It was 14 degrees, nearly twice as cold as usual for a typical November in Iowa.  But more than 5,800 people still showed up at Living History Farms at the break of dawn to run seven miles across the snow-covered farm fields, ice-caked streams and muddy ravines.  As if the course wasn't challenging enough, many runners wore costumes.  I skipped the costume, but I was still eager to join this crazy bunch as they stumbled across fields and climbed up creek banks.

"Why?" my friends and family are still asking, probably because none of them run.  I guess the easiest answer is this: common values.  Runners at the Living History Farms race come in every size, age and ability.  They live in other cities, states, even countries.  But on that day, in that event, we all had a common goal; to enjoy nature while having fun.  To run.  To breathe.  To sweat.  To help each other get across the finish line, no matter the obstacles.

At one particularly tough spot on the course, I found myself slipping, trying to climb out of a muddy ravine, unable to get a foothold, sweat from the previous four miles plastered hair to the side of my face and froze.  Hardly attractive.  Yet from out of nowhere, a hand from an older runner reached out to pull me up.  "You got this," he said, then turned and kept running.  When I cleared the edge, I turned around and helped a much-younger girl get out of the ravine.  She helped a young boy clear the ravine.  Over and over again, people worked together to climb out of the frozen ravine.

If only we could channel that same spirit, offer that same hand to reach across the divide that separates consumers from today's farmers.   Having lived in Iowa for a half-century and grown up on a century hog farm, I know there is room for, and a need for, diversity; some farmers will raise animals on a pasture, others in a feedlot or hog barn.  All are farmers.

Farmers like Andrew Pittz set their own pace.  Pittz, who started the nation's first commercial aronia berry farm, talked about his business model during a recent Farm Bureau annual meeting education seminar.

What was most surprising wasn't just the marketing or production hurdles this young Loess Hills sixth-generation farmer has weathered, but the perspectives of some media folks he's encountered, who too often portray farming as a race for profit, rather than a journey that brings all Iowans together for a common goal.  Pittz says folks are surprised to hear that Farm Bureau encourages organic farmers, niche businesses as well as conventional agriculture.  To him, the end-goal is obvious: more choices at the grocery store.  "Sometimes, it makes sense to be conventional (ag), and sometimes, it makes sense for your farm to be organic.  For us, competing in this market, we are taking on multi-national corporations, so it really makes sense for us to be organic on the marketing side. And it really pays off in the market place," says Pittz.

Judging by the 'standing room only' crowd who came to Des Moines to hear Pittz and other innovative ag leaders, farmers are good at reaching out to others, supporting new ideas that come along.   They're not 'in it to win it', but rather to learn from each other.  To finish well.  To find common ground along the way.  To "run" with honor and embrace diversity.

So the big question is can you?

Laurie Johns is Public Relations Manager for the Iowa Farm Bureau.                        12/5/2013

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Gronau, Podhajsky and Rozenboom re-elected as district directors to board

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA -- Dec. 5, 2013 - Craig Hill of Milo was re-elected president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) at the organization's 95th annual meeting in Des Moines.  Delegates also re-elected three district directors to the board.  They include Doug Gronau of Vail, Nick Podhajsky of Traer and Calvin Rozenboom of Oskaloosa.

Hill's service to the Iowa Farm Bureau started at the county level. He was involved in various positions with the Warren County Farm Bureau board of directors. In 1989, he was elected as the District 8 representative on the state board of directors. He then served as the organization's vice president from 2001-2011 before being elected president.

As president, Hill serves as chairman of the board of FBL Financial Group, Inc., and serves on the American Farm Bureau board of directors. In addition, he serves on the Rain & Hail LLC board of directors.

