Farm Bureau voting delegates last week adopted policies aimed at gathering information on soil conservation progress by farmers in Iowa, expanding access to cover crop incentives and protecting prevented planting acres from erosion.

"It’s very important that our delegates had extensive discussions on many key issues for agriculture and our state in general," Craig Hill, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) president, said following the annual Summer Policy Conference in West Des Moines. "Our grassroots approach, which allows members to have a voice in all of the policies that we adopt, shows our strength as an organization."

Delegates representing the 100 county Farm Bureaus also crafted policies addressing agriculture’s representation in community planning, maintaining Iowa’s influence in determining educational standards and imposing mandatory sentences for felony theft of livestock or...