Reynolds signs ag, water quality bills

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds last week signed a pair of Farm Bureau-supported bills that will help accelerate targeted water quality protection and strengthen the long-term vitality of the state's agricultural economy.

Iowa Farm Bureau President Brent Johnson, Vice President Brian Feldpausch and District 8 board member Tim Kaldenberg were on hand as Reynolds signed Senate File 2465 (the Iowa Farm Act) and House File 2771 (the Agriculture and Natural Resources budget), which includes new investments in water quality, conservation and foreign animal disease preparedness.

House File 2771 provides $8.185 million for the Conservation Cost-Share program and $2.375 million for the Iowa Water Quality Initiative. It also includes an additional $3.72 million for the Water Quality Initiative specifically for the Greater Des Moines Watershed Program, reprioritizes existing funding streams to provide greater funding for water quality practices as well as financial assistance for drinking water and wastewater projects statewide, and allocates $25 million to Central Iowa Water Works to support additional nutrient removal infrastructure.

In addition, House File 2771 appropriates $500,000 for the Dairy Innovation Fund, which pro­­vides financial assistance for expanding, refurbishing or establishing small-scale dairy processing facilities.

The budget also appropriates $1.25 million to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) for foreign animal disease preparedness and response and includes $291,390 for Iowa State University (ISU) to support animal disease research. The ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory received $4.919 million to support operations of the facility.

Senate File 2465, the Iowa Farm Act, is a comprehensive policy package introduced by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. It contains numerous provisions beneficial to agriculture, including two provisions specifically supported by Farm Bureau policy.

The bill excludes student loan repayments received through the Rural Iowa Veterinarian Loan Repayment Program from state income tax and exempts the purchase price of honeybees from sales tax.