Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey this week asked for $10 million for water quality initiatives and $500,000 for efforts to fight bird flu. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship made the requests in its budget meeting with Gov. Terry Branstad. The water quality money would largely go to farmers who are trying new conservation practices, and to work in targeted watershed looking for measurable water quality results. The Department received $9.6 million for the current fiscal year for the Water Quality Initiative. Read more