The role of Big Ag in midterm elections
On Nov. 8, millions of Americans will head to the polls to choose who will look out for their interests in Congress and in state and local offices.
At the state level, this midterm election cycle will impact public policies, programs and new laws that will directly touch the everyday lives of individuals and communities.
That's why we decided to look at the campaign contributions that Big Ag companies have been making to state politicians.
Our analysis of political campaign contributions showed that the major agricultural companies have a preference for supporting gubernatorial races. We also found that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is one of the industry’s most favored political players.
— Mónica Cordero, Report for America corps member
In state-level midterms in Midwest, Big Ag favors Republicans, incumbents and governors, data shows | Mónica Cordero, Report for America/Investigate Midwest, and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
Iowa is one of the most productive agricultural states in the country. It makes sense then that Gov. Kim Reynolds would be a major recipient of industry campaign cash.
But political donations to Reynolds’ campaign in this year’s midterms also highlight a trend: Leading agricultural corporations and the industry in general tend to throw their support behind Republicans, incumbents and those in higher state offices in the Midwest, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of OpenSecrets data.
Read more.
DOL watchdog: OSHA ‘did not sufficiently protect’ workers from COVID-19 pandemic risks | Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
The federal agency tasked with ensuring workplace safety failed to "sufficiently" protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, a government watchdog announced Wednesday. The report identified three main problems with the agency’s enforcement.
Read more.
How we reported on the Trump administration’s ‘unprecedented’ payments to American farmers |
Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest
In 2019 and 2020, Investigate Midwest published a story on the biggest beneficiary of the Market Facilitation Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program meant to pay farmers for lost profits during the Trump-era trade war.
But we hadn’t taken a look at the full scope of the program and the issues that plagued the MFP from its inception.
Enter Gray Television's InvestigateTV team and a huge dataset with more than 3 million rows.
Read more.
Column: Feds need to keep watchful eye on climate-smart grants | Dave Dickey
So it was refreshing to see last month USDA announcing it's investing $2.8 billion in a carrot-and-stick approach to get farmers to adopt climate-smart production practices.
USDA's shiny new Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities is supposed to “expand markets for America’s climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers.”
You got that? Yeah it's a little hazy, writes Dave Dickey in his latest column. Read more.
More news
This story is by The Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. This article was produced as a project for the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2022 National Fellowship.
Our Dirty Water: Nebraska’s nitrate problem is growing worse. It’s likely harming our kids.
Nitrogen fertilizer powers the corn’s growth. It also converts to nitrate as it seeps into the soil – right into the drinking water of many Nebraskans. This problem costs serious taxpayer money: Cities and small towns have spent untold millions of dollars treating the water they supply to their residents, struggling and sometimes failing to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water standard of 10 parts per million.
Read more.
Upcoming events
TODAY! Join us to hear these storytellers
WHAT: An evening of great stories, live music, trivia, silent auction, specialty cocktails, and more, all to support independent investigative journalism. Your ticket purchase includes a drink ticket to use at the full bar.
WHO: You! Join us today at Poindexter Coffee inside of the Graduate Hotel in Iowa City. The storytellers are listed above (with the exception of Bill Casey, who unfortunately cannot make it).
HOW: Tickets are available now.
WHY: Proceeds from ticket sales will support Investigate Midwest and its IowaWatch newsroom. As a special bonus, all free-will donations collected at this event will be matched to double your impact.
This week we are excited to share that a national program we have known (and loved!) these past few years kicked off. NewsMatch is here just in time for end-of-year gifting so important to organizations like ours!
Here’s how it works: now through December 31, NewsMatch will match any new monthly donations 12 times. It will also double any new one-time gifts, all up to $1,000. What a great time to give, when you know your gift can be grown in this way.
