[imgbelt img=Jim-Foster530.jpg]Maybe there will be a few farmers talking after all, when Department of Justice officials hold a “workshop” on competition in the agricultural industry March 12 in Ankeny, Iowa. We complained earlier that farmers were being left out of these hearings on how violations of antitrust law may be affecting, yes, farmers. (Well, there was one farmer on the official schedule.) The Iowa Independent’s Lynda Waddington asked Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin what he thought: “We only recently became aware of that,” Harkin said Thursday morning on a conference call with reporters, Waddington reported “My office didn’t set the schedule, but we will be asking the DOJ and USDA to include more farmers and processors in these discussions.” We’ll see what happens.Meanwhile, a group of food groups is holding a town hall meeting the day before the March 12 DOJ hearing entitled “Unlease Food Democracy: Taking on Corporate Power in our Food Supply.” This meeting is open to all and will be held at the Best Western Hotel in Ankeny. The group organizing this event is the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. You can get more details at their website, here.