WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - Sept. 26, 2012 - While Iowa farmers are currently focused on harvesting their fields and caring for their livestock, they also understand the need to open their doors to consumers interested in seeing how food is grown and raised. This fall, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) is offering the Iowa Farmers Feed US sweepstakes program which invites Iowans to meet today's farmers, take video tours of their farms and register for a chance to win free groceries for a year.

Following the sweepstakes, there will be two free grocery grand prizes of $5,000 each from Iowa Farmers Feed US' grocery partner, Fareway Stores, Inc., awarded to Iowa residents drawn at random from those who register at www.FarmersFeedUS.org/ia. The site offers an up close and personal look at eight Iowa farm families and a chance to tour their farms, which include hog barns, white corn fields and turkey barns. Website visitors can register for the sweepstakes with each of the eight farmers, each day of the sweepstakes, which runs from noon today until noon on October 31, 2012.

"My family is involved in the Iowa Farmers Feed US project because we understand that while not everyone is involved in raising food,  nearly everyone is interested in seeing how animals are cared for, how crops are raised and how we protect Iowa's soil, air and water," explained Justin Dammann, who raises cattle, corn and soybeans in Page County. "This website offers that opportunity for people throughout the state of Iowa, many of whom have never been on a farm. It's a great opportunity for farmers to showcase our commitment to growing safe, wholesome food today."

The website features beef cattle, turkey, corn, dairy cattle, hog and soybean farmers from across the state, each sharing their personal stories about their history in agriculture, farm families and dedication to producing food. Featured farmers include :

• Justin and Jennifer Dammann, white corn farmers, Essex
• Russ Yoder, turkey farmer, Wayland
• Eric and Emily Crossman, hog farmers, Ogden
• Jim Brown, soybean farmer, Churdan
• Pam Johnson, corn farmer, Floyd
• Stephanie Dykshorn, dairy cattle farmer, Ireton
• Matt Schuiteman, hog farmer, Sioux Center
• Tim Kaldenberg, beef cattle farmer, Albia

Additional Iowa agriculture groups supporting this initiative include the Iowa Corn Growers Association, the Iowa Pork Producers Association and Midwest Dairy.

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Wednesday, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice issued his report on ATF's Operation Fast and Furious.

This report is a significant milestone for the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

He was killed in a firefight with illegal aliens who were armed with illegal guns from Fast and Furious.

Attorney General Holder delayed any discipline for the officials responsible for Fast and Furious until after this report was released.

The time for accountability has finally come.

There are no more excuses for inaction.

The Inspector General's non-partisan review confirmed virtually everything I heard from whistleblowers over the last year and a half.

The Justice Department tried to push all the blame on the ATF and officials in Phoenix.

But, the Inspector General confirmed that senior officials in Washington ignored red flag after red flag.

Senior officials in both the Justice Department and ATF knew or should have known that Operation Fast and Furious was putting guns into the hands of criminals.

But, they ignored the risks and failed to take steps to protect public safety.

The Inspector General also confirmed that there were major information-sharing failures between law enforcement agencies.

We are still going through the nearly 500 page report, as well as 309 pages of new documents that the Justice Department produced late Wednesday.

However, I was surprised to learn from the report that Attorney General Holder testified that he doesn't remember the conversation with me about Fast and Furious in my office on January 31, 2011.

I remember that conversation.

My staff told the Attorney General that day what whistleblowers had told us.

Specifically, we discussed in that meeting that two weapons that ATF let go in Fast and Furious were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Terry.

I emphasized that I was personally bringing it to his attention because these were very serious and credible allegations, not a just run-of-the-mill letter.

Yet, even after that meeting, the Department didn't take it seriously.

The Inspector General's independent report says so explicitly:

"We do not believe that the gravity of this allegation was met with an equally serious effort by the Department to determine whether ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office had allowed the sale of hundreds of weapons to straw purchasers."

The Justice Department claimed that its process for writing letters to Congress was sound.

But its February 4, 2011 response was false.

DOJ later withdrew it and claimed it relied on bad information from ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

However, the Inspector General agreed with me that the Justice Department's response was seriously flawed?and not just the initial response.

The Inspector General also found that the Justice Department knew its initial reply wasn't true when it reaffirmed the denial of the whistleblower allegations in a May 2, 2011 letter to me.

Instead of acknowledging that it was wrong, the Department repeatedly doubled-down on its denials.

For example, Attorney General Holder said on multiple occasions since November 2011 that the wiretap affidavits authorized by Justice Department headquarters did not put senior leadership on notice that ATF was walking guns.

Most recently, on June 7 of this year the Attorney General went before the House Judiciary Committee.

At this point, many Members of Congress had obtained and read the affidavits, even though the Justice Department did not want us to see them.

Members who reviewed them said that the affidavits contained evidence of gunwalking.

But, Attorney General Holder testified:

"I've looked at these affidavits.  I've looked at these summaries. There's nothing in those affidavits as I've reviewed them that indicates that gun walking was allowed."

Well, now the Inspector General has read them too.

His independent, non-partisan conclusion is at odds with the Attorney General.

