Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. - JFAN

06/23/2026

A story that portrays how complex groundwater is, and how unpredictable the effects of our practices can be. We know enough about the harms of injecting our soils with copious manure and fertilizer. Iowans are concerned about drinking water quality, and it's time to invest in agricultural solutions before we can't meet the clean water demands of our communities.

The Mississippi River town of Princeton, Iowa, spent $800,000 on a new auxiliary well that officials hoped would give the community room to grow. Instead, it was pumping undrinkable water

06/19/2026

Ten lakes are listed as unsafe to swim this week. Lake Darling, again, right in there. Here are the other beaches:

Lake Wapello Beach
Nine Eagles Beach
Backbone Beach
Crandalls Beach
Pine Lake South Beach
Geode Lake Beach
Pleasant Creek Beach
Union Grove Beach
Lake of Three Fires Beach

This is on the majority of the state legislators who refuse to take any meaningful action on water quality in this state. Let's not forget the multibillion dollar corporate agribusiness industry that puts their profits before the public good. This is all on you. Talk to your legislator. Ask them what they did this year to make our water better and hold Big Ag accountable.

More information on Iowa beaches is found on the DNR's beach monitoring website here: https://programs.iowadnr.gov/aquia/beaches?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=a895c83e-dcfe-466f-a538-b801e015f43c

06/19/2026

Follow this link to Take Action today! bit.ly/4uR5Sgq

We've been sharing a lot about why the addition of the SOB/EATS Act to the Farm Bill would be bad. It would:

* Put food safety and security at risk by nullifying important laws that prevent diseases and pests from entering Iowa.
* Prohibit states from enacting important laws to stop new threats such as the New World Screwworm that can be fatal to livestock and pets.
* Ignore voter decisions that prioritize higher animal welfare standards.
* Threaten the financial wellbeing of independent hog farmers who now have access to more diversified markets.
* Penalize hog farmers that made investments to become Prop 12 compliant.

Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. (JFAN) is a nonprofit educational foundation composed of rural and town residents, & traditional family farmers. Our goal is to stop the growth of factory farms

06/18/2026

TAKE ACTION! Senators Grassley and Ernst intend to push for a Farm Bill amendment that includes the EATS/Save Our Bacon Act. Tell them NO EATS/SOB Act! Tell them to join Senator Roger Marshall and withdraw their support for a bill that hurts farmers, consumers, food security and safety and animal welfare.

Tell Senators Grassley and Ernst - No EATS/Save Our Bacon Act in Farm Bill!

06/18/2026

NEW NEWS:
The Iowa Court of Appeals is ordering the Department of Natural Resources to investigate the water quality of northeast Iowa's Bloody Run Creek. Nitrate levels have risen in the creek, lawyer James Larew says, since a cattle operation opened nearly a decade ago.
https://www.radioiowa.com/2026/06/18/iowa-dnr-is-ordered-to-gauge-water-quality-of-bloody-run-creek/

OLD NEWS:
This exact issue was brought to the courts in 2024. We've resurfaced that article for you to learn more.
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/11/14/administrative-law-judge-issues-decision-on-bloody-run-creek-water-permit/

06/17/2026

The Save Our Bacon/EATS Act, if passed in the Farm Bill, could nullify hundreds of state laws and regulations regarding, among other things, livestock. Including, perhaps, state efforts to fight screwworm.

New World screwworm’s long-dreaded arrival in the U.S. jeopardizes a 40-year-old agricultural victory.

06/16/2026

While better welfare is reason enough to get behind a cause, there's a near endless list of reasons why speak out against the SOB/EATS Act.

"[A program] at Harvard Law School found the Save Our Bacon Act would threaten hundreds of local and state laws and regulations intended to stop the spread of farmed animal diseases and to protect public health, farmers, consumers and animals. The study also found that the Save Our Bacon Act would generate legal uncertainty and disputes."

Ultimately the SOB Act is good only for mega corporations - and can in fact be lethal to independent farmers who have invested in more humane practices.

Backed by part of the pork industry, the Save Our Bacon Act has been added to the 2026 Farm Bill. Here's why and how this act threatens farmed animal welfare.

06/15/2026

TODAY!

RSVP here:
https://www.iaenvironment.org/get-involved/council-events/jeffersoncocancerconversation?fbclid=IwY2xjawSc9-ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEesGYWq0Tua9gArOYOuwyEA2XUKHXb0vOYRR7XFs4G4_NCuzaJLxuzRGEMspA_aem_Sh0HhAz95kbnmFrp33KZbQ

You can also join us at the Ottumwa High School from 5-6:30 PM
Register for that one here
https://www.iaenvironment.org/get-involved/council-events/environmental-risk-factors-and-iowas-cancer-crisis-a-wapello-county-conversation

06/12/2026

"A recent EPA analysis of paraquat, a weedkiller with some of the strongest links to Parkinson’s, showed that it might travel so far in the air that anyone within a 20-square mile area of its application could be exposed to unsafe levels.

Although paraquat has been banned, phased out or withdrawn in at least 74 countries, its use has increased in the United States, in part because so many weeds are resistant to other herbicides."

The neurological disease has been repeatedly linked to exposure to certain pesticides widely used on crops in the southeastern Texas borderlands