There are no better stewards of our land than Iowa’s farmers. This Earth Day, I want to thank them for balancing care for our soil, water, and air with their essential work of feeding our world!
No one understands the needs of their land better than farmers, so they should be in the driver’s seat as new conservation practices are developed. Unfortunately, unelected D.C. bureaucrats at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are determining conservation practices for hundreds of thousands of farmers across the country with little to no engagement with them.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anyone should be making important decisions for farmers when the closest they’ve been to a farm is the produce aisle of Whole Foods. To make matters worse, changing conservation practices is a crippling bureaucratic process that rarely allows farmers to keep up with the latest advancements in technology.
That’s why I introduced two bipartisan bills to give Iowa farmers a voice. Both the Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act and the Conservation Innovation Act will ensure Iowa’s farmers have a voice in developing new practices and that the latest technology is implemented.
Bottom Line: As we negotiate the Farm Bill, I’ll continue to fight to put Iowa’s producers in the driver’s seat as new conservation practices are developed.