The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued a final action on a water-use permit to a 10,000-head cattle operation in Clayton County, following a years-long legal battle with an area environmental group. The group, Driftless Water Defenders, announced Thursday it would appeal the DNR decision to renew the permit. A group of citizens initially challenged […]
CAFOs
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa produces the most factory farm waste in the country, new report shows
Factory farms in Iowa produce 109 billion pounds of waste each year, according to a new report from Food and Water Watch about concentrated livestock operations in the U.S. That’s 25 times more waste than what all Iowans combined produce, according to the report. “Factory Farm Nation” is an analysis of the 2022 U.S. Department […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Animals get to live life as more than livestock in the Iowa Farm Sanctuary’s pastures
Henry the one-eyed turkey stands just inside the pasture gate, proud and handsome with his white feathers fanned in display. He may look regal, but he also appreciates a rub of his gnarly red head. At 3 years old, Henry is a senior citizen: most turkeys raised in Iowa and elsewhere spend the first 20 […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry’ by Austin Frerick
Austin Frerick’s captivating and necessary book Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry (March 2024, Island Press), is a road trip through America’s heartland — but not the one depicted in Grant Wood’s paintings of rural Iowa. Where Wood depicted an early 20th century lush with rolling fields of green, Frerick’s contemporary […]
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‘Suspicious fire’ damages Iowa’s largest sycamore; Gov. Reynolds’ opposition to CAFO rules threatens waterways
Iowa’s largest sycamore tree, which is located in a state park near Burlington, was severely damaged by a “suspicious fire,” the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in a news release on Thursday. It’s not known if the tree, estimated to be about 350 years old, will survive. According to the DNR, a visitor […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Petition asking EPA to crack down on water pollution from factory farms is rejected — six years after it was filed
This week the Environmental Protection Agency rejected a petition from a coalition led by Food & Water Watch that asked the agency to strengthen regulations regarding water pollution from factory farms. “For more than 50 years, EPA has knowingly shirked its crystal clear obligation to regulate factory farms under the Clean Water Act,” Food & […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Federal judge rejects Iowa pork industry’s attempt to crush California law banning pork produced ‘in a cruel manner’
On Monday, a federal judge in Cedar Rapids dismissed a lawsuit from Iowa pork producers seeking to overturn a law in California that prohibits the sale of “the meat of a breeding pig, or the immediate offspring of a breeding pig, who was confined ‘in a cruel manner.’” Proposition 12, passed by California voters in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Free speech v. industrial farms: Iowa’s ag gag laws go to federal court
The state government’s various attempts over the last nine years to shield industrial animal farms with an ag gag law were spotlighted in court Tuesday. The injunction preventing the first ag gag law, signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad in 2012, from going into effect was partially upheld by a federal appeal court, while […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s dirty water is getting worse
For five years, Sarah Prineas has been getting up before dawn and heading to the Beckwith Boathouse at the University of Iowa to meet other members of Hawkeye Community Rowing for practice. The rowing team practices four to five times a week on the Iowa River.
“It’s always beautiful in the morning,” Prineas said. “The river is calm, and the sun is coming up. On the banks of the river we see deer, all kinds of waterfowl and eagles. It’s really very peaceful and beautiful.”
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Iowa needs a moratorium on factory farming
By Linda Quinn, Iowa City Recent reports showcase the severity of our water quality crisis in Iowa. In the midst of a drought, the Des Moines River is now virtually unusable as drinking water because of pollution. Our elected leaders are putting forth half-measures while pollution runs rampant and emissions continue unabated. Factory farms have […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: CAFOs are factories, not farms
By Lynn Gallagher, Solon The Johnson County supervisors are trying to protect the residents of Johnson County from the industry of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Because they don’t have local control, this is difficult. I fully support their efforts in the UDO (Unified Development Ordinance) to limit CAFOs and to make sure that agricultural […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: The new farm bill does little to protect the future of agriculture
In an uncharacteristically productive event, Congress has passed the farm bill, the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018. Ruminant commentators are asking: What’s missing in the farm bill? Their answers demonstrate that it pays little or no attention to preserving the environment where agriculture lives.
