Farms.com Home   Ag Industry News

Naig wins Iowa Republican ag nomination

Naig wins Iowa Republican ag nomination

He will run against Democrat Tim Gannon in November

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Iowa Republicans have selected their party representative in the race to become the state’s next Secretary of Agriculture.

Incumbent Mike Naig, who Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed as ag secretary in March, won party support during a June 16 convention. He received 647 votes, defeating Ray Gaesser, chairman of the American Soybean Association, who received 548 votes.

“It’s critically important that we maintain conservative leadership at the Department of Ag and in the secretary’s office, and we must put our best foot forward in a very competitive race against a Democrat,” Naig said during the convention.


Mike Naig

Naig is running on a platform focused on the “future of agriculture,” his campaign website says.

His plans include improving water quality and stewardship, promoting careers in agriculture, and expanding markets and trade. Increased trade also means protecting Iowa farmers from tariffs.

“What we’ve been trying to do with the Trump administration is to encourage them to negotiate quickly, with some urgency, to resolve the issues that are real but in a way that prevents coming into effect,” he told Local 5 news after winning the nomination.

Naig will run against Tim Gannon, a former USDA administrator, in November.

Gannon issued a statement congratulating Naig on his victory and looks forward to campaigning for the privilege to support Iowa producers.

“I am excited to continue traveling throughout Iowa to discuss the issues that matter to Iowans,” his statement said, the Quad-City Times reports. “Now, more than ever, we must work to advocate for Iowa farmers and others who depend on a strong agricultural economy.”


Trending Video

Treating Sheep For Lice!

Video: Treating Sheep For Lice!

We are treating our sheep for lice today at Ewetopia Farms. The ewes and rams have been rubbing and scratching, plus their wool is looking patchy and ragged. Itchy sheep are usually sheep with lice. So, we ran the Suffolk and Dorset breeding groups through the chutes and treated them all. This treatment will have to be done again in two weeks to make sure any eggs that hatched are destroyed too. There was a lot of moving of sheep from pen to pen around the sheep barn but by all the hopping and skipping the sheep were doing, I think they enjoyed the day immensely! We hope you do too!