. agribusinesses, farm organizations and individuals." Boote has served as executive director of Truth About Trade and Technology for the past decade, so her income depends on the business organizations supporting the group.

Many in the environment-minded community criticized Culver in 2007, when he replaced four strong members of the Environmental Protection Commission with two people who had background in conservation and two who had close ties to agribusiness. Culver later named other supporters of protecting natural resources to the EPC, notably Shearon Elderkin and Carrie La Seur.

I don't see any balance in Branstad's appointees. That doesn't bode well for the future work of the Environmental Protection Commission, charged with providing policy oversight over Iowa's environmental protection efforts.

After the jump I've posted the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement's statement on the new EPC appointees. Iowa CCI has sought to monitor compliance with new rules on spreading manure over farmland during the winter.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 2, 2011
Official statement from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement on Governor Branstad's commission appointments:
"Members of Iowa CCI are not at all surprised Governor Branstad appointed former Rep. Dolores Mertz, Brent Rastetter, Mary Boote and re-appointed Eugene Ver Steeg to the Environmental Protection Commission (EPC). Mertz, Rastetter, Boote and Ver Steeg all have ties to the factory farm industry and will put the interests of corporate agriculture over the interests of every day Iowans," said Iowa CCI's State Policy Organizing Director Adam Mason.
"The EPC makes key decisions related to factory farm construction permits, fines and penalties for factory farm polluters, and also writes rules and regulations protecting our air and water from factory farm manure pollution. During his re-election campaign, Branstad called for more "streamlined" regulations for the factory farm industry. These appointments are part of Branstad's plan to roll-back environmental protections and strip the power of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Commission," Mason said.
Iowa CCI members will continue to push the DNR and EPC to crack down on factory farm polluters and write strong rules protecting our air and water. CCI members have been weighing in across the state at Republican sponsored "red tape hearings" to set the record straight, to amplify the call for stronger and more effective oversight, especially in regards to factory farms and the pollution they create.
CCI will continue to push the current EPC commissioners to advance a strong rule to fully implement enforcement of the federal Clean Water Act. The rulemaking was initiated last year, and will come for a vote before the EPC in April.
"We are calling on the outgoing commissioners to leave a lasting legacy of strong water protections. With 572 polluted waterways and over 700 manure spills in the last 15 years, it is a proven fact that factory farms can pollute, and obvious that they should have Clean Water Act Operating permits." Mason said.

Farm Bill Platform Plank

Brad Wilson — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:20:28 GMT

WHEREAS, the Commodity Title of the US farm bill is the largest and most important part of the farm bill, in terms of economic impact in the United States and worldwide;1 and

WHEREAS, farm program crops, like corn, wheat, rice, cotton and soybeans, lack price responsiveness on both supply and demand sides,2 leading in the 20th century to chronic low prices, except for three significant price spikes upward;3 and

WHEREAS, cheap commodities have contributed to a U.S. food crisis, as food processors, producing high fructose corn syrup, transfats and high carb junk food, were subsidized by billions of dollars of below cost, (below zero) gains, as these corporations paid farmers less than the full cost of production,4 and gained even more below the level of full fair trade, living wage farm prices (well above zero); and

WHEREAS, the U.S. has been a price leader for these commodities in global export markets, thus effectively setting world market prices;5 and

WHEREAS, these same cheap prices led to massive losses on U.S. farm exports,6 and massive dumping on farmers around the world, including farmers in Least Developed Countries, (which are 70% rural,7 and desperately in need of fair farm prices,) causing economic damage in the U.S. and poverty and hunger around the world.; and

WHEREAS, on the top side of price, during occasional price spikes, food costs can become excessive, especially for poor people, such as rural people in LDCs who become malnourished and starve to death, since their (rural) economies, their wealth creation and jobs creation, were devastated by decades of export dumping; and

WHEREAS, cheap prices cause reductions in farm income, preventing many farmers from bringing their sons and daughters into farming, thus leading to a concentration of farmland into fewer hands, increased use of labor saving pesticides, and reduced incorporation of labor intensive livestock into diversified farming operations; and

WHEREAS, these same cheap prices provide multibillion dollar below cost gains for giant unsustainable livestock production factories and feedlots (CAFOs),8 enabling them to compete unfairly with diversified crop and livestock farmers, taking away the value added wealth of livestock from diversified (more sustainable) farms; and

WHEREAS, whereas that unfair livestock competition also directly hurts sustainability, as crop farmers increasingly plow up pasture and hay ground that is sometimes fragile, and remove those crops from crop rotations, and making it much harder for pasture fed livestock to compete with factory farm livestock, and further, (as clover and alfalfa are removed from crop rotations,) creating a need for unsustainable nitrogen fertilizers (otherwise provided by legume crops in rotation,) such as anhydrous ammonia, which kills life in the soil; and

