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The complex tapestry of American agriculture often appears idyllic from afar – vast fields under an expansive sky, a symbol of national bounty. Yet, beneath this surface, powerful corporate, political, and cultural forces dictate the choices made by farmers, influencing crop selection, cultivation methods, and the proliferation of industrial hog facilities that increasingly dominate rural horizons. These profound dynamics, and the beneficiaries of this highly consolidated system, are the very agricultural issues that Art Cullen has meticulously chronicled for over three decades at the Storm Lake Times Pilot in Storm Lake, Iowa. Cullen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and a native of the town, leads a family-run newspaper that, despite serving a community of approximately 11,000 in Iowa’s northwestern quadrant, has achieved national prominence due to the universal significance of the topics he covers. His insights offer a critical lens into the challenges faced by rural America, issues that are now surging to the forefront of national political and cultural discourse.
A Local Voice with Unwavering National Resonance
Art Cullen’s journey as a journalist is deeply intertwined with the fate of Storm Lake and, by extension, rural Iowa. The Storm Lake Times Pilot operates as a true community pillar, with Cullen serving as editor alongside his brother, wife, and son, emblematic of the family-owned local newspapers that once dotted the American landscape. This familial dedication underscores a commitment to local truth-telling, a quality increasingly rare in an era of media consolidation. While the newspaper’s primary mission remains to inform its immediate readership, Cullen’s incisive columns and editorials have transcended geographical boundaries, gaining a broader audience due to their unflinching examination of issues that resonate far beyond the cornfields of Iowa.
His journalistic tenacity garnered national recognition in 2017 when he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for editorials that "successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa." These editorials brought to light the environmental degradation, public health risks, and economic inequalities fostered by industrial agriculture, particularly the concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that have reshaped the state’s rural economy and landscape. Cullen’s work demonstrated that local journalism, when executed with integrity and courage, possesses the power to hold even the most formidable corporate entities accountable. His Pulitzer-winning pieces specifically delved into the opaque nature of agricultural runoff regulations and the disproportionate influence of agribusiness on state policy, ultimately advocating for greater transparency and environmental protection.
Beyond his newspaper columns, Cullen has further disseminated his observations through two books. His most recent, Dear Marty, We Crapped In Our Nest: Notes From the Edge of the World, published last year, is a collection of his columns that delves into these critical themes. The book’s title itself, provocative and stark, hints at the environmental and societal consequences of unchecked industrial expansion. The topics explored within its pages—ranging from immigration’s role in the food system to the alarming rise in cancer rates, and the relentless consolidation of agricultural power—are not merely local concerns but represent foundational challenges confronting the entire nation as it navigates a pivotal election year. These issues, once considered niche agricultural topics, are now becoming central to broader conversations about economic justice, public health, and environmental stewardship, echoing concerns voiced by a growing populist movement across the country.
Iowa at a Crossroads: Political and Environmental Shifts
The current period marks a significant inflection point for Iowa, according to Cullen, characterized by both political upheaval and profound environmental changes. For the first time since 1968, the state is witnessing open U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races, presenting a rare opportunity for a substantial political realignment. Over the past decade, Iowa has been largely dominated by a Republican congressional delegation and a "red state" government led by figures like Governor Kim Reynolds and Senator Joni Ernst, neither of whom are seeking re-election in this cycle. This political vacuum opens the door for Democrats to potentially secure both seats, a shift that could dramatically alter Iowa’s political atmosphere and policy direction, moving away from a decade of conservative dominance.
Cullen laments that the past decade has seen Iowa regress on crucial social issues, including a suppression of its history concerning African Americans and Native Americans, and the shaming of LGBTQ+ individuals. This cultural backlash has created a challenging environment for many Iowans. A change in political leadership, he suggests, could begin to reverse these trends and foster a more inclusive and progressive social environment, aligning the state more closely with national shifts in social acceptance and historical reckoning.
Parallel to these political shifts, nature itself is imposing significant changes on agricultural practices. Climate change is manifesting in more extreme weather patterns, including prolonged droughts and intense storms, impacting agricultural productivity and sustainability. Disease outbreaks are rampant in livestock operations, a concern amplified by the high-density nature of industrial farming, while cattle in the Great Plains face increasingly severe water shortages, forcing difficult decisions for ranchers. The agricultural sector is experiencing a period of intense flux, with beef plants both closing and opening, reflecting broader uncertainties in the supply chain and market dynamics, further complicated by global economic pressures and shifting consumer demands. Given agriculture’s central role in Iowa’s economy and identity, these transformations are particularly vital and keenly felt across the state’s rural communities.
