iowa underground blog

Two unrelated (cough cough) stories from the Des Moines Register over the weekend:

1) Pork Producer To Appeal Ruling of Citizen Panel

A Dallas County farmer said he will appeal the decision of a citizen panel that denied him permits for two large hog confinements.

Granger farmer Robert Manning Jr. has a month to appeal the surprise vote by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Commission on Tuesday to block a pair of previously approved confinements planned for south of Dawson with room for 7,440 hogs each.
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Commissioners said their 6-2 vote will force state legislators to reconsider the approval process for animal confinements, which they say is too lenient. The confinements would be built in an area that drains into the Raccoon River, which commissioners said is too polluted to risk further contamination from manure. The river is a source of drinking water for the Des Moines metro area.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association and some state lawmakers immediately questioned whether the commission exceeded its authority. Manning didn’t know when he will file the appeal, which will be considered in district court.

“I’m doing this on behalf of pork producers in the state because this is something that offended all producers,” he said.

Manning’s confinements were approved by natural resources officials because they easily met the requirements of the “master matrix” that is commonly used to approve such projects.

2) Raccoon River Too Polluted To Use As A Water Source, Anyway

One of the largest toxic algae blooms the Raccoon River has seen in the past three decades forced the Des Moines Water Works to pull water from the Des Moines River to avoid serving smelly, bad-tasting water, the utility’s general manager said.

Randy Beavers, interim general manager, said he hasn’t seen such high readings for blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, in his 27 years at the plant. Under certain conditions, cyanobacteria can emit a toxin capable of sickening, or killing, animals and people.
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Scientists say the algae don’t produce the toxin consistently, and there isn’t a direct link between high cyanobacteria levels and high concentrations of the toxin, called microcystin. The utility didn’t test for the toxin.

At very high levels, toxins from the algae can cause fever, cramps, diarrhea, vomiting or death, if ingested. Lower levels often cause skin rashes.

Apparently in this case there is no health threat to people or animals from the algae. The World Health Organization recommends warnings at levels five times what the Des Moines water utility found.

Beavers said his staff discovered the problem when filters at the Fleur Drive treatment plant needed cleaning in about one-third the usual time. Tests found cyanobacteria at 16,000 to 28,000 cells per milliliter of river water over the past week.

“My guess is that there have been some low readings in the past,” Beavers said. “Normally, we don’t see numbers like that.”

Water Quality: Not Just a “Rural Problem” Anymore.

Discussion and more on the forums

Iowa Underground is active discussing nearly everything under the sun on the forums.

With a ‘thanks’ once again to A.V. Krebs comes this opinion piece from the New York Times:

THE ULTIMATE AGRICULTURAL EFFICIENCY
Editorial New York Times
September 23, 2006

Any American history of pork—- the meat, that is—- shows a steady concentration of more and more hogs in the hands of fewer and fewer producers. That is what modern agricultural “efficiency” looks like. It’s good for the bottom line of the big industrial players, but bad for farmers, hogs, the environment and, ultimately, consumers.

That history took another step in the wrong direction when Smithfield Foods—- the biggest pork packer—- agreed to buy the second biggest pork packer, Premium Standard Farms.

This is a deal that deserves to be closely examined by antitrust regulators. It would mean fewer markets for farmers and fewer choices for consumers. Already, packing giants like Smithfield and Premium Standard Farms use their market power, when buying hogs, in ways that violate the spirit of the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act, which prohibits undue price discrimination. Their power in the marketplace allows them to negotiate price premiums that smaller packers can’t offer.

The public should also understand what the deal would mean for the future of American farming. It would push farmers still farther down the road to becoming nothing but contract laborers.

There is little or no role for the independent farmer in this landscape. The logic is simple: Why bother to buy pigs from farmers when you can own them yourself? If this deal closes, more than half the pigs Smithfield kills would be pigs it already owns, a percentage that is sure to increase.

The hog farmers’ job would no longer be farming. They would be janitors in confinement barns across rural America where the packers’ huge herds of pigs are crammed in stalls to live out their short lives.

And that would be the ultimate efficiency of American agriculture—- doing away with the farmer by doing away with competitive markets.

Most independent pork producers have already discovered this fact: if you don’t have a ‘semi-load’ to sell…. you don’t have a buyer. Independent sale barns have closed nearly everywhere and the ‘free market’ for pork is dwindling in favor of contract growers that promote a certain type of industrial efficiency. Packer ownership of livestock will only further industrial efficiencies as a way of life dwindles to a final generation.

