Naig wants to ‘shift culture, leave agriculture better’
Secretary of Ag visits Mead Farm near Marshalltown Wednesday afternoon
T-R PHOTOS BY LANA BRADSTREAM Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig stumps at the Mead Farm near Marshalltown on Wednesday. He spoke about the importance of agriculture to the economy, focusing on water quality and creating new markets for Iowa products.
Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer speaks briefly at the Tom Mead farm northwest of Marshalltown on Wednesday. She is the Republican candidate for state auditor in the November election.
T-R PHOTOS BY LANA BRADSTREAM Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig stumps at the Mead Farm near Marshalltown on Wednesday. He spoke about the importance of agriculture to the economy, focusing on water quality and creating new markets for Iowa products.
Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer speaks briefly at the Tom Mead farm northwest of Marshalltown on Wednesday. She is the Republican candidate for state auditor in the November election.
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As part of the Keep Iowa Growing tour, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig stopped briefly and stumped at the Tom Mead farm northwest of Marshalltown on Wednesday.
Mead said his farm hosted Naig during Rep. Ashley Hinson's (R-Iowa) stop last month. A member of Naig's staff called Mead to ask if he would host a small gathering for the agriculture secretary.
The Republican incumbent is seeking to get reelected to the position and is running against Democratic candidate Chris Jones. Naig was first elected in 2018 and again in 2022.
"There's a couple key premises I'm thinking about," Naig said. "One, of course, is the idea that a strong and growing agriculture doesn't just benefit our farmers and farmer community. It does, but every Iowan benefits from strong agriculture."
He said the culture is shifting to place blame on farmers for challenges within the state, and that is something he wants to flip. To do that, Naig said people need to talk about how agriculture, manufacturing and financial services are pillars of the economy. Ag is important to those last two pillars.
"Let's think about the importance of ag and what it means to our state's history, what it means to our state's future," he said. "We should be supporting a growing, strong ag (industry)."
Naig said he was raised to believe people have a responsibility for leaving things better than how they found it. Believing in the importance of ag and living up to that responsibility are two driving principles for him.
He admitted there are profitability challenges in agriculture right now, especially with expenses. While farmers are dealing with high costs, policy has fallen to the wayside.
"We haven't passed a farm bill, haven't gotten access to E-15 or good trade policy," Naig said. "All that creates a lot of uncertainty and pressure when it comes to farming."
To help combat the challenges, he said people should focus on building fair-price markets for the things Iowa is producing.
"Iowa is second in the nation in terms of the value of ag products we export," Naig said. "That means going and promoting trade around the world."
He will leave on a trade mission in November to Japan and South Korea, which he described as two important markets.
There is also an opportunity to create access to year-round E-15. Naig said it is frustrating that it has not been approved by Congress and is sitting on the edge of Senate approval. Iowa leads the nation in ethanol production, so year-round E-15 is very important economically. Years ago, the state was not a leader in using E-15, but that has changed.
"Last year alone, Iowans saved over $60 million because Iowans pumped E-15 into their tanks," Naig said. "That is real savings. And we can say we're not just making it, we're using it, and that's critically important."
He also spoke about water quality as it is a big concern for citizens, and every Iowan deserves clean water.
"It's not a question of whether or not we need to improve water quality," Naig said. "That's not up for debate, but there is a debate about how best to do that."
He said people need to stop playing the blame game by saying it is all an ag or rural issue. People upstream should be working to prevent nutrient loss and focusing on conservation efforts; in towns, there needs to be efforts to modernize water treatments.
He thanked everyone for giving some of their time to hear his speech before mingling with the people.
Also making an appearance was Republican Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer, who spoke about her campaign for the state auditor office. She is running against Democratic candidate Taylor Wettach for the seat which is being vacated by Rob Sand, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. With a background in technology, Cournoyer said she wants to bring updates to the auditor's office.
"There's a lot of opportunities to bring in my technology experience to help with the quality of audits to make sure every penny you pay into the system is used appropriately and efficiently, and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse and holding bad actors accountable," she said. "We should also be there to provide best practices to help local and state governments run more effectively and efficiently."
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.