Harkin: ‘Thicke One Of The Best Ag Secretary Candidates Ever’

Countdown to Victory: 8 Days U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, one of the most powerful voices in American agriculture as the chairman of the Senate Ag Committee for many years, believes Iowa Secretary of Agriculture candidate Francis Thicke is “one of the best candidates we’ve ever had” to lead the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land [...]

Pushing Big Ag Away From Your Dinner Table

Countdown to Victory: 10 Days Image by Will Merydith via Flickr With his plan for more sustainable agriculture and more local food production, Francis Thicke is giving voice to a quiet revolution taking place across the country among people who think it’s time to push Big Ag away from the dinner table. It’s been going [...]

Leadership You Can Count On

Countdown to Victory: 11 Days One of the qualities those of us working to elect Francis Thicke Iowa Secretary of Agriculture respect most about our candidate is his temperament for leadership. It not only serves the campaign well, but offers Iowans a snapshot of the kind of advocate he will be for our shared values [...]

Thicke: Local control over CAFO siting is ‘democracy in action’

Secretary of Agriculture Candidate Francis Thicke responded by saying “Bill Northey is wrong and Terry Branstad is selling Iowan’s short,” and that “It is clear they don’t want you to have a say in what goes on in your community.”

Economic Development

Chapter 31 – Economic Development

Iowans eat $8 billion worth of food annually, but about 90 percent of that food is imported from out of state – another ironic statistic from the “Food Capital of the World.” Growing more of our food right here in Iowa represents a potential multi-billion dollar economic development opportunity. This potential economic activity could create thousands of new jobs and help revitalize rural communities in Iowa, as well as provide Iowans with fresh, nutritious food. It would also increase the biodiversity on Iowa’s landscape.

Democrat Francis Thicke says Iowa Ag Secretary should step up, take responsibility

Bill Northey denies that he has any authority related to the contaminated eggs, and he has given no indication that he wants authority in this arena.