Fairness for Iowa hosts farm tour highlighting how federal policies Congressional Republicans supported are impacting Iowa farmers and rural communities
Last week, Fairness for Iowa travelled across central and southern Iowa to hear directly from farmers, small business owners, beekeepers and local food producers about the challenges facing rural communities as rising costs, health care cuts, corporate consolidation and federal policy changes reshape Iowa agriculture.
The two-day farm tour featured conversations with producers working outside Iowa’s dominant corn-and-soy system, including beekeepers, organic row crop farmers, vegetable growers and local food entrepreneurs. Participants discussed how recent federal actions — including cuts to health care, reductions in USDA programs, tariffs that have increased input costs, rising gas and fertilizer prices, the war in Iran and continued consolidation across the agricultural industry — are affecting their operations and the future of rural Iowa.
Iowa State Representative Mary Madison joined the tour as the ranking member of the Environmental Protection Committee, to hear how the Iowa Legislature can support and invest in farmers.
“What struck me most on the tour was how small family farms using sound ecological techniques play a vital role in helping to protect and improve our drinking water and our soil quality,” Madison said. “I learned that standing with farmers to provide guardrails and investments will help to bring families back to the land. I learned that smart land use, agricultural conservation and sustainable farming practices can help with food security, and economic health just to name a few things.”
Tour stops included:
A visit with beekeeper and Daisy Chain Coffee owner Daniel Bosman.
A tour of Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman’s farm.
Conversations at LT Organic Farm and Restaurant about preserving Iowa farmland, strengthening local food systems and expanding opportunities for farmers who grow food.
A visit to Coyote Run Farm with former USDA Farm Service Agency Iowa Executive Director Matt Russell examining the consequences of federal cuts to conservation and farm support programs.
A farmer roundtable at Whippoorwill Creek Farm featuring producers from across Southern Iowa discussing local food systems, conservation, health care, pesticide drift, food hubs, and the future of agriculture in the state.
Matt Russell, owner of Coyote Run Farm, spoke about his disappointment with his representative.
“Both in her silence about federal cuts being made and in her votes for the Republican Tax Law, Rep. Miller-Meeks refused to stand with Iowa farmers,” Russell said. “Last year the Trump administration cut what could be hundreds of millions of dollars from programs and services that invested in Iowa farmers like us. Our representative never said a word about the impact of those cuts to this district and to farms like mine.”