WHEREAS, all of that ecological damage also costs us money; and

WHEREAS, this agricultural concentration directly damages rural communities economically, since dozens of studies show that giant crop farms and livestock factories create less wealth and create fewer jobs than the diversified systems they replace;9 and

WHEREAS, rural communities and our nation and world are also damaged socially, as gaps between rich and poor, and many other qualities of healthy civic societies are damaged by agricultural concentration, also costing us all economically, as services provided through the private sector by the rural way of life are transformed into social problems and costly needs; and

WHEREAS, starting more than 10,000 years ago in the agricultural revolution, diversified, small-community-based, family farming developed awesome crop and livestock genetic diversity for family farms, including more than 8,000 edible plant species,10 while the power complexes (civilizations) of the later urban revolution, and especially the mega-technic agribusiness complexes of recent decades, have destroyed much of this diversity, and have reduced our food consumption to over reliance on only 8 species of plants, with huge reductions in the genetic diversity within each of these species, and while the same thing has happened for livestock11; and

WHEREAS, farm subsidies merely compensate U.S. farmers for these massive free market, free trade losses, but do nothing significant to address the underlying economic cause of cheap prices,12 (the lack of price responsiveness,) and therefore serve as a huge scapegoat13 and smokescreen, hiding the massive, off books, below cost gains of corporate grain buyers, and covering up effective solutions; and

WHEREAS, other policy and program mechanisms, when adequately implemented, have been proven to effectively manage the problem, (specifically PRICE FLOORS with SUPPLY MANAGEMENT on the bottom side of price, and RESERVE SUPPLIES with PRICE CEILINGS, to trigger release of reserves as needed during price spikes, on the top side,)14; and

WHEREAS, mega-corporate special interests have called for the elimination of these effective programs, and called for massive concentration in agriculture, even for the removal of one third of all farmers and farm labor within a five year period15; and

WHEREAS, these effective policies were reduced, under corporate pressure, from 1953-1995 and then eliminated; and

WHEREAS, subsidy reforms alone leave these mega-corporate “zero” policies, (zero price floors, zero supply management, zero reserves,) fully in place;16 and

WHEREAS, no subsidies, including supply management subsidies, are needed when these programs are adequately implemented, thus freeing up billions of dollars for other uses; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. makes a profit on farm exports when these policies are implemented; and

WHEREAS, these policies essentially fix a broad range of massive food and farm crises;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the (your county/state/national) (your party) political party supports the Farm Bill Commodity Title provisions of the Food from Family Farms act of the National Family Farm Coalition, specifically: adequate price floors and supply management on the bottom side of farm prices, and strategic food and other commodity reserves on the top side, with properly set price ceilings to trigger the release of reserves when prices spike too high.

1. “Presbyterian Farmer talks solutions,” akbartlett, http://www.youtube.com/user/FireweedFarm#p/c/FC72A86C908D808F/0/UQyxnVoFiO4.

2. It's Price Responsiveness! It's Price Responsiveness!!

IT'S PRICE RESPONSIVENESS!!! Daryll E. Ray, APAC, University of Tennessee, http://agpolicy.org/weekcol/248.html.

3. Policy premise correct three times a century, Daryll E. Ray, APAC, University of Tennessee, http://www.agpolicy.org/weekcol/268.html

4. “Sweetening the Pot: Implicit Subsidies to Corn Sweeteners and the U.S. Obesity Epidemic, Alicia Harvie and timothy A. Wise, GDAE, Tufts University, http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/PB09-01SweeteningPotFeb09.pdf

5. “Rethinking US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide,” Daryll E. Ray, Daniel G. De La Torre Ugarte, Kelly J. Tiller, APAC, University of Tennessee, ch. 3, “US Prices Matter,”

http://agpolicy.org/blueprint.html

6. “WTO Agreement on Agriculture: A Decade of Dumping,” Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, http://www.iatp.org/iatp/publications.cfm?accountID=451&refID=48532; “Feeding the Factory Farm: Implicit Subsidies tot he Broiler Chicken Industry,” Elanor Starmer, Aimee Witteman, & Timothy A. Wise, GDAE, Tufts University, June 2006, Appendix A, etc., http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/wp/06-03BroilerGains.pdf; Commodity Costs and Returns: Data: “Recent” and “Historical Costs and Returns,” USDA, Economic Research Service, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/CostsAndReturns/testpick.htm.

