MISSISSIPPI FARMERSVISITING IOWA TO TOUR CONSERVATION PRACTICES, CONTINUE DISCUSSION OF EFFORTS TOREDUCE POLLUTION IN GULF OF MEXICO
Visits throughoutCentral Iowa Scheduled for July 7 to 10
DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey thisweek joined with a group of Iowa farmers and agricultural leaders to host adelegation of Mississippi farmers as part of the “Iowa-Mississippi Farmer toFarmer Exchange.” The Mississippi farmers visit is a follow up to a visitby the Iowa delegation to Mississippi on May 27th to May 30th.
A variety of conservation practices used in Iowa to preventerosion and protect water quality, both here in Iowa and downstream, will beshowcased during the visit. The goal of the exchange is to developrelationships between the agricultural leaders in both states and promote thesharing of information and technologies that will help address the hypoxicarea, or “dead zone,” in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I know we all learned a lot during our visit to Mississippiearlier this spring, and we hope to provide a similar experience that will givea better understanding of Iowa agriculture and care our farmer have for theland to the farmers from Mississippi,” Northey said.
The tour started out of discussions between Northey andagricultural leaders in Mississippi as part of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia TaskForce. The hypoxic zone is a result of nitrogen and phosphorus from theMississippi watershed flowing into the Gulf and spurring the growth ofalgae. When the algae decays, it depletes the water of oxygen to levelsthat cannot support marine life.
During the visit to Mississippi, the Iowa participantstoured conservation sites and farming practices, attended the Delta CouncilAnnual Meeting, and visited the Gulf of Mexico to learn more about the impactof hypoxia.
The Mississippi Farmer participants are Mike Lamensdorf,Bowen Flowers and Dan Branton. Dan Prevost and Richard Ingram from DeltaF.A.R.M., which organized to assist farmers to achieve environmentalstewardship, will also participate in the tour.
The Iowa participants in the tour were nominated by avariety of farm organizations. The participants are Doug Gronau from theIowa Farm Bureau Federation; Bill Tentinger from the Iowa Pork ProducersAssociation; Don Elsbernd from the Iowa Corn Growers Association; Denny Friestand Tracy Blackmer from the Iowa Soybean Association; Matt Helmers from IowaState University; and Harlan Hansen from the Iowa Drainage DistrictAssociation. Reporters from the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman and IowaFarmer Today have also participated in the tour.
Northey, a corn andsoybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his first term as Secretary ofAgriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are promoting theopportunities available through renewable energy, encouraging conservation andstewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.
“The Iowa-Mississippi Farmer to Farmer Exchange is a greatprogram that allows for an exchange of ideas for farmers that farm near theMississippi Delta basin,” said Don Elsbernd, ICGA President and a farmer fromPostville. “This exchange allows us to not only see how large theMississippi Delta basin is, but also the wide variety of practices that asfarmers we can use to reduce nutrient load into the basin.”
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The ICPB and ICGA share a common mission to create opportunitiesfor long-term Iowa corn grower profitability. The ICGA represents6,000 members on a variety of agricultural issues important to growers. The ICPB invests Iowacorn checkoff funds to develop and defend markets, conduct research, andprovide education about corn and corn products.