The 2018 Guthrie County Fair begins Thursday (8/30) and continues through Monday, Sept. 3rd, in Guthrie Center. There is no admission to the fair, which features numerous events and activities during its run. Carnival rides are free. The grandstand is the site for: Mutton Busting and Rodeo, Friday at 6:30-p.m; music from the “Pork Tornadoes” Saturday, at 8-p.m., and Figure 8 racing Sunday, starting at 7-p.m.  In addition, there’ll be several livestock shows, with 4-H and FFA members showing-off their Horses, Swine, Rabbits, Sheep and Goats. The Beef Show is Sunday at 10-a.m.

The Guthrie County Fair Parade starts at 10-a.m. Saturday, and there’s all sorts of entertainment this weekend. There’s also a new, 100-foot addition to the pen barn added to the fairgrounds last year, which will enable many more cow and calf pens to be available. For more information on the Guthrie County Fair, go to https://www.guthriecountyfair.com/

(Radio Iowa) — It’s been a summer of both dry and wet conditions depending on where you live in the state. The D-N-R’s Mark Moeller says either situation can cause concerns for drinking water.  “Droughts and floods can affect public water supplies. Floods can affect a public water supplies wells if they are near or in a flood plain,” Moeller says. He says the state tries to help communities think ahead so neither problem ends up leaving them without water. “We work with them to become more drought or flood resilient,” Moeller explains. “So, in the case of a drought, we want them to have multiple resistant sources.”

He says for example, cities which use shallow wells as their source need to think about different scenarios to be prepared. “The water table can fluctuate with a drought, and so we like for them to also have back up deeper wells. The deeper wells are not as prone to drought conditions. We really like our systems to be resilient, so that they can keep providing safe and adequate water during a flood or drought,” according to Moeller.

Ninety-two percent of the states 18-hundred public water systems get their water from wells. But a majority of the water customers get their water from a lake or river — as many of the larger cities use surface water to supply their drinking water needs.

(Radio Iowa) — As Iowa farmers face as much as two-billion dollars in losses due to international trade tariffs, the Trump administration is announcing a tentative trade agreement with Mexico. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says President Trump has his mind set on eliminating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, a longstanding deal between the U-S, Mexico and Canada. “I’m encouraged by the progress made,” Grassley says. “I’m also hopeful that a fair trade deal will be struck with Canada so we can still have a trilateral agreement as opposed to bilateral between us and Mexico.”

Grassley says he held 20 town hall meetings in Iowa this month and at every one, the issue of trade was brought up by concerned residents. For many farmers in Iowa and elsewhere, we’re in the fifth straight year of falling revenues. “The sooner we get a new agreement in place, the sooner farmers and businesspeople in Iowa and across the country can focus on exporting,” Grassley says, “particularly for Iowa, exporting our agricultural products to Mexico and Canada without any concern of tariffs.”  Any trade agreement the Trump administration may make must be ratified by Congress. Grassley notes the law stipulates Congress needs to be notified 90 days before it can be sent such a measure for approval.  “The hope is to get this done within the United States Congress before this Congress adjourns,” Grassley says, “and before a new president is sworn in in Mexico, which is December the 1st.”

Iowa’s senior senator, a Republican, acknowledges the White House took the risk of upsetting Canada’s leadership by announcing this tentative trade deal with Mexico first. “Yeah, I suppose it irritates Canada but I’m sure this is the administration’s strategy, to put pressure on Canada.”  Canada is Iowa’s number-one trading partner, with nearly double the market of Mexico for Iowa exports.

The Wellmark Foundation today (Tuesday) has announced 12 Iowa organizations were awarded Matching Assets to Community Health (MATCH) grants. Applicants were able to request up to $100,000 in grant funding. To ensure community support for the grant project, recipients were challenged to match the award amount dollar-for-dollar. Each of the grant recipients submitted projects that can help individuals, families and communities achieve better health through built environment initiatives that encourage physical activity and/or access to and consumption of nutritious foods.

Among the award recipients, was

• The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board, which received $100,000, for Pottawattamie County Trails. The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board and Pottawattamie County Trail Association are moving into phase two of the Railroad Highway Trail. The new trail additions will extend 4.23 miles from Weston to Underwood, Iowa. Once completed, the 15-mile trail will be the first rural trail built as part of the Frontier Iowa Trail system and will connect multiple Iowa communities.
• The Shelby County Trails Board also received $100,000, for “Ballpark to Ballpark.” The Shelby County Trails Board is developing a 10-foot-wide, multi-use, paved trail between Panama and Portsmouth, Iowa. The 6.5-mile trail will separate recreational bike and pedestrian traffic from State Highway 191 and crosses four waterways. Local artists will create artwork on the trail bridges that display aspects of a healthy lifestyle.

Wellmark Foundation  Executive Director Becky Wampler said “The Wellmark Foundation is proud to award a cumulative total of $996,289.50 to these 12 grant recipients. We are proud to support these organizations as they focus on sustainable initiatives that will improve the well-being of citizens and their communities well into the future.”

(Radio Iowa) — The U-S-D-A on Monday revealed details of a trade relief package for farmers. For now, it amounts to $4.7 billion, with the possibility of more aid if exports continue to suffer. Iowa Soybean Association President Bill Shipley, who farms near Nodaway in Adams County, says the best they can hope for is some mitigating help to assist farmers in staving off red ink in their operations.”We can at least pay our expenses. That’s about all it will do is get us up to our break-even price,” Shipley says. “Everybody’s got a different break-even price, depending on yield and price. It’ll get us up to break-even, maybe. It’ll make our bankers feel a lot better.”