Throughout his years on the IFBF board, Hill has been involved in a variety of projects. He was instrumental in the development of Revenue Assurance, a revenue-based crop insurance for corn and soybean farmers.  He also served as the first chairman of the Iowa Ag State Group, which consists of representatives from all sectors of Iowa's agriculture, and on the U.S. Grains Council. Hill was also appointed to Governor Vilsack's Strategic Planning Council in 1999 to help Iowa prepare for the future of our state in 2010.  In 2003, the AFBF named Hill to a 23-member national committee, Making Agriculture Productive and Profitable (MAPP).  The committee develops policy options for Farm Bureau to consider.

He and his wife, Patti, have two children.  Their son, Adam, is involved on the family grain and livestock operation.  Their daughter, Abbie, is an associate attorney with Gross & Welch in Omaha, Neb.

Gronau represents District 4, which consists of 11 counties in west central Iowa.  He was elected to the position in 2001.  Prior to his election to the board, he was vice chairman of the internal study committee.  Gronau has served in numerous Crawford County Farm Bureau leadership capacities.  He has served on several statewide environmental committees representing IFBF and was also a member of the IFBF Speaker Corps.  He has also been appointed to the Farm Bureau Life Insurance Board of Directors.  He currently serves on the Leopold advisory board.

Podhajsky represents District 6, which consists of 11 counties in eastern Iowa.  He was elected to the position in 2011.  Podhajsky was a 2010 Iowa delegate representative for the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting and has served in many other elected positions in his county Farm Bureau office, including president and county voting delegate.

Rozenboom represents District 8, which consists of 10 counties in south central Iowa.  He was elected to the position in 2001.  Before that, he was very active in the Mahaska County Farm Bureau where he served as president and vice president.  He has also served as chairman of the IFBF swine advisory committee and as a member of the IFBF resolutions committee.  He was also a member of the AFBF swine advisory committee.  He has spent six years on the board of directors of CRWRC, an international relief agency which currently serves in 28 countries, primarily providing community development, health education, literacy services and disaster relief.

Nine delegates were elected to represent Iowa at the AFBF annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 12-15, 2014.  They include : IFBF President Craig Hill, Vice President Joe Heinrich of Maquoketa, Doug Boland of Williamsburg, Cal Rozenboom of Oskaloosa, Dallas Johnston of Kent, Dave Kronlage of Dyersville, Gary Rayhons of Garner, Paul Gieselman of Morning Sun, and Dan Chism of Emmetsburg.

Dave Seil of Gowrie (Webster County) was elected to a three-year term on the IFBF internal study committee.   The internal study committee serves as a liaison between the county Farm Bureau voting delegates and the state board of directors.

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About Iowa Farm Bureau

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation is a grassroots, statewide organization dedicated to enhancing the People, Progress and Pride of Iowa.  More than 153,000 families in Iowa are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve farm and rural prosperity.  For more information about Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit the online media center at www.iowafarmbureau.com.

By Clare Foran

December 5, 2013

Biofuels backers and a coalition of organizations opposed to the renewable-fuel standard will line up on Thursday to give testimony during the Environmental Protection Agency's public hearing on the proposed 2014 mandate. At the same time, interest groups are also making a push to shift the conversation onto the RFS outside the Beltway.

Americans United for Change, a progressive advocacy group, is launching an ad buy suggesting that cuts to the renewable-fuel standard will hurt American farmers and the domestic economy.

The ad, which will air primarily in the Des Moines, Iowa, marke?in the heart of corn country?urges viewers to ask EPA to leave the mandate intact and directs them to visit the website www.savetherfs.com.

"Tell the EPA to stand with Iowa farmers and small towns, not big oil," the narrator says, while images of a farmer standing in a corn field and idyllic street scenes appear in the background. "Tell the EPA: Don't gut the renewable-fuel standard."

In a statement, Brad Woodhouse, the president of AUFC, continued the attack on big oil: "The industry that brought us the Gulf oil spill loves the new RFS rule as it stands and would love nothing more than to keep rural America quiet until the ink is dry. That's why it's incredibly important that Americans in the heartland make their voices heard, because the strength in numbers of those who benefit from the RFS can beat big oil's deep pockets."