The iowa Farmers Union has endorsed Chet Culver for Governor.  IFU President Gary Hoskey warned in last weeks' Iowa Farmer Today that “Branstad … can't be trusted” to do what's in Iowa's best interests.

Hoskey then directs us to the IFU website for more information.  On IFU's main page they've included a link:  “Information about Branstad.”  There you can find both long and short versions of Hoskey's letter.  Additionally they provide three sets of documents (in pdf format) to document Hoskey's criticisms of Branstad.  

 As I posted in my previous blog, “Branstad and Grassley:  Bad for Iowa's Economy,” there is abundant research available now to prove that Branstad was wrong.  I did not provide online links to this sort of information in that diary; as I had some glitches in posting it, but I've posted a couple in a Comment at the Farmers Union site.

Please keep in mind the links to this research as you survey the documentation provided by the Farmers Union.  They show some of the early claims about how hog factories would be good for our state's economy.  That has all been conclusively proven to be false.  As Emeritus Economics Professor John Ikerd has written:  

Virtually every study done on the subject in the past 20 years has confirmed the inevitable negative community impacts of CAFOs.  Research consistently shows that the social and economic quality of life is better in communities characterized by small, diversified family farms.”