I quote from his report: "[T]he affidavits described specific incidents that would suggest...ATF was employing a strategy of not interdicting weapons or arresting known straw purchasers."

In fact, much of the Inspector General's report is redacted because those affidavits are still under seal.

Chairman Issa and I asked the Justice Department months ago to move to unseal them so the public could decide for themselves.

Now the Inspector General has joined us and is also calling on the Department to ask for permission from the court to release the affidavits.

The Justice Department should have filed that motion months ago.

Unsealing the affidavits will allow the American people and the Terry family to see the whole story.

The details in those affidavits show that senior officials knew or should have known about gunwalking in Fast and Furious.

The Inspector General independently confirmed this point, contrary to Attorney General Holder's denials.

Those denials by the Attorney General show either incompetence or lack of truthfulness.

Congress created an explicit statutory duty for certain senior Justice Department officials to authorize all wiretap applications.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, who served directly under Criminal Division head Lanny Breuer, was one of the officials who approved some of those affidavits.

Senior officials like Mr. Weinstein tried to claim that they shouldn't be held accountable because they only read memos summarizing the wiretaps?not the full wiretap applications.

But, the Inspector General found that Justice Department officials should review more than just the cover memo.

He said that under the statute they have a responsibility to be informed before authorizing wiretap applications.

Yet the Inspector General also found that even "a reader of the ... cover memorandum would infer from the facts that ATF agents did not take enforcement action to interdict the weapons or arrest [straw purchasers]."

So, the memo Mr. Weinstein admits he did read indicated that ATF had walked guns, according to the Inspector General.

Back in September of last year, Attorney General Holder said at a press conference:

"The notion that somehow or other this thing reaches into the upper levels of the Justice Department is something that...I don't think is supported by the facts."

Maybe the Attorney General doesn't think someone who reports directly to the head of the Criminal Division is a senior official, but I do.

As a result of the Inspector General's findings, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Weinstein has resigned.

Weinstein should be held accountable but he shouldn't take the fall for more senior officials who are also culpable.

Mr. Weinstein reported directly to Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.

When the Justice Department sent its letter to me denying ATF ever walked guns, Breuer knew otherwise.

He knew in 2010 about gunwalking in another case, Operation Wide Receiver.

That was long before the allegations in Fast and Furious.

Yet he waited nine months before emails about Wide Receiver were about to be produced to Congress before he publicly apologized for not doing more about gunwalking in Wide Receiver.

I asked Breuer whether he had seen the draft of February 4 false letter to me.

Breuer testified: "I cannot say for sure whether I saw a draft of the letter that was sent to you."

Then, a month after Breuer's testimony, the Justice Department released more documents showing that Breuer was sent five drafts of the letter before it was sent to me.

He forwarded three of them to his personal email account.

Breuer still maintained in written responses that it was "highly unlikely" he had read the letter because he was in Mexico when it was sent.

On this matter, the Inspector General report contained a significant factual error.

The report read: "The OIG found no e-mail messages from Breuer in which he proposed edits, commented on the drafts, or otherwise indicated he had read them."

That is not true.

In response to one of the drafts Breuer received, he commented that to Weinstein that it was "great work."

That may not be a proposed edit, but it is certainly a comment.

Thus, Breuer's statement to Congress is simply not credible.

Emails show that Breuer was very engaged in the process, asking for and receiving updates from Weinstein at each stage of the drafting.

Breuer and Weinstein sent multiple emails to each other on the matter each day, with Breuer asking after a quiet period: "Jason, let me know what's happening with this."

Rather than holding him accountable for this evidence, the Inspector General report gives him a pass.

Worse, new emails produced Wednesday show that Breuer was in the weeds about his deputy, Jason Weinstein, coming to brief Senate Judiciary Committee staff a week after the Justice Department's false letter.

On February 13, 2011, Breuer sent an email about such details as what specific questions my staff asked of Weinstein at the briefing.

Breuer wrote: "The goal - and by all accounts it seems to have worked - was to communicate that ATF's work in the AZ case and others like it reflected sound judgment and investigative work."

It is clear that Breuer was in the weeds enough to know that what the Justice Department was communicating to me was undermined by the gunwalking he knew about in Wide Receiver.

He should have come forward in February 2011 and told Congress that he knew ATF had walked guns.

His failure to do so, coupled with his attempt to mislead Congress, are why I have called for him to resign or be fired.

Now Attorney General Holder has been saying for months that he would hold off on any personnel action until the Inspector General report was released.

Mr. Attorney General, it's time to hold people accountable.

I'd like to close with language from a statement that the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry issued:

"The Department's failures chronicled in the report had deadly and tragic consequences for hundreds of innocent American and Mexican victims of violent crimes.

"And our son, friend, relative and hero, Brian Terry, is dead.

"Questions and concerns should have been raised before the weapons purchased in this failed government sting wound up in the hands of drug dealers and killers, including those who killed Brian.

"The focus today should not be on political spin control nor on praise for the DOJ supervisors who chose to resign in light of the report's findings, but rather on the gross negligence of the Department documented in the report and the tragic consequences of that negligence."