7. Choose “Least Developed Countries,” “Percentage Rural,” and click “Display:” http://esa.un.org/unup/index.asp

8. “Industrial Livestock Companies’ Gains from Low Feed Prices, 1997-2005,”

February 26, 2007 Timothy A. Wise and Elanor Starmer, http://www.nffc.net/Learn/Fact%20Sheets/CompanyFeedSvgsFeb07.pdf.

9. As You Sow: Three Studies on the Social Consequences of Agribusiness, Walter Goldschmidt, 1978; John Ikerd, CAFOs vs Rural Communities, In Motion Magazine, 9/15/08, http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/ra08/ikerd_cafo08.html; The Economic Impacts of Increased Contract Swine Production in Missouri: Another Viewpoint, John E. Ikerd, Sustainable Agriculture Systems Program, University of Missouri, http://web.missouri.edu/ikerdj/papers/con-hog.htm; “Industrialized Farming and Its Relationship to Community Well-Being: An Update of a 2000 Report by Linda Lobao,” Curtis Stofferahn, Sept. 2006; Lobao, Linda M. 2000. “Industrialized Farming and Its Relationship to Community Well-Being: Report Prepared for the State of South Dakota”, Office of the Attorney General, Pierre, So. Dak.

10. “Lessons of Fighting Hegemonies in Food and Seed for 30 Years,” Vandana Shiva, zspace, http://www.zcommunications.org/lessons-of-fighting-hegemonies-in-food-and-seed-for-30-years-by-vandana-shiva; “The State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture,” http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/core-themes/theme/seeds-pgr/sow/en/;

11. THE STATE OF THE WORLD’s ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES

FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1250e/a1250e00.htm

12. “Michael Pollan Rebuttal: Debunking Pollan’s “Corn Subsidy,” Argument,” “4 Proofs,” parts 1 and 2, YouTube, FireweedFarm, http://www.youtube.com/user/FireweedFarm#p/c/117E57E97255A9FC/0/mkEhW-tg9Q0; “Rethinking US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide,” Daryll E. Ray, Daniel G. De La Torre Ugarte, Kelly J. Tiller, APAC, University of Tennessee, ch. 6, “What If We Get Rid of Subsidies,”

http://agpolicy.org/blueprint.html.

13 On subsidies as “scapegoat,” see “Ensure Farmers have Fair Living Wage,” Jerry Pennick and Heather Gray, Dederation of Southern Land Cooperatives, Land Assistance Fund, 12/1/06, http://www.zcommunications.org/ensure-that-farmers-receive-a-fair-living-wage-by-jerry-pennick-heather-gray.

14. Daryll E. Ray, Daniel G. De La Torre Ugarte, Kelly J. Tiller, APAC, University of Tennessee, ch. 7, “A Farmer-Oriented Policy Blueprint: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide,”

http://agpolicy.org/blueprint.html; NFFC Farm Bill 3, Food from Family Farms Act,” YouTube, FireweedFarm’s channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/FireweedFarm#p/c/A1E706EFA90D1767/3/fvmwGmQqt80; “Michael Pollan Rebuttal: Debunking Pollan’s “Corn Subsidy,” Argument,” part 2, YouTube, FireweedFarm, http://www.youtube.com/user/FireweedFarm#p/c/A1E706EFA90D1767/5/feTeT45iWnc.

15. “An Adaptive Program for Agriculture,” Committee for Economic Development, 1962, pp. 25, 34, 40, 42, 59; “Farm Bill 1, Agribusiness Against Fair Prices,” YouTube, FireweedFarm, http://www.youtube.com/user/FireweedFarm#p/c/A1E706EFA90D1767; Mark Ritchie and Kevin Ristau, Crisis by Design: A Brief Review of US Farm Policy, League of Rural Voters, 1987, pp. 3-5, (http://www.iatp.org/iatp/publications.cfm?accountID=258&refID=48644).

16. “Foodie-Farmie Coalition,” Brad Wilson, 10/15/09, zspace, http://www.zcommunications.org/foodie-farmie-coalition-by-brad-wilson.

17. “Food from family Farms Act, A Proposal for the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill,” National Family Farm Coalition, http://www.nffc.net/Learn/Fact%20Sheets/FFFA2007.pdf.

Proposed CAFO expansion threatens Scott County water, air quality

desmoinesdem — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:59:53 GMT

The Scott County Board of Supervisors will vote August 19 on a proposed major expansion of a Grandview Farms Inc., a confined animal feeding operation owned by Thomas Dittmer. The supervisors' public hearing on the matter drew large numbers of supporters and opponents earlier this month. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has authority to issue permits, but the county's recommendation may influence the DNR's decision on the expansion. If approved, the CAFO could nearly double its annual production of hogs from 80,000 to 150,000.

