Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack is planning to meet with groups around the state to tout ideas that offer farmers different income streams — and keep more people in rural Iowa. Vilsack’s first stop was Tuesday afternoon in rural Warren County.
Vilsack, who served a dozen years as the nation’s secretary of agriculture, says the tax code should remove the steep financial penalty that prevents young farmers from acquiring land from older relatives. And he says incentives from the government and the private sector should support small and medium sized farmers who do things like plant diverse crops, install solar panels to generate electricity to sell to a utility, or convert manure into methane.
About two dozen people attended the event, organized by the Iowa Democratic Party. Vilsack says he’s ready to have more events like it around the state.
Vilsack, who served two terms as governor, says he is not running for governor, but as the 2026 campaign begins, Vilsack says he wants to outline a set of rural issues that merits consideration.
Vilsack says Governor Reynolds decision not to seek a third term is creating new energy — in both parties.
And Vilsack says when he announced in 2006 that he wouldn’t seek a third term as governor, that opened up opportunities for others in both parties to compete for governor and other elected offices.
