Senior business reporter, farm editor leaving Des Moines paper

Steve Dinnen, a senior business reporter for the Des Moines Register, as well as farm editor Jerry Perkins, are leaving the paper, reports Jason Hancock of the Iowa Independent.

Dinnen has been laid off, while Perkins took a buyout.

Hancock writes, “Dinnen has been a senior business reporter at the Register since 2000. Before that he worked for Meredith Corp. and the Indianapolis Star.”

Read more here. Perkins has been with the paper since 1978 and has been the farm editor since 1993, covering topics such as ethanol’s effects on farmers and Cuba’s interest in purchasing corn from Iowa farmers.

According to the paper’s Biz Buzz blog, “Perkins last day here will be Aug. 29.  He has covered the farm crisis, the ethanol boom and other big changes in Iowa agriculture in 25 years with the Register. He has won multiple awards from the National Association of Agricultural Journalists (and served as president of the group), Society of American Business Editors and Writers and other organizations. He was nominated six times for the Pulitzer Prize in a five-year span at the Register.”