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One person was injured in a grain elevator explosion in Sioux City Tuesday afternoon. Sioux City police chief Ed Mahon says the explosion happened at 12:55 p-m at the Anderson Grain Elevator. He says they don’t know what caused the explosion and it was mostly out, but crews had to find and shut off the gas to the elevator to get the fire out.

A gaping hole was blown into the top and side of the structure and homes located east of the building were evacuated because of the threat of a possible second explosion and elevator collapse. Chief Mahon says there were three employees at the elevator when the explosion happened. He says one was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Two others were not injured and have been interviewed about what they saw. The injured employee’s name has not been released. Mahon says there was a big concern about part of the building collapsing on firefighters. “They said they saw some concrete moving that appeared to be bulging out,” Mahon said. He says they were being cautious until they could do something to take the concrete down.

Firefighters from South Sioux City, Dakota City, Homer and Winnebago responded to help Sioux City.

(Radio Iowa)

Rental rates for Iowa farmland increased this year for the first time since 2013, according to a survey from Iowa State University Extension. It shows the average statewide rental rate is $222 per acre, an increase of just 1.4 percent over last year. ISU Extension economist Ann Johanns says another, related report is on the way.

“Soon, Iowa State will release a farmland ownership survey. That’s something we do every five years and that really gives us some insight into how much is land is rented and how it’s rented,” Johanns said. According to the most recent figures from the USDA, a little more than half of the farmland in Iowa is rented. ISU Extension will be holding leasing meetings around the state in July and August, at which time the survey on farmland ownership will be discussed.

“Which we think really gives some good insight into who owns the land, how they own it, and it asks how they might intend to pass it on,” Johanns said. The increase in farmland rental rates, while rather small, is somewhat surprising in light of grain prices. Johanns notes rental rates have dropped by nearly 18-percent since 2013. Over the same time period, corn and soybean prices received by Iowa farmers declined by 52 and 37-percent, respectively.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa farmers can now sign up for a cost-sharing program to help pay for water quality strategies. State Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says it’s the sixth annual round for the program which helps farmers install nutrient reduction management practices. Naig says, “What we make available is a cost share for cover crops or converting to strip-till and no-till and for using a nitrogen inhibitor in the fall on fall-applied fertilizer.” Farmers who are planting cover crops for the first time get the highest cost share, he says, and the funding will be doled out starting in July. Naig says, “We have had 8,000 participants over the last five years and 4,600 of those have been first-time users of one of those water quality practices.”

He encourages growers to apply for the cost share program as soon as possible. “It’s good to get in early because the dollars do run out at some point,” Naig says. “We’ll make those decisions in July or into August. Folks can call the office or visit our website, Iowa Agriculture-dot-gov, or they can walk into their county conservation office and apply for the cost share there.”

Naig says farmers are only eligible for cost share on up to 160 acres.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Faced with an increasing shortage of workers, Idaho dairies are investing in robotic milkers. John Paetz, regional manager of Lely North America, headquartered in Pella, Iowa, says “The interest in robotic milking in Idaho is growing quite rapidly.” The company has robots installed in three Idaho dairies now, with two more scheduled to come online in July and two more scheduled for later in the year or early next.

In robotic milking, the cow decides when she wants to be milked and goes to the robotic milker. While she enjoys a snack such as a high-energy pellet, a laser-controlled device finds her teats, cleans them and dries them, then attaches and milks. When she’s done, the robot detaches and the cow wanders off. All without human intervention.

Paetz says “Larger dairies, where they’re employing 20 people, can see a big benefit initially. We’re not in the business of displacing labor, but you can do the same job with less labor.” Idaho has been behind the curve in implementing robotic milking, partly because Lely, one of the major vendors, has been migrating its marketing across the country after starting in western Europe and then heading to Canada and the East Coast. “We just started looking at the western region in the last five or six years,” Paetz said. “We don’t want our infantry to outrun our lines of support.” Across the U.S., robots are now being used in 5 percent or fewer of the dairies, he said. “But it’s accelerating.”

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Officials and volunteers in eastern Iowa have opened a park on a former vacant lot with hopes of increasing habitat for bees, butterflies and other insects and demonstrating the importance of such efforts. The Pollinator Park opened in Muscatine May 19. Volunteers planted new plants during the ceremony.

The nonprofit hopes to attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other flying insects with the plants. Volunteers from Nature Conservancy of Iowa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Muscatine County Conservation Board and City of Muscatine helped with the project. Bridgestone Bandag donated most of the seeds, which are all native species, and Muscatine Community College donated the greenhouse.

Pollinator Park will take up to four years to be fully developed. It will also feature benches, a pathway and signage to explain how an active prairie is sustained.

DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — A group that keeps an eye on the eagle population in Iowa says two eaglets at a nest in Decorah have died. Television station KCRG reports that a pathogen carried by blackflies, coupled with recent high heat and humidity, led to the baby birds’ deaths. The Raptor Resource project — a nonprofit organization that runs the popular webcam trained on the nest — says the birds were hatched on May 18 and May 20, considered late for eagles.

