Flooding, drought, and a derecho storm have recently upended Iowa’s farms, but the Iowa Farm Bureau and the USDA are actively pushing back on the climate narrative.
Beneath a white tent on a wind-driven day in early September, Jerry Engelson wears a worried expression, visible even though most of his face is covered by a mask.
The 72-year-old farmer has worked his 1,200 acres of land near the small unincorporated town of Garden City for 35 years, carrying on a tradition established by his great-grandfather in 1898. He also has an 18-year-old grandson who he’d like to pass the tradition on to someday. Like the large majority of Iowa farmers, he grows mostly corn and soybeans. He used to grow more hay, but grows a lot less now.
Today, Engelson has come to see Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who has flown in from Washington, D.C. to speak at an event sponsored by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board alongside Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, and Senator Joni Ernst.
Three weeks after the derecho storm that brought forth scythe-like winds and caused the estimated loss of 10 million acres of corn and soybeans, Purdue is here to announce a plan to designate 18 Iowa counties as primary natural disaster areas—a designation that will allow producers who suffered losses due to the derecho to be eligible for emergency loans along with a suite of other disaster assistance programs—and to highlight conservation efforts in the state.Get the latest articles in your inbox.
Engelson may benefit from the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) response, but he’s still anxious. He’s never experienced anything quite like the derecho and he’s still fighting with the insurance adjusters over just how much of his crop will be covered.
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