Des Moines Register
10-24-06
Agriculture rivals' strategies contrast in forum
By ANNE FITZGERALD
REGISTER AGRIBUSINESS WRITER
Ames, Ia. - For family farms to survive, they must be profitable and diversified.
That much Denise O'Brien and Bill Northey agree on.
But the two candidates for Iowa secretary of agriculture part ways on how to get
there.
Squaring off Monday evening at Iowa State University, they spelled out their
visions for the future of Iowa agriculture.
Northey, a Spirit Lake farmer who is the Republican candidate, said he believes
the booming biorenewable-energy industry will be key.
"We do definitely have some opportunities there," he said. Diversifying the farm
economy by producing and marketing niche crops also has a part to play, he
said, but Northey minimized such crops' role.
O'Brien, an Atlantic farmer and the Democratic candidate, said renewable energy
holds "an incredibly bright future for Iowa."
But she said Iowa farmers need to tap the state's multibillion-dollar food industry
as a way to stay in business, too.
"It's a big market. It's an expanding market," O'Brien said. In response to a
question from the audience, she also said that Iowa needs to build an
infrastructure for food processing. "The Department of Agriculture should be
actively involved," she said.
The candidates also expressed differences on one of the most contentious
issues facing Iowa agriculture - whether local governments should have a say in
where confinement livestock operations are located.
Northey said there should be state standards, although he would favor amending
current regulations, for instance, to require greater distance between one of the
operations and a tourism attraction.
O'Brien said decisions on where confinement facilities are located should be left
to local communities.
The biggest issue facing agriculture in Iowa today, she said, is who will farm the
land in the future. If elected, O'Brien said, she would move to consolidate various
beginning farmer programs in the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land
Stewardship.
Northey said having markets for the crops and livestock raised in Iowa is a
greater concern.
Michael Cooley, president of ISU's Public Service and Administration in
Agriculture Club and an Iowa State junior, moderated the candidates' forum.
About 120 people, mostly students, attended.
Some farmers, including U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., also were in the
audience.
Evelyn and Dallas Leff, farmers from Howard County, said after the forum that
they were undecided about which candidate to vote for on Nov. 7. So is their 20year-old daughter, Donna, an ISU junior who helped organize the forum.
Leff's parents said they do not believe either candidate understands how hard it
is for small-scale family farms to survive today.
"I think they've got a lot to learn," Dallas Leff said.