Bill Northey, who served as Iowa ag secretary for 11 years from 2007 to 2018, passed away suddenly on Feb. 5. He was 64, his obituary says.
A fourth-generation producer, Northey and his family farmed in Spirit Lake where they grew corn and soybeans.
And he was one of the first producers in Iowa to adopt cover crops.
“He walked the walk,” Sean McMahon, executive director of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, which helps farmers adopt conservation efforts, told the Des Moines Register. “His mantra was, ‘It’s voluntary but not optional.’”