United Group Insurance

KJAN Ag/Outdoor

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!

Former Iowa DNR official: Livestock farm fund was misspent

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 13th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The former manager of a state program that regulates Iowa livestock farms and the manure they produce alleges money dedicated by law to the program has been illegally diverted for other uses by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Gene Tinker, who was laid off last month after 14 years as the DNR coordinator of animal feeding operations, says there should be plenty of money to pay him since the state gets $1.6 million a year from fees paid by the farms the program oversees.

State Sen. David Johnson also believes money in the fund has been spent elsewhere even though a 2005 state law prohibits it. Johnson says he plans to seek a special audit of the fund. DNR spokesman Alex Murphy says the agency “fully denies the allegations.”

USDA releases Iowa corn and soybean harvest predictions

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 13th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A new report predicts this year’s corn and soybean harvests in Iowa will fall short of records set last year. The USDA report is based on conditions as of October 1. The forecast calls for the corn yield in Iowa to average 191 bushels per acre, up four bushels per acre from the September forecast but down 12 bushels per acre from last year. Overall, Iowa corn production is forecast at 2.46 billion bushels.

If the prediction holds, it would mark the third highest yield and production on record behind 2016 and ’15. Soybean production is forecast at 557 million bushels, with a yield of 56 bushels per acre. If realized, it would be the second highest production on record behind last year. The yield forecast would be the third highest on record. Last year, the average soybean yield in Iowa was 60 bushels per acre.

More info. online at https://www.nass.usda.gov

Iowa groups join ‘Clean It Up Tyson’ coalition

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 12th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Environmental Council, the Des Moines Water Works and 18 central Iowa businesses have joined a coalition urging Tyson Foods to adopt new land-use rules for producers who supply livestock to Tyson slaughtering plants. Elise Peterson-Trujillo is a Des Moines-based organizer for Mighty Earth, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group. “Unfortunately, the meat industry is currently driving production practices of feed grains that pollute our waterways with excess fertilizer pollutants,” she said. “Tyson Foods is the company most responsible for driving these polluting practices.” Tyson is the country’s largest meat company, producing about one out of every five pounds of meat purchased by American consumers. Susan Heathcote is the water program director for the Iowa Environmental Council. She says if Tyson required producers to plant oats or other cover crops on harvested corn and soybean fields, nitrate run-off could be reduced by as much as 40 percent.

“We really want to continue to make sure that we have a productive agricultural landscape,” Heathcote says. “It’s a big part of our economy, but we need to do that in a way that doesn’t add to the water quality problems, especially nitrate in our drinking water is a big issue in Iowa.” Heathcote spoke Wednesday morning during a news conference in Des Moines that was organized by the “Mighty Earth” group. Des Moines Water Works C-E-O Bill Stowe also spoke at the event, which was held on a Des Moines River bank. “Look out at that water,” Stowe said. “It looks more like cappuccino than it does drinking water. That’s because it has suspended solids. A lot of soils and a lot of nutrients associated with the soils are coming into our water because of land practices, but it’s also full of bacteria and the bacteria, to a large extent, is coming from livestock rearing.”

A spokeswoman for Tyson says Mighty Earth “is making misleading claims about” Tyson and overlooking “the many ways crops are used including human consumption and biofuel.” Tyson’s spokeswoman says “real change” requires a broad coalition, not just the actions of a single company, and Tyson is collaborating with a wide variety of stakeholders and groups “to promote continuous improvement.”r improving Tyson’s “environmental footprint.” Tyson has meat processing facilities in Council Bluffs, Waterloo, Storm Lake, Perry and Columbus Junction.

(Radio Iowa)

Time for the Trumpeter Swan Contest in Cass County

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 12th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Conservation Board is asking you…When do you think the first Trumpeter Swan will arrive at the Schildberg Quarry (In Atlantic)?  They’re asking you to “Please call in your prediction (by November 10th) to the Conservation Board at 712-769-2372, leave a message and return phone number,” if staff are not available.  Duplicate dates will not be allowed.  For example, if a caller predicts November 25th, no one else will be allowed to predict that arrival date.  S

Call anytime until November 10th to make your prediction.  One prediction per family, please. The sponsors of this contest will determine the official arrival of more than 6 trumpeter swans to Lake 4.  The winner will receive a Trumpeter Swan 8×10 print from the Cass County Conservation Board.  This contest is only for residents of Cass County.

