The Iowa Farm Bureau put feed-in-tariffs that supports distributed farmer
owned energy in their 2010 legislative platform that was voted on by the
members. Their lobbyists refuse to work for it's passage for the last few
years. This bottom up approach is all talk. They only really work on
legislation that promotes large agri biz.
Mike Carberry

On Sunday, August 25, 2013, Cindy Hildebrand <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> To paraphrase the old cliche, some of my friends and some of the people I
admire most are farmers.  I attended a cover-crop meeting a few months ago
and heard from conservation-minded farmers who are smart, brave, practical,
and amazing.
>
> At the same time, I am reminded every year that the Iowa Farm Bureau
develops state policies through county meeting policy discussions, and then
by elected delegates who debate and vote on those policies at annual state
conventions.  So when an anti-conservation policy is adopted by the IFB, it
usually means that a majority of the voting farmer-members support it.
>
> Cindy
>
> Cindy Hildebrand
> [log in to unmask]
> Ames, IA 50010
>
> “Wherever there are birds, there is hope.” (Mehmet Murat ildan)
>
> In a message dated 8/25/2013 8:52:42 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Here's a little different approach:
> Farmers are victims of Big Ag too.  I'm starting to think we need to be
conscious that the Farm Bureau intentionally frames their propaganda as
environmentalists v. farmers so that the attention is diverted from the
true culprits -- the multinational corporations who have succeeded in
monopolizing our food system from seed to grocery store.
> Farmers and environmentalists need to understand that ultimately they are
on the same side and we have the fight of our lives to take back our food
system and our democracy.  Saving the environment and respecting our
commons are beneficiaries.
> Donna
>
>
> On Aug 24, 2013, at 5:06 PM, Cindy Hildebrand <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> There was a lot of conventional-ag-is-wonderful information at the Fair
this year and I saw it in a number of locations.  I noticed that the farmer
on one poster who was described as doing a very good job of protecting soil
and water seemed to be using only no-till and buffer strips.
>
> Not that those methods aren't a significant improvement over doing
nothing.  But unless a lot more farmers start using multiple more-effective
methods like cover crops, wetlands, and within-field prairie strips, we're
going to see a Gulf dead zone the size of Alaska.  Not to mention that
we'll see soil erosion start to impact Iowa yields on some soils within
three decades (that's what I recently heard from one soil expert).
>
> And per below, there's the issue of how much the general public knows
about what to ask.  I doubt if the farmers who have volunteered to
answer questions will be asked, for example, "Is the corn and soybean seed
you plant treated with neonicotinoids?"
>
> Cindy
> Cindy Hildebrand
> [log in to unmask]
> Ames, IA 50010
>
> “Wherever there are birds, there is hope.” (Mehmet Murat ildan)
>
> In a message dated 8/24/2013 4:45:31 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Here's some agri-biz propaganda for your enjoyment. I got this because I
tried to guess the number of Lego blocks in their display at the Fair. My
guess was about 37,000 too low. About an hour later, I got violently ill
after eating Fair food. (You watch them corn dogs! Or could it have been
the cream-filled Bismark?)
>
> Any criticism of Iowa agriculture is an attack on the sanctity of family
farms, at least that's what we--as good consumers--are supposed to believe.
>
> Thanks, Jane, for the news about the new deputy ag secretary from
Monsanto.
> Tom
>
> In a message dated 8/23/2013 1:44:50 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
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>
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