CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
Ag 4 All, the non-profit ag literacy group based in Adair County, shares that their popular Ag Adventure experience will be part of 64th Annual Jesse James Chuckwagon Days at Adair this weekend. The interactive exhibit will be set up in the Adair City Park on Saturday, June 22nd from 1-3 p.m.
The exhibit provides fun and learning for the entire family. There is Ag BINGO for the kids with prizes for everyone and a special Farm Input game for the adults with a chance to win a $25 ethanol certificate. It is a great opportunity to meet farm animals and the people that raise them. For the younger set there is a corn pool and pedal tractors to be fueled up at a renewable fuel station.
There is even free food. Grab an egg-on-a-stick, meat snack sample, and bottle of water while supplies last. Look for the red Ag Adventure tent and the volunteers in blue to find Ag Adventure on Saturday.
Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle reports Iowa Democrat Congresswoman Cindy Axne met with political activists and agricultural community members at Rolling Acres Farm, Monday, Her visit was hosted by Larry Harris and Denise O’Brien. Toelle says Axne talked about the hundred plus bills that have been passed by the House of Representatives, most of which have stalled in the US Senate. One bill that has passed both Houses, is the House Emergency Disaster Fund Bill. Toelle says Axne successfully fought to add $3 billion dollars specifically for “Midwest flooding”. Axne and the attendees talked about issues facing small farms and how they are helping preserve the environment.
Congresswoman Axne with Denise O Brien (Photo submitted)
Axne and a group of invited guests went on a short tour of the hosts’ organic produce farm. The Congresswoman serves on two committees in the House: Financial Services and Agriculture; the Agriculture Committee includes membership on subcommittees on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, & Credit, and Conservation and Forestry.
(Radio Iowa) — Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack — who served eight years as President Obama’s secretary of agriculture — says having congress ratify the “U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement” will provide stability to farmers and momentum for other trade deals. “Having this agreement passed creates optimism, creates a hopefulness about the future,” Vilsack says, “which is incredibly important for agriculture and for the food industry, to have that optimism that things are going to be better.”
Vilsack hosted a forum early Monday morning in central Iowa with representatives from most of the state’s ag commodity groups. “This isn’t about giving President Trump a victory. It’s about giving the farmers in this room a victory,” Vilsack said. “It’s about giving all the people who are connected to the food and agriculture industry a victory. It’s about giving the American economy a victory.”
Vilsack says 28 percent of the American workforce is employed in the food and agricultural sector. Vilsack is now president and C-E-O of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. He says the U-S-M-C-A preserves Mexico as a market for about 30 percent of all U.S. dairy products. The new agreement also opens Canada to more U.S. dairy sales, according to Vilsack.
Drew Mogler of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says the deal is important because one out of every four hams produced in the U.S. ends up in Mexico. “Last year, Iowa exported about $700 million worth of pork to both Canada and Mexico,” he says. “This year our exports have dropped off a little bit, volume-wize, down to Mexico, so getting some certainly back (for) producers is important for us.”
Greta Irwin of the Iowa Turkey Federation says Mexico is the number one foreign market for U.S. turkey and the deal could increase turkey exports to Canada by up to 30 percent. “This type of agreement is huge for our industry,” Irwin says. Kevin Studer of the Iowa Corn Growers says farmers need a break. “This spring has been a mess. We all know it. We’ve got to get this anxiety off the table,” Studer said. “Let’s clear the deck on USMCA. Let’s get our trade people to be able to focus on getting China done.”
The U-S Mexico Canada Agreement is also important for the state’s biofuels industry. Monte Shaw of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says Mexico is an emerging market for Iowa-produced ethanol. “If that market were to go away because this (USMCA) fell apart and we actually pulled out for some period of time from NAFTA, that’d be like shutting down three and a half plants,” Shaw says.
The Trump Administration has not yet forwarded the new trade agreement for North America to congress. Once that happens, the U.S. House and Senate will have 30 days to ratify it. Vilsack says it would be best to have that vote THIS year, rather than having it happen in 2020 — during a politically-charged election year.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Torrential rain this spring prevented most Midwest farmers from planting their crops but while the federal government provides help to growers of corn and soybeans, those who grow specialty crops are largely on their own.