FAIRBANK, Iowa (AP) — After losing an extended legal battle, a company is refusing to remove three wind turbines in northeast Iowa and is asking a court to reconsider a 2016 order and allow the structures to remain. The Mason Wind, Dante Wind 6, Venus Wind 4 and Galileo Wind have also filed a new zoning application seeking a variance from Fayette County’s board of adjustment which would legalize the existing project, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported .

Opponents of the turbines are asking the Fayette County District Court to find the companies and county zoning officials in contempt of court for failing to remove them already. Fairbank and group private owners sued in 2015 after zoning officials declared the turbines didn’t require special permit approval. Mason Wind and the other firms unsuccessfully appealed the 2016 decision, which was reaffirmed earlier this month when the Iowa Supreme Court let the original ruling stand.

Company attorneys have requested to reconsider the district court decision, contending the order is too harsh given the circumstances and noting the companies have an avenue to legalize them through a zoning process. “Because the turbines’ owners relied in good faith on certificates of zoning compliance issued by the Fayette County zoning administrator and engaged in no wrongdoing, it would be fundamentally unfair to require the turbines be removed,” the companies said in a May 17 court filing.

But attorneys for the city argued the companies continued building the turbines despite the pending lawsuit and failed to post a $450,000 bond to remove the structures as required by the court. They said the companies should be held in contempt for disregarding the court’s authority.

A hearing is scheduled for June 11 on the contempt issue and the application for a county zoning variance is expected to go to the board of adjustment soon.

Two of central Iowa’s most popular bicycle trails are another step closer to being joined into what one backer calls a “mega-trail.” A 15-thousand dollar grant was landed this week that will help extend the High Trestle Trail from Woodward to connect with the Raccoon River Valley Trail in Perry. Mike Wallace, executive director at the , says they’re working with some two-dozen landowners.

“That gap that we’re trying to make the connection on is a nine-mile segment,” Wallace says. “We’re utilizing former railroad right-of-way and road right-of-way and some land parcels that we’ve been able to acquire, all to make that nine-mile connection.”

The Raccoon River Valley Trail runs a total of 89 miles while the High Trestle Trail is 25 miles long — and it links to other trails extending into Des Moines and well beyond. Closing that nine-mile gap is part of a five-million dollar project, Wallace says, and the timeline is still fluid. “We need to raise another $2-million, so when that happens, I can’t really tell you,” Wallace says. “We apply for state grants, federal grants, private grants, foundations, all those types of things. It’s a slow process.”

The High Trestle Trail has won international acclaim, in large part thanks to the 130-foot-tall bridge and its 43 diamond-shapped ribs, which are illuminated by cool blue lights at night. The trail goes through towns like Woodward, Madrid, Slater, Sheldahl and Ankeny. A recent Iowa State University study found each rider spends between six and 20-dollars per visit.

“It’s a real shot in the arm especially to smaller communities,” Wallace says. “All of the sudden, thousands of people are coming to their community, whereas before they’d be driving right through and not stopping at all. It really does make a significant difference for all communities, whether it’s small or large.”

The north loop of the Raccoon River Valley Trail connects 15 communities and four counties in what’s believed to be the longest paved loop trail in the country at 72 miles.

(Radio Iowa)

One benefit of a cooler spring was a lack of mosquitoes in Iowa, but Deputy State Epidemiologist, Ann Garvey says the rains and warm weather have change that situation. Garvey says that makes it important to wear insect repellent if you are going to be outside. “We are hearing a lot anecdotally about nuisance mosquito activity and if you wear that insect repellent like a DEET product — that would be effective against mosquitoes and against the ticks — which we know are out and about this time of year as well,” Garvey says.

If you are out during the day then you’ll need sunscreen along with the bug repellent. Doctor Garvey says the used of both often leads to a question. “Sometimes people will ask ‘do we put the sunscreen on first or the insect repellent?’ The recommendation is to put the sunscreen on first and the insect repellent over the top,” according to Garvey. “You’ll often have to reapply the sunscreen more often than you will the insect repellent, so it’s important to read the directions and reapply as directed.”

Garvey says mosquitoes can carry disease and if you are in areas with trees or lots of grass, you could also be bitten by ticks and exposed to a disease. “The most common tick associated illness in Iowa is Lyme disease. We have several hundred cases every year. Last year we had about 250 cases so we expect we’ll see a large number of cases again this year,” Garvey says.

Lyme disease is the only worry when it comes to ticks. “The other two most common ticks are the American dog tick, and that can transmit illnesses like Rocky Mountain spotted fever or Tularemia,” Garvey explains, “and the Lone Star tick can transmit Tularemia and Erlichiosis and so while we talk a lot about the deer tick or the black legged tick, there are other types of ticks that can cause other types of illnesses.”

People pay a lot of attention to avoiding getting bitten by a tick or a mosquito, but sometimes forget some common things at the holiday picnic that can also lead to illnesses. Garvey says they see a lot of illnesses created by improper food handling. “So it’s important as we’re grilling and having those picnics and barbecues this weekend that we’re handling our food properly and encourage everybody to cook their meats to the proper temperature — and keep their hot foods hot and their cold foods cold,” Garvey says.

You can find a variety of information on avoiding ticks and mosquitoes and proper food handling on the Iowa Department of Public Health website.

(Radio Iowa)