(Anita, Iowa) – In about two-weeks, the Food Bank of the Heartland’s Mobile Food Pantry will be coming to Anita. Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoege says anyone, including people from the surrounding communities, are welcome to visit the mobile food pantry, with no documentation is needed. The drive-through mobile food pantry will be at 208 Chestnut Street in Anita on October 27, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., or as long as supplies last.

The mobile pantry is a traveling food pantry delivering food directly to families in need for a one-day distribution. It is free of charge. Visitors are asked to stay in their vehicles with the trunk open, so volunteers may load the food items into your vehicle.

For more information on local food, farmers’ markets, and food access, follow the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page @CassCountyLocalFood or contact Food Bank for the Heartland at 402-315-2555.

(Radio Iowa) – Harvest is progressing quickly in Iowa with mostly fair weather, though yield reports are varied on soybeans. Jeff Frank, who farms in north-central Iowa near Auburn, says he ran a soil moisture deficit of ten inches this season but caught a few timely rains in August that benefited the soybean crop. Frank says his yields are better than expected. “Most of mine have been running right around 70 (bushels per acre), which is really a good yield for our area,” Frank says. “It’s amazing. The beans look great and they’re pretty much weed-free. We threw everything at them. We put fungicide on and we put insecticide on and we treated them with Ilevo, so we threw the book at it.”

Brent Renner also farms in north-central Iowa near Klemme, and says he’s seing huge variability in the early beans he’s combining. “There’s a lot of variability not only in yield but moisture and plant stage. There’s a lot of green stems. It’s just all over the place,” Renner says. “We had some areas that got affected by frost and replants. Two fields that I’ve done so far, one is in the high 40s and the other one is in the mid 60s, so again, very variable.”

Renner says with the limited moisture he had this season, some of higher-end yields are a welcome surprise. Frank and Renner say both soybeans and corn have been drying down fast and some corn has stand-ability issues, which will make harvest scheduling a challenge.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is facing a potential strike. Unionized John Deere workers voted Sunday night to reject the company’s latest contract offer. The unions say 90-percent of members voted against the six-year offer which was for more than 10-thousand workers at 14 Deere factories, including those in Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo.

A news release from the Quad Cities-based Deere says the offer “would have made the best wages and most comprehensive benefits significantly better for our employees.” The deadline to reach a new accord and avoid a strike is midnight Wednesday.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hogue says “It’s the LAST week of Produce in the Park, and we’re celebrating with a little Halloween action–Trick-or-Treat in the Park.” Produce in the Park takes place Thursday, Oct. 14th, from 4:30-until 6:30-p.m. in the downtown Atlantic City park, and features Trick-or-Treating fun!

Costumes are not required, but expect to see some costumes at the park, along with:

• Fresh Local Produce: Pie pumpkins, squash, melons, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, aronia berries, & more!
• More farm favorites: pumpkin butter, jams, jellies, and syrups, goat milk soaps, granola, honey, and local meat.
• Local Crafts: Soaps, candles, and wax melts in cozy fall scents from Smudge, Bags, jackets, and more from Tracie Lobstein.
• Baked goods:
  • Kringleman Danish Pastries in fall flavors including pecan
  • Sue’s Country Garden baked goods
  • Brun Ko Farm pumpkin pies pre-order only (pre-orders are due by noon on Oct. 13 to brunkofarm@gmail.com or 712-249-3187)
• Guest Chef: Jennifer from Erickson Foods – samples and recipes of Maple Butternut Squash Casserole
• Oct. 14 Park Packs featuring Erickson Foods’ Maple Butternut Squash Casserole: Park Packs can be pre-ordered from Brun Ko Farm at www.brunkofarm.com or purchased from Brun Ko Farm at the market as supplies last.

Community Organizations at the Market (all are joining in on the trick-or-treat!) include:

• Atlantic Elks Lodge
• Cass County PROSPER: info. and resources on mental health and mental wellness
• Atlantic Rising
• Cass County Master Gardeners
• Advanced Services employment services

Entertainment during the evening is as follows:

• Sarah Selders 4:30-5:25
• Atlantic Rising Update 5:25-5:35
• Lisa Johnston 5:35-6:30

Snack at the Market: kettle corn and fresh-squeezed lemonade, plus a sneak peek at Atlas Atlantic Cinemas’ Holiday Popcorn!

Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/JP5KrmsF

(Atlantic, Iowa) – More than 90-thousand young Iowans are involved with the 4-H program and this is National 4-H Week, that wraps up this Sunday, with a County 4-H Carnival for the entire family. Cass County Extension 4-H Youth Coordinator Shelby Van Horn says the time is special because it gives them an extra chance to reach new audiences and help kids reach their full potential in 4-H.

The 4-H program empowers young people to make their community a better place to live — be it urban or rural.

Even in these challenging pandemic times, the program is maintaining its popularity. Kindergarten through Third-grade children can be a part of the “Clover Kids” program in Cass County.

Regular 4-H programming is primarily for kids in grades 4-through 12.

In Cass County, they’re wrapping up the week with games and food during a 4-Carnival.

Hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, cotton candy and snow cones are being provided free of charge. Admission is FREE! Game tickets are 10 cents and can be redeemed at 4-H Club Activity Booths. The Carnival takes place on the Cass County Fairgrounds this Sunday, October 10th, from 4-6 PM.   There are nearly 15-hundred 4-H clubs statewide being guided by some 7,000 adult volunteers. Learn more about the program at www.4-h.org.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Extension Service is getting reports of a pest that’s damaging hay fields, pastures and even some lawns. Gentry Sorenson, an I-S-U Extension field agronomist based in northwest Iowa, says it’s a caterpillar known as the fall armyworm. “The fall armyworm basically blew up as a moth from Florida and the Gulf Coast area through the hurricane winds,” he says. “The armyworm that we’re seeing is the rice strain and that strain of fall armyworm particularly feeds on alfalfa and forage grasses.” The fall armyworm can grow to be up to an inch and a half long.

Sorenson says farmers can use an insecticide if the bugs are causing a lot of damage.  “The best times to scout for fall armyworm are early mornings or late in the evenings,” he says, “mainly because the fall armyworm is more of a noctural pest and they come out at night and do a lot of feeding at night or when it’s cooler.”

Army worm in a field. (Photo by Rebecca Vittetoe.)

Sorenson says some parts of southern Iowa have been hit hard by fall armyworm infestations that drifted here due to winds from Hurricane Ida, but even farmers in northwest Iowa are starting to see the pest in their fields. The bugs flourish in warm climates, according to Sorenson.

“So once we see the hard freeze, it will essentially wipe out the fall armyworm population,” he says. The rice strain of the fall armyworm is found primarily in the southeast United States and cannot survive the mild winter in Alabama according to that state’s Extension Service. The bug is known to feed on crops like rye, wheat and oats as well as rice and various grasses.

(Radio Iowa) – Firefighters are working a fire at a grain elevator fire at the Ag Partners facility in Albert City. Initial reports indicate that the fire is believed to be electrical in nature in the outside conveyers. There is no dust or grain involved and the flames are not in any of the bins. Multiple fire departments have responded to the scene.

Radio Iowa via KCIM

(Radio Iowa) – Union workers at a dozen John Deere plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas will vote Sunday on a new, six-year contract. The agreement would cover more than 10-thousand John Deere employees. United Auto Workers leaders have said the deal would provide significant economic gains and it includes a minimum starting wage of 19 dollars an hour that could range as high as 30 dollars an hour if the worker has experience.

John Deere’s Iowa factories are in Ankeny, Davenport, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo. The last time Deere workers went on strike was in 1986, during the upheaval of the Farm Crisis.

w/Kate Olson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – A man died in a weekend accident at a hog facility in Northern Kossuth County. According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, a 9-1-1 call came in Saturday reporting a farming-related accident about two miles south of the Minnesota border. When emergency personnel arrived they determine that a man was dead.

An investigation determined that the victim, identified as 37-year-old Ryan Chad Adams of Ledyard, and another individual were attempting to work on a manure pump when the accident occurred. It was determined a piece of equipment disengaged under pressure and struck Adams in the head.