Scott County officials who reported to the supervisors gave the CAFO expansion proposal 480 on the "master matrix" evaluation system, where 880 is the maximum number of points and 440 is needed to pass. However, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement disputes that score on several grounds:

Factory farm operator Tom Dittmer discharged manure into a tile line that runs into a tributary of Hickory Creek, a state waterway, according to preliminary test results obtained by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) during a site survey conducted last Friday [August 6].
Iowa Legislative Code 459.311(1); 567 and Iowa Administrative Code 65.2(3) both state, "A confinement feeding operation shall not discharge manure directly into water of the state or into a tile line that discharges into a water of the state."
"We have a documented discharge from the confinement to a tile line," Dennis Ostwinkle, Supervisor of the Iowa DNR's Field Office in Washington, said in an email correspondence with Iowa CCI Tuesday.
The DNR field investigation was prompted in part by complaints filed by the Quad City Waterkeepers, Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water, and Iowa CCI. According to Ostwinkle, the field tests were submitted to the University of Iowa Hygenics Lab for further testing. If the preliminary field tests are confirmed, the violation could force a deduction of an additional 25 points from Dittmer's Master Matrix score. Scott County Iowa CCI members have already identified 160 points that should be deducted from the Master Matrix score.

While water pollution is a primary concern of those who oppose CAFO expansions, large hog lots can also compromise air quality. As Paul Deaton discussed at Blog for Iowa, CAFOs near industrial areas pose a particular risk:

According to the 2010 State of the Environment report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, "In Iowa, most fine particle pollution forms in the atmosphere when ammonia (from animal feeding operations, fertilizer application and other natural sources) combines with sulfuric or nitric acid (from power plants, automobiles and other combustion sources) to create tiny particles."
Expanding the amount of ammonia emitted in Scott County, which the additional capacity of Dittmer's hog lot would do, combined with the heavy industry already there would create additional fine particulate matter. It is a formula for trouble as it pertains to human health.
It works like this: ammonia from livestock operations is emitted into the atmosphere where it combines with sulfuric or nitric acid emitted from burning coal and creates fine particulate matter which gets into the lungs of people and causes significant health problems in the form of increased incidence of asthma, cardio-respiratory problems and increase morbidity and mortality.
Let's not talk about the fact that Davenport and neighboring Muscatine and Rock Island Counties were identified by the United States Environmental Agency as being in non-attainment for fine particulate matter. During the phase in of testing for fine particulate matter, Scott and Muscatine Counties were identified as being in non-attainment according to newly promulgated standards.

Congressman Bruce Braley, who represents Scott County, is a friend of Dittmer and "submitted a letter in support of the expansion,". State Senator Joe Seng of Davenport has not taken a position for or against the proposal.

Seng said he was “sort of sitting on the fence” about the project. But as chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget subcommittee, he believes funding needs to be restored for odor quality research.

Wrong answer, Senator Seng. The "odor-study bill" approved by Iowa legislators in 2008 was a waste of time and money, because Iowa taxpayers already paid to study this issue, and research conducted in other states has identified "cost effective ways to mitigate odor" from hog lots.

If you live in Scott County and are concerned about the potential increase in air and water pollution, please consider contacting the five members of the Board of Supervisors before Thursday, August 19. Phone calls or old-fashioned letters are harder to ignore than e-mails.

LATE UPDATE: The Scott County board of supervisors approved the planned CAFO. Molly Regan, a former former Soil and Water Commissioner for the county, has more on this story at Blog for Iowa.

Iowa, Oil and Agriculture-- Meet Francis Thicke, Candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture

2laneIA — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:07:32 GMT

Who is the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture? The answer to that question is, and has always been: whichever faithful servant of Big Agriculture was keeping the chair warm and keeping Monsanto, Koch and Cargill happy, Democrat or Republican. (Currently, it's a guy who loves chicken factories.) An urban dweller, I didn't think that the Ag Secretary had anything to do with me.

A few months ago, I met Francis Thicke, an organic dairy farmer who is running for Secretary of Agriculture, and he changed my mind about that. I have begun to grasp how this official affects the food I eat, the quality of the air and rivers where I live, and waters far downstream from Iowa. I have even begun to hope for change in the way we produce food and use energy in Iowa, where we often set the example for farming practices across the country.