Cullen critically assesses the "50-year experiment in supply-side economics," arguing that it has demonstrably failed. Its promises of widespread prosperity have not materialized for agriculture, rural communities, or the broader political culture, instead contributing to pervasive water pollution, a decline in rural economic vitality, and social fragmentation. These interconnected failures, he contends, underscore the urgent need for a new direction, marking yet another critical inflection point for the state that demands a comprehensive re-evaluation of its economic and environmental policies.
The Unfolding Water Quality Crisis: A Consequence of Industrial Agriculture
Water quality stands as one of the most pressing concerns in Iowa, and Cullen’s recent work, including his series “What’s Eating Iowa?,” directly addresses this crisis. This documentary series, comprising four medium-length films, explores the interconnected issues of water quality, cancer, agricultural resiliency in the age of climate change, and rural consolidation. Each topic, Cullen emphasizes, leads back to the others, forming a complex web of environmental and social challenges that collectively threaten the state’s ecological and human health.
Public concern over water quality is palpable. Last summer, an astonishing thousand people gathered at Drake University on a beautiful evening to discuss anhydrous ammonia—a potent fertilizer—and nitrate levels in the Raccoon River. This turnout, for a topic typically relegated to specialist conferences, is extraordinary for a state like Iowa, especially given Des Moines’ population of 500,000. The Raccoon River is a vital source of drinking water for the Des Moines metropolitan area, making the presence of elevated nitrate levels a direct threat to public health and a significant financial burden on municipal water treatment facilities. The Des Moines Water Works, for instance, has invested millions in nitrate removal technology, costs ultimately borne by ratepayers, highlighting the economic consequences of agricultural runoff. This level of public engagement signals a growing awareness and deep-seated frustration among Iowans regarding the deteriorating state of their waterways.
Crucially, Iowans are increasingly linking this widespread water pollution directly to agricultural practices, particularly the runoff from industrial animal agriculture and crop fields heavily treated with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The scale of the problem is immense: Iowa consistently ranks among states with the highest rates of impaired waterways, with hundreds of rivers, streams, and lakes failing to meet water quality standards due to agricultural pollutants like nitrates, phosphorus, and bacteria from livestock waste. Data from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the EPA frequently show widespread impairment, impacting aquatic life, recreational opportunities, and drinking water sources. These pollutants not only impact local ecosystems and drinking water supplies but also contribute to larger environmental catastrophes, such as the hypoxic "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, a vast area where oxygen levels are too low to support marine life, largely fed by nutrient runoff from the Mississippi River Basin, of which Iowa is a major contributor. The economic and ecological ramifications of this annual dead zone are staggering, impacting fisheries and coastal communities far beyond Iowa’s borders.
Despite overwhelming evidence and public outcry, the political response has been largely stagnant. Cullen points to a Republican legislature, heavily funded by what he terms the "agribusiness cartel," that consistently resists meaningful regulation of agriculture. This resistance extends to drainage districts, which often facilitate the rapid channeling of pollutants into rivers, and obstructs any substantive discussion about the root causes of Iowa’s alarming health statistics. The prevailing political climate, fueled by powerful lobbying interests from commodity groups and chemical manufacturers, prioritizes industrial agricultural profits over environmental protection and public health. This political inertia perpetuates a cycle where externalized costs of pollution are borne by the public, while the industry continues to operate with minimal accountability.
The Silent Epidemic: Cancer Rates and Environmental Links
Beyond water quality, Iowa grapples with another profound public health crisis: alarmingly high cancer rates. Cullen highlights that Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the country, trailing only Kentucky, a state historically associated with high tobacco use. Even more concerning is the high rate of youth cancer in Iowa, which presents a particularly distressing puzzle for public health officials. Specifically, the region where Cullen lives, characterized by the highest concentration of livestock operations, also records the highest rates of breast and prostate cancer in North America. This geographic correlation suggests a strong environmental link that warrants urgent investigation. The Iowa Cancer Registry, for example, has published findings indicating that Iowa’s cancer incidence rates are not only high but also rising faster than the national average, prompting serious questions about environmental contributors.
