By Mark Mueller
Kamyar Enshayan raises good questions in his editorial (July 23) on Iowa’s land and water quality. Speaking as a farmer using no-till practices and growing cover crops, I believe some of his points are valid. I grew up on a farm that raised four crops as well as livestock. Mr. Enshayan would like us to return to that era but, unfortunately, he ignores the very reasons farmers left it in the first place.
One hundred years ago the land around my house raised sugarbeets. Russian immigrant workers picked those beets which were hauled to the Waverly Sugar Co. Seventy-five years ago that same land produced sweet corn my father hand-picked and hauled to the Marshall Canning Co., also in Waverly. Fifty years ago oats and alfalfa grew in the same field, both of which were fed to our cattle and hogs. Today I produce corn and soybeans on that ground.
I could still grow sugarbeets if I wanted to, so why don’t I? Our economic system won’t pay me enough to grow beets and stay in business. The nearest processing plant is now 260 miles away in Renville, Minn. My landlords won’t accept the $70 to $120 per acre average rent beet growers pay in North Dakota when my neighbors will pay triple that to grow corn. Capitalism drives my competitors and me to specialize in what our soil and climate do best. Here in Iowa that means producing corn and soybeans and the animals that eat those crops.
Mr. Enshayan accuses farm groups of ignoring science in soil and water quality. That is just wrong. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy was developed by scientists at Iowa State University, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Ag and Land Stewardship. Every one of Iowa’s farm groups, commodity organizations and agri-business associations have stepped up with money and manpower to educate and implement it. Furthermore, farm organizations such as the Iowa Corn Growers Association, have repeatedly supported water quality proposals, including the 3/8-cent sales tax increase, that are floating around the Legislature.
Source: wcfcourier.com