Soybean producers are set to receive $3.6 billion in direct aid. Many farm groups have responded with calls for “trade not aid.” Shipley says the farm economy and the impacts of the retaliatory tariffs is worrying Iowa lenders. “I’ve talked to several, I haven’t talked to my own, but I’ve talked to several others and they are concerned, deeply concerned, about the farm economy,” Shipley says. “If you can at least cover your expenses, it’ll make them feel better. It’ll make me feel better, too. I don’t want to be going backwards.”

Shipley hopes U-S and Chinese negotiators are making progress with their discussions about the current trade war and find some possible ways to resolve it. “They’re supposed to meet for six or seven days and at least they’re talking, that’s always positive,” Shipley says, “and that’s the best we can hope for.”  Shipley says trade issues are complicated and involve more than just agriculture so it could take some time to hammer out a positive agreement. On Monday, U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue said producers can begin to apply for the aid on September 4.

Cass County: Corn $2.98, Beans $7.61
Adair County: Corn $2.95, Beans $7.64
Adams County: Corn $2.95, Beans $7.60
Audubon County: Corn $2.97, Beans $7.63
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $3.01, Beans $7.61
Guthrie County: Corn $3.00, Beans $7.65
Montgomery County: Corn $3.00, Beans $7.63
Shelby County: Corn $3.01, Beans $7.61

Oats $2.52 (always the same in all counties)

(Information from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency offices)

• KJAN, Atlantic  .32″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .26″
• Massena  .59″
• Elk Horn  .21″
• Oakland  .69″
• Audubon  .45″
• Guthrie Center  .24″
• Corning  .82″
• Villisca  .8″
• Kirkman  .16″
• Manning  .27″
• Carroll  .13″
• Red Oak  .57″
• Creston  .73″

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she expects to hear something soon on the trade deal with Mexico. The Republican from Red Oak says she knows everyone is anxious to hear something. “Iowans come to me every day to talk about trade, trade, trade, and the R-F-S,” Ernst says. Ernst says she doesn’t know all the details of what is being discussed — but she says it is important to make progress. “What do I want to see? I want to see the deal done,” Ernst says, “let’s get that in the rearview mirror. I think that will be really important for our farmers and ranchers.”

Ernst says the Mexico deal could be the path for other trade deals to come together. “Mexico has been a wonderful trade partner to us, I will not deny that, they have been very good for agriculure,” Ernst says. “So, if we can continue that wonderful relationship between our farmers and ranchers and the folks in Mexico — let’s do it, let’s get it done. Let’s move on, let’s get Canada done, and then we can focuse on the larger issue, which is China.”

Ernst made her comments during her weekly conference call with reporters.

(DES MOINES, Iowa), Aug. 23, 2018 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Amanda De Jong today (Thursday) announced that 22 Iowa Counties are authorized for emergency haying and grazing use of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for fiscal year 2018. FSA’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The counties approved for emergency haying and grazing include: Adams, Appanoose, Clarke, Clay, Davis, Decatur, Des Moines, Dickinson, Henry, Jefferson, Lee, Louisa, Lucas, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe, Ringgold, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, and Wayne.

Unlike previous years, counties are not automatically approved for CRP emergency grazing when they reach the D2 (severe drought) level on the U.S. Drought Monitor. If there is a need for emergency grazing, each local FSA office must request approval from the Iowa FSA state committee. The 90-day emergency grazing period for these counties will end Sept. 30, 2018. The emergency haying authorizations end 60 calendar days from the authorization date, not to exceed August 31, 2018.  De Jong said “Eligible producers who are interested in emergency haying and grazing of CRP must request approval before haying and grazing eligible acreage and must obtain a modified conservation plan from the Natural Resources Conservation Service that includes haying and grazing provisions. Current provisions allow grazing on 100 percent of a field, up to the 75 percent stocking rate.”

There will be no CRP annual rental payment reduction for 2018 emergency haying and grazing authorizations.  To take advantage of the emergency grazing provisions, authorized producers can use the CRP acreage for their own livestock or may grant another livestock producer use of the CRP acreage. The eligible CRP acreage is limited to acres located within the approved county.  In counties that are authorized for emergency haying and grazing, producers are reminded that the same CRP acreage cannot be both hayed and/or grazed at the same time. For example, if 50 percent of a field or contiguous field is hayed, the remaining unhayed 50 percent cannot be grazed; it must remain unhayed and ungrazed for wildlife. In addition, participants are limited to one hay cutting and are not permitted to sell any of the hay.

For more information and to request approval for emergency haying or grazing use of CRP acres, contact your local USDA Service Center.

GARNER, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa county has approved a construction permit for a new proposed hog confinement operation. The Globe Gazette in Mason City reports that the Hancock County Board of Supervisors approved the permit unanimously on Monday after hearing no comments from the public.

The public hearing was set after the county received an application from Summit Pork II LLC, of Alden, for an operation northwest of Crystal Lake. The plans call for two new confinement buildings to house nearly 5,000 hogs. County Supervisor Jerry Tlach, the board chairman, says the site appears to have been well-chosen because no one has complained about it.