Ag officials reported over the weekend another outbreak of avian flu in an Iowa flock. The Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship announced that 250,000 birds in Franklin County were exposed in the outbreak and had to be killed and disposed of to prevent the spread of the highly contagious, fatal bird flu.
On this episode of River to River, host Ben Kieffer speaks with IPR's own Katie Peikes about her reporting on the spread of avian flu in the state, its impacts on producers and consumers and what we've learned since the last big outbreak in 2015.
We also get an update from IPR's Natalie Krebs on the push to license Iowa midwives meeting resistance in the Iowa Senate.
We also hear about the Iowa House revising Gov. Kim Reynolds' education bill, the Iowa Legislature's proposed cuts to unemployment benefits, a bill that would block eminent domain for carbon pipelines for a year, the impact on Des Moines' East High School community in the aftermath of a shooting involving students and how Iowans from Ukraine are reacting to the war in their home country.
Guests:
- Grant Gerlock, covers education and central Iowa for IPR
- Katarina Sostaric, covers state government for IPR
- Katie Peikes, covers agriculture for IPR and Harvest Public Media
- Natalie Krebs, covers health for IPR
- Kassidy Arena, covers Iowa’s Latino and Spanish-speaking communities for IPR
