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Hunter Dekkers has found a landing spot in the NFL.

The former Iowa State football and Iowa Western quarterback signed with the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday, May 13, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The news comes on the heels of Saints starting quarterback Derek Carr's surprise retirement announcement this month.

After starting 12 games for Iowa State in 2022, Dekkers missed all of the 2023 college football season after getting caught up in the state of Iowa's gambling probe of University of Iowa and Iowa State University athletes.

During an August 2024 interview with the Register, Dekkers admitted to placing a $15 bet on an Iowa State football game during his redshirt freshman year.

The former West Sioux High School standout began his college football career with the Cyclones, throwing for 3,355 yards and 22 touchdowns across 19 games. He then left Iowa State and was ruled ineligible by the NCAA before landing at Iowa Western Community College in 2024.

Dekkers led the Reivers to an 11-2 record and the NJCAA Division I championship game, completing 288-of-449 passes (64.1%) for a school-record 3,806 yards and 32 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions.

Hunter Dekkers stats

Iowa State football's season-opener against rival Kansas State at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, will officially kick off at 11 a.m. CT/5 p.m. IST on Aug. 23.

The game will be held at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and will be televised on ESPN.

This will be the first time that the Cyclones and Wildcats will play in a season-opening game. It will also be Iowa State's first football game played outside of the United States.

Iowa State leads the Farmageddon rivalry, 54-50-4. The Cyclones won each of the last two meetings, previously defeating Kansas State, 29-21, on Nov. 30 in Ames to clinch the program's first 10-win season. The Cyclones eventually finished the year 11-3 and won the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Kansas State is coming off a 9-4 season, which concluded with a 44-41 win over Rutgers in the Rate Bowl.

The Aer Lingus College Football Classic started in 1988 and has taken various names over the years, including the Croke Park Classic, Emerald Isle Classic and Shamrock Classic. This is the first time that the event will feature two Big 12 teams.

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.

After years of inaction, Iowa lawmakers have finally sent Gov. Kim Reynolds a bill limiting the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines.

Reynolds' spokesperson says she is reviewing the legislation, which has implications for Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed $8.9 billion carbon sequestration pipeline that would span 2,500 miles across South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota to connect 57 ethanol plants.

The measure isn't a full ban on eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, as some advocates wanted.

Instead, it combines several other pieces of legislation that limit eminent domain in certain circumstances, requires projects to carry more insurance and places new guidelines on the Iowa Utilities Commission.

Here's what to know about the bill.

What is eminent domain?

Eminent domain is the power to take private property for public use, with the property owner receiving compensation.

The Iowa Utilities Commission is the body in charge of granting eminent domain to projects such as electric transmission lines and pipelines.

The commission granted Summit eminent domain powers in 2024 to acquire land, or access to land, from owners who aren't willing to sign voluntary agreements with the company.

Opponents of Summit's pipeline say they do not believe the project qualifies as a public use.

Summit officials have said the company has invested nearly $175 million on voluntary agreements in Iowa, signed agreements with more than 1,300 landowners and secured 75% of the Phase One route.

What does House File 639 do?

The bill, House File 639, passed the Senate in a 27-22 vote and now awaits Reynolds' signature. Here's what it says.

Learn more about the bill addressing eminent domain for carbon pipelines

Catch up on the tense Senate debate over the legislation here.

The Iowa Senate has voted to limit the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, sending the bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds after years of inaction.

House lawmakers have passed eminent domain restrictions with bipartisan support several years in a row, only to see the Senate fail to consider the measures. The Monday, May 12 vote was the first time one of those bills received a vote by the full Senate.

The legislation says carbon pipelines cannot enlist eminent domain powers unless they are a common carrier, requires pipeline companies to prove their project is insured sufficiently to cover any losses or injury from the pipeline construction and any discharge, and places new regulations on the Iowa Utilities Commission.

Here's how every Iowa senator voted on House File 639

Senators voting yes

Alons (R), Bennett (D), Bisignano (D), Blake (D), Campbell (R), Donahue (D), Dotzler (D), Evans (R), Garrett (R), Guth (R), Knox (D), Lofgren (R), McClintock (R), Petersen (D), Pike (R), Quirmbach (D), Staed (D), Taylor (R), Trone Garriott (D), Rowley (R), Salmon (R), Sires (R), Wahls (D), Weiner (D), Westrich (R), Winckler (D), Zimmer (D)

Senators voting no

Bousselot (R), Costello (R), Dawson (R), De Witt (R), Dickey (R), Driscoll (R), Green (R), Gruenhagen (R), Klimesh (R), Koelker (R), Kraayenbrink (R), Reichman (R), Rozenboom (R), Schultz (R), T. Shipley (R), Sinclair (R), Sweeney (R), Townsend (D), Warme (R), Webster (R), Whitver (R), Zumbach (R)

Senators who were absent

Celsi (D)

Here's how every Iowa House lawmaker voted on House File 639

The Iowa House voted to pass the bill on March 26 on a bipartisan vote of 85-10.

