Mike Naig gets a view from two important angles: his family’s century farm and his position as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. And he knows that one can impact the other. And there is a lot to consider.
“I think folks kind of feel like, ‘we're plateauing a little bit here, and there's got to be something that changes that dynamic here in ‘25.’ So, definitely under pressure,” Naig told American Farmland Owner from his office at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines, Iowa.
As the top agricultural leader in the state, Naig surrounds himself with data, research, and trends. And it is far more complicated than large corn and soybean harvests, lower commodity prices, elevated input costs, persistent inflation, and borrowing costs that don’t seem likely to fall quickly.
Other factors weigh down what he sees as well.
Communities in the northwestern part of his state -- one of the sections of the country with the heaviest agricultural concentration -- are still working to recover after record spring flooding.
RELATED: Randy Feenstra represents the area of the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. He explained to American Farmland Owner in December what troubled him in the farm economy and why it was vital for Congress to agree on a new five-year Farm Bill. Watch or listen to the conversation here.
Here is a visual gallery from KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa, that shows how severe the flooding hit small agricultural communities in northwest Iowa in June.
But there are myriad other forces that seem to be working against agriculture’s strength.
--Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) hit the state when Naig was deputy secretary of agriculture a decade ago and continues to challenge animal production as he serves as secretary of agriculture.
--This month, health officials reported the nation’s first case of “severe” bird flu that led to the death of an elderly person in Louisiana who had been suffering from other health challenges.
Louisiana public health officials reported that the person was likely exposed to the virus by a combination of non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds and had been hospitalized since mid-December.
Naig points out that while that case is tragic, it does not appear to be a case of human-to-human spread, which would concern health and agricultural leaders the most and bring the most serious threat yet because of its potential to spread.
-- This week Naig’s office reported another case of bird flu in a backyard flock in Clinton County. That was one of the 114 cases nationwide reported over the past month by the USDA impacting more than 13 million birds.
--Naig has heard the complaints from consumers and businesses about shortages in eggs and a price increase of 38% over the past year, according to USDA.
ABC News aired this story about bird flu’s impact on eggs. Naig knows this is the direct result of bird flu’s impact reducing flocks and egg production in key states like his.
--Iowa has lost thousands of jobs in the agricultural sector. Bridgestone is the latest to announce reductions. The company previously announced 214 layoffs last summer from its Des Moines plant as demand for agricultural equipment tires declined.
Bridgestone is now offering employees $35,000 to leave the company with the hope that 130 workers will accept the offer. Otherwise, the company may resort to additional layoffs. KCCI-TV in Des Moines has that story.
“We knew that all throughout ’24…and we'd been expecting it…the forecasting had been for a softening of the ag economy, a reduction on farm income,” Naig said.
“And certainly that did play out. As I would visit with folks as you closed out the year, we saw a bit of a jump, a bit of an uptick in some prices. Pork industry looked a little better. Beef industry obviously continues to be very strong.”
But expectations call for a challenging year overall. A few uncertainties don’t help. “Folks kind of say, ‘Well, you know, what dynamic changes throughout 2025? …You could have some tariff activity (President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to substantially raise tariffs on some countries like China and Mexico). You could certainly have some weather activity, but it just kind of seems like we might be stuck a little bit here in where we are.”
NOTE: Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig will be a featured speaker at the 18th Annual Land Investment Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 14th. Tickets are sold out to attend in person. But some tickets remain to participate virtually.
American Farmland Owner is a media sponsor the 18th Annual Land Investment Expo.
