Ashley Hinson’s campaign has received $77,000 from pesticide and meat industry PACs

Iowa has the second-highest and fastest-rising cancer rate in the United States, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry at the University of Iowa. Experts say one possible cause is water pollution from the state’s agriculture industry.

Some scientific studies have linked chemicals in herbicides and insecticides as well as animal waste and other agricultural byproducts to various forms of cancer. Pesticide manufacturers continue to stand behind the safety of their products.

A review of Federal Election Commission disclosure data by the Iowa Independent found that Iowa Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson has received more than $77,000 from political action committees representing crop pesticide manufacturers and large meat manufacturers. 

Hinson is the Republican nominee for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat. Her Democratic opponent, state Rep. Josh Turek, did not take donations from agricultural industry PACs, according to campaign finance disclosures; his campaign website says he is not taking any corporate PAC money.

Hinson received at least $23,500 from crop pesticide manufacturers’ corporate PACs and the trade association representing the industry. This includes:

• $6,000 from the PAC for Bayer US LLC, makers of Roundup, a herbicide. Its main ingredient, glyphosate, has been linked in some studies to an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A spokesperson for Ruveon, the U.S. subsidiary that produces Roundup, told the Iowa Independent: “Glyphosate has been used safely for 50 years and is among the most extensively studied products of its kind. Experts at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reviewed hundreds of studies on glyphosate safety as part of the product registration process and determined that glyphosate is safe for use and does not cause cancer. No regulatory authority in the world has determined that glyphosate causes cancer.”

• $12,500 from the PAC for Corteva, Inc., which announced in April it would discontinue its herbicide Enlist Duo amid allegations that its ingredients caused cancer. The company cited market factors for the decision to discontinue the product. Other Corteva products linked in at least one scientific study to cancer are still available. A spokesperson for Corteva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• $2,500 from the PAC for Syngenta, maker of paraquat and atrazine, which some studies suggest may cause cancer and other medical problems. “Claims that atrazine poses a carcinogenic or reproductive risk are wholly inconsistent with the scientific consensus held by close to 50 regulatory authorities and scientific expert bodies worldwide – including US EPA and other leading regulatory authorities globally,” a Syngenta spokesperson said in an email. “These authorities have concluded that atrazine does not pose any carcinogenic or reproductive risk and is safe when used in accordance with the registered label instructions.”
• $2,500 from the PAC for CropLife America, an industry trade association whose members include Bayer, Corteva, and Syngenta. A spokesperson for the association said in a statement: “The pesticides used by American farmers are among the most thoroughly studied and highly regulated products in the world. Before a pesticide can be approved for use, manufacturers must submit extensive scientific data to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including studies on child development, dietary exposure, and long-term health effects. EPA scientists rigorously review this data and reevaluate approved pesticides at least every 15 years (or sooner if new information becomes available) to ensure they continue to meet stringent safety standards. When used as directed, these products are determined to pose no unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.”

Hinson also received at least $35,000 from PorkPAC, the political action committee of the National Pork Producers Council, $8,500 from Tyson Foods’ PAC, $5,500 from Cargill’s PAC, $3,500 from JBS USA Food Company’s PAC, and $1,250 from Smithfield Foods’ PAC. 

According to the nonprofit Food & Water Watch, Iowa factory farms produce 300 million pounds of manure daily. Some of that untreated manure is used as fertilizer; when it runs off fields, it can end up in the water supply. The process used to disinfect drinking water can cause a reaction with the manure to create trihalomethanes, chemical compounds that studies show can increase cancer risks, according to an April 2025 report by KUNR Public Radio in Nevada.  

A Smithfield Food spokesperson said in an email, “I would suggest you contact the National Pork Producers Council for comment on how independent family farmers in Iowa responsibly manage manure.”

The council and other companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment for this story, nor did Hinson’s campaign and congressional office.

During her time in Congress, Hinson has repeatedly voted to weaken federal clean water restrictions, proposed a bill that would bar states from regulating livestock products sold in their states, and joined with House Republican colleagues in signing an April 2021 letter to the Environmental Protection Agency defending atrazine as “a reliable and proven herbicide for effective and efficient sustainable farming practices.”