People living near concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in California, Texas and Iowa suffer from higher rates of cancer, suggesting that the air and water pollution from the massive farms may be playing a role, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal Environmental Research, comes just weeks after a years-long […]
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‘It’s clear we need to change’: Report identifies four environmental factors raising cancer risk in Iowa
“Cancer is not an abstract problem in Iowa,” oncologist Richard Deming told the people gathered in the Harkin Institute’s auditorium. “It’s not rare, it’s not declining and it’s not evenly distributed. Cancer affects everybody, but it doesn’t affect everybody equally.” Eighty percent of the 25 counties with highest cancer rates in Iowa are rural, according […]
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Debates over property taxes, eminent domain and cancer rates expected during 2026 legislative session
Iowa lawmakers are heading into the 2026 legislative session with several new leaders — but many of the issues expected to take top priority are subjects left unresolved in 2025, namely eminent domain and property taxes. Lawmakers presented legislation on both of these issues during the 2025 legislative session, but neither became state law. Republican […]
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Factory farms in Iowa generate 110 billion pounds of manure per year. No one tracks where it’s going.
More than a thousand hogs grow fat in the enclosed shed-like structures on Gene Tinker’s farm in northeast Iowa, while a few hundred cattle pace in open feedlots. His farm is one of nearly 8,000 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Iowa. But the 64-year-old is not an average Iowa pork producer. Less than a […]
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‘We know enough’: Researchers call for Iowa ag regulations to protect public health
Researchers and public health advocates said Wednesday that water quality and land use continue to be modifiable elements impacting public health, and in particular cancer, in Iowa. The experts spoke to a crowded conference room in the Olmsted Center at Drake University during the 2025 Iowa Nature Summit that touched on policies, practices and programs […]
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Report: Iowa’s rate of new lung cancer cases ‘significantly higher’ than national average
Iowans are used to reports on cancer rates containing bad news for the state. Annual reports from the Iowa Cancer Registry and the National Cancer Institute have documented Iowa’s remarkably high rate of new cancers. Only tobacco-heavy Kentucky has a higher rate of new cases. Now, a report from the American Lung Association (ALA) published […]
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Pesticide manufacturer Bayer spent more than $200K lobbying in Iowa
Bayer, the biotech company and manufacturer of Roundup, has substantially increased its spending on lobbying in Iowa since the introduction of a pesticide labeling bill in 2024. In 2025, according to client reports published by the state, Bayer paid lobbyists $123,250. Reports for 2024 show $86,099 spent. Between 2021 and 2023, years before the pesticide […]
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No vote on bill protecting pesticide manufacturers from cancer lawsuits as Iowa House Republicans balk
The Iowa House will not vote on a bill passed by the Senate that would have provided new protections against lawsuits for corporations that produce pesticides, Speaker Pat Grassley said on Thursday. Even though Republicans control 67 of the 100 seats in the House, there was not enough support for the bill to guarantee passage. […]
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Iowans protest bill to give pesticide manufacturers greater protection from cancer lawsuits
Iowans gathered in the State Capitol rotunda on Monday to remember family members who have died from cancer and protest a bill in the Iowa Senate that would create new protections against lawsuits for companies that produce pesticides. “What our legislators should be doing is working on bills that lower the risk for Iowans rather than […]
