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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