Francis Thicke (pronounced "tickee") has an organic dairy farm near Fairfield, Iowa, a small community best known as the home of Maharishi University. Francis and his wife, Susan, make milk, yogurt and cheese with the milk from his 80 cows, and sell all of it locally. Although he grew up on a farm, Francis wanted to be a musician. He studied music and philosophy in college, and plays a mean trumpet. But eventually he got a doctorate in agronomy instead, worked at the USDA, then came back to Iowa to start a dairy farm.

Radiance Dairy is no ordinary farm. Livestock and landscape nourish each other. Everything the cows eat is grown on land they fertilize, and as Francis says, they enjoy their work. He uses solar panels to power pumps for water , to electrify fences, and to heat water for his dairy processing plant. A wind turbine is in the works. His operation is so innovative that he attracts visitors who come to learn, from local schoolchildren to the World Bank, and he travels frequently to teach and give lectures. He has received awards from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, which recognized him as a "Steward of the Land," among other awards. People who know him regard him as a national treasure.

more below the fold...

(In this video thanking DK Greenroots, he takes us on a brief tour of the farm.)

Iowa has the most prime farmland of any state, produces the most corn and soybeans, and the most hogs and chickens. As a result, it has a disproportionate influence on federal agricultural policy. It is no coincidence that Tom Vilsack is Secretary of Agriculture in D.C., or that Tom Harkin chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee for years. In Iowa, ethanol is a sacrament, and the farm bill affects thousands of people statewide. The Iowa Secretary of Agriculture is an influential office, and not just for farming. The Secretary also participates in the Iowa Power Fund Board, a board that includes the governor, and which sets policy for energy in the state through grants for innovation. The Secretary of Agriculture influences policy for both energy and agriculture. What difference would it make if the Secretary was committed to sustainable agriculture and renewable energy? Maybe a lot.

Francis believes that if Iowa can help its farmers generate their own power, and farm in a way that washes less silt and fertilizers into our watersheds, it will have an impact on federal policy and on other states. He is committed to sustainable agriculture, and wants to give local communities more control over the hideous warehouses for hogs and chickens, called CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) that blight the Iowa landscape. He has testified before Congress and the Department of Justice on corporate monopolies in agriculture and wants to do more to oppose them from within government. He wants to make locally-grown produce more accessible to consumers. In Iowa, we eat produce shipped in from California at the height of summer, while the fields of corn and soybeans stretch as far as you can see in every direction.

Francis has real expertise in renewable energy, and innovative ideas for generating power on farms with wind turbines and biofuels. As a member of the Iowa Power Fund Board, he could really influence getting beyond corn-based ethanol and toward more renewable sources. Every time I hear some pundit saying that we are going to have to live with Gulf oil spills because we have to have oil, I think of Francis talking about distributed energy, where every farmstead has a wind turbine, instead of being completely vulnerable to increases in fuel prices.

In Francis' vision, the wind turbine powers the farm with wind that blows over the farm, and is a profit center for the farmer who can sell excess power to the local utility. With distributed power, giant transmission lines are unnecessary. To help pay for the initial cost of erecting the turbine, Francis would advocate feed-in tariffs. These require utilities to buy local wind power at higher rates for a period of time sufficient to help the farmer pay off the cost of the turbine, then the rates drop to a level that is attractive to utilities, because wind power is inherently cheaper than fossil fuels or coal. There is a lot of support for wind in the state, which gets 20% of its power from wind now.

If a farmer is using wind power to make electricity, ammonia and hydrogen, and perennial crops to make biofuels, and is running his machinery and backup generator with these fuels, he will be part of transforming agriculture from an oil-gobbling enterprise to a sustainable one. He will be insulated from the shock of $147/barrel oil, which caused chaos in farming two years ago, and which Francis wrote about in Threats to Food--Peak Oil and Agriculture. The expenses of agriculture as it is practiced now are generally more than the income from it, and subsidies are what keep a lot of farms afloat. In Francis' vision, that would change. He talked about it recently on an Iowa radio program:

"If we can find ways we can put more money in the pockets of farmers, instead of farmers being squeezed by the concentrated markets they sell into, like beef, and hogs and corn, and also being squeezed by the concentrated markets they buy from, their seeds and their fertilizers... we can make agriculture more self-sufficient and the value-added can be closer to the farm, and stay on the farm..."

What Francis understands is that we cannot keep doing what we are doing, in agriculture or otherwise. Climate change and peak oil are realities that we will have to deal with whether we want to or not. If he is elected, I expect Iowa to set an example that the rest of the country will be unable to ignore. We can cut our use of fossil fuels, sooner and more dramatically than we think we can, by adopting technologies that are available now, or are being developed for use in the near future, such as ammonia and hydrogen made with wind power. (Engines that can run on these fuels are being made in Iowa today.) Or we can pretend that agriculture and transportation systems based on cheap oil are sustainable, until we face a crisis too big to ignore.

