Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Farmers Pushing Their Point About Dicamba Regulation In State Complaints

Normally, Story County soybean farmer Kevin Larson said, he would resolve a dispute with a neighbor privately. Instead, he went to the Iowa Pesticide Bureau in 2017, just like a lot of other Iowans did.

By Molly Hunter

/ 11 Apr 2019

Farmers Pushing Their Point About Dicamba Regulation In State Complaints

Iowa Ag Secretary Says Pesticide Investigation Staff Levels To Remain The Same Despite Higher Demand

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Iowa will not add investigators to handle an increased number of pesticide drift complaints, favoring instead more efficient ways to handle complaint inspections, the state’s

By Lyle Muller and Jeff Stein

/ 16 Mar 2019

Iowa Ag Secretary Says Pesticide Investigation Staff Levels To Remain The Same Despite Higher Demand

Iowa Pesticide Bureau Workloads Grow But Not Inspection Staff Levels

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Workloads for eight state investigators who determine whether herbicides are applied properly in Iowa have more than doubled the past two years, with no plans in

By Lauren Wade

/ 6 Mar 2019

Iowa Pesticide Bureau Workloads Grow But Not Inspection Staff Levels

Legislative Bill Would Increase Pesticide Application Fees In Iowa, Send Money To Inspections

A bill has been introduced in the Iowa Legislature that would increase the fee for a three-year public or private pesticide application certification from $15 to $30 and designate

By IowaWatch

/ 4 Mar 2019

Legislative Bill Would Increase Pesticide Application Fees In Iowa, Send Money To Inspections

Years later, little action on recommendations for Iowa’s pesticide inspections

Problems the Iowa State Auditor’s office identified in a 2012 audit and subsequent reports and recommendations for investigating Iowa’s pesticide use violations still linger years later.

By Lauren Wade/Iowa Watch

/ 23 Jan 2019

Years Later, Little Action On Recommendations For Iowa's Pesticide Inspections

Problems the Iowa State Auditor’s office identified in a 2012 audit and subsequent reports and recommendations for investigating Iowa’s pesticide use violations still linger years later. The Iowa

By Lauren Wade

/ 22 Jan 2019

Lack Of Portable Insurance Adds Health Care Burden To Migrant Workers

Briana Reha-Klenske starts helping migrant farmworkers lacking insurance who need medical care by asking: for how long are you in Iowa? A bilingual health care manager, her patients are migrant farmworkers who are only in Iowa during the summers, which limits her ability to help.

By Lily Bohlke

/ 13 Aug 2018

Lack Of Portable Insurance Adds Health Care Burden To Migrant Workers

Podcast: Pork Producers Differ Over Antibiotic Use In Hogs

Adequate data do not exist for making clear decisions about antibiotic regulation in the hog industry, a key researcher says in a recent IowaWatch story. Hog farmers who either use antibiotics or do not have strong thoughts on what that does should be, this IowaWatch Connection podcast shows.

By Helaina Thompson and Jeff Stein

/ 9 Apr 2018

Podcast: Pork Producers Differ Over Antibiotic Use In Hogs

Monsanto, Seed-Corn Companies Continue Using Contractors Despite Migrant Labor Abuse Allegations

With morning temperatures approaching 90 degrees one day in July 2015, a migrant laborer walking down rows of corn began to experience symptoms of heat exhaustion, including difficulty breathing and extreme nausea. The laborer was working near Boone, Iowa, for an independent contractor with the St.

By Laird Townsend/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

/ 3 Jul 2017

Monsanto, Seed-Corn Companies Continue Using Contractors Despite Migrant Labor Abuse Allegations

Silos That Last For Generations

Some considered silos indispensable to profitable livestock raising and dairying. Not only were they practical, the structures were considered an ornament to any farm. The conical silo roof, with its curved walls was said to add a very pleasing enhancement to any farmstead.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa History

/ 14 Jan 2017

Drifting Pesticides Put Neighboring Farms At Risk

Iowa’s organic farms, vineyards, apiaries and other non-conventional farms surrounded by row crops treated with pesticides are at risk of being hit with drifting spray that can leave their farms’ futures uncertain.

By Lauren Mills

/ 15 Sep 2016

Drifting Pesticides Put Neighboring Farms At Risk

Serious Animal Welfare Act Violations Do Not Mean Quick Removal Of Dogs From Breeding Facilities

Dog breeders in Iowa who repeatedly do not comply with the Animal Welfare Act [http://awic.nal.usda.gov/government-and-professional-resources/federal-laws/animal-welfare-act]are allowed to continue raising and breeding dogs – sometimes in horrible conditions – while federal inspectors give the cited

By Jacob Luplow

/ 12 Oct 2014

Serious Animal Welfare Act Violations Do Not Mean Quick Removal Of Dogs From Breeding Facilities