Last week I was reading more news about water only to come across another story which, in roundabout ways, is also about our state’s water quality. It was about the lawsuit filed against Farm Bureau Financial Services and several of their other subsidiaries.

Former special investigators for Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit against Farm Bureau Financial Services, Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Co., FBL Financial Group, and several executives and attorneys. The lawsuit claims Farm Bureau officials “engaged in a scheme to defraud insurance policyholders, insurance and other governmental regulatory authorities, and other participants in the insurance industry who are complying with their mandatory duty of reporting fraud and other fraudulent or other illegal acts.”

This behavior, if true, seems to be just another page in the Farm Bureau playbook. It’s what Iowans have seen for decades at our statehouse. The Iowa Farm Bureau helped pave the way for the factory farm model of livestock production that drives family farmers out of business. At almost every turn they seem to find a way to block commonsense environmental regulations. Just this past legislative session they were lobbying for the “Cancer Gag Act” that will make it harder for Iowans to take companies like Bayer to court if we get harmed from using products like Roundup.

This all comes at a time when Iowa farmers are struggling with low grain prices and high input costs. We had the second largest number of farm bankruptcies filed nationally in the first half of this year, more than double last year and the most since 2021. And yet Iowa Farm Bureau executives seem to be doing okay, in large part due to them being a majority owner of their financial services operations.

Since the Iowa Farm Bureau is so closely associated with the allegations in this lawsuit, it’s not a good look for the Iowa politicians that have been carrying (polluted) water for them over the years. Over the last four election cycles, the Iowa Farm Bureau PAC spent over $1.4 million to curry influence with lawmakers. In just the 2024 election cycle alone, they contributed over $340,000 to Iowa candidates ranging from Governor, Secretary of Ag, to dozens of statehouse candidates. This includes over $20,000 to my Senator, Amy Sinclair, and $3,000 to my Representative, Ray Sorenson, in the 2024 election cycle.

This is just another example of corporations doing what corporations do and it needs to stop. Farmers are hurting financially and then the company that claims to be the voice of farmers seems to be caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Enough is enough. The reality is Farm Bureau has and never will be the voice of Iowa farmers. They are the mouthpiece for Corporate Ag.

Right is right, and wrong is wrong. After this news, any Iowa elected official who thinks taking Farm Bureau’s campaign contributions is okay, is just plain wrong. We shouldn’t have to wonder who our elected officials are working for – their constituents or a big money special interest whose reputation has been severely tarnished. Next time you see your elected officials, I’d ask them if they got any Farm Bureau donations, and if so — will they give it back?

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Barb Kalbach is a 4th generation family farmer, retired registered nurse, and board member of Iowa CCI Action.

She can be reached at

barbnealkalbach@gmail.com.