Maybe we are seeing that crisis now, in the Gulf of Mexico. Or maybe the price of oil will soar so far past the 2008 highs that farm combines will stand idle, too costly to run for planting and harvest. We need leaders like Francis, with innovative solutions, and we need to get started on implementing them. That is why I spend my spare time volunteering for his campaign, and donate what I can spare.

2laneIA

cross-posted at DownWithTyranny

Culver opposes dirty water bill

desmoinesdem — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:06:58 GMT

Governor Chet Culver will not sign a bill that would weaken Iowa's current restrictions on spreading manure over frozen and snow-covered ground. Culver's senior adviser Jim Larew confirmed the governor's opposition during a February 22 meeting with members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Iowa CCI is among the environmental groups that have sounded the alarm about House File 2324 and a companion bill, Senate File 2229. The bills would exempt many large farms from the new manure application rules adopted last year. Earlier this month, the House Agriculture Committee approved HF 2324 with minimal debate.

Culver had previously promised to block the new proposal in private conversations. The bill's lead sponsor in the Iowa House, Democratic State Representative Ray Zirkelbach, told IowaPolitics.com yesterday, "Basically I was told that the governor's going to veto it no matter what ... if it came to his desk [...]." Zirkelbach contends that the bill is needed to help the struggling dairy industry. He denies that it would lead to more manure contaminating Iowa waters.

I am glad to see the governor take a stand against Zirkelbach's proposal. Improving the manure application bill was a major victory during the closing days of last year's legislative session. We should not have to keep fighting efforts to move us backwards on water quality.

The full text of yesterday's press release from Iowa CCI is after the jump.
Iowa CCI press release of February 22:

For Immediate Release
Governor Culver's Office Publicly Opposes "Manure in Water" bill -- HF 2324
More than 100 Iowans call on legislative leadership to stand up for clean water and "Kill the bill"
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2010, DES MOINES, IOWA -- Governor Culver's chief of staff and top political advisor Jim Larew told more than 100 members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) during a meeting at the State Capitol Monday that the Culver Administration opposed HF 2324, a bill that would gut the ban on the application and spreading of manure on frozen and snow-covered ground -- a bad practice that has resulted in record levels of ammonia pollution in our rivers and streams and forced the Des Moines Water Works to draw on alternative water sources on more than one occasion. Manure contaminated water has been linked to infectious diseases like dysentery, hepatitis, and typhoid, as well as the seasonal "dead-zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.
When asked where Governor Culver stood on the issue, Larew responded, "There is no way this office is in favor of weakening last year's bill." Members of Iowa CCI won the passage of legislation banning the application of manure on frozen and snow-covered ground during the 2009 legislative session. HF 2324 would gut these efforts.
Iowa CCI members mobilized at the Capitol for a Clean Water Lobby Day and press conference to deliver a simple message to the governor and legislative leaders: "Kill the bill."
"Governor Culver called me on the phone last week because he knows I'm a CCI member concerned about the environment," said Rosie Partridge of Wall Lake. "The governor himself promised me that he would veto this bill. He needs to publicly speak out against it."
"House File 2324 will essentially allow 5,500 factory farms to dump manure in our water whenever they want," said CCI Executive Director Hugh Espey. "This bill is shameful, and we are going to stop it dead in its tracks."
In addition to Iowa CCI - groups strongly opposing HF 2324 also include: the Environmental Protection Agency, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Sierra Club, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmer's Union and Des Moines Water Works.
House leadership must stand on the side of millions of everyday Iowans, not 5,500 factory farms, and kill HF 2324. Iowans demand legislators not cater to corporate ag special interests and put people before politics, profits and polluters.

One step forward, two steps back on Iowa water quality?

desmoinesdem — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:00 GMT

I seem to have jinxed things by praising Democratic state legislators who allowed the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' new clean water rules to go forward this week.

I learned yesterday from Iowa CCI, 1000 Friends of Iowa and the Iowa Environmental Council that a horrible bill, House File 2324, is being fast-tracked through the Iowa House. This bill was introduced to the House Agriculture Committee on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday it was unanimously approved by a subcommittee and then the full House Agriculture Committee. An action alert from the Iowa Environmental Council explains the substance:

DNR has proposed rules that would require existing facilities need to have at least 100 days of storage, in order to qualify for an emergency exemption for winter application because of full storage structures. But HF 2324 exempts confinement feeding operations constructed before July 1, 2009 from this rule. Specifically the bill states:
"A confinement feeding operation constructed before July 1, 2009, and not expanded after that date is not required to construct or expand a manure storage structure to comply with this section."
Lack of adequate manure storage during winter months is a major cause of water pollution in Iowa. Without adequate storage, farmers apply the manure to frozen or snow-covered farm fields, risking run-off into nearby streams at the first thaw or rain.

