Columns
Monday, March 14, 2005
iowa agriculture: full steam ahead
By Senator Tom Harkin
Iowa: Twenty percent of the nation’s corn crop, tops in the nation. Fourteen percent of the nation’s soybean crop, the national leader. The top pork producing state. More than 6.8 billion glasses of milk a year. Ranked No. 1 in ethanol production. No. 1 in egg production. What do all these statistics tell us? They tell us that Iowa’s agriculture industry is a powerhouse not just within Iowa’s economy, but within the national economy.
Year after year, farmers as well as livestock, dairy and poultry producers in Iowa continue to achieve new heights. So it is fitting that, from March 20-26, we observe National Agriculture Week and take time to celebrate the achievements of farm families in Iowa and across the country.
Not a day goes past, it seems, that Iowa’s agricultural economy does not increase its contribution of agricultural products, develop a new use for the crops grown in our fields, implement new practices to preserve our air, water, soil and wildlife habitat, or cross new thresholds in our advance toward energy security. Take a look at the new ethanol plants springing up across the countryside, the biobased products, such as soy lubricants, being produced in Plainfield, or the eagerness of Iowa’s agricultural producers to participate in sound conservation practices, such as those included in the Conservation Security Program, or CSP.
We have only just begun to tap the potential of renewable, farm-based products. The sky is the limit -- and Iowa is leading the way. But to sustain this pace of innovation and growth, we need to keep strong our working relationships at all levels: farmers, private industry, researchers and government.
That is why we must provide resources to research and develop new products, to help create and grow new businesses adding value to Iowa’s crops, and to market such products to the world. In addition, my congressional colleagues and I are working to draft and pass legislation to increase the use of clean, renewable fuels and to promote the use of products not made from a barrel of oil but from a bushel of corn or soybeans.
We also must not turn back from the advances we have made in improving conservation efforts. From the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to practices on working land, all of Iowa’s agricultural producers are mindful of their impact on our environment and strive to be the best stewards of the land they can be. It is critically important that Congress maintain the resources dedicated to conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, the Wetlands Reserve Program, and the CSP.
So, during National Agriculture Week, we applaud the farmers and ranchers, and livestock, dairy and poultry producers, whether they are in Iowa or elsewhere across the country, for all they do to improve the quality of life for everyone. This is a tremendously exciting time, and thanks to Iowa’s leadership, the future of agriculture remains very bright.
