Egg Recall Becomes Focal Point for Ag-Secretary Race

Democratic secretary of agriculture candidate Francis Thicke is calling on Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey to explain why habitual violator Austin "Jack" DeCoster was allowed to avoid state feed-mill inspections that could have identified a strain of salmonella before 1,470 Americans were sickened and a half-billion eggs were recalled.

But Northey's campaign said he would have been overstepping the law if the department required inspection of Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms.

Thicke called the recall a "a national embarrassment to the state of Iowa."

He added: "For my opponent to defer all responsibility to federal authorities when Iowa law gave him authority to ensure the safety of the feed thought to be the cause of the salmonella contamination calls into question his leadership and commitment to the integrity of Iowa's food and agriculture."

Northey's campaign said Thicke was wrong about the authority of the agriculture secretary.

"It is very disconcerting that a candidate for Iowa secretary of agriculture would advocate stepping beyond the department's legal authority and violating private-property rights," said Northey campaign spokesperson Dustin Vande Hoef. "In Mr. Thicke's statement, he expresses a desire to target private-farmer feed mills based on size, and the definition of what constitutes 'large' would rest with him alone and have nothing to do with what the law actually says."

Vande Hoef said state law authorizes the department to license and inspect commercial feed mills that sell or distribute feed. "As a result, it does not apply to private individuals that mix feed for their own animals," he said. "The law makes no distinction based on size and gives no authority for the Iowa secretary of agriculture to pick and choose private feed mills to inspect."

Thicke said that the egg-recall scandal is damaging the image of Iowa agriculture, and that Northey should be front-and-center on this issue but has issued no official statements and has not acknowledged the recall on his department or his campaign Web site.

But Vande Hoef said Northey and his office have responded to every request for information and comment on the egg recall, which includes interviews with Time magazine and the Des Moines Register and providing information to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, and WHO Radio.

Fiscal Responsibility, Tax Increases, Regulation Major Themes at Farm Bureau Conference

Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Lang said Thursday that the last 15 months have been trying for farmers in the state -- from record snowfall and low temperatures in the winter to a wet spring and a record summer of heat and humidity -- and that government policies have only added to those woes.

"If those numerous and pestering weather challenges weren't enough, think about the past legislative year and the growing fiscal problems in all levels of government," Lang said. "I have found that our enormous growing debt, increased regulation, and a nagging concern about the lack of interest in ag issues from some lawmakers permeates farm country."

Lang spoke Thursday to voting delegates of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation during the group's annual summer policy conference in West Des Moines. The economy was a repeated theme from Lang and Farm Bureau members throughout the day.

"I can't say I always vote Republican; I just tend to vote for people who are pretty conservative in their spending habits, which happens to be Republicans a lot of the time I guess," said Matt Siefker, a delegate from Wright County. "I don't see Republicans sweeping back into power at the state level, maybe at a federal level, but I think people with the economy the way it is are starting to be more conscientious about fiscal responsibility."

Lon Tweeten, also from Wright County, echoed Siefker's sentiments. He said the state needs to elect people who will balance the budget, and he said that means throwing out Democratic Governor Chet Culver and others.

"Democrats, Republicans, it doesn't mean a lot to me," Tweeten said. "I more ask what the voting record is, who the person is, what they're going to do for us to try to use the funds, the resources that they have to make this go. If I ran my business like they run the state, I would have been bankrupt a long time ago."

Lang challenged the members to get involved in their communities and support candidates who are friends of agriculture.

The Iowa Farm Bureau Political Action Committee recently selected five top Republican candidates -- former Governor Terry Branstad, Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, and U.S. Representatives Tom Latham and Steve King -- for its 2010 Friends of Agriculture endorsements. The list of 67 endorsements contains just a handful of Democrats.

"With the 2010 elections quickly approaching, it will be imperative for all of us to look closely at candidates' records on the budget and property taxes before voting," Lang said. "We've seen the effects of a broken budgeting process on our K-12 schools and on property taxpayers. That's why it's so critical that we elect lawmakers who make budget reform a top priority."

Siefker said members of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation -- a grassroots organization that represents more than 153,000 families in Iowa -- need to do their part to remind people of the importance of agriculture to Iowa as the November 2 general election approaches.

"People say farmers are looking out for themselves, and that's true, but farming is the backbone of Iowa, so what's good for farmers is good for Iowa, and people need to realize that," he said.

This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. Reporter Andrew Duffelmeyer and other correspondents contributed to this report.

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