From the University of Iowa News Service:

IOWA CITY, Iowa—Dr. James A. Van Allen, U.S. space pioneer and Regent Distinguished Professor of Physics in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, died this morning, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006 at the age of 91. Arrangements are pending.

Though he retired from active teaching in 1985, he continued to monitor data from Pioneer 10 throughout the spacecraft’s 1972-2003 operational lifetime and serve as an interdisciplinary scientist for the Galileo spacecraft, which reached Jupiter on Dec. 7, 1995.

The highlight of Van Allen’s long and distinguished career was his use of UI-built instruments carried aboard the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958 to discover bands of intense radiation—later known as the Van Allen radiation belts—surrounding the Earth. It came at the height of the U.S.-Soviet space race and literally put the United States on the map in the field of space exploration.

I just found this – which gives a good rundown of what “wage stagnation” is.

The census data can be found here.

• Sousy

Smithfield Foods, known in Iowa for successfully fighting Iowa’s packer ban anti-trust laws and increasing their presence in Iowa’s meat packing industry is in the news for employing illegal tatics to fight unionization in Smithfield processing plants.

There is something that struck me as related to our recent illegal immigration debates – Smithfield hiring illegal workers, then threatening them if they dare to organize or protest working conditions:

“They would always tell us don’t get mixed up in this stuff about the union, if you talk about the union they will fire you, (and) having the Hispanics think they’ll bring in INS if they try to vote for a union,” he said.

This is something I’ve never heard in the midst of all of the rhetoric coming from Washington: while we focus on walls and technology and deportation – what is to be done to employers that break the law to employ a virtual slave labor force?

The answer is evidently “nothing”.

Links:
Confined Space: Treating Workers Like Hogs

SmithfieldJustice.com

• Sousy

From A.V. Krebs’ Agribusiness Examiner #435 comes a story that has a rather interesting choice of words:

SMITHFIELD’S PROFIT PLUNGES AS MEAT GLUT HURTS PRICES
By Associated Press
June 8, 2006

RICHMOND, Virginia—- Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork processor, on Thursday reported its profit plunged 99% in its fourth quarter as bloated meat inventories in the U.S. hurt prices. Its shares were off nearly five percent in midday trading.

Industry observers have blamed the oversupply on bird-flu fears that have softened international demand for chicken and have hurt domestic prices of other meats. Evolving diet trends—- a move away from high-protein, low-carb meals—- may also be playing a role, though a smaller one.

“This past quarter was difficult for many in the protein industry, including ourselves,” said Joseph W. Luter III, Smithfield’s chief executive officer.

Smithfield, based in Smithfield, Virginia, said it earned $1.1 million, or one cent a share, in the quarter ended April 30. That is down from $85.4 million, or 76 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue decreased 8% to $2.68 billion from $2.90 billion.

The current quarter includes a pretax charge of $10 million, or five cents a share, tied to the restructuring of the company’s East Coast pork-processing operations. Income from continuing operations—- excluding its to-be-sold Gorges/Quik-to-Fix Foods unit—- was $4.7 million, or four cents a share.

The “Protein Industry?” I suppose there is a bit of truth in that statement: Smithfield is not in the animal business, nor the farming business – they’re in the “protein business”. An interesting worldview that probably makes the notion of driving small famers into the ground with gigantic CAFO operations an acceptable business endeavor. After all – the “protein” should be the same, right?

Krebs follows this up with an item from October 1985:

A “RAW MATERIALS PROCUREMENT AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM”
By Fred Stover U.S. Farm News
October, 1985

“The biggest problem farmers have is that they have to sell their products through a market place that is really a `raw materials procurement and distribution system;’ a system that is designed to buy raw materials as cheaply as possible and resell the products on the basis of all the traffic will bear—- regardless of cost, efficiency, supply, demand or fair market value.”

Fred Stover, was President of the U.S. Farmers Association

So… what do producers do when the owners (Smithfield) view the product as a ‘raw material’?

• Sousy

FYI: Smithfield was the company that fought Iowa’s packer ban

Deciding where to buy produce? Keep this in mind: buying food from local producers can mean a lot more than better tasting food.

STUDY SHOWS POTENTIAL ECONOMIC PAYOFFS TIED TO HEALTHY EATING

AMES, Iowa – Answering the question, “Does five-a-day pay?” could mean a lot more to Iowans than eating five servings of fruit and vegetables every day. It could mean an additional $302 million in sales and more than 4,000 jobs added to the Iowa economy if just 25 percent of the extra fruit and vegetables are Iowa grown.

