Deb El Food Products LLC is one of hundreds of Iowa-based companies cited for violating its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit in 2025. Of these, 38 were food or agriculture companies. After months of dumping wastewater that exceeded the toxic compound limits set forth in the permit, the liquid egg company was cited […]
Iowa Agriculture
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We’re on a knife’s edge’: Art Cullen chides Reynolds’ meanness, Big Ag’s death grip on Iowa land and livelihoods
“When I was a kid in the 1960s, you could drive from Carroll to Storm Lake, and see cattle lining green hills the entire way,” Art Cullen said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Now it’s all row crops, and cattle in feedlots. It’s a different situation. Those green hills are plowed up.” That transformation, the economic […]
Posted inCommunity/News
This corn fungus, dreaded by most Iowa farmers, is a south-of-the-border delicacy
Father and daughter returned to their field to assess the tumors’ growth. The father stepped forward into the sea of shimmering florets, plucked an ear of corn from its stalk and squatted to face his daughter. Look, he said. It’s ready. The lumps had multiplied, infecting the kernels. Some had taken the shape of a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds gather for presentation on Polk County water quality report; researchers, crowd call for regulation
More than 500 individuals gathered Monday to hear what comes next following the release of an in-depth water quality report commissioned by Polk County. Another 500 watched online to hear years’ worth of research on water pollutants and key steps forward at the individual, watershed and state levels. One speaker said it was the first […]
Posted inCommunity/News
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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
With no plan to manage groundwater in Iowa, Big Ag threatens the aquifer supplies most households rely upon
Friday the 13th was a lucky day this June for the southwest Iowa city of Avoca, pop. 1,700. Restaurants along Main Street had their best week since problems with the city’s water supply began. “It was the first time we hit our standard Friday mark in weeks,” Andrea Radd, owner of Raddberry’s Bakery and Cafe, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Polk County water report pins unhealthy rivers on ag pollution
A long-awaited scientific report commissioned by Polk County says farm pollution threatens the ability to drink clean water and to safely interact with central Iowa streams, Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. The county announced its Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment in 2023 and heralded it as a first-of-its-kind, unbiased and comprehensive examination of the watersheds […]
Posted inRecreation
No yard? No problem! Here’s how to start a container garden
We are now living in the bizarro timeline and food is just going to get more expensive, so all of us should be thinking about brushing up our gardening know-how. I started gardening in 2020 and I am still an amateur, but I can tell you a lot about how to start and nurture a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa lawmakers move to prioritize corn, pork and dairy in school lunches
Iowa senators advanced a bill Tuesday to implement nutrition guidelines and education in Iowa schools that prioritize the state’s “unique” food sources like corn, pork and dairy. The bill would also update school health class curriculum to include a section on nutrition and include instruction on food production and the benefits of local sourcing in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Water advocates challenge DNR final decision on permit for cattle facility near Bloody Run Creek
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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Bird flu detected in Palo Alto County flock, disaster proclamation extended
The highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in a commercial turkey flock in Palo Alto County just days after the bird flu was detected in an egg-laying flock in Sioux County. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced the fifth detection of the H5N1 influenza virus this year on Sunday, and Gov. Kim […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Iowa Food Co-op provides a never-ending farmers market for the Des Moines metro
For some, the scariest part of October isn’t Halloween, but the last day of the farmers market. Des Moines area residents, however, need only pay a visit to www.iowafood.coop to buy fresh, local produce all year long. “We’re focused on small, local, independent producers,” Karen Davis, general manager of the Iowa Food Cooperative, told Little […]
