Good Farm Neighbor/Clarion

Good Farm Neighbor winners never think they are anything special - that is one of the things that make them special. That is certainly true of the Larson family. They raise turkeys, kids and grandkids. As the neighbors say, "they are just great people."

Wonderful turkey sandwiches and great neighbors showing their appreciation for the Larson made a great WHO broadcast and a fun time.

Prairie Energy Cooperative hosted our Clarion Town Hall meeting. We had a nice group of folks on a beautiful afternoon. Crops in the area look better than last year, but there has been too much water in the area and that has caused some suffering of the crops. We had a good conversation about many matters including dairy prices and how we can better communicate ag issues to the general public.

DC

Quick trip to Washington. I spoke to a Pew gathering in regard to Climate Change, met with some Hill folks and got caught up with some USDA leadership.

Climate Change

Certainly climate change is the topic of the moment. Not sure I saw this coming when I agreed to come to DC to speak to a group of state and federal folks sponsored by the Pew Foundation regarding low carbon fuels from a Midwest perspective. Of course, it wasn't hard to predict it would come to a head at some point.

I got into DC late this afternoon and will speak to the group tomorrow as part of a panel. I will spend time talking about what has been put together by the Midwestern Governor's Assn and the North Central Bioeconomy Consortium. A significant part of the effort of the Consortium was to discuss the idea of indirect land use and is being a part of a climate change accounting system. You can image many folks in the Midwest are opposed to its inclusion.

It sounds like that Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson may have been instrumental in getting those provisions struck in the Waxman-Markey Bill. That would be good news!

At least tomorrow I will get to share the concerns of many Midwesterners with an important group of state and federal officials.

Then back to Iowa tomorrow night.

Lessons from the south

I continue to hear concerns at Town Hall meetings regarding the climate change legislation currently in front of the US House. It sounds like it might have come together today. Can't wait to hear what will be the impact on agriculture.

Some soybeans are still being planted in the southern parts of the state. We saw some soybeans going in near Creston and heard of more around Bedford.

It has been a battle to get hay put up. Many are still working on getting the first crop in. Even with the hot temperatures, the humidity has limited drying. And rains have come and set back drying progress every few days.

If you are on the road in southern Iowa and can come up with a reason to stop and eat near Mt. Ayr you have several choices. Peggy Sue's sure has great homemade potato chips and hash browns.

Town Hall Tuesday

I'm heading south of Des Moines for Town Hall meetings today. I will be in Leon at 9, Mt Ayr at 11, Bedford at 1:30 and Creston at 3:30. I look forward to seeing some of you there!

Just after 5 will be back in Osceola for the opening of their Diversity Garden. We already had a Town Hall meeting there, but I've watched the garden just south of the Farm Bureau building and was glad to hear of its opening today and that we could work it into the schedule.

Sounds like another "warm" day out there today. Maybe it won't seem so hot if I just call it warm...

Waterloo

Imagine a sea of vintage tractors traveling 10-12 mph in near 100 degree temperatures. And one brand new shiny John Deere 8330 with a cab and air conditioning traveling with them. That new JD was the tractor I was driving this morning in the WHO Tractor Ride. I missed a few of the rural smells and the relief of the occasional breeze because I was in a cab, but I sure enjoyed getting to drive a modern marvel. It is not quite the same as my tractors at home. It sure wouldn't be hard to get used to!

We had a good discussion at the Courier in Waterloo and a good visit to the Cedar Valley Tech Works.

I got back to Des Moines just in time to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert.

Every day is interesting. I love my job!