From a statement issued by Iowa CCI:

Iowa already suffers from some of the worst water quality in the nation. High levels of ammonia pollution all across Iowa were traced back to manure application on frozen and snow-covered ground. This bill would gut the state law that bans the spreading of manure on frozen and snow-covered ground by exempting more than 5,500 factory farms that were built before July 1, 2009 due to a lack of storage for their manure.
"Poor manure management is not an emergency," [CCI Executive Director Hugh] Espey said.
The Environmental Protection Agency came down strongly in favor of a ban without exceptions last year. Passage of this new legislation would be a clear violation of the Clean Water Act and would also undermine the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' authority to regulate factory farms.

Shame on the members of the House Agriculture Committee for fast-tracking this bill. Yet again, Iowa environmentalists have to fight efforts to circumvent DNR rules aimed at protecting the public interest. We should be making CAFOs pay for the harm they cause, not exempting them from reasonable manure storage requirements. But no, proponents want to rush through a gift for factory farms.

It's a disgrace that a legislative committee unanimously recommended this bill, especially in a Democratic-controlled legislature. This kind of thing is one reason why I have stopped donating to the House and Senate Democratic leadership committees.

Last year many legislators tried to circumvent the DNR's rule-making on the application of manure on frozen ground, prompting several Iowa non-profits to spend staff time and energy mobilizing against the bad bill. By a minor miracle, last-minute amendments greatly improved that bill before it passed in the closing days of the 2009 session.

The Iowa Environmental Council makes it easy for you to send an e-mail urging your state legislators to vote down HF 2324. But some lawmakers don't read all their e-mail, so I recommend calling your representative as well. The House switchboard is 515-281-3221.

UPDATE: Adam Mason of Iowa CCI informed me that another bad bill, House File 2365, was introduced in the House Agriculture Committee yesterday. It would change the definition of a "residence" in proximity to a CAFO, excluding homes that are "off the grid." Iowa law restricts how close factory farms can be to residences, but this bill would make it harder for some homeowners to fight a factory farm permit. So far HF 2365 hasn't received subcommittee or full committee approval, but it bears watching.

SECOND UPDATE: There is also an Iowa Senate version of the bill that would undermine regulations on winter spreading of manure: it's Senate File 2229. It was referred to a subcommittee on February 9, but no further action has been taken as of February 14.

Year in review: Bleeding Heartland on food and parenting in 2009

desmoinesdem — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:33:06 GMT

This blog will always be primarily about politics, but I enjoy writing about other subjects from time to time. In fact, one of my new year's resolutions for Bleeding Heartland is to write more about food and parenting in 2010.

After the jump I've compiled links to posts on those topics in 2009. Some of the diaries were political, others are personal. The link I'm most proud of combined the two: My case against Hanna Rosin's case against breastfeeding.

Any thoughts or suggestions for future topics to cover are welcome in this thread.
January 2009

Food Democracy Now advocated for the "sustainable dozen," "a list of 12 candidates for the crucial Under Secretary positions [at the USDA] that will stand up for family farms, safe food, clear air and water, animal welfare and soil preservation."

The Des Moines Register published a bizarre article claiming that Tom Vilsack had relatively few ties to agribusiness.

Tom Vilsack sailed through his confirmation hearing, and lots of important agriculture and food policy issues came up.

I was baffled by Burger King's Whopper Sacrifice application on Facebook.

There was a massive recall of processed foods containing peanut butter because of a salmonella outbreak.

At least two of Food Democracy Now's "sustainable dozen" got serious consideration for positions at the USDA.

I posted about five of my favorite food substitutions.

February 2009

Iowa showed slight growth in the number of small farms, according to the latest USDA survey.

The maker of Yoplait yogurt announced plans to go hormone-free.

Food Democracy Now got close to 90,000 signatures on a petition for more sustainable agriculture policies.

I posted my two favorite wild rice recipes.

March 2009

Activists pushed for new rules to prevent factory farms from hogging USDA conservation funds.

I was alarmed by rumors that President Obama was planning to put a Monsanto executive in charge of food safety.

I was appalled that the Johnson County Planning and Zoning board determined that a farmer would need a "special event" permit if she wanted to hold a harvest celebration at her farm. The farmer successfully appealed the Planning and Zoning board ruling.

Organic dairy farmer Francis Thicke announced that he was considering a bid for Iowa secretary of agriculture in 2010.

