CEDAR RAPIDS — The city of Cedar Rapids’ drinking water has been deemed the best-tasting drinking water in Iowa. A new water quality report published in February by the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., found that the drinking water coming from Cedar Rapids Water Division’s two water treatment plants ranks best among 201 municipal [...]

  Last summer and fall’s drought and heat wave caused losses in excess of $1 billion for Iowa’s corn and soybean farmers, according to figures reported Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency. Federally-subsidized crop insurance, administered by the USDA Risk Management Agency, covered the losses. The federal government subsidizes about 57 [...]

Voluntary conservation, the prevalent method in Iowa, is not making the state’s water any cleaner, according to a study released today by the Environmental Working Group. “If we are serious about cleaning up Iowa’s water, we are going to need regulations” to curb damaging farming practices, said study co-author Craig Cox, EWG senior vice president [...]

Federal crop insurance, which is saving many grain farmers from financial ruin during the worst drought in more than 50 years, is also subsidizing the conversion of grassland and wetlands to crop fields, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group and Defenders of Wildlife. The “grass-to-grain” transition in the farm belt — exemplified [...]

Iowa farmers received $1.3 billion in subsidies last year from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to data released Thursday by the non-profit Environmental Working Group. Iowa ranks second in the nation in terms of farm subsidies, with 8.7 percent of the total in 2011. Texas leads all states at $1.4 billion in subsidies, or 9.5 [...]

  By Jennifer Crull —–   After reviewing the latest numbers for farm subsidies, it is easy to see why we are in need of dramatic changes. The Environmental Working Group’s website (http://farm.ewg.org) has federal farm subsidy data from 1995 to 2010. The federal program that was started to help small, struggling farmers is now [...]