A new report from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture considers the economic impact if Iowans followed a diet of five servings of selected Iowa-grown fruit and vegetables each day for three months of the year. The report considered additional production of apples, carrots, spinach, squash and tomatoes, half marketed directly by Iowa producers and half sold through existing retail stores.

“This is an important question to consider because it ties healthy eating to the additional economic development that could occur if Iowa farmers provided some of the food for this change in diet,” said Rich Pirog, who leads the Center’s Marketing and Food Systems Initiative.

“Eating five servings of fruit and vegetables is recommended because of the potential health benefits, but if more of that produce is grown in Iowa, the state would reap considerable economic benefits, too,” Pirog added.

Pirog said the report addresses four different scenarios, each hypothesizing an increase in the production of fruit and vegetables in Iowa. The “five-a-day” scenario would increase Iowa consumption of five produce items (apples, carrots, spinach, squash and tomatoes) to a total of five daily half-cup servings, with 100 percent of the crops coming from Iowa farms for three months of the year. He said the items were selected because they can be grown easily in all Iowa counties and potentially could be supplied for three months of the year. They also were chosen for their higher nutrient density relative to other choices.

The economic impact analysis was prepared by Dave Swenson, an associate scientist in the Iowa State University Department of Economics, and reviewed by Pirog and Angie Tagtow, registered dietitian for the Iowa Department of Public Health. The analysis was based on several assumptions:

Increased production of fruits and vegetables would reduce corn and soybean production in Iowa. In the “five-a-day” scenario, 31,800 acres of crop land would be required to produce 382 million pounds of produce with expected farm-level receipts estimated at $101.2 million.

Prices reflect sales of conventional rather than organic produce. Swenson estimated that the retail value of the “five-a-day” scenario would be $429.7 million.

Half of the new fruit and vegetables would be sold directly by producers and half would be available in existing retail stores. The analysis offsets the reduced retail store sales of produce in the grocery sector due to increased direct market sales by farmers.

All produce is sold fresh for in-state consumption.

The model also takes into account the rise in inputs needed to produce these crops, such as additional machinery and seed.

According to the report, the “five-a-day” scenario would sustain (either directly or indirectly) $331.2 million in total economic output, $123.3 million in total labor income, and 4,484 total jobs in Iowa. Compared with existing production, its net impact would be $302.4 million in total new industrial output, $112.6 million in labor income, and 4,094 jobs.

The impact is high because a “five-a-day” scenario would mean that many Iowans would eat more fruit and vegetables than they do now. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, only 19.5 percent of Iowans eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day. The impact also is high because much of the produce eaten in Iowa comes from outside the state. Based on current estimates, only 25 to 50 percent of the apples, 12 percent of the squash, 10 percent of the tomatoes, 5 percent of the carrots and 1 percent of the spinach consumed on a fresh weight basis in Iowa is grown within the state.

Swenson said the model is based on a common economic concept of import substitution.

“By substituting in-state production for out-of-state purchases, money that otherwise would have left the state remains in the state,” he said. “Keeping money in the state is desirable because money that leaves the state rarely returns. Money that remains in the state has a multiplier effect on the whole economy.”

Swenson and Pirog said the scenarios generated in the report are hypothetical, and would require huge shifts in the infrastructure of Iowa’s fruit and vegetable industry, as well as gains in the Iowa market share taken from states such as California.

Pirog added: “Even though the scenarios are hypothetical, it is important to consider options that could be a win-win for Iowa’s farmers, the state’s economy, and our overall health.”

The report, “The Economic Impacts of Increased Fruit and Vegetable Production and Consumption in Iowa: Phase II,” is available on the Leopold Center web site at: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/files/health_0606.pdf.

• Sousy

From today’s “Agribusiness Examiner” (#428 from A.V. Krebs) comes an item from Tennessee’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center. As Congress debates “permanent” tax cuts (is there such a thing?) – the common example of why the estate tax needs to be repealed is not Paris Hilton – it’s the “family farm”!

... or maybe not.

DO “DEATH TAXES” CAUSE THE DEATH OF FAMILY FARMS ?
By Daryll E. Ray Director of University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center
May 2, 2006

Judging by the amount of effort that some farm organizations have put into their support of eliminating the estate tax (also dubbed the death tax), one would think that most farm heirs are like the maiden in the typical silent film melodrama. As the piano player builds to a musical climax, the villain (played by the federal government’s estate tax) tells the helpless maiden (read farm heirs) that if she doesn’t give him the deed to the ranch he is going to tie her to the railroad tracks.

