Iowa Can Choose a Sustainable Agricultural Model, or It Can Choose CO2 Pipelines

by James A. Merchant (Des Moines Register) ... The vast majority of the once-independent poultry and livestock farmers are now contractors with large national and multinational meat corporations, two of which are owned by foreign entities — Smithfield Foods, Inc. wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese WH Group, and JBS USA Holdings Inc., wholly owned subsidiary of Brazilian JBS S.A. The late ISU agricultural economist Neil Harl concluded that the effect of such monopolies has turned once independent farmers into “serfs,” relatively “powerless pawns.” Served by agricultural commodity associations and state Farm Bureau Federations, industrial agriculture, or Big Ag, is remarkably unified in its messaging as it exerts its political sway with muscle and money over farm state politicians, federal and state governmental agencies, farm state universities, most county supervisors and many captive farmers.

Several sources of Iowa environmental pollution and public health information, to which the public has a right, have disappeared. Those defunded by the state include the air pollution monitoring program for CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations, conducted via contract with the University of Iowa State Hygienic Laboratory, the ISU Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and most recently the UI water monitoring system and data platform (thanks to ISU for keeping it funded for one more year). Iowa has an estimated 15,000 CAFOs, but there is no requirement for the hundreds of small, but still hazardous, CAFOs to file a manure management plan or to be location approved via Iowa’s badly flawed Master Matrix. Through successive ag-gag and anti-nuisance suit legislation, Iowans' right-to-know and ability to bring property right suits have been essentially eliminated.

Now, Summit Carbon Solutions is busy suing counties and politicking for the use of eminent domain to force farmers and other rural land owners to allow a high pressure liquefied CO2 pipeline to be trenched across their land.

Given the level terrain of the proposed pipeline, there is a very real pipeline rupture asphyxiation risk from a colorless, odorless, heavier than air plume killing people, livestock, and poultry. Also anticipated is loss in property values, compromised economic development by affected communities, compaction of soil, and disruption of drainage tiles. Plus, CO2 pipelines require millions and millions of gallons of water that drought stricken Iowa does not have to give.

It is therefore refreshing, and not surprising, that farmers and other rural landowners have become organized and are now asserting their property rights in opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline.

Many, I among them, believe biofuel production, with its substantial environmental and soil degradation costs, should not guide US policy. But, biofuels do contain less carbon, and its production is supported by current federal law, regulations, and Biden administration policy. However, biofuel production produces significant global warming CO2 emissions that should be captured for the public good. This does not require a hazardous pipeline. Rather, biofuel facilities could capture CO2 in pressure tanks and more safely, inexpensively and quickly transport liquefied CO2, by biodiesel or EV tanker truck or biodiesel rail, to North Dakota to sequester deep below ground. A second option, coming soon, is production of “green methanol” using CapCO2 Solutions’ “methanol modules.” According to the company, sequestration of CO2 thereby could qualify for Inflation Reduction Act dollars that would pay for the $12 million modules, while producing methanol for sale to produce a range of products including plastics, paint, insulation, cosmetics as well as a potential source as a renewable fuel.

The IRA will invest over $20 billion over five years to help agriculture become part of the climate solution — an opportunity for Iowa to begin the transition from current soil depleting heavy corn and soybean rotations to regenerative agriculture — to rebuild soil health by increased crop diversity, ground cover crops and other sustainable farming practices. The biofuel industry, rather than participating in ongoing pipeline litigation, delay and liability — and as the entity that is actually sequestering the CO2 — could more productively direct the hundreds of millions of dollars currently slated for pipeline investors to their corn and soy feedstock providers. Regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices, as described in "Tending Iowa’s Land — Pathways to a Sustainable Future," would reduce nutrient water pollution, heal Iowa’s land, prepare for the coming increase in climate change flooding and droughts, reward participating farmers with IRA dollars and carbon credits, and strengthen the economy of rural communities.

Iowa agriculture is being given a historic opportunity to begin to transition from the current industrial model to a more resilient, sustainable and collaborative approach that would stem current severe environmental and public health impacts. A good way to support this transition is to stand with those opposing construction of hazardous and unnecessary CO2 pipelines and instead invest those IRA dollars in regenerative agriculture. READ MORE