Rob Sand Tours Lincolnway Energy Plant, Talks Iowa’s Ethanol Industry

DES MOINES, IA – This week, nominee for governor Rob Sand visited Lincolnway Energy in Nevada to tour the ethanol plant and meet with local farmers and ethanol producers about the future of Iowa’s biofuels industry. Throughout the visit, Rob did “more listening than talking” and emphasized the importance of bringing Iowans together to strengthen the state’s agriculture industry. The stop comes after Rob announced his “Opportunities for All” plan last week, the latest proposal in his “Truer Better Agenda,” which includes a commitment to invest in and expand renewable energy across Iowa.

Read more about Rob’s visit below:

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa ethanol backers share concerns with Rob Sand

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand did more listening than talking Tuesday during a meeting with members of Iowa’s ethanol industry at Lincolnway Energy in Nevada.
There are currently 42 operational biorefineries in Iowa producing more than 5 billion gallons per year. The state produces approximately 28-30% of all fuel ethanol in the U.S., according to Story County farmer Bill Couser.
Sand said this is why it’s important for people to talk to each other. “I think if we listen to each other more, we end up actually understanding our own thinking better and getting to the place where we can actually put together solutions that most people agree with.”
“You want to have well-funded public schools?” posited Sand. “Okay, well, right now, today in the state of Iowa, we’re going to want agriculture and ethanol to be doing well because we want to have roads and bridges that work. We want to have public schools that are paying teachers well and getting our kids educated. We want to have good public safety. And we can have conversations around, like you’re talking about, the ways we can find to make it work better.”
“How cool is that in Iowa?” Tim Couser said. “And I would hope that if you become governor, that you walk down the main street of the state fair and anybody can stick their hand out. Oh, that is special to Iowa.”
Listening to people is Sand’s passion, he said. “I’ll tell you, I do it the way I do it because I remember growing up in Decorah seeing in the newspaper that Chuck Grassley’s coming to town. He’ll be here on this time and this day. And I just remember thinking as a kid, yeah, that’s democracy. That’s how it’s supposed to work. You’re supposed to be able to meet the people that represent you. And that level of accessibility is really important to me.”

The Ames Tribune: Rob Sand talks to Iowa farmers during Story County campaign stop

Democratic governor candidate Rob Sand told Iowa farmers he wants to lead cross-party communication in a recent visit to Story County.
The company’s leadership and local farmers told Sand that they are worried about consolidation, since they want to expand the market.
Sand said consolidation has been terrible for farmers, adding that when it’s terrible for them, it’s terrible for everybody.
“It just makes prices go up,” Sand said. “There’s no functioning market where the price of an input can track the price of the final product. If that’s happening like it does with fertilizer and then the price of corn, then you know that you don’t actually have a market, and that shouldn’t be the case.”
Sand said communicating across party lines has come “easy” to him. Even when he was in high school, to his time as auditor, he said he promoted individuals who made campaign contributions to his opponent and senior leadership positions.
“I think it comes pretty easy to people if they’re willing to be focused on finding the truth instead of just partisanship,” Sand said. “Whether or not you’re in the majority or the minority, an honest exchange of ideas helps you figure out what the truth is.”