Ag secretary to speak to Senate about farming

Iowa Ag Secretary Patty Judge is jetting to Washington, D.C., this afternoon, preparing to testify before Senate Democrats tomorrow. The Senate’s Democratic Policy Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday on the growing concentration in ag industries — giving a few companies great power over prices.Judge says she supports a federally-enforced moratorium on agribusiness mergers, as well as new “Farmers and Ranchers Fairness Act.”Judge says her message to lawmakers is that “concentration” has harmed farmers. She says prices paid to farmers fell 36-percent from 1984 to 1998.Judge says, though, laws need to be changed as Justice Department lawyers don’t have the clear authority to tackle monopolies in the ag industry in the same way they sued Microsoft.