100 Groups Push Iowa General Assembly to Move Factory Farm Moratorium Bill Before Funnel

Des Moines, IA — Today, one day before the ‘funnel’ deadline in Iowa, 100 groups called on the Iowa General Assembly to take urgent action to move bills that would enact a statewide “legislative moratorium on new and expanded factory farms” in a letter. Read the letter here.

The letter was initiated by Food & Water Action and Iowa CCI Action and signed by an array of public advocacy and rural organizations. 

It states:

“Iowa’s water pollution problems have reached crisis levels. Our state’s hog factory farms… alone produce 22 billion gallons of manure annually. The manure produced on Iowa’s factory farms would fill Iowa’s tallest building, the Principal Building in Des Moines, 2.3 times every day. As a result, agricultural pollution has damaged more than 1,000 miles of Iowa’s rivers and streams and over 59,000 acres of its lakes, ponds and wetlands.”

As public support for a factory farm moratorium in Iowa continues to rise and broaden, elected officials are feeling more and more pressure to move a moratorium bill. A recent Johns Hopkins poll concluded that 63% of Iowans support a factory farm moratorium. 

In response, Food & Water Action Organizer Emma Schmit said:

“The impacts of factory farms on water safety, independent family farming, rural economies and public health in Iowa are undeniable. Iowa Senators and Representatives have an opportunity to take courageous action to stop the unchecked factory farming disaster before it’s too late.”

Iowa CCI Action organizer Ava Auen-Ryan said:

“One in four Iowa counties have passed resolutions calling on the state legislature to take action for a moratorium and stronger protections from the factory farm industry. Everyday Iowans want a better food & farm system and are looking for action from their elected officials. That starts with a moratorium.”

Tomorrow is the ‘funnel deadline’ for standing committees in either chamber to pass non-money and policy bills in order for them to remain eligible. Right now, a factory farm moratorium bill, HF 2127, is waiting for passage in the House Agriculture Committee, chaired by Representative Ross Paustian. It was introduced by Representative Steckman and has 16 co-sponsors. 

The Senate companion bill, SF 2254, introduced by Senator Celsi with four co-sponsors, is also still pending.