Here is a list of previous arrival dates:

Trumpeter Swans have visited the Schildberg Quarry for, at least, seventeen out of the last eighteen winters.  Arrival and departure dates of the swans have been as follows:

1997/1998    December 18 – January 2

1998/1999    Nothing on record

1999/2000    December 25 – February 15

2000/2001    November 23 – March 6

2001/2002    December 25 – February 24

2002/2003    November 23 – March 15

2003/2004   November 26 – March 21

2004/2005    November 25 – March 18

2005/2006    November 17 – March 5

2006/2007 October 30 – March 9

2007/2008 November 22- February 14

2008/2009 November 18- March 12

2009-2010 November 19 – January 5

2010-2011 November 5 – February 10

2011/2012 November 17 – February 21

2012/2013 November 24– March 4

2013/2014 November 12- April 7

2014/2015 November 11- April 6

2015/2016 November 22- March 24

2016/2017 November 19- March 9

USDA Report 10-12-2017

Ag/Outdoor, Podcasts

October 12th, 2017 by admin

w/ Denny Heflin

Play

ISU agronomist discusses latest crop report

Ag/Outdoor

October 11th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

The latest crop report released Tuesday by the USDA shows the recent wet weather hasn’t allowed many farmers in Iowa to get into their fields. Iowa State University Agronomist Joel DeJong, who monitors a nine county region in northwest Iowa, says he’s not seeing a lot of combines moving around. “We’re hoping we get a little more activity as we get into this week, but it’s been a pretty quiet week as far as harvest goes,” DeJong said.

The USDA reports just eight-percent of Iowa’s corn and 26-percent of soybeans have been harvested. The corn harvest is more than two weeks behind the five-year average, while beans are nearly a week behind. Last year, Iowa produced a record soybean harvest of 572 million bushels, with a yield of 60.5 bushels per acre. DeJong is hearing a few early reports of this year’s bean harvest. “I think the lowest I heard was 54 (bushels per acre) and the highest was 74…a lot of them in that 60 to 65 range,” DeJong said.

The crop report indicates across Iowa, on average, there were fewer than three days suitable for fieldwork last week. While there’s been plenty of rain, there haven’t been high winds. DeJong says he’s NOT seeing a lot of problems with corn stalks tipping over, but it appears many fields could be vulnerable.

“I’ve been in a couple fields where I’m doing the push test, where you’re trying to tip them at about a 30-degree angle. A very high percentage are pretty easily pushed over and you can see they’re going to kink and lodge if we get one of those big winds,” DeJong said. “So, check your hybrids and know which fields have that risk and which ones can maybe tolerate it better and prioritize the corn harvest accordingly.”

link to crop report: www.nass.usda.gov/ia

Cass County Extension Report 10-11-2017

Ag/Outdoor, Podcasts

October 11th, 2017 by admin

w/ Extension Program Coordinator Kate Olson

Play

IPP report: drainage districts have authority to cleanup Iowa’s water

Ag/Outdoor

October 11th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

A new report suggests the leaders of Iowa’s drainage districts, the target of a lawsuit dismissed earlier this year, should do more to improve the state’s water quality. David Osterberg, who co-authored the report for the Iowa Policy Project, believes drainage districts are authorized to reduce nitrate pollution even though they are not required to do so by law.

“They are perfectly set up to do this,” Osterberg said. “And we think that, when you look at what it says in the code, they ought to be doing this.” The report comes on the heels of an Iowa Supreme Court ruling against the Des Moines Water Works’ attempt to sue three drainage districts in northwest Iowa for nitrate pollution cleanup costs. Sarah Garvin, who helped write the report, suggests drainage districts are still vulnerable to another legal point of attack.

“Just because this last case failed, it still leaves the door open for another group or entity to come in and approach it from a different direction,” Garvin said. “Because there are pipes just flowing into ditches, that’s a point source, and public health is an issue because of what is coming out of those pipes and into those ditches.” According to Garvin, this is not just a water quality issue. She believes farmers would benefit financially if drainage districts improved conservation measures – which would cut down on soil and nutrient loss.

“Finding conservation measures and management measures within a drainage district has the potential to alleviate that economic cost for producers,” Garvin said. “So, the water quality is the public health issue, but the soil loss is an economic issue for farmers.” The researchers note that nitrate pollution from Iowa has contributed to the so-called “dead zone” at the mouth of the Mississippi River. It reached its largest size this year at 8,776 square miles.

(Radio Iowa – more info. at http://iowapolicyproject.org )

Study finds clear lakes can be among the most polluted

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 10th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A new study says appearances can be deceptive — clear lakes can be among the most polluted. Scientists have long known fertilizer runoff from farm fields can fuel excessive algae growth, turning lakes the color of pea soup.

But a study of 139 Iowa lakes by the University of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota Sea Grant finds that when lakes reach extremely high concentrations of nutrients, the water can be surprisingly clear. They found high levels of phosphorous and even higher levels of nitrogen in some.

They concluded that extreme nutrient levels killed the algae in the lakes, similar to how too much fertilizer applied on land can kill plants. Lead author Chris Filstrup tells Minnesota Public Radio it shows the need to measure nitrogen and phosphorous, not just water clarity.

Activist groups sue Iowa over ag whistleblower law

Ag/Outdoor

October 10th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Animal rights and free speech organizations have sued the state of Iowa, challenging a 2012 law that made it illegal to get a job at a livestock farm through misrepresentation to conduct an animal cruelty undercover investigation. Filing the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines are the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Center for Food Safety and Public Justice. The groups claim Iowa’s law violates their constitutional free speech and equal protection rights.

The lawsuit names the governor, whose spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message, and the attorney general, whose spokesman said they haven’t seen the lawsuit. Federal courts have struck down similar laws in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.