(Radio Iowa) – A new online map can be used to educate Iowans about the air quality around them with a few mouse clicks. Brian Hutchins, the air quality supervisor at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the colorful map is called simply, AirNow, and it’s focused on fires and smoke.  “What you can find there is the Air Quality Index (AQI),” Hutchins says. “It’s easy to read and essentially the higher the number on that chart, the worse the air quality is. It’s a great tool for those with underlying health conditions, like asthma, to keep an eye on.”

The first time you log in, you’ll see a map of North America, with a series of green, yellow, orange and red dots stretching across Canada, the U-S and Mexico. “You can zoom in on Iowa and you can see the monitoring sites that we have in the state, and the AQI is represented by a dot on the map,” Hutchins says. “It’s a colored dot and you can compare that to the AQI number.” In recent years, Iowa’s air has been polluted by wildfires as far away as Canada. The next time it happens, Hutchins says the map will come in handy, as there are things Iowans can do to stay safe.

“It’s a good idea to limit outdoor activity, especially physical activity like exercising, that sort of thing,” Hutchins says, “if you are an individual that is susceptible to that type of impact.” He also suggests limiting your time near pollution sources — like busy roads. This is National Clean Air Week.

(Radio Iowa) – The administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent much of Tuesday in Iowa. It’s the first solo trip Administrator Michael Regan has taken since he was sworn into office. Regan toured an ethanol plant in Nevada and he told reporters the E-P-A’s announcement on biofuels production levels is coming. “It’s a priority and I’ll be honest with you, the last team left us in a little bit of a deficit. There were some decisions that were not made for 2019, 2020 and 2021,” Regan says.

“We’re working on a strategy for how we can make up for lost time, but have integrity in the system so that when we come up with a product, we’re not legally vulnerable for skipping steps.” The legal dispute over how the E-P-A previously awarded ethanol blending waivers to the oil industry has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. And the E-P-A just rescinded three ethanol waivers granted on President Trump’s last day in office.

“People will criticize EPA for not going fast enough, but I can assure you this administration is going as fast as we can, utilizing the science,” Regan says. “And, by the way, we want to do it as quickly as possible because this industry deserves some certainty.” Regan met privately with a group of Iowa farmers and he says they discussed the role agriculture can plan in a national effort to reduce carbon emissions.

“It was a very optimistic conversation about what farmers are doing,” Regan says, “and how technologically advanced, scientifically grounded the farming community is in terms of looking at carbon capture and sequestration, reducing their own greenhouse gas footprint.” The group also briefed the E-P-A administrator on some of the projects that are part of the state’s voluntary strategy to reduce farm chemical run-off into Iowa waterways.

Regan says what he heard about was innovative and cutting edge, but Regan told reporters he hasn’t examined the issue closely enough to determine whether the voluntary approach is working. “What we’re trying to do is use the power of convening, get everyone to the table and let’s take a honest look at what has been working and what hasn’t been working,” Regan says. “I think we have to be honest about pushing forward on the things that are working and not to be afraid to discuss what’s not working and then we get to the point of discussing what has to happen through a regulatory versus a voluntary lens.”

Regan met with Governor Reynolds and visited a contaminated industrial site in Des Moines that the E-P-A will start cleaning up this year. Regan was North Carolina’s top environmental regulator before President Biden asked him to lead the E-P-A.

1st Place High School Owen Wilkinsen & Daniel Mattox

1st place juniors AJ Draper & Emmett King

Big Fish AJ Draper

Atlantic, IA. – The SW Valley student anglers of Owen Wilkinson and Daniel Mattox of Corning, IA scored the victory in the Powerade High School Series at the Danielson Inc. SAF SWIFT bass tournament at Lake of Three Fires on Sunday with their bag of 5 fish weighing 10.15 pounds. Second was the team of Owen Hoover and Korben Brunt of Anita. Their five fish weighed in at 9.42 and rounding out the top three were Drey Newell of Atlantic and Braden Smith of Atlantic who brought 5 bass to the stage weighing 7.56.

Emmett of Panora, IA and AJ Draper of Linden, IA caught a 5 bag limit and won back to back tournaments in the Fairlife Yup Junior Series with their bag weighing 9.51 pounds. Second place went to Braxton Hass of Atlantic, IA., and Cody Swank, Harlan, IA  hauled in 5 bass at 8.39 lbs.and rounding out the field in third place was the team of Grayson Malgaard and Owen Miller of Anita, IA their total was 5 bass 8.23 lbs.