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - Sept. 25, 2012 - In Iowa, fall is a time for touchdowns and tractors as football players and farmers take to their respective fields. And it's the perfect time to learn about the connection between the two groups at the newly launched www.americaneedsfarmers.org website.

The new website offers visitors a closer look at the legendary America Needs Farmers (ANF) campaign, started by Hayden Fry during the 1980s Farm Crisis, and a better understanding of how farmers raise food, fuel and fiber.

"We know consumers want to know more about where their food comes from and we want to provide as much information as we can," said Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Hill. "Farming is a lot different now than it was in 1985 and the refreshed website provides more information to help consumers understand those changes. But one thing hasn't changed - making sure consumers have safe, wholesome food choices."

"Growing up in Iowa taught me the value of hard work," explained Dallas Clark, former Hawkeye great and current receiver with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "No job is too big and no obstacle is too hard to overcome. These are the same values I take to the field every day, just like Iowa farmers."

Clark is just one player featured at www.americaneedsfarmers.org, which takes a fresh look at the Iowa Hawkeye football and National Football League (NFL) players with ties to farming that many fans will recognize and introduces visitors to Iowa farm families that team up to farm together.

"Farming has always been in our family," explained Eric Crosman, who raises corn, soybeans and hogs in Boone County. "As a kid, I always wanted to be out on the farm with my dad. Today, I work with him every day. Farming is what we do; it's who we are."

In addition, the site offers a chance to win the Ultimate ANF experience package for ANF Game Day Oct. 20 when the Iowa Hawkeyes take on Penn State. The package includes:

• Four game tickets to the ANF Game on Oct. 20.

• Opportunity to watch one quarter from the sideline of Kinnick Stadium.

• Autographed football signed by Head Coach Kirk Ferentz

• ANF Game Day gear

To register for your chance to win, simply fill out the entry form at www.americaneedsfarmers.org. One entry per email address allowed.  All entries must be received by Friday, Oct. 5 and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

ANF and Hawkeye fans can also find flair at the America Needs Farmers website. There are buttons, banners and twibbons available for download to add some Iowa character to your Facebook, website or Twitter profile.

For more information about why America needs farmers or ANF Game Day, click on www.americaneedsfarmers.org.

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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.

With all the talk of a "war on women" during this explosive election year, the notion of feminism is once again in the news - and open to debate. Especially among women.

Nothing illustrates that better than the rash of commentary following the recent death of sexual-revolution era author Helen Gurley Brown, says Heather Huffman (www.heatherhuffman.net), a 35-year-old author whose newest book, "Devil in Disguise," continues her tradition of upbeat romances featuring strong female protagonists.

"Some writers took her to task for advocating sexual freedom for women," Huffman says. "They say she wasn't a 'feminist' because she was all for promiscuity, not women's rights, and her actions led to an explosion of single moms and STDs.

"Others viewed her as the ultimate 'feminist,' a heroine who chopped through a cultural thicket to break down repressive social mores."

The truth is, Huffman says, that Brown did important work on behalf of women.

"While I don't advocate promiscuity, I do acknowledge that Gurley Brown's boundary-pushing stance brought the topic of women's rights to the forefront, paving the way for change," she says.

The problem is, she says, that when people hear the word "feminist," they picture a woman from another time, like Helen Gurley Brown. They don't see themselves at all.

"I hear some women say, 'I'm not a feminist!' They think a feminist is a strident, angry man-hater who gets up in arms over any perceived slight," Huffman says. "That's too bad, because the world needs feminists as much as it needs any group that advocates for human rights."

Feminism changes with the times, she says. So what is a 21st century feminist? Huffman offers her observations:

• She (or he) supports a woman's right to be a mom - or not. When women won acceptance and equal rights in the workplace, we were released from one box and plopped right into another one. "We went from raising children to raising children and working. Too often, that's the expectation now," Huffman says. Feminists support a woman's right to choose her life's direction, whether that's staying at home and being mothers, choosing never to become mothers, or some hybrid of work and motherhood.   "Having equal rights is having the freedom to choose our life's direction without being subjected to discrimination because of what other people expect our role to be," Huffman says.

• Supports removing double standards. "You still see, in the workplace and at home, the tough guy gets praised, and the tough woman, well, she's a 'witch' or worse," Huffman says. More smart, savvy women have earned respect professionally - Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright - and that's progress, but we still have work to do. "Professional women still get criticized about their hair style, their fashion choices.  Rarely are professional men snubbed for these things."

• Understands what rights are being legislated and by whom. We all know the hot-button "values" issues that polarize voters. "The reality is a politician's party affiliation doesn't paint an accurate picture of who they are or what they stand for. Voting records, corporate associations, and actions are much more telling. As citizens, as women with a voice, we must do our homework to ensure our values are being reflected in Washington. And, in truth, feminism is more than a political movement - it's the empowerment of women to live the life they were created for."

About Heather Huffman

Heather Huffman is a women's advocate, writer, former human relations specialist and mother of three. She and her family are currently homesteading 10 acres in the Ozarks. Huffman is the author of seven novels, including "Throwaway" and its prequel, "Tumbleweed." A portion of proceeds from sales of her books benefit groups fighting human trafficking.