Iowa Sec. of Agriculture Bill Northey today issued the following statement on the 10 percent across the board budget cut announced by Governor Culver this afternoon. This cut will bring the Department’s total two year budget cut from the beginning of FY’09 through FY’10 to 23 percent.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship had already experienced a 15 percent cut from FY2009 to FY2010 that reduced the Department’s General Fund appropriation from $22 million to $18.7 million. The new cut announced today cuts an additional $1.87 million from the Department’s budget to a level of $16.8 million.
This level of funding is approximately the same as the Department’s appropriation for FY1994.
The Department is currently authorized 408 Full Time Employees (FTEs). Due to the previous cuts the Department has not been filling positions and currently has 37 open positions. The Department’s 371 FTEs are the fewest number of employees by the Department in more than 20 years. These numbers are before the additional 10 percent cut announced today.
The Department was handling the previous 15 percent cut by not filling open positions, 3 permanent layoffs, and mandatory leave without pay for the Department’s 38 non-contract employees, offering voluntary leave without pay to all employees, and using one-time funding sources such as depreciation funds that was authorized during the legislature last session.
It is still unclear what additional steps will be needed to handle the additional $1.87 million cut, but layoffs and possible elimination of certain Department functions are possible.
Sec. Northey’s comments regarding the Governor’s announcement follow here:
“The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has taken a significant reduction over the past year and another 10 percent cut in funding will have a dramatic affect on how we operate and the services we will be able to provide. We will spend less money in this fiscal year than was spent 16 years ago, all while state government has grown approximately 48 percent in the same period of time.”
Department Overview
The Department is responsible for a wide variety of consumer protection and agriculture promotion programs. This includes regulating meat processing, commercial feed and fertilizer, pesticide application, and dairy production and processing. The Weights and Measures Bureau makes sure both buyers and sellers are treated fairly at the gas pump, grocery store or grain elevator.
The State Climatologist, Entomologist, Horticulturalist and Veterinarian are also all part of the Department. Other areas of responsibility for the Department include Agriculture Statistics, the Iowa Horse and Dog Breeding program and helping promote the more than 170 farmers markets located across the state.
Land stewardship is also central to the work of the Department. The Division of Soil Conservation provides farmers with expertise and funds to help them install practices that preserve our highly productive soil, prevent erosion and protect our critical waterways. The Department is focused on making sure future Iowans can experience the same high quality of life that past generations have enjoyed in our state.
