Senator Brian Schoenjahn is convening a Natural Resources and Environment Senate subcommittee this morning to consider a bill that would improve testing and reporting for Iowa farmers impacted by pesticide drift. The proposed legislation addresses an increasingly urgent problem for farmers whose crops are damaged from drift. The current system for responding to this damage is slow and outdated, leaving affected farmers waiting months for test results. The new bill, SSB 3125, introduced by Senator Dick Dearden, will allow for online reporting of drift incidents, and will direct state officials to send drift samples to the State Hygienic Lab to speed up testing. The bill outlines payment for lab testing be collected from civil fines arising from drift investigations. The bill is supported by a coalition of statewide farmer organizations, including Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Organics Association and the Women, Food and Agriculture Network. The subcommittee will convene at 8:30 this morning in Des Moines.
