Abbe Hills Farm

04/30/2026

04/22/2026

There's still plenty of time to plant potatoes.

We've got extra seed potatoes - top quality, fresh from the potato farms in Wisconsin, certified disease free.

$1 per pound: Superior (white), Dark Red Norland (red), Oneida Gold (yellow), Red Prairie (red), Adirondack Red (red inside), Adirondack Blue (blue inside), Kennebec (white).

$2 per pound: Magic Molly (fancy one, blue inside), Andi (fancy new yellow fingerling).

Please contact me by email if you'd like to stop by and get some. [email protected].

Thanks

03/31/2026

Here's the letter I just sent to our senators, representative, and Iowa ag secretary. Shocking development from USDA, although maybe nothing is shocking anymore?

Senators Grassley and Ernst, Representative Hinson, Secretary Naig,

Again, the administration has yanked away funding that supports beginning farmers and local food, just like they did in early 2025 when they cut all funding for local food for schools and daycares. And just like last time, you’ve done nothing to show your support for the Iowans who have been demolished by the move.

Last Tuesday, USDA notified Iowa Valley RC&D that it would lose $2.5 million, and SILT that it would lose $1.8 million in federal funding to support their work. Proposals approved, contracts signed months ago, staff hired, young farmers who have totally rearranged their lives to participate – all cut off at the knees on Friday, three days after the notice with no time to respond.

The decision didn’t come in a vacuum. According to a press release from Iowa Valley RC&D, “Over the last year, USDA administration has systematically undermined the program by freezing funds, delaying payments by months, withholding required approvals, and directing program staff to withhold basic grant communications and directed local USDA staff in County offices not to participate in outreach activities with local farmers and partners. In the letter received by Iowa Valley the agency then cited the resulting delays as justification for cancellation of Iowa Valley’s award.”

This is terrible for the beginning farmers who need support and mentoring, terrible for organizations that contribute so much to food production and land access in Eastern Iowa, and terrible for our local economy to lose $4.3 million that was committed to be spent in Johnson, Linn, and Cedar counties.

If we’re going to build the bridge to the future with the next generation of farmers who have the skills and resources to grow our food, we need these programs. What are you going to do to speak up on our behalf?

Please don’t tell me that it’s out of your control, or that it will all be taken care of in the next Farm Bill. You hold top positions as the policy leaders of one of the very most important ag states in the nation. You can do something. You can speak up for us to Congress and the administration and demand the money be returned for the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access awards. You can spread the word about this short-sighted, mean, and politically charged action that has put IVRCD and SILT in mortal danger. You can show respect for the institutions and hard work of your constituents who are doing everything we possibly can to build the next generation of food farmers. You can make a stink on our behalf. You can represent us.

I await your response.

Laura Krouse
Abbe Hills Farm
Mt Vernon, IA

05/22/2025

Do you remember swimming at the beach at Lake McBride? I sure do. But not any more - it's too dangerous, frequently closed because of pollution. It doesn't have to be this way. Iowans deserve clean water and swimmable beaches at our state parks.

Join me and our neighbors at the beach Saturday, May 17, noon until 1:00, to demonstrate for our rights to clean water and policies that make it happen.

We are calling for more volunteers this weekend to take part in our 48 Lakes Initiative! Iowa waters are the wealth of the people and our wealth is being taken from us by polluters. We need you to share your story with us and reclaim what is ours.

05/08/2025

We'll be at the new farmers market at Rhubarb Botanicals on Saturday, 9:00 until noon. We're bringing the crunchy stuff.

Rhubarb Botanicals will have garden plant starts, Mother's Day bouquets and arrangements.

681 Hwy 1, just south of Mt. Vernon.

04/05/2025

We'll be at the new farmers market on May 3 with pasture raised eggs! Yippee!!!

Look what we found at FUEL art and espresso 👀😍 Flyers for Rhubarb Botanicals Saturday Farmer’s Markets starting May 3rd! (Yes, the same weekend as Chalk the Walk- Mount Vernon is the place to be!!)

We hope you are as excited as us to support small local farms this summer. Thank you, Rhubarb Botanicals!

04/03/2025

Here is the note I sent to my state representative, Cindy Golding, this morning. I've already asked her and my state senator to vote no 3 or 4 times. My state senator, Charlie McClintock, voted in favor of this legislation earlier in the week. Opposition to the bill is widespread. The only way to stop it now is in the Iowa House.

Cindy,

Please vote no on SF394, the bill that shields pesticide manufacturers from responsibility if their products make Iowans sick. This bill was written by Bayer, promoted by Bayer, advertised by Bayer, defended by Bayer – all to protect Bayer rather than Iowa farmers, rural residents, and suburban Roundup users. They are using hyperbole and fear to get your vote – they are never going to give up selling Roundup in Iowa and failure to pass this bill will not raise food prices.

Protect the rights of Iowans rather than the profits of Bayer. Vote no when this stinker comes up for a vote in the House. Thank you.

