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Iowa soybean growers’ policy favors trade, conservation incentives

Iowa soybean growers want the administration to know how important trade agreements are to farmers.  Iowa Soybean Association President Elect Lindsay Greiner tells Brownfield the organization set policy specific to the U.S. pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.

“We’re in favor of expanding trade or any kind of trade we could do with Pacific Rim countries,” Greiner told Brownfield Ag News at the conclusion of the Iowa Soybean Association annual policy conference in Des Moines Thursday, “and the way commodity prices are now, why of course that would be very important to farmers.”

Iowa Soybean farmer delegates also set policy on conservation.  Greiner – who farms at Keota, Iowa – says a resolution was approved favoring incentives in the form of reductions in crop insurance premiums for farmers who plant cover crops.

“Something that’s a little extra more to make a few more dollars and cents when a farmer’s thinking about using cover crops,” said Greiner, “or if he has been using them, that little bit of a reward for the work that we’ve been doing as far as trying to reduce soil erosion and improve water quality.”

AUDIO: Lindsay Greiner (8 min. MP3)