455 - Why Iowa Can't Feed Itself — And Why That 65-Year-Old Farmer in His Air-Conditioned Tractor Isn't Going to Fix It | Damian Mason Podcast
About this episode
Damian Mason discusses why Iowa imports 90% of its food and the complexities behind agricultural self-sufficiency with guest Steve Strasheim.
A map went viral on X showing Iowa — one of America's most productive agricultural states — imports 90% of its food. Cue the outrage. Cue the gubernatorial candidates. Cue the narrative that our food system must be broken. But is it? Damian Mason brings back specialty crop grower Steve Strasheim to work through the real reasons big ag states don't feed themselves. Climate. Infrastructure. Economics. Distribution. Processing. Consumer behavior. The answers are less inflammatory than the Twitter thread that started this conversation — and a lot more interesting. Steve grows 45 different vegetable crops on five acres in rural Iowa, runs an on-farm retail store, and has watched the direct-to-consumer market change dramatically since COVID. He knows firsthand what it takes to actually move from bulk commodity production to crops that directly feed consumers. Will a 65-year-old corn and soybean farmer climb out of their air-conditioned, self-driving tractor to grow and sell lettuce to the general public? Not likely, and that's just one of the problems with the "Ag states should feed themselves" argument. Can Iowa feed itself? Probably not entirely. Should it? That's a better question…
Sponsors
Ag View Solutions, Tidal Grow, Agriscience, Nano-Yield, Life Scientific
More episodes of The Business of Agriculture Podcast
- 459 - Why American Farmers Pay More for Crop Inputs Than Brazil | Damian Mason Podcast
- 458 - 200 Million Acres of Southern Timberland: Why Land Outvalues Trees | Damian Mason Podcast
- 457 - Rural Opportunity Zones: New Tax Incentives for Agriculture Investment | Damian Mason Podcast
- 456 - Americans are eating more meat despite alternatives & higher prices — Will it continue? | Damian Mason Podcast
- 454 - How Paul Ehrlich's "Feed the World" Panic Is Still Costing Agriculture | Damian Mason Podcast
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Business of Agriculture Podcast podcast page.