ANKENY -- Calling for a breakup of agricultural business monopolies and an overhaul of federal farm assistance programs, Iowa Democratic U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Scholten on Monday said current federal ag policy is not working for many farmers.

"It is clear to me that we're hurting out here and the status quo is not working," Scholten told reporters during a campaign event at a farm just north of Ankeny. "I'm very worried these next 10 to 20 years. What's going to happen here?"

Scholten, a state legislator from Sioux City, is one of three Democrats running in Iowa's 2026 U.S. Senate campaign; the others are Coralville state legislator Zach Wahls and former chamber of commerce leader Nathan Sage of Indianola.

Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is the incumbent; she has not yet said whether she plans to seek a third, six-year term next year.

Scholten has long been an outspoken critic of agribusiness monopolies, and that featured in the "Fair Game Plan for Farmers" policy document his campaign published Monday. Scholten proposes breaking up monopolies in agriculture, food and rail by calling for U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission investigations into existing mergers and a moratorium on all future ag mergers.

According to Scholten's campaign, there are essentially only three seed companies; that only four companies comprise 75 percent of the fertilizer market; four companies control 90 percent of grain trade; four companies control 85 percent of the meat market; and two firms control 60 percent of the nation's dairy supply.

"When you don't have the competition, that squeezes farmers, it hurts consumers and it hurts workers. And so that's why we want more competition," Scholten said, adding that the COVID pandemic highlighted and exasperated the challenges faced by farmers.

"You had farmers being squeezed both on the input and the market side, you have workers working at suppressed and for lower wages, you have consumers paying the most they ever have for things like meat and eggs," Scholten said. "And then you have these few companies (that) have all had record profits in that time."

Scholten also called for reforming federal farm subsidies. He said the top 10 percent of U.S. farms receive 70 percent of federal assistance.

Tony Thompson, who owns a farm near Elkhart and is a Democratic candidate for the Iowa Senate, spoke at the Scholten campaign event and said he appreciated the proposals put forth by Scholten.

"We talk about the value of farm families and rural communities, but we're doing everything from a policy standpoint that essentially undermines that," Thompson said. "It affects us all in so many ways. It affects us in terms of prices at the grocery stores. It affects us in terms of what companies are willing to pay their workers, in terms of paying living and fair wages and compensation practices. It affects us in terms of water quality."

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