Getting into the business of making sustainable aviation fuel is the next big challenge for the state’s agribusiness sector, he said.

“This is a huge opportunity for us, but we’ve got to get it right,” he said.

Naig spoke at the Farmer Roundtable sponsored by the Iowa Soybean Association and Cargill. It was held at Lizard Creek Ranch west of Fort Dodge.

During his lunch hour remarks, the secretary hit the highlights of numerous issues facing farmers and agribusinesses.

He started with the current effort to strengthen laws that prohibit foreigners from owning Iowa farm ground. Foreign ownership of farmland is already illegal and has been for some 50 years. Naig said Iowa has had “model laws on the books since the 1970s.”

He said recently passed legislation headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds increases transparency on farm ownership, gives the state attorney general some additional tools to enforce the ban on foreign ownership and increases penalties for violations.

The bill passed the House of Representatives and Senate unanimously, which Naig said is “a testament to being on the right track.”

He said the state recently marked the 10 year anniversary of its nutrient reduction strategy intended to keep fertilizer and other crop inputs out of the state’s waterways. In that first decade, the program got started and a framework for it was established, he said.

He said the next decade will be about “scaling up” the effort.

The state has set records for implementing conservation practices, according to Naig.

“That’s people saying yes to conservation and actually getting it done,” he said.

With regard to the federal Farm Bill Congress is working on, Naig said “Put me in the camp of better to get it done right than get it done fast.”

In an interview following his speech, Naig said what Iowa farmers need from the federal Farm Bill is certainty with long established programs like crop insurance.

“We’re not really looking for a dramatic Farm Bill,” he said. “We need a continuation of what we’ve got.”

He said his agency, the state Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, is preparing as if highly pathogenic avian influenza will hit chicken and turkey flocks again this year. The disease is spread mostly by migrating wild birds.

Naig said the same strain of “high path” has been found in wild birds since 2022 and those birds haven’t gained immunity to it, which could result in another outbreak.

Iowa, he said, may ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an emergency waiver allowing the use of E15 ethanol this summer. The EPA has issued a waiver for its use in 2025, but not for this year.