Iowa’s Third District United States Congressman David Young toured Panora’s Early Morning Harvest farm on Friday to learn more about aquaponics farming. The method involves floating plants being fed fish waste through a series of PVC pipes. In turn, the plants clean the water and deliver it back to the fish. The sustainable method allows for year-round produce harvest and leaves the farm with both vegetables and fish to sell to consumers. Young says he loves finding out about new methods of agriculture in his district. “Agriculture farming is not a one-sized-fits-all approach. People have different ideas and perspectives on delivering great products, like they do here at Early Morning Harvest. I was invited to come here and I can’t be an advocate of aquaponics farming if I don’t know about.”

Young was such a fan of the tour that before leaving he bought several food items from the farmer’s market style gift shop. That shop is typically open Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Early Morning Harvest is located at 2425 Willow Avenue in rural Panora.