Iowa's Farm Harm

 

For those of you who are not from Iowa, some of this will seem small-minded, for others, it will seem all too familiar. Iowa used to be a more reliable "purple" state than it has been for the last ten or so years. However, thanks to an adrenalized hard right and right-leaning, non-partisan think-tanks, industry groups, and policy groups, we are also in the money laundering business as out-of-state dollars are converted into land grabs, enterprise zones, and people deserts in smaller communities. As a result, Iowa may be further right-leaning now and into the future. Some reasons are fairly obvious, Iowa derives a lot of its income from corporate agriculture to make the things the rest of the country and world want and need like high fructose corn syrup, ethanol (though not as popular in oil-producing states/lobbies), sillage, chickens, eggs, and, of course, all things pork and cow.

Farmers and those who work for them, know they have a pretty tough job, but do it because it is necessary work. After all, America Needs Farmers--as the Farm Bureau likes to say. Thanks to guaranteed income through farm subsidy programs, it can be a practical choice and, if you absorb your competition and integrate into the supply chain, you can make a buck or two. That is likely why farms of less than 100 acres continue to shrink and farms from 1000 acres up continue to grow. Also while family-owned farms are the vast majority of farms, family farms being farmed by family are about half that.

The cost to all Iowans is dirtier water, air, and areas in our state that stink to high heaven (in fact the odors are so noxious that workers die while working in manure ponds). Beyond the loss of life with an average of about 80 farm workers or self-employed farmers losing their lives between 2011-2020 (and have ranged from a high of 110 in 1992 to a low of 54 in 1995), Iowa's rural communities are shrinking as automation steadily creeps into the fields and seed genetics make for more predictable outcomes. And yet, the political power of Iowa's rural areas is outsized in terms of right-leaning, pro-business political influence.

Iowa's basic political philosophy about the effects of farming has been pretty much been it's a downstream problem. As many likely know, one of those downstream problems has been the Gulf of Mexico where there is an ever-enlarging "dead zone" caused by agricultural waste that is killing off aquatic life and causing hardships for coastal fishermen. Other downstream problems have resided with urban areas having to pour money into better water filtration systems, rural well-water that is dangerous to drink, and so on. 

Is farming essential to Iowa's overall health, it would be hard to debate otherwise, particularly as so much real estate is tied up in it. But, as much of the land is owned by farmers, it does not always mean it is being farmed which has led to the cost of existing land rising and making it harder for working farmers to grow. There is lots of room for blame about policies, but perhaps farm subsidies programs have had the unintended effect to allow farmers to profit from being land barons rather than farmers. In addition with farms that are handed from family member to family member, there is the prospect that agricultural land, particularly closer to urban areas will be continually peeled off the support the outward sprawl and the profits to be made by land development.

The future of farming is likely to pit farm operations against farmer barons who hold land and sell when the price is right. What that likely means to all of us is continued inflation on food, fuels, and real estate, as well as continued contamination up-and-down-stream. It sort of stinks like a CAFO.