Ernst makes stop in Mt. Pleasant before national convention

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

Before she appeared on the stage for the Republican National Convention Monday evening, Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) made a pit stop in Mt. Pleasant to speak with local farmers.

Ernst met with local Farm Bureau members Saturday morning to discuss atrazine, the ?Waters of the U.S.? rule, how to get the younger generation interested in farming and her first term in the Senate.

?I?ve been in the Untied States Senate now for a little over a year-and-a-half and we?ve made a lot of progress in some areas and (in) others we have a little further to go, but so far it?s been a fairly positive experience,? said Ernst.

Ernst said one of her concerns, as well as those joining her at the table on Saturday were atrazine. When asked how many used atrazine, everyone of the half dozen Farm Bureau members raised their hands. ?I think most everyone does,? commented John Sandbothe, of Iowa Farm Bureau. ?My theory is we?re trying to do all these things with conservation and if you ban one of our most important tools, how are we suppose to protect water and soil quality.?

?If we can?t use (atrazine) we?re going to have to go back to more tilling and that?s counterproductive,? said John Sander. Sander went on to say that if farmers have to go back to traditional means to get rid of weeds, it would create more soil loss and undermine current soil conservation practices.

?I think most farmers have the idea of ?leave us alone and let us do our jobs,?? he said. ?It?s the same for Waters of the U.S.?

Waters of the U.S. outlines which waterways and wetlands are protected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps. Of Engineers. ?There is still a stay on the expanded definition of the Waters of the U.S., which means it has not been implemented yet,? said Ernst. ?I think all of you probably understand the consequence of a regulation like that.?

Ernst said the regulation was about more than farmers and ranchers, as 97 percent of land in Iowa, according to studies by Farm Bureau, would be regulated by the federal government though the expanded definition of the Waters of the U.S. ?It?s about families that want to build homes, it?s about building roads, it?s about every industry out there will be impacted by the expanded definition,? she said.

?Bureaucrats that come up with the rules and regulations, many of them put a broad swath out there and what might be right in New Hampshire may not fit well in Iowa or California,? Ernst said of federal oversight on farming.

Ernst spoke with members of Farm Bureau for nearly an hour on Saturday before departing to visit her hometown of Red Oak.

Kurt Alvine, Henry County Farm Bureau President, said he felt the morning discussion went well. ?We touched on several ag specific topics that are pretty important to Farm Bureau,? he said, specifying Waters of the U.S. as one of the most important. ?It could have huge implications to farming here.?