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Farm losses drive Iowa's flood damage to $2 billion, Farm Bureau economists estimate
And this amount was in April, they have been flooded repeatedly- #KneeHighByJuly might be three years from now... we will starve if we don’t get the #Dem takeover ASAP desmoinesregister.com/story/money/ag…
And this amount was in April, they have been flooded repeatedly- #KneeHighByJuly might be three years from now... we will starve if we don’t get the #Dem takeover ASAP desmoinesregister.com/story/money/ag…
OPINION
June 2018 Iowa Farm Bureau is a suburban insurance company pretending to be the voice of farmers desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/…
June 2018 Iowa Farm Bureau is a suburban insurance company pretending to be the voice of farmers desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/…
Iowa Farm Bureau was created to advocate for Iowa’s farmers and rural communities, it now receives 84% of its revenue from its for-profit insurance arm, the FBL Financial Group, which controlled $10.1 billion in assets in 2017 alone
Its holdings include millions of dollars of investments in large agribusiness conglomerates like Monsanto and Tyson. As a result, the Iowa Farm Bureau has an operating budget of $89 million, more than twice that of its national counterpart: the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Monopolies thrive under this system. Two companies — Monsanto-Bayer and Dow-DuPont — will soon control about three-quarters of the U.S. corn seed market, and the meat industry is now even more concentrated than when Upton Sinclair wrote “The Jungle” more than a century ago. The
Iowa Farm Bureau stands to financially benefit from this increased market concentration, which may explain why it has not opposed any of these mergers. But rural communities are dying because of these policies. New farmers can no longer afford to start a farm because the
financial barriers are too high.
CASE STUDY: IOWA CITIES STRUGGLE TO KEEP FARM POLLUTION OUT OF TAP WATER ewg.org/research/case-…
CASE STUDY: IOWA CITIES STRUGGLE TO KEEP FARM POLLUTION OUT OF TAP WATER ewg.org/research/case-…
Okay now we know why @realdonaldtrump @GOP is firing all the #USDA scientists @maddow “USDA will resurvey farmers to provide a more accurate estimate of the crop size and planted area”fb.org/podcast/resurv… 
Scientists Desert USDA As Agency Relocates To Kansas City Area
“But groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists call it a "blatant attack on science" that will "especially hurt farmers, ranchers and eaters at a particularly vulnerable time." npr.org/sections/thesa…
“But groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists call it a "blatant attack on science" that will "especially hurt farmers, ranchers and eaters at a particularly vulnerable time." npr.org/sections/thesa…
"Evidence suggests that the relocation of these agencies is an attempt to hollow out and dismantle USDA science that helps farmers and protects our food supply," the union added.”
“The American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing the USDA's Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, said the relocation "has resulted in catastrophic attrition at USDA's top research agencies.”
At NIFA, the spokesperson said 73 accepted and 151 declined or did not respond. That means the total number that accepted is about 36% of those reported.
⚠️Last month, the USDA said that of the 644 jobs in the two agencies, 544 would be relocated and 100 would remain in the D.C. area. The numbers reported on Tuesday by the USDA do not appear to account for some 150 positions that the USDA initially announced would be relocated.
"ERS studies, for instance, concluded that the 2017 tax cuts championed by the administration would most benefit the richest farmers, and that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which Trump wants to cut, is good for the economy."ers.usda.gov/webdocs/public…
Perdue said last month that the move would save the USDA some $300 million. That number has been met with skepticism by some analysts. The Agricultural & Applied Economics Association estimated the relocation would actually cost taxpayers between $83 million and $182 million,
partially due to the lost value of the research from staffers who decide not to move.⚠️⚠️⚠️
@threadreaderapp “unroll” please