The cover story for the Atlantic Monthly promped me to make my case against Hanna Rosin's case against breastfeeding.

Food Democracy Now founder Dave Murphy made the economic case for healthy food.

A group promoting the use of chemicals in agriculture got bent out of shape by First Lady Michelle Obama's plans for an organic White House garden.

April 2009

Food Democracy Now advocated changes to current rules, which allow "large corporate farms to take advantage of [federal] subsidy loopholes that place independent family farmers at a serious competitive disadvantage."

A follow-up story on an autistic girl who was inappropriately placed in time-out rooms in a Waukee elementary school inspired this post on the need for parents to be advocates for their children and change what's not working for their children.

Soft-drink makers pitted public health advocates against "moderation moms" and "hard-working families."

Scientists isolated one cause of the "colony collapse disorder" affecting honeybees, which are important pollinators for fruit and vegetable growers.

I discussed a few reasons to eat pork that's not factory-farmed.

May 2009

I wrote about taking my kids to "sample Sunday" at three nearby farms.

The USDA had some good news for organic and transitioning farmers.

Inspired by Woodbury County rural economic development director Rob Marqusee's "local food challenge," I suggested seven ways to eat more local food.

Mother's Day is a great time for a big linkfest.

I posted my chili recipe, which incorporates three of my favorite food shortcuts.

I posted a bunch of links on breastfeeding toddlers.

Yes, you can avoid mosquitoes without using DEET, and I recommend keeping DEET off children.

I came across an old commencement address delivered by John Lithgow, in which he explained how he used his acting career to launch a "concurrent second career" as a children's entertainer with a "secret agenda" to instill a love for the Arts in young people.

June 2009

I posted a few of my favorite discipline tips you won't find in the typical book on disciplining children.

Some Iowa legislators weren't happy with the State Board of Education's new nutrition standards, so the legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee voted to let state lawmakers review the nutrition standards during the 2010 session.

Francis Thicke argued that organic farming can employ cutting-edge technology and won't take us back to obsolete practices.

Inspired by Rob Marqusee's local food challenge, I posted links to help people find locally produced foods in Iowa.

I posted a tip for making risotto without cream, milk or cheese and a good marinade for grass-fed beef.

I wasn't convinced by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's "creative analogy" comparing climate-change skeptics with opponents of genetically-modified foods.

I posted a few summer salad recipes.

July 2009

The Des Moines Register reported on a Mount Vernon grocer's lawsuit against the industry's top two wholesalers, charging they had conspired to keep food prices artificially high.

I dodged a teachable moment when Fred Phelps brought his Westboro Baptist Church clan to protest Jewish sites in central Iowa.

August 2009

I agreed with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement about the need to stop subsidizing factory farms and overproduction of meat. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack denied the pork industry's request to buy excess pork in August but allocated money for that purpose later in the year.

I discussed food and fun things to do with kids at the Iowa State Fair.

Francis Thicke advocated "ecology as a model for livestock production."

Girls at Atlantic High School were subjected to an outrageous and apparently illegal strip search.

September 2009

I gave readers five reasons to vote in school board elections.

OneTray.org launched a campaign to improve school lunches.

The Iowa Food Cooperative won a USDA grant, inspiring this post on local food resources in Iowa.

Bleeding Heartland user Elton Davis had a brilliant response to his daughter's school fundraising scheme.

October 2009

Cold weather arrived, so I posted my favorite butternut squash soup recipe, along with links to other soup recipes I like.

Francis Thicke praised U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for becoming a champion for local foods.

I had mixed feelings about my first-grader's Star Wars obsession.

News that a Colorado insurance company used a breastfeeding infant's "obesity" as an excuse to deny insurance coverage outraged me.

I encouraged parents to leave their baby's car seat in the car after reading about a new study suggesting that using the seats too much outside cars can be dangerous.

I posted a few Halloween-related links for parents.

November 2009

A feature article about Christian Fong got me thinking about ostensibly well-meaning bigotry in the Midwest, and how the parents of my peers raised children from ethnic or religious minority groups during the 1960s and 1970s.

I put up a thread on high-protein meals and included one of my favorite Indian recipes containing meat.

The USDA named five Iowa Farm Service Agency committee members, two of whom have strong ties in the sustainable agriculture community.

I posted some recipes and links about Thanksgiving food.

I wrote about our Thanksgiving meal and offered some ideas for using Thanksgiving leftovers.

December 2009

I discussed some favorite winter comfort foods.

I listed a few of my favorite local places to buy food and gifts for babies and children.

I linked to some Christmas food posts and shared my recipes for gingerbread and noodle kugel.