CLAGHORN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR
IOWA SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

December 21, 2005 – Speaking at the site of a proposed agribusiness park, Milo Republican Karey Claghorn announced her candidacy for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture with a pledge to provide forward-thinking leadership to strengthen and diversify the state’s rural economy.

  “Improving the bottom-line results for Iowa’s farmers, agribusinesses and small towns is where my focus will be,” Claghorn said during a news conference at the Heska Corp., an animal vaccine company that will be an anchor business for the proposed agribusiness park. “We’ve known for years that Iowa’s farmers are the most productive in the world.  We’ve also known that being the most productive doesn’t guarantee success.  We need a leader who is going to focus energy and resources on improving profitability.  That’s what’s going to make the difference for Iowa’s family farmers, rural communities and overall quality of life.”

Claghorn said she chose the site of the City of Des Moines’ proposed Agrimergent Park because she shares the visions of a showcase site where high-tech, state-of-the-art companies add value to Iowa’s agricultural products and create quality jobs.

“We’re also here because there’s a growing gap between rural Iowa and our cities.  I will work to bridge that gap through projects like these and by being a clear voice that reminds us that we’re all in this together,” Claghorn said.  “We can’t afford anything less than an active, forward-thinking leader as Secretary of Agriculture to make this project and other projects like it across the state come to life to make our economy stronger and more diverse far into the future.”
         
 She added, “I’m here to say to Iowans: Elect me as your secretary of agriculture and I will help move this vision and others like it from the drawing board to reality.”

Claghorn noted that she will set specific goals in areas important to the state’s future – statewide economic development, productivity with profitability, national food security, international trade, energy production and conservation and environmental protection.

“I’ll make sure the department’s resources are focused every day on those priorities because Iowa is already up against fierce global competition,” she said. “We need to be more than raw-commodity producers; we need to be global trend setters. The very future of rural Iowa depends on our ability to make that happen.”

Claghorn said higher profits and more effective land use need not come at the environment’s expense.

“In fact, I believe we can increase farmers’ profitability while doing more for the environment. I don’t need to tell anyone that fuel prices are very high and likely to stay that way.  We need to expand the production and use of bio-diesel, increase the use and production of ethanol, encourage the development and use of digesters to convert farm waste into usable energy, develop more wind power and biomass energy sources and do more to encourage sensible energy conservation,” she said.

She added, “We need a Secretary of Agriculture who creates a genuine sense of excitement and enthusiasm for agriculture and one who puts and keeps agriculture in the public eye every day.  We need a Secretary of Agriculture who generates a sense of public awareness and support for agriculture that doesn’t today.  I will be that Secretary of Agriculture.  If Iowans elect me they’ll know if we’re getting the job done because I’m going to tell the public exactly what I want to accomplish and then I’ll go out and do it.”

Claghorn, 48, is the executive director of the American Hampshire Sheep Association/Associated Sheep Registries.  A graduate of Indiana University, she is a member of the Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Cattleman’s Association, Iowa Sheep Industry Association and Women in Agriculture. She and her husband, Alan, grow row crops and run a small cow-calf operation on their rural Warren County farm.  Alan Claghorn is also vice president of labor relations at Ruan Transportation.  The Claghorns have three children.

Claghorn is a client of The Concept Works, a West Des Moines government and public relations firm founded in 2002 that served corporate, nonprofit and political clients.