(KIWA Staff Photo)
Ankeny, Iowa — Democrat Josh Turek says this is a dangerous time to be an Iowa farmer, and Turek pledges to push for breaking up ag industry monopolies if he’s elected to the US Senate.
Turek, a state representative from Council Bluffs, toured a century farm near Ankeny where crops, cattle and poultry are raised. Turek says without quick action on a variety of fronts, farms will get bigger and rural Iowa will continue to shrink. He said that it legitimately looks like a vacuum cleaner has gone through these rural communities. He says we’re going through a second farm crisis right now.
Craig and LaVon Griffeon, who hosted Turek, say it’s growing harder to be an independent farming operation with grain prices below the cost of production. They say meatpackers are reluctant to buy cattle that aren’t raised under contract for the meatpacker. The couple told Turek they have to pay hundreds of dollars just to have someone come to their farm to repair farm equipment. Turek, who co-sponsored an Iowa “Right to Repair” law, says it’s time for Congress to put that policy in place nationwide.
Turek backs country of origin labeling for U.S. meat. He says Congress should be forced to stay in Washington until a Farm Bill is passed, and he’d push to roll back tariffs that are driving commodity prices down. And Turek also backs restoration of just-expired production tax credits for wind turbines and solar installations — which Turek says have been a secondary source of income for some farmers.
Turek says the full impact of the situation will be felt after this year’s harvest when farmers sell their crops for a loss — and can’t line up the financing to stay in business next year.
Turek faces Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson in the race for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat. Republican Senator Joni Ernst announced last September she would not seek a third term.
