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Iowa Republican ag hopefuls go to convention

Iowa Republican ag hopefuls go to convention

None of the five candidates received the necessary support to win the nomination

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Iowa Republicans will hold a convention on June 16 to decide who will represent the party in the race to become Iowa’s next Secretary of Agriculture.

Incumbent Mike Naig, who Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed as ag secretary in March, received 34.74 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s primaries. That number is just shy of the 35 percent needed to secure the nomination.

The other four candidates, which include a senator, a former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, a member of President Trump’s ag advisory committee and a former Iowa State Extension watershed specialist, also failed to break the 35 percent support threshold.

The nominees aren’t surprised by the results given the crowded field.

“With five candidates in the race, we all knew it would be difficult to win outright by reaching the 35 percent threshold,” Craig Lang, past president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, said in a statement after Tuesday’s results.

Naig, who served as under secretary to Bill Northey before taking a position within the USDA, is optimistic he can earn the support of his peers next week.

“Iowa Republicans sent a clear message, and that’s that they’re pleased with the direction we’re headed and the job we’re doing,” he told the Des Moines Register Wednesday. “We won 60 counties and topped 30,000 votes. That far outpaces the other candidates.”

Whoever earns the Republican nomination will run against Democratic candidate Tim Gannon, a former USDA administrator, in November.


Trending Video

US “Flash Drought” Worst in 133-160 Years + Disease taking a Bite out of US 2025 Corn/Soybean Crops

Video: US “Flash Drought” Worst in 133-160 Years + Disease taking a Bite out of US 2025 Corn/Soybean Crops


A dry August and a “flash drought” in the ECB (Eastern Corn Belt) the driest top 10 to 15 years in 150 to 160 years (Ohio the driest in 133 years) plus disease is taking a bite out of the 2025 U.S. corn and soybean crops.
It's going to be an early harvest. This could be the start of the 89-year drought cycle that may have been delayed until 2026 as La Nina maybe returning.
The USDA September crop report is all about record corn ears and record soybean counts but the October USDA crop report will be about pod and ear weights.
Stats Canada reported higher forecasts for the 2025 Canadian Prairies all wheat and canola crops vs. last year based on satellite imagery but are they overestimating production?
The 2025 Great ON Yield Tour and Quebec crop tours are projecting corn and soybean crops below the 10-year average.
China's Vice Commerce Ministry Li Chenggang visits Washington this week as we continue to connect the dots is a positive sign towards a China/U.S. trade deal. But will U.S. farmers have a winter without China as they buy more soybeans from Uruguay/Argentina? U.S. Northern Plain soybean farmers are seeing red with flat prices at $8.97/bu!
U.S. corn exports on record pace up 99% vs. last year.
Fund short covering continues in corn futures bottom is in!