Policy Priorities

As young farmers, this is a critical time for us to be establishing successful farm businesses. We need the state of Iowa to support increasing opportunities for land ownership, expanded programs to promote both personal and farm resiliency, and new initiatives from IDALS to continue the growth of the organic and specialty crops industry in Iowa.

Between 2013 and 2017, Iowa lost 2500 farms, and this trend is expected to continue. The latest census data revealed that the average age of farmers in Iowa is 58 and 35% of landowners are over 75. This means that a significant percentage of Iowa’s farmland is going to change hands in the next 10-20 years.

At the same time, young people do want to farm in Iowa, but face large barriers to entry-- especially if they don’t inherit land.

These barriers are often greater and more complex for certain groups, including farmers of color. In many cases, this means that young people start on smaller acreages and grow higher value specialty crops in order to get started because it requires less startup capital. The 2017 Ag census showed that since 2012 sales from organic farms in Iowa grew by 65% to $95.2 million, and there were 132 new vegetable farms in the state. State leadership is needed to support beginning farmers’ ability to continue to build thriving businesses.

Land Access

Counties have not been uniformly applying the agricultural zoning exemption to smaller farms. Small-scale sustainable farming ventures need the exemption, and need to have it expanded to include modern-day agricultural experience activities such as on-farm education, events and markets that allow for consumers to experience the farm.

In the 2020 legislative session, the Eastern Iowa Young Farmers Coalition supports Bills HSB 239 and SSB 3183 as a way to uniformly apply agricultural zoning exemption to all farms.

Additionally, we support HSB 650 regarding farmers’ ability to host on-farm events. On-farm experience is a critical way for direct market farms to develop and maintain relationships with local consumers and community.

Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education

Farm to school is a win for Iowa farmers, Iowa students, and Iowa communities. The next generation of Iowa farmers are sitting in classrooms throughout the state, and we want a thriving farm to school program to support them as they learn. Iowa once led the nation in farm to school work. Today, the state lags behind many other states in terms of policies, funding, and state-level positions focused on supporting farm to school initiatives.

Following the example of other states, including Wisconsin and Montana, Iowa needs a fully funded farm to school coordinator position within the Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship and/or the Department of Education.

Support for Specialty Crop Production

Online Pesticide Drift Reporting would immensely help farmers report pesticide drift in a more timely and accurate manner. It would also help the Pesticide Bureau respond more promptly to the much increased number of drift cases since the introduction of Dicamba for use on soybeans in 2017 (more than 230 reported cases/year as opposed to about 100 in 2016 and before.)

Iowa Young Farmers Coalition supports SF2211, a bill that supports the establishment of an online reporting system for instances of pesticide drift.