The Iowa Farmers Union is a grassroots organization made stronger by the ideas and participation of our members. When you join IFU, you give us a more powerful voice for the policies that you care about. IFU promotes our member priorities in Des Moines & Washington, DC, with a powerful & effective combination of advocacy efforts:
- A high-quality professional government relations team that brings the voices of our members directly to policymakers;
- The grassroots advocacy of our members, including the annual IFU Farm & Food Lobby Day at the State Capitol and the annual NFU Fall Fly-In in Washington, DC.
Our legislative policy and priorities originate with our members and are debated and voted on each year at our annual convention.
Iowa Farmers Union members attend 2025 Farm & Food Lobby Day at the State Capitol in Des Moines.
IFU’s policy book was last altered at the 2025 State Convention in Ames, IA. Download a copy of the 2026 Legislative Policy HERE and IFU’s Special Orders of Business HERE.
This document contains the official legislative policy positions of the Iowa Farmers Union and addresses a broad range of federal & state issues impacting family farms and rural communities.
In addition, our members have identified a list of priority issues that are the primary focus of our state-level legislative advocacy:
Our members have identified a list of priority issues that are the primary focus of our state and federal legislative advocacy:
-
Growing Local Food Systems
- We believe Iowa’s future depends on diversified family farms and strong local and regional food economies that keep value in rural communities. We support policies that:
- Grow diversified, family-scale farms serving local and regional markets
- Expand farmer-owned and community-based food hubs, processing, storage, and distribution
- Increase local and regional food procurement through USDA and state nutrition programs, including SNAP-linked opportunities and Double Up Food Bucks
- Build resilient local/domestic supply chains so farmers are less vulnerable to global trade shocks
-
Fair Markets, Fair Trade, Farm Bill Reform & Land Access
We are fighting for a Farm Bill, land policies, and market rules that curb consolidation and ensure farmers earn a fair living in stable, transparent markets. We support policies that:- Defend a strong rural-urban Farm Bill coalition and oppose cuts or structural weakening of SNAP
- Include a dedicated Farm Bill competition title and advance Fairness for Farmers priorities (price discovery, transparency, COOL, checkoff reform, stronger Packers & Stockyards enforcement, USDA competition office)
- Maintain and improve a family-farm-focused safety net (loan rates/triggers, ARC/PLC options, base updates, specialty-crop/diversified-system risk tools, crop-insurance oversight)
- Aggressively enforce antitrust laws and strengthen protections for contract growers and farmers facing market power abuses
- Tackle farmland affordability and curb non-farm corporate/private-equity ownership; require transparent ownership reporting; expand tools keeping land with active family farmers and beginning/returning farmers
- Promote fair, strategic, rules-based trade and oppose chaotic blanket tariffs that destabilize farm income
-
Soil & Water Stewardship (Water Quality, Cancer, and Conservation)
We support farmer-led stewardship backed by real resources and accountability so Iowa’s soil and water are healthy for the long haul. We support policies that:- Expand conservation funding so every farmer who wants water-protective and soil-building practices can get meaningful cost-share and long-term support
- Increase USDA and state conservation staffing for timely, farmer-friendly technical assistance
- Fully fund Iowa’s statewide water-monitoring network for independent, transparent data
- Enforce CAFO water-quality safeguards (permitting, manure standards, inspections/monitoring, spill reporting, ownership transparency, and real penalties for violations)
- Advance voluntary, incentive-based, farmer-led conservation that delivers measurable water-quality and public-health improvements
- Scrutinize anaerobic digesters and manure-to-energy systems to ensure they actually reduce nutrient/manure pollution and don’t incentivize expansion or entrenchment of factory-farm waste (aligned with CAFO enforcement and water-quality goals)
-
Farmer and Landowner Legal Rights & Responsible Energy
We stand with landowners and rural communities to stop coerced infrastructure projects and maintain accountability for harms done to farms and families. We support policies that:- Reaffirm opposition to the Summit Carbon Solutions CO₂ pipeline and any similar project relying on eminent domain or coerced easements
- End eminent domain for private CO₂ pipelines and strengthen landowner rights and local authority
- Require voluntary easements, meaningful consent, and strong safety standards for hazardous-liquid pipeline proposals
- Ensure full remediation for soil health, drainage, crop losses, and long-term productivity impacts from infrastructure damage
- Oppose pesticide-immunity legislation that shields chemical manufacturers or negligent applicators from accountability when farmers or rural residents are harmed.
-
Good Governance & Nonpartisan Public Agencies
We expect public agencies to serve farmers and the public interest with professionalism, facts, and integrity – not partisan agendas. We support policies that:- Condemn partisan messaging by state or federal agencies and restore professional, factual, non-partisan communications
- Enforce the Hatch Act and safeguards that keep agencies impartial and merit-based
- Require legislative and public oversight so agencies base decisions on law, science, and public interest — not political posture