Two months after announcing his run for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Democrat Wade Dooley ended his campaign on Wednesday. “This is my first foray into statewide campaigning, and it’s been an eye-opener,” Dooley said in a written statement. “The amount of time, staff and money that it takes is truly daunting. And at this point […]
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
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Chris Jones, water quality advocate and author, considers run for Iowa Ag Secretary: ‘We need to rethink agriculture’
Chris Jones, author of The Swine Republic and one of Iowa’s leading water quality advocates, has created an exploratory committee as he considers a run for Secretary of Agriculture next year. “I think we need to rethink agriculture,” Jones told journalist Nina B. Elkadi. “Nobody’s happy. So why are we going to keep doing what […]
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Iowa loses $11 million as Trump administration cuts funding for schools and food banks to buy from local farmers
Iowa will lose $11.3 million in federal funding that would have been used to buy locally produced food for schools, childcare facilities and food banks due to cuts to USDA programs by the Trump administration. “This funding was meant to build upon the $7.8 million invested in Iowa since 2022 through similar programs,” according to […]
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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 […]
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Rob Sand is running for a second term as state auditor, squashing speculation he’d seek higher office
Almost as soon as Rob Sand was elected Iowa State Auditor in 2018, political writers and the Iowa Republican Party began publicly speculating on what office he would run for in 2022. Would Sand, the only Democrat elected to statewide office that year who wasn’t already a longtime incumbent (Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald has been in […]
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Never mind the pollution: EPA head Scott Pruitt visits Iowa to discuss making water regulations more industry friendly
More than half the state’s waterways are polluted and there’s a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, but Iowa’s approach to controlling nutrient water pollution is completely voluntary.
