Water quality, ethanol at forefront of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture race

DES MOINES, Iowa — The future of Iowa's water quality and ethanol production are two issues at the forefront of the race for the state's agriculture secretary.

Republican incumbent Mike Naig has been involved with the department for 13 years and has served as its leader for the last eight. Now, he's defending his seat against a Democratic challenger, Chris Jones, who has never run for public office before.

The two candidates described different approaches for addressing Iowa's water quality issues.

"We know we need to do better from a water quality standpoint. We want to see lower nitrate levels in the water. We've been working on this since the implementation started of the Nutrient Reduction Strategy," Secretary Naig told WHO 13 News.

He said more needs to be done to expand what the state already knows works at preventing pollutants upstream, while also acknowledging a greater use of water in urban areas.

"Let's work upstream to prevent pollutants from getting into streams to begin with, but let's also be honest about the fact that we're using more water in urban areas as well. You got to keep up with treatment capacity there. It's not one or the other; it's actually both if we want to make sure Iowans have access to safe drinking water," Naig said.

To prevent pollutants from entering streams, Naig says he wants to expand initiatives the department has already invested in — like adding cover crops, wetlands, and saturated buffers to filter nitrates. But Naig also touted the state for setting records for conservation practice adoption for multiple years.

"It really is all about how we go to the next level. I like to say we know what to do. We know the practices that work. We need some innovation in how to do it. We need to bring additional resources into this. We need to leverage private sector resources. There's some tax credits now that are coming into play that can really help to incentivize practice adoption," said Naig.

Jones, however, isn't convinced enough has been done to address Iowa's water quality. He is considered a water quality expert because of his background. He previously worked at a water quality testing lab at Des Moines Water Works, was a research engineer at the University of Iowa, and served as an environmental scientist for the Iowa Soybean Association.

"I've worked on the municipal water supply, I worked on the ag side, I researched this, tried to publish papers on these topics. So, I've seen this from so many perspectives that I think it gives me maybe an advantage over other people for sure," Jones told WHO 13 News.

He says systematic changes are needed to address the problems with Iowa's water quality. This includes incentivizing farmers to plant less corn and soybeans and to instead look towards adding a third crop, like oats.

"We have not gotten the water quality that we want with this corn, soy, CAFO, and ethanol system. We also are not getting prosperity in rural Iowa with that system. We see right now farmers are suffering. And so I think we need to try to diversify this system, get a greater assemblage of crops here — bring back oats, bring back alfalfa, some other things here. We know that is a strategy that's going to produce better water quality. What we have done has not worked," he said.

Jones wants the state to diversify crop production, which he says will improve the state's water quality and have other benefits for the state. He argues oats are a top choice because 60 million of the 80 million bushels of oats the U.S. imports from Canada go directly to Iowa.

"We can grow oats here. Why don't we do that? We get better water quality, we get other environmental outcomes that are better with oats. We need policy to make that happen," he said.

However, Naig says he's already working to encourage farmers to diversify their crops. Naig says his Choose Iowa program allows farmers to sell Iowa-grown products directly to consumers. He said this includes products like meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and more.

Despite this, 70% of Iowa land is used to grow corn and soybeans.

The two candidates also disagree on the future of ethanol production in Iowa. Jones said one of his priorities is to find an alternative use for Iowa's farmland because of the declining demand for liquid fuels.

"We need to have a strategic discussion about ethanol. I think the days are numbered here. We need to decide what comes after ethanol," Jones told WHO 13 News.

He argues the state should instead consider converting the land used to make corn for ethanol into pasture ground. He also says farmers could raise forage crops, like clover, for the cattle to graze on. In turn, Jones says the increased clover could also make Iowa that nation's top honey producer again.

However, Naig takes the opposite approach. He says ethanol is a good thing for Iowa farmers, and is even advocating for year-round E-15, which is a blend made from 15% corn-based ethanol and 85% standard gasoline.

"Ethanol has been an important driver for our economy to, to remove that, as my opponent has said, to leave it for dead, would blow a multibillion-dollar hole in the middle of Iowa's economy. These are thousands of jobs, billions of dollars of impact to our state's economy, and a critically important market for our farmers," Naig said.

Since 60% of the corn grown in Iowa is used for ethanol and about one-fifth of the state is used to grow corn for ethanol, Jones said on the campaign trail that farmers are "hooked" on ethanol. He said it would be advantageous for Iowa's economy to start relying less on ethanol, and compared it to West Virginia's reliance on coal.

Despite these differences, both candidates support more grazing cattle in the state and agree that profitability is a concern for farmers as they continue to face high input costs for things like diesel, fertilizer, and machinery.

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