Ag Secretary Naig Holds Meeting In Glenwood

Iowa Secretary Of Agriculture Mike Naig stopped in Glenwood Sept. 21 for a round-table discussion with a small group of Mills County farmers, bankers and legislators.

A variety of topics were discussed at the meeting, including drought conditions across the state, status of the local harvest, renewable energy, foreign ownership of Iowa farmland,  the pending closure of the Glenwood Resource Center, the Missouri River levee system and the Cattlemen’s Heritage meat processing plant proposed for a 132-acre site in northwest Mills County.

Naig said as dry as conditions  are in southwest Iowa, the region is actually in better shape than several counties in northeast Iowa where rainfall has been practically non-existent in recent months.

“You have moderate and severe drought conditions here but there’s some places up in northeast Iowa that are D3 - extreme drought, and D4 – extensive drought,” he said.

Naig was told Cattlemen’s Heritage developers have reportedly secured the estimated $400 million required to build the proposed facility but want to have an additional $150 million in place to maintain the plant, which is projected to employ several hundred workers.