A record nineteen teams battled 10 to 20 mph winds all day long on the 85 acre lake to find the biggest fish. Even with  tuff conditions the student anglers persevered and every team put fish into the boat and seventeen teams hauled in an impressive 5 bass bag limit. At the end of the day at the official weigh-in 88 fish were brought to the stage totalling 115.82 pounds.

AJ Draper of Linden, IA also earned the AM Cohron & Sons Big Fish of the tournament with his bass weighing in at 4.41 pounds.

Powerade High School Boat Series results from the McDermott & Son Roofing Company SAF SWIFT tournament at Lake Anita on Saturday.

1^st –  Owen Wilkinson  , Corning, IA and Daniel Mattox, Corning, IA, 5 bass, 10.15- Boat Captain- Johnathon Locke
2nd – Korben Brunt, Anita, IA and Owen Hoover, Anita, IA, 5 bass, 9.42 lbs., Boat Captain- Randy Hoover
3rd – Drey Newell, Atlantic, IA and Braden Smith, Atlantic, IA, 5 bass, 7.56 lbs., Boat Captain- Brendon Atkinson
4^th– Colton Rudy, Atlantic, IA and Colin Rudy, Atlantic, IA, 5 bass, 7.02 lbs., Boat Captain- Chuck Rudy
5^th Tie- Vicente Butcher, Corning, IA., and Conner Britten, Red Oak, IA., 5 bass, 6.41 lbs., Boat Captain- Jim Robinson- Villisca
6th– Cooper Jipsen, Atlantic, IA and Braden Smith, Atlantic, IA, 5 bass, 6.38 lbs., Boat Captain- Dent Petty
7th –  Joey Oathoudt, Corning, IA and Joaquin Wailes, Wiota, IA, 5 bass, 4.42- Boat Captain- Johnathon Locke
8^th Tie– Mason McCready, Macedonia, IA and Caden Forristall, Carson, IA, 5 bass, 4.24 lbs., Boat Captain- Eric McCready
9^th– Jake Oathoudt, Corning, IA and Dakota Breaud, Corning, IA, 1 bass, 1.20 lbs., Boat Captain- Chuck Elmquist

Fairlire Yup Junior Boat Series results from the McDermott & Son Roofing Company SAF SWIFT tournament at Lake Anita on Saturday.

1^st- Emmett King, Panora, IA., and AJ Draper, Linden, IA., 5 bass, 9.51 lbs., Boat Captain-Jeremy King
2nd-Cody Swank, Harlan, IA and Braxton Hass, Atlantic, IA, 5 bass, 8.39 lbs.,  Boat Captain- Allen Porter
3rd: Grayson Molgaard, Atlantic, IA and Owen Miller, Atlantic, IA, 5 bass, 8.23 lbs., Boat Captain- Peter Molgaard
4th-Jake Wailes, Wiota, IA and Brentyn Hoover, Anita, IA,5 bass, 6.55 lbs. Boat Captain- Rob Clausen
5th- Hunter Quist, Atlantic, IA., and Adien Smith, Elliot, IA., 5 bass, 6.54 lbs., Boat Captain-Kyle Quist
6th- Colton Anderson, Atlantic, IA., and Grant Petty, Atlantict, IA., 5 bass, 5.86 lbs., Boat Captain- Kirt Knudsen
7th: Gavin Dougherty, Lewis, IA and Garrett Stetzel, Atlantic, IA, 5 bass, 4.91 lbs., Boat Captain- Koby Stetzel
8th: Brody Hughes, Red Oak, IA and Bently Hughes, Red Oak, IA, 5 bass, 4.23 lbs., -Boat Captain- Bill Hughes
9th- Hade DeVore, Atlantic, IA., and Holden DeVore, Atlantic, IA., 5 bass, 3.13 lbs., Boat Captain- Brad DeVore
10th: Letty McSorely, Carson, IA and Colton Krueger, Carson, IA, 2 bass, 1.67 lbs.,- Boat Captain- Adam Krueger

The next event for SWIFT will be Saturday May 22^nd at Prairie Rose Lake. It will be the TBF/SAF Iowa Jr & High School Fishing State Championships.

(Radio Iowa) – If your neighbor’s lawn is looking shaggy, don’t scold them as they may be taking part in No Mow May. It’s an effort to toss out the image of a “perfect” lawn and raise awareness about alternatives that are friendlier to the environment and to pollinators, especially bees, which are now emerging from hibernation. Ginny Mitchell, education program coordinator of the Insect Zoo at Iowa State University, says lawns are America’s biggest crop and they provide no food or resources.  “The non-native grasses that we use as our lawns were brought over in the 1700s and they’re really outdated,” Mitchell says. “They don’t bring anything to our lives except work, right? How many people like mowing the lawn or applying fertilizers or doing anything to your lawn. It’s a lot of work.”

