Iowa
Iowa attorney general pushes federal review as farmers warn refinery exemptions hurt corn market
Johnson County farmers have expressed general disapproval of policy exemptions for facilities that turn crops into fuel across the state. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird urged an investigation into these facilities across the state.
Bird sent a letter to federal agencies alleging some of Iowa’s small biofuel refineries may be cutting production to qualify for ethanol exemptions, a tactic that farmers say is contributing to lower prices and lost income on their crops.
The Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, is a federal program requiring U.S. fuel suppliers to mix renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel with the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, with the 2025 target calling for renewable fuels to account for about 13 percent of the nation’s gasoline and diesel supply.
Small refineries — those unable to satisfy the 75,000-barrel-per-day threshold — can claim an exemption from this requirement by submitting an application that is then reviewed by the EPA.
According to the letter, which was sent on Oct. 29, these companies are claiming hardship while simultaneously telling investors they’re thriving.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Iowa produces over one-fourth of the nation’s ethanol, making Iowa particularly exposed to these kinds of exemptions. When small refineries bypass mixing requirements, it cuts directly into the demand for fuels.
George Swenka, a farmer and rancher in the Tiffin area, agreed with Bird and said he was unhappy with these exemptions, adding it does not make sense to avoid the 10 percent when it helps “everyone.”
“It gives them [refineries with exemptions] an unfair advantage in the marketplace,” Swenka said.” It’s a renewable resource. It helps the producers. It helps every state that’s involved. At the end of the day I just don’t think it’s achieving the goal that should be a common goal for all of us.”
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Chad Hart, an agriculture and finance economics professor at Iowa State University, said this lack of demand has caused financial hardship for farmers.
“It’s a combination of them having ample supplies right now and not seeing as much demand as they would need to take prices higher again. So, if you have the sort of overwhelming supply combined with demand uncertainty, they’re feeling financially squeezed,” Hart said.
Swenka spoke personally about how the lack of demand has affected his farming and said it is especially difficult as farming prices continue to rise.
“Right now, the prices that we’re receiving are just at breakeven, and without an extra marketplace without another source to market our goods, it really makes it tough,” Swenka said.
He said the issue is a common conversation for farmers, calling it “coffee talk,” but he also worries that refinery issues will not be taken as seriously.
“Farmers make up less than 1 percent of the population, so we really feel sometimes that we’re a minority and we feel that we lack any kind of political clout,” he said.
However, he hopes those outside of agriculture realize it affects the broader Iowa community.
“There’s such a high percentage of jobs, especially in Iowa, directly or indirectly touched by agriculture. So, when the attorney general does good, we all do good, especially in small rural Iowa,” Swenka said.
Great American Insurance Group’s Iowa’s 2025 Digital Yield Tour projects Iowa’s 2025 corn yield could hit 223.7 bushels per acre, which would be well above recent averages, with the average last year being 205 bushels per acre. Hart cited statistics like these as a potential reason why Bird decided to write to the federal government, as many farmers are looking for “usage of their bountiful harvest.”
Hart said the last time Trump was in office, a large number of exemptions were granted to these smaller refineries, and then later overturned in court cases, with Trump issuing 85 exemptions in his first term according to an EPA report.
“There’s also this idea that we may see a similar wave of that here during President Trump’s second term,” Hart said.
Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the UI, said if changes aren’t made, people may see farms go out of business. According to a Bloomberg Law report released in April, farm bankruptcies grew 55 percent from 2023 to 2024 and are trending even higher in 2025, with Iowa leading all other states with 12 bankruptcies.
“You’re going to have some farmers that would not be able to continue because of financial reasons, so they may go out of business. You may have some people that would switch crops to the extent they can do,” Hagle said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told Gray Media Iowa that he got briefed late Thursday afternoon, a few hours before President Donald Trump gave a prime-time speech to make his latest claims about election fraud.
“Yeah, I just got off of a telephone call literally in the motorcade as we were driving here,” Johnson said after arriving at a campaign appearance with U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R – 1st District, Ottumwa) at a Pella bakery.
Miller-Meeks is running for re-election in what is again considered a competitive race with Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor from Iowa City.
This is the third straight election that the two will meet in a general election.
Johnson said the “off the record” intelligence briefing to leaders in the U.S. House and Senate previewed Trump’s new election fraud claims. He called it “blockbuster information.”
