Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey this week will lead a group of Iowa farmers and agricultural leaders to Mississippi to participate in the first leg of the “Iowa-Mississippi Farmer to Farmer Exchange,” which is focused on growing understanding and expanding conservation practices in both states to address hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Iowa delegation will be in Mississippi this Thursday, May 27th through Sunday, May 30th and will be hosting a delegation of Mississippi farmers for a return visit on July 7-10.

“This exchange is designed to help farmers learn from their counterparts in another state and highlight practices they are using that have been shown to be effective in preventing pollution or improving water quality,” Northey said. “Farmers everywhere care about protecting the environment, and this exchange will help highlight best practices in both states that are being used to address hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.”

The goal of the exchange is to develop relationships between the agricultural leaders in both states and promote the sharing of information and technologies that will help address the hypoxic area, or “dead zone,” in the Gulf of Mexico.

The hypoxic zone is a result of nitrogen and phosphorus from the Mississippi watershed flowing into the Gulf and spurring the growth of algae. When the algae decays, it depletes the water of oxygen to levels that cannot support marine life.

During the visit the farmers will tour conservation sites and farming practices, attend the Delta Council Annual Meeting, and visit the Gulf of Mexico to learn more about the impact of hypoxia. A full agenda can be found on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov.

The Iowa participants in the tour were nominated by a variety of farm organizations. The participants are Doug Gronau from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation; Bill Tentinger from the Iowa Pork Producers Association; Don Elsbernd from the Iowa Corn Growers Association; Steve Henry and Tracy Blackmer from the Iowa Soybean Association; Matt Helmers from Iowa State University; and Harlan Hansen from the Iowa Drainage District Association. Reporters from the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman and Iowa Farmer Today will also participate in the tour.

The tour is the result of discussions between Northey and agricultural leaders in Mississippi as part of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force. Jerry Cain, Director of the Office of Pollution Control within Mississippi Office of Environmental Quality, is currently the state co-chair of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force and will be helping host the Iowa delegation while in Mississippi. Secretary Northey currently serves as the vice state co-chair, and will ascend to the state co-chair role following Cin’s term.

Northey, a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his first term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are promoting the opportunities available through renewable energy, encouraging conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.

This entry was posted on May 26, 2010 at 11:01 am and is filed under Agriculture & Farming, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.