Laura Krouse
Abbe Hills Farm
Mt Vernon

03/17/2025

In the two posts I wrote last week about the loss of the federal funding that made it possible for schools, food pantries, and day cares to buy local food, there were several questions like “What can I do to help”?

Here is my suggestion:

Pick your issue. Mine is diversified and resilient agriculture, and this particular program matters quite a lot to me and my farmer colleagues. Of course, I think you should buy local and seasonal food as much as possible. But more importantly, you should pick a thing that you know a lot about, that you care a lot about, and focus on that. Keep writing, phoning, emailing Senators Grassley and Ernst, Representative Hinson, and whoever elected officials at the state and local level should be aggressively advocating on your behalf. For me, that is Secretary Naig at IDALS. Ask for a reply, remind them when they don’t reply, catch up with them in person and bring up your points again.

If you are a rural person or small town person like me, I urge you to pick an issue that resonates where we live. Maybe it is groundwater quality, elderly care, child care, postal service, soil conservation, weather service, cancer research, rural schools, trade war, healthcare access, pesticide use, broadband internet. There are plenty of services which touch the lives of rural people very directly, on which we depend and that we will notice immediately when they are diminished.

Please also think about becoming a candidate for something – local, state, or federal. Not enough rural people run for office and our concerns are often ignored. You don’t have to be a farmer to speak for rural people.

Thank you for caring so much about school food and diversified farms. I’ve been so pleased to read your comments and encouragement.

03/15/2025

Someone asked why farmers need federal funding to sell our products. Very reasonable question. Below is my response.

The food pantries, school lunch, and day cares need the additional funding so they can afford to buy nutritious local food rather than lower quality food that is cheaper and requires less preparation. As you know, school budgets are already at their limit so when tough decisions have to be made, food and lunch staff are more likely to be reduced than are teachers or furnaces.

When the pantries and schools have adequate funding, they’ve shown that they prefer to buy food from Iowa farmers. The cost of the programs that were cut in Iowa is $1.50 per Iowan over the next three years. That’s $.50 per year per Iowan. It’s not too much to expect to feed people better, especially when it is our national and state policy to do just that.

Some of the grant money goes to support staff for the food hubs who act as the brokers for the food I grow. I can’t possibly manage to sell my products to multiple schools and food pantries by myself. I need help with selling, warehousing, cooling, and delivering. This is the role of the “middleman” in getting food from farms to eaters. The food hub brokers the deals and helps both the farmers and the school lunch buyers make it happen. It’s very efficient and Field to Family has built an incredible reputation for their work.

The point of my letter was to ask the people who were elected to represent Iowans to actually represent us, right now, while we are deep into preparing for the growing season. There is huge interest in feeding people better. There is huge interest in encouraging and building infrastructure so small, diversified farms like mine can compete and succeed. There is no downside to Grassley, Ernst, Hinson, and Naig publicly showing their support. Here is what IDALS had to say:

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship sees significant value in programs designed to forge relationships between Iowa farmers and local food hubs, food banks and schools. We’re advocating to USDA and our federal Congressional leaders on how we can secure more permanent funding solutions for local food programs in the new Farm Bill.

Not good enough. Too little. Too late. Not public enough. We need them to step up and speak up for farmers, school kids, and people who don’t have enough food NOW.

03/14/2025

Senators Grassley and Ernst, Representative Hinson, Secretary Naig,

On Monday afternoon, Field to Family, our food hub in Iowa City, found out that USDA funding for support of local food purchasing by 44 area school districts and 22 food pantries has been cancelled. Funding that also encouraged 73 area food producers to develop new markets for our fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy.

I’m one of those farmers. I’ve budgeted to sell about $5000 in late summer and fall vegetables to Field to Family but that won’t happen now. There is real, expensive fallout to Trump’s decision.

Field to Family has promoted the infrastructure for increasing the production and use of local food since the pandemic. With their help, we’ve built coolers, high tunnels, grazing systems, and menus. We’ve bought refrigerated trucks, breeding stock, packaging equipment, and food prep tools. We’ve improved food safety and developed local food leaders. How in the world does it make sense to let all this investment go to waste?

Our HHS secretary wants healthier food for kids. USDA policy encourages local food and smaller, more diversified farms. Funding to boost local food purchasing accomplishes both. USDA needs to honor their commitments and to put their money where their policy is.

We expect you to speak up and vigorously defend this program. We need you to speak for us on TV news, farm radio, social media, in congressional committee meetings, at public events, everywhere. Don’t blame it on Biden – this is absolutely Trump’s decision. And anything the State of Iowa is planning is not enough. We need your help right now – at this minute. Farmers this week are caring for newborn livestock, planting seeds inside high tunnels, finishing up infrastructure improvements before we have to go to the field. We need to know right now that these local food markets will be available for us.

What are you – our elected representatives - going to do to support local food in Iowa? I await your reply.

Laura Krouse
Abbe Hills Farm
Mt. Vernon, Iowa