Representatives voting yes

Amos Jr. (D), Andrews (R), Baeth (D), Bagniewski (D), Behn (R), Blom (R), Bossman (R), Bradley (R), Boden (R), Brown-Powers (D), Cisneros (R), Collins (R), Croken (D), Determann (R), Dieken (R), Dunwell (R), Ehlert (D), Fisher (R), Gearhart (R), Gehlbach (R), Gerhold (R), Gjerde (D), Golding (R), Gosa (D), Grassley (R), Gustoff (R), Harris (R), Hayes (R), Henderson (R), Hermanson (R), Holt (R), Hora (R), Jacoby (D), James (D), Jeneary (R), Johnson, C. (R), Johnson, R. (D), Judge (D), Kaufmann (R), Kniff McCulla (R), Konfrst (D), Kressig (D), Kurth (D), Latham (R), Lawler (R), Levin (D), Lundgren (R), Madison (D), Matson (D), McBurney (D), Meggers (R), Meyer, A. (R), Meyer, B. (D), Mohr, G. (R), Moore, T. (R), Nielsen (D), Nordman (R), Olson (D), Scheetz (D), Scholten (D), Sexton (R), Shipley (R), Sitzmann (R), Smith (R), Sorensen (R), Srinivas (D), Stone (R), Thompson, M. (R), Thomson, C. (R), Turek (D), Vondran (R), Weldon (R), Wengryn (R), Wessel-Kroeschell (D), Wheeler (R), Wichtendahl (D), Wilburn (D), Williams (R), Wills, J. (R), Wilson (D), Watkins (R), Windschitl (R), Wood (R), Wulf (R), Young (R)

Representatives voting no

Barker (R), Bergan (R), Bloomingdale (R), Cooling (D), Ingels (R), Lohse (R), Mommsen (R), Rinker (R), Sieck (R), Zabner (D)

Representatives who were absent

Fett (R), Gaines (D), Siegrist (R), Wilz, H. (R),

Representatives who recused themselves

Jones (R)

What comes next?

The bill awaits Reynolds' signature. A spokesperson said her office is "reviewing the bill."

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.

Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Register. Reach him at [email protected] and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.

CHICAGO — A surprising tariff pause between Beijing and Washington will not help U.S. farmers gain soy sales in China without additional concessions, producers said, because top-supplier Brazil still has a competitive price advantage.

Under the truce announced on Monday May 12,, the U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports to 30% from 145% for the next three months, while Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%.

Soybean export premiums fell in Brazil on the de-escalation, reflecting expectations that China could buy more from the U.S.

But American farmers said the tariff pause isn't enough. Brazil, the biggest soy supplier to China, has ample supplies from a record harvest and its farmers do not face the Chinese tariff that U.S. competitors do. China, the world's largest crop importer, already sources roughly 70% of its soybean imports from Brazil.

"The tariff that remains in place for U.S. soy is far from inconsequential," said Caleb Ragland, a farmer in Magnolia, Kentucky, and president of the American Soybean Association.

"Products purchased from our competitors in Brazil and Argentina are not burdened with this extra cost."

Tariffs an opportunity for Brazil's farmers

The U.S. in 2022/23 accounted for about 28% of China's soybean imports, and it has been a critical market for U.S. farmers, representing more than half of U.S. soybean exports in the most recent marketing year. Iowa is second only to Illinois in soybean production.

President Donald Trump's trade war, however, created an opportunity for Brazil. The country aims to export even more agricultural goods to China, including sorghum, pork and chicken, and seize market share, said Luis Rua, who oversees foreign trade for Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture.

"What they (China) will buy is what they barely need to get by," said Dan Henebry, a corn and soy grower in Buffalo, Illinois. "If South America is short... they'll buy from us."

Chinese buyers have also avoided U.S. wheat and bought 400,000 to 500,000 metric tons from Australia and Canada in recent weeks, traders said.

U.S. farmers hope China may buy American farm goods as part of trade negotiations. However, Chinese importers will be reluctant to book large purchases because of remaining trade barriers and uncertainty over what will happen when the pause expires, said Even Rogers Pay, agriculture analyst at Trivium China.

"There are a few things stacked up against this trade war ceasefire being a boon for farmers," Pay said.

U.S. pork exported to China still faces a minimum total tariff rate of 57% during the pause, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

The pause is set to expire just before U.S. farmers begin harvesting soybeans and corn at the start of their new marketing season, an important time for exports. They planted fewer soybeans this spring than last year because the crop looked less profitable than corn.

"If negotiations break down, buyers risk losses when cargoes arrive during the U.S. soybean marketing season," a China-based soy crusher said. "It's just not worth the gamble."

The truce did little to address underlying issues that led to the dispute, including the U.S. trade deficit with China that has aggravated some farmers.

Beijing did not fulfill commitments to buy more U.S. agricultural products under a trade deal it struck with Trump during his first term in 2020.

"The situation was bad before we started and something needed to be done. The situation is still bad," said Ron Heck, an Iowa corn and soy farmer in Perry.

At the time, China had slashed purchases of U.S. crops, prompting Trump's administration to pay farmers billions of dollars in aid.

"It doesn't appear that we solved anything after that turmoil," said Henebry. "We're right back at the baseball plate trying to see if we're going to hit a home run or strike out again."

(This story was edited to add new information.)