Participants at the listening session in Kensett included (left to right) Jim Berge, Kensett; Bruce Biederman, Grafton; Leigh Adcock, Iowa Farmers Union; Norm Backhaus, Manly; and Richard Holstad, Northwood.

Iowa farmers are caught in a bind: current federal farm subsidy pro grams reward intensive corn-soybean cropping systems, which farmers know are unhealthy for the soil and the environment. Yet conservation programs included in the 2002 Farm Bill are oversubscribed, underfunded and difficult to access, farmers say.

About 50 producers attended six listening sessions focused on the upcoming Farm Bill and held in various locations around Iowa during February. Funded by a 2006 grant from the Leopold Center’s Policy Initiative, the sessions were conducted by the Iowa Farmers Union (IFU) Education Foundation.

Common themes emerged at each session. Almost all farmers want to be good stewards of the land, but in order to make a living, they are forced to use loan deficiency payments and commodity subsidies that are tied to a very few crops: in Iowa, corn and soybeans. This mono-cropping depletes the soil, requiring the use of more and more chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Farmers also were concerned about low commodity prices, which have forced them to sell grain below the cost of production and rely on federal support to continue farming.

“I was never in the [subsidy] program until 2002,” said Wayne Demmer, a farmer from Dyersville. “The government should assist farmers when they need it. The concept was a safety net to maintain prices.”

Most farmers mentioned that the bulk of the subsidy payments go to a small percentage of producers, often large operators who know how to “farm the system.”

Other participants said they worried that their sons or daughters who want to farm will not be able to make a living.

Land prices and cash rent rates are too high, which some farmers feel is worsened by the 1031 land exchange, a tax shelter for those who sell property and purchase “like” property within a limited time. Many urban property owners are selling buildings and purchasing Iowa farmland at inflated prices through the 1031 exchange.

Participants also discussed the need to connect young or beginning farmers to those who are getting ready to retire. One suggestion was a federal income tax credit for producers who transition land to a new farmer.

“One farm can’t support two families,” another farmer said. “We need to work on alternative, value-added production being accessible to beginning farmers. You won’t get small farmers back on the land in commodity production.”

Most of the producers favored farmer-owned alternative energy production, such as ethanol, bio-diesel and biomass crops. Some stressed that farmer ownership is crucial. “I don’t want us to become an energy colony for eastern investors,” one producer commented.

Other concerns included trade, organic issues, water and air quality, and concentration in the livestock industry. Comments from the sessions will be included in a report that will be shared with various groups and policy makers. For information, contact the Iowa Farmers Union at (800) 775-5227.