Please join our Mid-Iowa Youth Beef Team to observe National Ag Day on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, with the theme of “Together We Grow” as we celebrate 250 years of agriculture progress. Agriculture producers have made great progress in their production since the 1960s. Today, cattlemen ...
As we celebrate Ag Week in Iowa, March 23-30, 2026, and look ahead to America’s 250th anniversary, we are reminded strong communities don’t come from any one person or one farm — they grow when people show up for each other. As a farmer, we see every day how closely agriculture and our ...
‘Meskwaki Nation Does Not Pay Property Tax, and That Isn’t Fair!’ Does this sound familiar? It may not sound familiar if you don’t live near Indian Country. I live in Tama County, Iowa. Tama County is home to the only federally recognized tribe in Iowa. I have heard this statement or ...
February 20 saw the passage of the first legislative funnel. This is a deadline lawmakers set to winnow down bills eligible for consideration for the remainder of the session. It doesn’t apply to spending bills, but does a good job of narrowing what lawmakers will focus on around the midpoint ...
A week of debate This was the seventh week of the legislative session and it was filled with debate following our first legislative funnel deadline last week. Some of the bills we passed in the Senate this week include: Senate File 2219: This bill requires school districts to grant a ...
The La Porte-Dysart FFA Chapter is inviting the community to help grow the future of agricultural education at Union High School. In 2026, the chapter is launching the Greener Futures Greenhouse Campaign which is a multi-year effort to raise $130,000 to renovate the educational greenhouse at ...
Funnel Week The sixth week of the legislative session officially kicked off the rush toward the first major legislative deadline. The initial "funnel" deadline is this week, making it imperative to advance any ideas intended for further consideration. This deadline brought a flurry of ...
A recently released U.S. House farm bill proposal underinvests in proven solutions farmers rely on to cut fertilizer waste, protect drinking water and reduce climate pollution, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). With mounting financial pressures on farmers, lawmakers ...
I started my career in rural Iowa in 1974 as an English, speech and reading teacher. Our students were top performers and the state’s education system was the gold standard. Educators and public schools in general were revered and respected by their communities. We didn’t have a lot of ...
First legislative deadline next week This week was the fifth week of the legislative session, and with our first legislative deadline coming up next week, our focus remained on subcommittee and committee meetings to consider legislation for this year. More subcommittee and committee meetings ...