For residents in these areas, the connection between their environment and their health is becoming increasingly undeniable. Many frequently "smell hog shit in the air every day when they open up the door," a visceral reminder of the proximity to industrial animal agriculture. These daily sensory experiences, coupled with rising illness, are slowly but surely prompting people to connect environmental influences, industrial practices, and their health outcomes. While definitive scientific causality for all cases remains complex and often requires long-term epidemiological studies, the correlational evidence and the sheer scale of the problem compel a critical examination of the state’s agricultural model.
The potential links between industrial agriculture and cancer are multi-faceted. The widespread use of agricultural chemicals, including pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), has been a subject of intense debate and numerous lawsuits linking them to various cancers, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Beyond chemical exposure, industrial livestock operations are known to emit a cocktail of airborne pollutants, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Chronic exposure to these airborne toxins can contribute to respiratory illnesses, neurological problems, and potentially increase cancer risk, particularly for those living in close proximity to CAFOs. The high concentration of these facilities, often in rural areas with less stringent environmental monitoring, exacerbates the public health burden on local communities, transforming what were once idyllic landscapes into zones of environmental concern.
This growing awareness, however, clashes with a powerful narrative propagated by the agricultural industry and its political allies. Cullen notes the slow pace at which people are connecting how these agribusinesses have, in effect, "ruined rural communities" – not just environmentally and socially, but in terms of health and well-being. This realization is often a painful and difficult one, forcing communities to confront the trade-offs of an economic model that prioritizes large-scale production over local welfare.
Combating "Cropaganda": The Battle Against Disinformation
One of the most insidious challenges in addressing these issues is the pervasive narrative that labels any critique of industrial agriculture as "anti-farmer." Cullen vividly illustrates this with the example of Chris Jones, a Democratic research scientist and water researcher running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. Jones’s advocacy for clean water was immediately met with the incumbent Republican’s charge that he was "anti-farmer." This tactic, Cullen argues, forces a false dichotomy: one must be "pro-pollution to be pro-farmer."
"Of course, it’s bullshit," Cullen states bluntly. "You can have prosperous agriculture and clean air and water. They’re not mutually exclusive." He terms this sustained campaign of disinformation and propaganda "Cropaganda," a clever portmanteau highlighting the deceptive nature of industry-backed narratives. This "Cropaganda" serves to shield agribusiness from regulation and accountability by framing environmental concerns as an attack on the livelihoods of hardworking farmers, effectively silencing dissent and delaying meaningful reform. It leverages the deeply ingrained cultural identity of farmers as stewards of the land to deflect criticism from the industrial practices that often undermine that very stewardship.
The deep entanglement of corporate interests with state government further complicates this battle. The current state agriculture secretary, Mike Naig, previously worked for Monsanto, a company at the heart of controversies surrounding agricultural chemicals and genetically modified seeds. This revolving door between industry and regulatory bodies fosters an environment where corporate interests can heavily influence policy, often at the expense of environmental protection and public health. Such connections raise serious questions about potential conflicts of interest and the ability of state agencies to impartially regulate the very industries from which their leaders originate.
The phenomenon of farmers perceiving chemical corporations, pesticide companies, and seed giants as "on their side" is a critical aspect of this "Cropaganda." This perception has been carefully cultivated over decades through aggressive marketing, research funding, and lobbying efforts. Corporations position themselves as providers of essential tools for modern farming, promising increased yields, pest control, and efficiency. They often fund agricultural research at land-grant universities, sponsor farmer events, and provide technical support, creating a dependency and a sense of partnership. This strategy effectively diverts attention from the long-term environmental and health costs associated with their products and consolidates their market power, making it exceedingly difficult for farmers to operate outside this corporate-dominated system. The historical trajectory from independent farming to a highly industrialized model, where farmers often act more as contractors for large corporations, underscores this complex relationship, with farmers increasingly beholden to a handful of powerful seed, chemical, and meatpacking conglomerates.
Immigration: The Unseen Pillar of the Meatpacking Industry
The discussion of Iowa’s agricultural landscape is incomplete without acknowledging the crucial, yet often precarious, role of immigration. Recent ICE operations in Minnesota, impacting farms and the broader food system, have brought this issue to the forefront nationally. In Storm Lake, where the population is majority Latino, residents feel particularly threatened and fearful, leading to a palpable sense of apprehension and a
