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Iowa farmer concerned his industry faces unfair criticism

A north-central Iowa farmer says it’s important to him that agriculture gets out of the crosshairs.

Ben Pederson of Lake Mills tells Brownfield farmers are the target of many misconceptions about food production.

“With all the talk surrounding GMO, water quality, and global warming, that we’re this big culprit.”

He says the reality is many farmers are taking steps to improve the environment and safety of food.

“When you really delve into that, we can actually have more of a positive effect on things like water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability of fossil fuels, things of that nature.”

Pederson says he uses strip-till, cover crops, and other low and high-tech methods to grow corn and soybeans efficiently and sustainably.