DES MOINES - Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that he has raised $233,815 for his campaign for reelection as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2009 and his campaign currently has $261,627 cash on-hand.  Northey filed his January 2010 campaign financial disclosure report with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board this week.

"I am greatly encouraged to have been supported by so many Iowans and will continue to work hard to earn the support of Iowa's voters," Northey said.

Northey's report also showed that he has raised $409,325 from more than 1600 donors in the current election cycle, which began in January 2007.

Northey was elected in November of 2006.  For the 2006 election he raised $436,544 and only had $20,426 cash on-hand in January of 2006.

Since his election Northey has worked hard to meet with Iowans and he has visited all of Iowa's 99 counties each year during his term in office.

Northey, a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his first term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are the opportunities in renewable energy, conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey Monday rattled off his accustomed litany of ag statistics at a meeting with the Fort Dodge Noon Rotary Club, offering members a fresh glimpse into the importance of farming in Iowa's economy.

''Iowa is the second leading state in total ag sales,'' Northey told the room of about 40 listeners. He said that Iowa's farmers represent a $21 billion-plus industry and added that the industry's revenue grew by $8 billion from the 2002 agriculture census to 2007. He compared that to the state's current general fund budget of $6 billion.

''Iowa agriculture grew larger than the state's budget,'' Northey said.

When asked what Northey hopes that a non-farming audience will take away from his talks,

Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey paid a visit to The Des Moines Register today. He said his focus for the upcoming legislative session, which starts next week, will be almost entirely focused on the budget.

The agriculture departme nt has had its general-fund budget cut 23 percent over the past two years, Northey said. At $16.8 million from the general fund, the department is at 1994 levels in terms of budget. The overall state budget has grown 48 percent in that time, even after this year's 10 percent across-the-board cut . . .