John Gilbert farms with a brother, a son, and their wives along South Fork, a tributary of the Iowa River. In addition to non-GMO row crops, they raise small grains, forages, cattle, and antibiotic free pigs they sell to Niman Ranch. John is a volunteer with the Southfork Watershed Alliance, and is active in Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Iowa Farmers Union. Their farm has been recognized for its work toward sustainability.
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Gilbert wrote the following essay, which was first published by the Des Moines Register, before the two-year anniversary of the 2018 Farm Bill’s expiration (September 30). Four members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation (Senators Chuck Grasssley and Joni Ernst, and Representatives Randy Feenstra and Zach Nunn) serve on the Senate or House Agriculture Committees, which are responsible for writing the Farm Bill.
It’s also important to note that this week, the Trump administration is expected to announce bailout payments for soybean farmers—reportedly of about $100 an acre—to offset damages caused by this administration’s erratic tariffs, and trade disruptions. The need for such a payment underscores the weakness of a farm policy based on unrestricted production.
It’s officially time Iowa has one of those warnings, like what you see on cigarette packages: “Caution: Living in Iowa is Hazardous to Your Health!”
The problem isn’t just that Iowa’s water carries way too many farm field pollutants (we’re all tired of hearing about nitrates), although that’s part of it. It’s not just that Iowa has way too many people dealing with cancer; or just that jobs in agriculture, meat packing, construction and manufacturing can be dangerous; or just the dangers of health care deserts in many areas of Iowa. And it’s not just that climate change is making Iowa’s weather more dangerous. The problem is all of those things, and more.
The biggest danger living in Iowa though, is a power structure that doesn’t give a damn. Don’t forget that Republicans have been in charge for a decade. These problems have all grown much worse on their watch. We can only conclude they want things this way. They’re OK with Iowa’s economy being tied for dead last in the country; with a cancer epidemic; with streams and lakes that aren’t fit to drink or recreate in; with being a state where no one wants to stay—especially our best and brightest! Otherwise, they’d do something besides making excuses, gaslighting and acting like they’re powerless to change things.
As a longtime farmer, it gives me great pains to admit that nothing is going to change until we change the way we farm. (Remember, the Polk County water quality report concluded that 80 percent of nutrients were from farm fields.) Tragically, the problem is beyond the scope of what can be changed just in Iowa.
The problem is national, and requires a national solution—and that requires a significantly different Farm Bill. Now is not the time for a weak-kneed, reheated continuation of the 2018 bill. No, we need a transformative change, one that rewards stewardship and responsibility—not another Farm Bureau freedom-to-farm/production-for-production’s sake extension.
After spending more than three decades as a volunteer, working with organizations and agencies to advance conservation, I can only conclude that the current commodity-centered ag policy is the core of the problem. Existing conservation efforts are historically underfunded by Congress, pillaged by this administration, and treated as an illegitimate stepchild by too many landowners. None of us likes change unless it’s our idea.
And yes, there’s a whole raft of multi-national forces who will fight tooth and lobbyist to protect the status quo. That’s why we need to be haranguing the six do-nothing Republicans Iowans sent to Congress, so they know we expect them to do some heavy lifting, not just continue to let corporate and commodity lobbyists write the bill.
What would a transformational Farm Bill look like? I’m not sure, but it would start with not subsidizing all-out production. That means a cap on how much subsidized crop insurance any farmer can get, say, limited to 800 to 1,000 acres. And it means rolling back the cap on how much federal payments any farm entity can receive, with meaningful controls of large farms gaming the system on paper to circumvent the limits. And it means some kind of conservation compliance—basically proving your stewardship. And it means redirecting tax dollars from crop insurance subsidies to reward meaningful conservation.
The best conservation efforts are little more than rearranging deck chairs, so long as the primary ag policy focus is on production. Right now, about one of every two bushels of corn (and a growing share of soybeans) are going into our tanks. We’re literally killing ourselves for ethanol and biodiesel. Tapping the brakes on production will mean some of the marginal acres put into production when prices were high can be returned to grasslands—or other uses less likely to continue polluting our streams.
Farmers are being squeezed by high costs and trade-war sabotaged commodity prices. For farmers like me, the idea of not producing all we can is frightening, unless there’s assurance everyone is cutting back. Low prices are the market’s way of saying there is too much. Reducing commodity production across the board is the quickest way to raise prices, but will take a well-designed program of carrots and sticks.
As farmers, we’ve long been warned that we could wear out our welcome with taxpayers. We need to remember that less than 2 percent of the U.S. population farms. It behooves us to be more proactive in our stewardship. All the glossy, commodity check-off funded PR commercials are only irritating our dashing urbanite neighbors, unhappy because their water bill is skyrocketing, and they’re told nobody really knows what caused their cancer.
Those of us who farm must recognize how maddening it is for our urban neighbors to pay for problems we create, and feel powerless to change it. And urban Iowans need to understand that many family farmers feel trapped and victimized by the current system.
Everyone should agree that the critical starting point must be safeguarding our democracy. Democracy is about more than who is in office. It’s about each and every one of us having the ability to control our lives.
Rural Iowa, and even many urban centers, are now sacrifice zones where people don’t matter to the outsiders here for greed and profit. Too much of the wealth created by our current farming systems go out of state to large, often foreign, corporate packers, grain merchants, seed, chemical, fertilizer, and machinery manufacturers. So long as they meet their sales targets, they don’t care how toxic Iowa’s water and air are. They don’t live here. If Iowans are sick, or hungry, or angry at their neighbors, it’s not their problem. That’s how you get a last-place economy.
As farmers, our voices advocating for a change to a transformative new Farm Bill should have a strong impact. But since all Iowans are affected, everyone’s voices are urgently needed. There’s a good chance our requests will be ignored, so our resolve needs to be strong. We all have a stake in getting real change made. Please join us in calling for it now.
All photos provided by the author and published with permission.
Pigs farrowed on pasture learn to follow their mothers as they graze.
Last fall, beavers built a small dam in this bend in South Fork.
Gilberts occasionally move rotationally grazed cattle a short distances down the gravel road to reach pastures on opposite sides of South Fork.
Researchers do periodic biologic surveys of South Fork, the tributary of the Iowa River that flows through the Gilberts’ land.