Statewide, Iowa (RI) – Two new candidates have emerged for a run at Iowa Ag Secretary.
Wade Dooley is a 43-year-old Democrat who farms northwest of Marshalltown. He says leadership in Des Moines is too focused on helping big businesses and political insiders.
Dooley, a sixth generation farmer, rotates soybeans and rye on his family’s Century Farm. He also sells cover crop mixes and does custom seeding.
Dooley says he’s running to lead the Iowa Department of Agriculture because while there’s a lot of talk about helping farmers make changes to boost their income — and improve water quality — there’s not a lot of actual support at the state level for it.
Chris Jones is a retired University of Iowa researcher who wrote a book titled “The Swine Republic.”
Jones, a Democrat from Iowa City, currently leads the Driftless Water Defenders, a non-profit group focused on water quality issues.
Jones says Iowa faces an urgent water crisis.
According to the U.S.D.A, 94 percent of the land in Iowa that’s devoted to raising crops is planted with corn and soybeans.
Republican Mike Naig, Iowa’s current Secretary of Agriculture, plans to seek re-election. Jones held campaign kick-off events this past Thursday in Des Moines. Jones was a research engineer for the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research at the University of Iowa for eight years before his retirement in May of 2023.
Jones graduated from Simpson College in 1983 with a degree in chemistry and biology and earned a doctorate in analytical chemistry from Montana State University.
KIWA Staff Photo
