Two of the three Republican candidates for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture spoke with members of the ISU Republicans on Tuesday night about the role they want agriculture to play in the state’s economic future.

Mark Leonard, a cattleman and banker from western Iowa, and Bill Northey, a farmer from Spirit Lake, addressed the group of approximately 20 students after a regular ISU College Republicans meeting in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.

Leonard, an ISU alumnus, said the state needs to use both its agricultural resources and its citizens to spur economic growth.

“Iowa has two strengths that no other state has,” he said. “One is its land, the other is Iowans. We need to combine those strengths more efficiently to grow this economy.”

He said he would like to see Iowa continue to expand on its production of ethanol.

“Ethanol represents a great industry that can do a lot for this state,” he said, “and the technology exists to make it happen.”

Northey, also an ISU alumnus, said he agreed ethanol should play a key role in Iowa’s economy.

“The ethanol industry brings thousands of jobs to Iowa,” he said, “and these are very good, high-paying jobs.”

He said the ethanol industry is becoming more valuable than all of Iowa’s soybean production.

He would like Iowa to follow the lead of other Midwestern states, he said, and implement new policies concerning environmental issues.

“States like Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri are already doing innovative things with soil conservation and water quality,” he said. “And without a secretary that’s concerned about that, those things won’t happen here in Iowa.”

Nicole Woodroffe, president of the ISU College Republicans, said the presentation gave students a chance to speak with two of the candidates as well as learn about how the secretary of agriculture affects policy in Iowa.

“A lot of students don’t really know what the secretary does,” Woodroffe said. “This offered us a chance to really find out that the secretary of agriculture affects just about everyone in the state.”

She said the ISU College Republicans will not endorse a candidate until after primary elections this summer determine which candidate the GOP nominates.

“Both men are great candidates,” she said. “Both have strong connections in Washington and both have a lot of experience with agriculture.”

Woodroffe estimated that approximately 80 percent of the members of the ISU College Republicans are from Iowa farm families.

Leonard, Northey and Karey Claghorn, a farmer from Milo, will all contend for the Republican nomination for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture until the primary elections June 6.