“It’s the result of an investigation that’s been ongoing for some time now about fraud and irregularity in in federal elections, American elections around the country,” Johnson said.
Gray Media Iowa asked Johnson whether he believes congressional colleagues were elected because of fraud.
He did not directly answer that question.
“…everybody’s going to be able to evaluate all that information on their own, and it will lead to other investigations, I’m certain,” Johnson said of the briefing.
He added, “we’ll have to see where all this goes.”
For years, Trump has alleged widespread fraud that cost him the 2020 election. Trump has lost dozens of court cases on the matter.
On January 7, 2021, Congress certified his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, a day after Trump supporters rushed the U.S. Capitol Building. Some attacked law enforcement officers and damaged the outside and inside of the building.
After returning to office in 2025, President Trump pardoned supporters for their crimes.
Copyright 2026 Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau. All rights reserved.
With the college football season right around the corner, the Iowa State Cyclones will be hoping to have a strong campaign with a new regime coming in. However, a lot of their success might depend on one key player.
Following the departure of Matt Campbell to the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Cyclones saw their roster get completely gutted. Most of their players entered the transfer portal, leaving new head coach Jimmy Rogers with plenty of work to do.
Fortunately, Rogers and the coaching staff were able to get out there and bring in a lot of new players from all over the country. While Iowa State might be lacking star power and aren’t going to be as talented as they were last year, they do have a good amount of depth.
There should be quite a bit of competition for spots in camp, but there are some players who should clearly be starters that transferred in.
Pete Nakos of On3 recently predicted who would be the starting quarterback for every team in the Big 12. Unsurprisingly for the Cyclones, it was Jaylen Raynor who was the choice.
Raynor an Easy Pick
After bringing in the three-year starter from the Arkansas State Red Wolves, Raynor instantly became the favorite to be the starter for the Cyclones in Week 1. Him being predicted as that guy should come as no surprise, and his ability to play against elevated competition on a weekly basis will be key.
There is a lot to like about Raynor’s game, and he could certainly help Iowa State exceed expectations next year.
Last season with the Red Wolves, he totaled 3,361 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, and a 66.5 completion percentage. It was career-highs for him in all three of those categories, showing some nice improvement in his junior season.
As a dual-threat player, he also totaled a career-high in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. The junior recorded 423 yards on the ground to go along with seven rushing scores.
Overall, the numbers for Raynor were really solid, and there is reason to believe he might be even better in his senior season. For the Cyclones, with all of the new players on the roster, there will undoubtedly be some competition for starting spots around the field. However, it should certainly be Raynor who is under center to start.
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Syringes from injectable weight loss medications are turning up in drug drop-off boxes across eastern Iowa, creating a safety hazard for law enforcement officers who handle the containers.
Sgt. Erich Lear of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office said emptying the drug drop-off box is part of his daily routine — and the box fills fast.
“It’s probably a 30-gallon tote, and I’d say 3 out of the five days of the week it’s completely full,” Lear said.
Needles found mixed in with other medications
Lear said he has noticed over the past five years that people are placing medicine, nasal sprays and syringes in the bin. He said many of the syringes come from people discarding GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
“That tote that I pull out — there’s nothing that protects me from needles other than my observation and using gloves when I sort through things,” Lear said.
The Hiawatha Police Department said it is also seeing an increase in improperly discarded syringes.
Where syringes should go
The Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency is the proper disposal site for sharps. The agency said it has seen syringe intake increase by more than a ton in recent years.
“We’re talking about two thousand pounds of sharps and syringes coming in,” said Joe Horaney of the solid waste agency. “Before 2021 we were around 1.9, maybe 2 tons a year — now we are over 3 tons a year.”
Horaney said any Linn County resident can bring syringes to the facility, provided they are contained properly.
“We just ask that you have it in a heavy plastic container — so one of those medically certified red biohazard containers,” Horaney said. “If you don’t have that, it can be a heavy plastic container like an old laundry detergent [bottle].”
A third-party company picks up the sharps from the facility and incinerates them.
Some drop-off programs discontinued
Lear said another reason sharps are appearing at drop-off locations is that some agencies have ended their disposal programs. The Marion Police Department said it stopped offering the service after people continued to place broken glass, liquids and other garbage inside the box.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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