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Former Iowa DNR official: Livestock farm fund was misspent

October 16, 2017, Des Moines, IA – A state fund set up to oversee Iowa livestock farms and manage the millions of gallons of manure they produce each year has been illegally diverted for other uses by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, according to the program’s former manager.

Gene Tinker worked as the DNR coordinator of animal feeding operations for 14 years before he was laid off in August. In an appeal seeking to have his job reinstated, Tinker said he was told the layoff was due to state budget problems, even though the fund paying for his program received $1.6 million a year from fees charged to the livestock farms. READ MORE