The No Mow May effort is just starting to catch on, Mitchell says, as about two-dozen homeowners in the Ames area have pledged to take part. Some plan to convert all or at least part of their lawns away from traditional grass. “We can plant alternatives that also help pollinators and insects and wildlife in general, birds,” Mitchell says. “We can plant things like violets which are low-growing and do not require lawns. We can do many different ground covers, creeping thyme which can withhold foot traffic, white Dutch clover, all sorts of other plants.”

Iowa has what’s believed to be the highest proportion of privately-held land in the U-S, which is why Mitchell says it’s important for homeowners to consider making the change. “Whether you’re converting your entire lawn, like I am, or just a small area, no matter what, it’s going to have a positive impact on the environment, reduce pesticides, reduce greenhouse gases from using a gas-powered lawn mower,” Mitchell says, “and frankly, you’ll have more time to stop and smell the roses.”

Even people who live in apartments can help, by starting with their balconies and planting cone flowers, goldenrod, coreopsis and other pollinator-friendly alternatives.If you live in the city, though, you should make sure you know how tall your grass can grow before local ordinances kick-in and require the lawn to be mowed.

Learn more at the ISU Insect Zoo’s website: https://www.ent.iastate.edu/insectzoo/

(Radio Iowa) – Dry conditions allowed farmers to spend a lot of time on the tractor last week. The new U-S-D-A crop report shows nearly half of the state corn crop was planted in the last week — taking the percentage from 20 to 69 percent completed. The fast pace now puts the corn planting nine days ahead of the five-year average.

There were plenty of beans in planters as well. The percentage of soybeans planted moved from six to 43 percent in the last week. The bean planting is now 12 days ahead of normal.

(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rescinded three waivers that had excused Sinclair Oil refineries in Wyoming from the federal requirement to blend ethanol into gasoline. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says the waivers were granted on the last day of the Trump Administration. “What was most shocking about them, not just the lateness of them and they aren’t justified to begin with, but these refineries are in the 10th circuit court,” Shaw says.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th circuit has jurisdiction over six states, including Wyoming. It’s the court that ruled early last year that small refineries only qualified for the exemption from blending ethanol into gasoline if they had applied for extensions of waivers originally granted in 2010. Shaw says the E-P-A’s decision fits with the law, but just as importantly it matches what candidate Joe Biden said on the campaign trail. “He said he wanted to reign in these refinery exemptions, that they weren’t justified, that we need to follow the law and implement it appropriately,” Shaw says, “so for his EPA then to turn around and say: ‘Hey, these literally last minute exemptions don’t make sense. We need to pull them back,’ it makes sense because that is what he said he would do.”

Shaw says the Biden Administration’s E-P-A administrator will be in Iowa today (Tuesday) and will tour an ethanol plant. “Unfortunately I guess for him the previous administration left a lot of unfinished business on his calendar and that will include finally enforcing the small refinery waiver program appropriately,” Shaw says. Other unresolved items include setting the federal ethanol production mandate for this year and announcing E-P-A labeling and equipment rules so retailers can sell E-15 — gas with 15 percent ethanol — year round.

Information about the Atlantic FFA Banquet has been released. The Banquet was held on Monday, March 29th at the Atlantic High School. There were 150 members and guests were present at the event. The banquet started with the opening ceremonies, led by the 2020-2021 chapter officers. This year the officers include President Taylor McCreedy, Vice President Alyssa Derby, Secretary Craig Alan Becker, Treasurer Gunner Kirchhoff, Reporter Aspen Niklasen, Sentinel Wyatt Redinbaugh, and Student Advisor Garrett Reynolds. 2020-21 Chapter President Taylor McCreedy said, Ti was a great year despite all of the challenges the chapter had to navigate. We accomplished a lot, learned to adapt and succeed under circumstances that were different. Overall I think we had a great year”

The opening ceremonies was followed by a welcome to members and guests, and was given by President Taylor McCreedy. A reflection was then said by Craig Alan Becker. Following the reflection, dinner was held for members and guests alike. HyVee provided the Brisket and sides for the FFA members and guests. At the conclusion of dinner, two guest speakers spoke to the audience. The first was Shelby McCreedy, the mother of FFA President Taylor McCreedy. Mrs McCreedy talked about the importance of overcoming adversity as a group and building a better chapter in the long run. McCreedy also spoke about strength, resiliency and determination of this Chapter to continue to make things happen even while adhering to COVID protocols.”