In an era of federal budget deficits it seems to us that it makes sense to determine how likely such a scenario is. Is the federal estate tax breaking up family farms and driving the next generation off the farm? The Congressional Budget Office examined that question in a report they completed in July 2005. The report is titled, “Effects of the Federal Estate Tax on Farms and Small Businesses,” and is available online at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/65xx/doc6512/07-06-EstateTax.pdf

The report shows that in 2000, the number of farm estates that had to file an estate tax return was 4,641 and of those a little over one-third (1,659) owed any estate tax at all. Of the 1,659 who owed estate taxes only 138 did not have sufficient liquid assets to immediately pay the taxes due. It should be noted that for farmers, the estate tax payments can be paid over as many as 14 years. The 2000 filings included the estates of persons dying in 1998, 1999, and 2000 and the exemption level varied from $625,000 to $675,000, according to the year of death.

If the exemption level were raised to $1.5 million, the number of farm estates required to file an estate tax return would shrink to 1,005 with just 300 of those having to pay any estate tax. Of that 300, only 27 would lack sufficient liquid assets to immediately pay the tax. At a $3.5 million exemption the numbers would be 187 tax returns, 65 owing any tax, and 13 with insufficient liquid assets to pay the estate tax liability. The CBO notes that its analysis “probably overestimate[s] the number of estates with taxes in excess of liquid assets because they do not reflect money held in trusts.”

If we accept that the number of commercial farms in the U.S. is around 500,000, then with a $3.5 million exemption, only 3-one thousandths of one percent of farms would be in jeopardy of having to sell some land to pay the taxes. These numbers also assume that at least one of the heirs wants to stay on the farm and continue the operation. In some cases the farm is broken up after death not because of taxes but because some of the non-farm siblings want to sell the land and invest the money in other ways.

It is often the lack of interest by family members to remain in farming that causes the break-up of family farms, not estate taxes.

Daryll E. Ray holds the Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy, Institute of Agriculture, University of Tennessee, and is the Director of UT’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center Ray’s column is written with the research and assistance of Harwood D. Schaffer, Research Associate with APAC.

This is, of course, something that we already know – high taxes are not chasing the next generation of farmers away: it’s more that ‘family farming’ is becoming increasingly an occupation of the past, particularly if the farm cannot diversify away from the commodity businesses.

Another item: I’m reading the ‘Rural Populist’, Brian – keep up the good work!

• Sousy

Please, book Michael Pollan to give a lecture. His most recent book, after all, contains a very large section devoted to farm policy and the culture of farming in Iowa.

A teaser: according to spectrographic analysis, we Americans are “corn chips with legs”.

• Sousy

Our higher education institutions have become a debt for diploma sytem. The DM Register has a story today about how Iowa St. students average over $29,000 in debt.

The consequence of the debt is that fewer students are choosing lower-paying public interest careers, as they seek higher-paying jobs to pay off loans, said Chris Lindstrom, higher education program director for the Public Interest Research Group, which manages the student debt campaign.

She blames the debt on less federal and state aid, which results in higher tuition and fees. “Debt limits opportunity, which is counter to what higher education and affordable and accessible higher education is supposed to be about,” she said.

I just finished reading a book on this subject called Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-somethings Can’t Get Ahead. I heard the author on Al Franken and decided to pick the book up since I am a 20-something and just graduated.

The theme of the book is the debt for diploma system that getting a degree has become. In the 1960’s and 1970’s college was affordable because of financial aid (which is not student loans) and if you did not want to go to college you were able to get a decent job with just a high school degree. Now, the financial aid is mainly in student loans, tuition has skyrocketed and students who do graduate from college have dug themselves such a deep hole already. They then put off traditional markers of adulthood such as buying a house and having children until later in life. Worse, is that many students see the high tution costs and don’t want loans, so they attend community colleges or don’t go to school at all. The author calls this “downsizing your dreams.”

Here in Iowa, tutition at our state universities have gone up something like 55% in the past five years. I applaud the current Governor for talking about the importance of pre-Kindergarten for our children. However, I feel instead of a K-12 education system, we need a K-12+ system that provides affordable community colleges and universities.

• noneed4thneed
  Century of the Common Iowan

Here is a very good Letter to the Editor in the Muscatine Journal about Jim Leach’s lack of integrity. So to all Democrats, we have 2 themes this year…1 Nussle is a slimeball and 2 Leach has no integrity.

