Rep. Josh Turek, running for U.S. Senate, met with Megan and Vance Veldboom at Raffety Farms in Grinnell on October 29, 2026, to discuss Iowa’s agriculture economy. Farmers Lance and Megan Veldboom, who own Raffety Farms, gave Turek a tour of their property and equipment while telling the candidate about some of the problems they have faced with high input costs and volatile markets over the past year. Megan Veldboom told Turek, a state representative, that she and many farmers are feeling “uncertainty” about the future. “I mean, certainty that expenses are going up, and uncertainty of what the future holds,” she said.
Turek and other Democrats on the campaign trail have highlighted the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and high fuel and fertilizer prices caused by the Iran war. The Veldbooms said these were issues contributing to high costs, and there are other long-term impacts on Iowa markets that could hurt the state’s economy, like the loss of international markets for pork.
Hinson, who currently represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, has championed the “Save Our Bacon Act” – a proposal she introduced that would block individual states from enforcing conditions on livestock products sold across state lines. The legislation was introduced specifically in response to California’s Proposition 12 that enacts certain standards for growing conditions of livestock like hogs. While Hinson and farmers supporting the measure say the Save Our Bacon Act will help local Iowa hog farmers, Turek said he believed the measure benefits large, international companies like JBS Foods and Smithfield Foods more than it helps small Iowa farmers.
“When I’m out there talking to small providers, most of them have already updated themselves to the standard,” Turek said. “… Certainly, California shouldn’t be telling Iowa farmers what to do. But … when I’m talking to small pork providers, they’re telling me this doesn’t benefit them. This doesn’t help them. This only helps foreign ownership.” He said he would instead advocate for legislation that would provide more help to small pork and beef producers, like mandatory country of origin labeling.
Linda Schroeder, a hog farmer in northwest Iowa with her husband and two sons, says Hinson’s proposal helps small Iowa producers because many family farms are not able to pay for the costs necessary to upgrade their facilities to comply with California’s Proposition 12. “Small family farmers can’t possibly basically shell out the (roughly) $3,000 per sale that it would cost to comply with Prop 12,” Schroeder said. “I guess that means a lot of family farms would have to close for good, and that would be more consolidation in the ag industry.”
Billy Fuerst, Hinson campaign communications director, said in a statement, “When it comes to agriculture and more specifically Prop 12, Josh Turek has no idea what he’s talking about.” “Farmers don’t trust a liberal like him who supports Prop 12, wants a 50% tax rate on many Iowa farms, and voted to let fake meat be labeled as real,” Fuerst said.
Turek has stated he does not support California’s Proposition 12. Opponents of Hinson’s proposal, including some local farmers and groups like the American Meat Producers Association, have argued the measure allows Chinese companies to override state and U.S. laws. Turek called for Iowa farmers to support him over his opponent because “I’m going to look out actually for
