Iowa ag groups tread carefully on McCain-Obama

Oct 28, 2008      The Gazette - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Dave DeWitte

Oct. 28, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Agriculture groups in Iowa remained almost unanimously non-aligned in the presidential election, despite U.S. Sen. John McCain's firm stance against ethanol mandates and farm subsidies.

Concerns about the election are often talked about by leaders in the biofuels industry, according to Michael Ott, executive director of BIOWA, a trade association for bio-based products based in Iowa City. He said a significant number of projects are on hold until after the election, due partly to uncertainty about the outcome, and partly to the turmoil in financial markets.

"We've basically seen people just waiting the last couple of months to see who wins," Ott said.

But like other groups such as the Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Corn Growers Association, BIOWA isn't picking a favorite.

"We are non-partisan and non-political," Ott said. He said the group is limiting its role to explaining the differences between the candidate positions.

That's pretty much been the case for the Iowa Farm Bureau. Although the bureau has devoted several articles in its newspaper to election issues, it won't tell members how to vote, spokesman Zach Bader said.

Even the "Friends of Agriculture" picks from the Iowa Farm Bureau's political action committee don't list a presidential candidate.

"It's a grass-roots organi zation," Bader said. "If our members on the county level wanted to endorse a presidential candidate, we probably would have." Most of the associations are organized as tax-exempt nonprofits, a status which strictly limits their political involvement under IRS regulations.

Iowa Soybean Association CEO Kirk Leeds said the association doesn't have a political action committee, and won't endorse candidates "because of our strong desire to remain non-partisan and non-political." Others simply have a process that makes presidential candidates hard to include.

The Political Action Committee of the Iowa Corn Growers Association endorses legislative candidates, according to Edith Munro, spokeswoman for the corn growers group. It does not endorse presidential candidates.

"It's hard to get presidential candidates to come in and sit down with your committee of five going into the caucuses," she said.

Trying to discern how a given group views the candidates might take a little reading between the lines, but not much. In a recent statement, the corn growers group said it is concerned over "recent public statements and positions that do not support sound agricultural policy in this presidential race." It then summarized Obama's farm policy as "Pledges to support a strong safety net for farmers. Supports crop revenue insurance program and voted for the 2008 Farm Bill. Pledges to support a perma nent mechanism to encourage wide use of crop insurance." The corn growers summarized McCain's farm policy as "Opposes agricultural subsidies and has stated he would have vetoed the 2008 Farm Bill. Supports trade compliance." Few if any presidential polls focus on how farmers plan to vote in the race. Early polls showed McCain with a commanding lead with rural voters, who are traditionally more fiscally and socially conservative than their urban counterparts.

However a poll released last week on behalf of the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Ky., showed McCain's lead among rural voters in 13 "swing states" had evaporated.

-- Contact the writer: (319) 398-8317 or david.dewitte@gazcomm.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0043-29033177

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