2020-21 FFA Seniors: Left to Right Back Row -Taylor McCreedy Alyssa Derby, Garrett Reynolds, Craig Becker, Gunner Kirchhoff; Left to Right Front Row – Hannah Carlson, Bethany Anderson, Caroline Pellett.

The next speaker was Atlantic FFA Alumni Representative, Tyler Comes. Comes talked about the many possibilities for people to get involved with the Alumni organization. “There are many opportunities to get involved. Some examples include helping with fundraisers, driving FFA members to events when needed, and just finding ways how to help benefit our chapter.” Craig Alan Becker gave the secretary’s report. And the treasurer’s report was given by Gunner Kirchhoff. The balance on hand stated was $18,870.19.

Following the guest speakers, awards were given out. First were those recognized for earning 10,000 FFA points throughout their time as a member. These points are earned through getting involved with our chapter. The more activities and events a member participates in, the more points they earn. Those recognized for reaching 10,000 points included Craig Alan Becker, Hannah Carlson, Alyssa Derby, Taylor McCreedy and Garrett Reynolds. The next award was the Academic Achievement Award. This award is given to those who have been a part of the Atlantic FFA chapter for three years, and have maintained a 3.5 GPA throughout all those years. Those who received the Academic Achievement Award included Bethany Anderson, Craig Alan Becker, Hannah Carlson, Alyssa Derby, Gunner Kirrchoff, Taylor McCreedy, Drey Newell, Carloine Pellett, and Garrett Reynolds.

After the Academic Achievement Award came the Star Greenhand, Star Ag Placement, Star Ag Business, and Star of Ag Production Awards. The Star Greenhand is awarded to a freshman who the chapter officers feel was the most involved with the chapter in the past year. This year there were two outstanding Greenhand members so the award was given to Claire Pellett and Colton Becker. The next award, Star Ag Placement, is an award is given to a member that has done an exceptional job in their employment, whether that be in or out of agriculture. This award was received by Gunner Kirchhoff. Next came the Star Ag Business Award, which was given to Craig Alan Becker. Craig Alan was given this award for his outstanding work at his family farm operation. Following the Star Ag Business Award, Taylor McCreedy was awarded the Star of Ag Production. This award is given to a member who does an outstanding job in their work of agriculture production, while working on their own operation.

Honorary Chapter Farmer: Left to right – Shelby McCreedy, Abby and John Becker.

This year, the new officers for the 2020-2021 term elected four members to receive the Atlantic FFA Leadership Award, which is given in appreciation to those who have shown leadership through their years in FFA. These 7 members who received the award include Taylor McCreedy, Graig Alan Becker, Alyssa Derby, Hannah Carlson, Garrett Reynolds, Caroline Pellett and Garrett Reynolds Officers also elected 3 families and individuals to receive the Honorary Chapter Farmer award, which is given to people who have played a large role in helping the Atlantic FFA chapter and the activities they do. Those that accepted this award include Marty and Shelby McCreedy, John and Abby Becker, and Steve Barber Superintendent of Atlantic .

To finish the award recognitions, Taylor McCreedy and Bryan York were recognized for winning their state proficiency awards. Taylor competed in Diversified Livestock and Bryan competed in Vegetable Production. Four other Atlantic FFA members also competed in State Proficiency Awards: Gunner Kirchhoff placed 3rd in the state in his proficiency award area of Ag Mechanics, Caroline Pellett placed 3rd in Beef Entrepreneurship. Garrett Reynolds placed 4th in Ag Sales for his job at Fareway and Hannah Carlson placed 5th with her Goat entrepreneurship. These proficiency awards are given to members who have an outstanding Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) project.

This year, 14 members were given the Discovery Degree. The Discovery Degree is awarded to members who are finishing their 8th grade year of schooling, and have been involved in FFA for one year. Those that have been involved for one year of high school Ag, received the Greenhand Degree, which was given to 16 members. Next came 11 members who were Chapter FFA degrees, which are given to members who have been involved in FFA for 2 years since being in high school, or members who have been in FFA for three years including their 8th grade year.