Don’t buy Leach’s claims of integrity
By David Bradley, West Liberty, IA

Since the choosing of a new majority leader for the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, I have been giving some thought to Jim Leach and his claims of integrity that he made a focal point of his last campaign. It was such a focal point that his advertising obscured the fact that Leach is a Republican. In the past year, the Republican Party has been rocked by scandal after scandal. One of these scandals cost Tom DeLay his job as majority leader. The choice of replacement came down to two men whose credentials were almost as bad as Tom DeLay’s. Why wasn’t a man of self-proclaimed integrity, Jim Leach, among those to seek the job? At the very least, why didn’t Mr. Leach speak out about the lack of integrity of those who sought the job? This got me to thinking about some of the other ongoing scandals and Leach’s response to them. The sitting president illegally spies on his own citizens without court permission. Jim Leach’s response is … nothing. No comment either on the president declaring through signing statements which laws he will follow. This almost makes Congress unnecessary. How about the Valerie Plame outing? We are still waiting for a comment. Leach also brings his integrity into question with votes to uphold most of the Tom DeLay’s agenda over the past six years. Much of this agenda has given tax breaks to the rich while taking much-needed programs from the poor. Integrity is not something that comes and goes according to the issue. When injustices are committed, those who claim integrity must speak up and speak loudly. Mr. Leach’s silence speaks volumes. I wonder if Mr. Leach will try to hide his party affiliation in the House race this year as he did last time. I would if I were him. Not much to be proud of there. Will he also tout his so-called integrity this year? Let us hope that the good people of the 2nd District are no longer fooled by this unwarranted claim.

-noneed4thneed

In an attempt to show just how ridiculous talks of banning gay parents from adopting is, an Ohio State Senator has introduced a bill that would ban Republican parents from adopting.

Here is the entire article from TPM Cafe.

Banning Republican Adoption
By Nathan Newman

With recent bills by anti-gay forces to ban adoption by gays, it was only a matter of time before the potential parenting skills of all manner of groups come under fire.

Ohio State Senator Robert Hagen has introduced a bill to bar Republicans from adopting children or becoming foster parents, since as he argues:

section break

“[C]redible research’’ shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing ``emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities.’’

Hagan admits that he has no scientific evidence to support the above claims, but then he notes, neither do those who argue gays are a threat as parents.

As a teacher, I see so many children that need a stable home environment. If a responsible adult is willing to adopt a child and provide a loving, safe home, then they should be able to regardless of sexual orientation or political party.

-noneed4thneed

We take this brief respite from political fodder to bring you this story of perversity from the Iowa countryside. This guy has to be a Republican though, right??

Via Smoking Gun

Repulsive “Wifely Expectations” pact emerges in Iowa kidnap case

FEBRUARY 17—This country, as you know, is filled with the deranged. And then there’s Travis Frey, a 33-year-old Iowa man who is facing charges that he tried to kidnap his own wife (not to mention a separate child pornography rap). Frey, prosecutors contend, apparently is a rather demanding guy. In fact, he actually drew up a bizarre four-page marriage document—a “Contract of Wifely Expectations”—that sought to establish guidelines for his spouse in terms of hygiene, clothing, and sexual activities. In return for fulfilling certain requirements, Frey (pictured right) offered “Good Behavior Days,” or GBDs. Each GBD, Frey wrote, could be redeemed by his wife to “get out of doing the things” he requested daily. A copy of the proposed contract, which Frey’s wife never signed and later provided to cops, can be found below. While we normally point out the highlights of most documents, there are so many in this demented, and very graphic, contract, we really can’t do it justice. So set aside ten minutes—and prepare to be repulsed. (4 pages)

More discussion on metafilter here.
News story: KCCI.

As always, it’s important to remember that Travis should be considered innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law. What two consenting adults do behind closed doors should remain their own business, of course. What sets this story apart, aside from the child pornography rap, that is – is that the wife was apparently never a consenting party to the ‘contract’.

• tristero

This has not been a banner week so far for Iowa workers. From the Des Moines Register:

About 700 jobs will be cut from the Electrolux/Frigidaire laundry products factory in Webster City beginning late in 2007, Electrolux said today.

The factory now employs about 2,000 people, but some work will be transferred to a new plant to be built in Mexico at a cost of more than $100 million, said Blythe Reiss, a spokeswoman for Augusta, Ga.-based Electrolux Major Appliances-North America, a part of The Electrolux Group, a Swedish company.
...
Electrolux said [the new Mexican plant] is expected to cost more than $100 million to build and equip, and will account for most of $139 million that the company plans to invest in its North American laundry business.

The Mexican plant is expected to employ about 800, the company said.

This follows on the news that Isabel Bloom is moving production from Davenport to China. (As a follow on to that story, they get letters.)

• Sousy