Continued to monitor twice a week for new CAFO development in Jefferson County. No new CAFOs proposed in 2024.  JFAN has 1/13th the number of hogs found in all six surrounding counties.

Worked with a coalition of Iowa organizations urging the DNR to strengthen Chapter 65 CAFO regulations.

• Submitted the fourth and final set of written public comments with regulation recommendations.

• Delivered JFAN’s public statement at a DNR public hearing that was reported in a Cedar Rapids Gazette article.

• Sent out action alerts to over 1800 JFAN supporters encouraging them to submit public comments.

• Published an article calling out the DNR for passing Chapter 65 without strengthening CAFO regulations. 

Organized to prevent passage of the EATS Act. Member of the national Defeat EATS coalition.

• Organized and posted the webinar, How the EATS Act Strengthens Big Gag, Weakens Rural Communities and Harms You, the Consumer with Farm Action President Joe Maxwell that reached over 350 people to date.

• Attended a public meeting with Senator Chuck Grassley urging him to reconsider his support for the EATS Act.

• Published “Senator Grassley Is Wrong about the EATS Act” in The Bleeding Heartland addressing his response.

• Lobbied against the EATS Act during a meeting with a Sen. Grassley aide who later visited Fairfield.   

• Sent out an action alert promoting an ASPCA Call-In Day to voice opposition to the EATS Act.

Organized and posted on JFAN’s YouTube page two additional webinars in 2024:

• Leaving CAFOs Behind: Diverse Opportunities for Independent Family Farms – JFAN Annual Meeting featuring former CAFO owners. Nearly 500 people have view it to date (122 during webinar, 373 YouTube recording).

• Fifty Years of Change for Farms and Rural Communities with Dr. John Ikerd providing a history of industrial agriculture. Over 425 people have viewed it to date (107 attendees, 327 YouTube recording).

Interviewed by Vox on JFAN’s work for recently published article on factory farms.

Also interviewed by Bloomberg News for a series of articles he’s currently researching on industrial agriculture in Iowa. Connected him to numerous additional people in the state for him to interview.

Initiated research for a report on how the Iowa Department of Natural Resources handles CAFO violations in Iowa. Analyzing a year’s worth of violations. Work will continue into 2025.

Developed several action alerts sent to JFAN supporters including:

• EPA’s request for public comments over the DNR’s refusal to add seven polluted waterways to Iowa’s list of impaired waterways. Thirty-five (42%) of the 83 comments submitted resulted from JFAN’s Action Alert.  The EPA subsequently required the DNR to add the waterways.

• Vote NO on SSB 3103, a bill that would have eliminated anonymous complaints, making it less safe for people to report CAFO regulation violations. The bill didn’t make it out of committee.

• Vote NO on SF 2370, a bill preventing the DNR from strengthening CAFO regulations, which unfortunately passed.

• Vote NO on SF 2412, the pesticide immunity bill. The bill passed in the Senate but not the House. Currently. JFAN is supporting efforts to stop it again this year.

Wrote two articles on SF 2370 published in The Bleeding Heartland, one educational and the other calling out the Iowa state legislators for passing the bill. No regulation in the state may now be strengthened.

Serve as President of the Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA), a coalition co-founded by JFAN working for passage of a statewide CAFO moratorium.

• Co-organized and facilitated a public meeting, Factory Farms, Your Health, and the Cancer Connection in Iowa City in November. Over 550 have viewed the meeting to date (60 in person; 119 via Zoom; 388 YouTube recording.)

• Signed onto an EPA petition with 13 other state and national organizations to increase water quality protections.

Sought out by the Harkin Institute to advise on its September conference and book launch of Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Environment and Public Health edited by Dr. Jim Merchant and Bob Martin.

• Interviewed author Bob Martin, Senior Advisor at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, and Adam Shriver, Harkin Institute Director of Wellness and Nutrition Policy, to promote the conference.

• Co-organized a legislative strategy session with Iowa environmental organizations following the meeting.

Made a presentation on factory farms to MSAE senior class studying global issues. Invited back for 2025.

Sponsored the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club Resilient Community Earth Day event. Set up a JFAN information table.

Signed onto several national organizational letters on issues including those concerning the pesticide immunity bill, methane digesters, EPCRA, and the Pigs and Public Health Act.

Send out a periodic email newsletter with original content and links to stories and videos of interest.

Post articles on the JFAN Facebook page 3-5 times/week.