As workload grows for Iowa's pesticide inspectors, Ag Secretary says not to expect staff increases

Iowa will not add investigators to handle an increased number of pesticide drift complaints, favoring instead more efficient ways to handle complaint inspections, the state’s chief agriculture officer said. “I’ve got to manage the department of ag within my budget,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said during IowaWatch’s weekly radio program that aired this weekend.“It’s true, we’ve not seen a budget increase in the pesticide bureau, and I don’t expect to see a dramatic increase in the pesticide budget. So, what we do is look at how to manage the workload with the crew that we have.”