Although the lack of federal safety net programs for farmers who grow everything from arugula to zucchini isn’t new, one of the wettest springs in U.S. history has focused attention on the special status of commodity crops, primarily corn, soybeans, cotton, rice and wheat.
Iowa organic farmer Andrew Dunham shrugs at the situation, noting “there are no federal bailouts for vegetable farmers.”
Iowa State University economist Chad Hart says crops like corn and soybeans are treated differently because they’re so important to the national economy, and shortages would be painful, particularly to the livestock industry.
Members of the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Board will hold their regular, monthly session 5:15-p.m. Monday, in the City Council’s Chambers at City Hall. The meeting will begin with a closed session, to “Evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered,” in accordance with the Iowa Code,
When the Board returns to an open meeting, they’re expected to receive updates on the Schildberg Recreation Area development project, East Ridge washout repair, and Sunnyside Park entry sign.
Interim Parks Director Bryant Rasmussen will also update the Board on the Schildberg docks and dog park that were damaged during the flood. He’s also expected to note that the Sunnyside Pool is open for the season, and remind the Board about the Schildberg Park Community Playground build near the Rotary Shelter, set for June 21st-22nd. Volunteers are needed to help build the playground on June 21st and 22nd. There will be two shifts each day, 8:00AM until Noon and 1:00PM until 5:00PM. Lunch will be provided.
Rasmussen will also report on the 4th Annual Block Party held June 1st at Sunnyside Park, and on Prairie Plants transplanted into the Bull Creek Pathway.
(Radio Iowa) — Scientists predict the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico will be bigger than usual this summer, between the sizes of Massachusetts and New Jersey. The oxygen in the area is depleted because of nitrogen and phosphorus running off Midwestern farm fields and going down the Mississippi River. Gene Turner, with Louisiana State University, is part of the annual dead zone forecast team.
“What it continues to say every year is that we’re not making any progress on improving water quality in the Mississippi River,” Turner says, “which means all the states that are contributing to it also don’t have really any improvements in their water quality.” Turner and his team will collect data in late July. He says the dead zone could be smaller than predicted if there are tropical storms that month.
The nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients trigger algae blooms that deplete oxygen, threatening fish and shrimp. Chris Jones, a University of Iowa researcher, says there’s been some progress in cutting phosphorus runoff from Iowa, but much remains to be done to curb nitrogen. “We need more cover crops on our farm fields, for example,” Jones says. “We need more edge-of-field treatment practices to be implemented, things like wetlands, and we need to very carefully manage our manure.”
While Turner’s team predicts a near-record-sized dead zone this summer, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts it will be smaller.
(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)
(Radio Iowa) — A dairy farm in northwest Iowa is hosting an open house today (Wednesday) to show off a unique series of robots that keep the operation running smoothly. Scott Schroeder, executive director of the Western Iowa Dairy Alliance, says the farm of John and Sharon VanderWaal near Sioux Center is one of the most technologically advanced in the state. “Rather than seeing a milking parlor, you will see four robots in the pen with the cows,” Schroeder says. “The cows can go in up to seven times each day. They’ll walk into the pen with the robot and a gate will shut so no other cows can interrupt the cow being milked, and the milking unit will attach itself to the cow and milk the cow.”
Long gone is the three-legged stool and metal bucket, as the robots work quickly to do their job in the pen. “While the cow is in there, they also get some candy-treats, that’s the incentive that draws the cows into the robot,” Schroeder says. “When they are finished in about seven minutes, the machine will detach and the cows are let out and the next one is ready to come in. Once they’ve been trained, they come in on their own. You don’t ever have to try and force them to go in. They freely are able to go in to the robot.”
Besides the robotic milking system, Schroeder says the VanderWaal’s have implemented several other other robotic advances. “They also have some robotic pen scrapers so you can see how they keep the pens clean,” Schroeder says. “They also have a robotic feed pusher to make sure when John feeds his cows, that the feed is fresh and it gets rotated so they always have feed and water.”
Schroeder says the VanderWaal’s started using the robotic method in 2017. The farm has about 250 cows and is one of the smaller dairy farms in the area. He says Sioux County has the most dairy cows in Iowa, with each cow representing an economic benefit of 23-thousand dollars. The J & S Dairy Farm in Maurice is hosting the open house from 4 to 8 P-M.
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