Farm Bureau members traveled over snowy and icy roads from every corner of the state last week to the Iowa Capitol to share their concerns with lawmakers about the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) acquiring additional land and the need to instead focus more on caring for existing parks and conservation areas.

“There is so much competition in the land market right now, we don’t want to have to be competing against the state too,” said Marshall County Farm Bureau member Ethan Crow.

Pam Bolin of the Butler County Farm Bureau agreed that it is important to pass legislation to limit DNR-backed land purchases. “We want to make sure that younger farmers have a chance,” she said. “These groups that are buying land talk a lot about Iowa’s heritage, but farming is a big part of our heritage too, and we need to protect ...