Rural Economy
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Guest post: Elon Musk’s chainsaw comes for the farm
I am incredibly concerned about what has been going on at President Donald Trump’s USDA in the last few weeks—in particular Elon Musk’s chainsaw approach to government agencies.
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Iowa farms pay the price for Trump-Musk USDA cuts
Federal cuts are coming home to roost on Iowa farms. More than $11 million in funding that the USDA promised to Iowa’s local food system spoiled overnight, leaving farmers facing even greater unpredictability. Seeds are sprouting in greenhouses. Meat processing dates are locked in at local lockers. Iowa farmers have been planning all winter for…
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Guest post: Don’t give Bayer a free pass when Iowa has high rate of cancer
When the state of Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate and fastest growing rate of new cancer, we have no business handing agrichemical corporations a “get out of jail free” card for the dangerous products they put on the market.
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Guest post: Stand against pipeline to protect Iowa’s natural resources
Iowa towns, farmland, and natural resources shouldn’t be a playground for corporate power.
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Guest post: Forget Project 2025. We need a better Farm Bill
When it comes to farm policy in 2025, we don’t need Project 2025. We need a new Farm Bill that acknowledges the challenges we face, tackles them head on, and puts our rural communities before corporate profits. Reading about the recent round of layoffs at John Deere’s Ottumwa plant got me thinking about the future…
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How Trump’s immigration raids could hurt Iowa
It’s likely that Iowa, where agriculture is the largest part of our economy, where immigration accounts for the vast majority of the state’s growth, and where voters once again voted for Trump, could see these effects in a pronounced way.
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1,599 Iowans laid off at John Deere in 2024; more coming in January
Another round of layoffs at John Deere is coming to Iowa.
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Guest post: Bohannan campaign showed anti-corporate greed message works
Christina Bohannan’s campaign website called for putting our Constitution over corporations, rejecting the corrupting influence of special interests, taking on corporate Big Ag and Big Oil giants, and fighting for a country in which people who work hard can rise above corporate greed. And it almost worked.
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11,400 Iowa workers laid off in agriculture economy downturn
Yesterday, the Iowa Farm Bureau actually quantified those losses for the state’s vast, 385,000-person agriculture workforce. And it’s not good.
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Guest post: With cancer on the rise, it’s Iowans’ health vs. chemical companies
We’re in for a big fight next year that will pit multinational chemical companies and their billion-dollar profits against the health and well-being of everyday Iowans.