The banquet concluded with the installation of new chapter officers. For the upcoming 2019-2020 year, the new officers include the following: Wyatt Redinbaugh as President, Cooper Jipsen as Vice President, Bryan York as Secretary, Dylan Comes as Treasurer, Aspen Niklasen as Reporter, Logan Eilts as Sentinel, and Malena Woodward as Student Advisor. Chapter President Wyatt Redinbaugh said “The 2021 FFA Banquet was a strange experience for me, it marked the end of the seniors leadership and time for our class to step up. This senior class has influenced me in so many different ways. I am excited to see what I can do to help build this FFA chapter for the future.“

(Story credit: Aspen Niklasen, Atlantic FFA Reporter)

Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller reports, that on Monday, April 26th and Tuesday April 27th, Atlantic FFA members Malena Woodward and Bryan York participated in the 10th annual Virtual Iowa Youth Institute (IYI) hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation. Woodward and York were part of the 264 students and 110 teachers from 93 Iowa high schools. This virtual, 2 day-long event was the first of its kind for the IYI supported by over 90 experts from across Iowa.

Each year, the World Food Prize Youth Institutes convene high school students, teachers and experts to explore and solve local, national and global hunger and food security issues. In order to be a part of the Iowa Youth Institute, students research and write a paper on a global challenge related to hunger and food insecurity. Currently, 25 states, the Netherlands and Honduras host Youth Institutes, where students can be selected to serve as delegates at the Global Youth Institute as part of October’s Borlaug International Dialogue.

Woodward’s paper was on the malnutrition problem occurring in Guatemala. Woodward said, “I had fun researching and learning more information about Guatemala. After learning that over half of their population is malnourished I feel it is important to educate the local population on nutrition and producing their own food.” York’s paper focused on Sustainable Agriculture in Tanzania and how this affects the food insecurity problem. “I was interested in soil health and Sustainability overseas. After Doing a bit of research, I decided to write my paper about Tanzania, a country who has been on the raise in recent years, but has had trouble with its malnutrition and infrastructure.” York stated, “I found, in my research, that Tanzania can produce almost 95 percent of its own food. But, many Tanzanians have trouble accessing this food inside its borders.”

Malena Woodward

Bryan York (Photos submitted)

The day began with remarks from Kelsey Tyrell, Organizer for the Iowa Youth Institute and Wendy Wintersteen, President of Iowa State University. The keynote address was provided by Kim Reynolds, Governor of Iowa. Once the opening session was complete Woodward and York began Roundtable Discussions. Students presented their research in a roundtable fashion to ISU faculty and industry professionals by using Zoom Meetings. Students were also supportive of their peers and asked questions to provide a diverse array of perspectives to the discussion. During the afternoon session students and teachers participated in virtual Immersion Discussions with World Food Prize Partners.

At the end of the second day, Woodward and York were declared Bourlag Scholars and awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Both Woodward and York are going to be Seniors next year and have the opportunity to participate again. When talking about her experiences Woodward said, “I really enjoyed the presentation. I thought it was interesting hearing the ideas of other students and experts trying to solve world hunger as well as hearing their input and giving me more ideas about my topic.”

This one-day event is offered at no cost to teachers or students. More details are available at www.worldfoodprize.org/iowayouth.

(Radio Iowa) – Growers planting the traditional corn and bean crops in the state have a pretty conventional process — while industrial hemp growers face a lot more questions. Robin Pruisner from the Iowa Department of Agriculture says there are four options for most hemp growers. “So you have to kind of figure out what you’re growing before you start — which is different from what we have with our normal crops in Iowa. Typically with corn, you raise it and then you can decide if you are going to sell it to a feed mill or an ethanol plant,” She explains. “Hemp is a little more complicated than that and you have to start planning earlier.”

With hemp you can grow it to extract the C-D-B, to create seeds, for grain, or for fiber. Pruisner says the different uses cause growers to use different methods in tending those crops. “You will see an incredibly wide spectrum of fertilization techniques and products out there — with some people not fertilizing at all. Others investing in very specific products to their crop,” Pruisner says. Pruisner says the cost of the inputs used for the crop are also varied. “Depending on whether you plant seed and if it is feminized seed — it can cost a dollar or more a seed. And it can cost a lot less if it is not feminized. And if you are planting clones or seed starts — they can run as high as five dollars a piece. And then you have you labor and planting costs,” Pruisner says.

Weather conditions are a factor for all crops — including hemp. “Once its established, it likes it on the dry side. It is not uncommon to see people irrigating if they are going for the high-value flower crop for extraction,” according to Pruisner. “It is also not uncommon to just see it planted out in the farm field with no irrigation. I really do see it from Alpah to Omega the way people are raising it.” Pruisner says hemp growers do not want wet conditions around harvest time because that can cause the plants to get moldy.