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!
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Drought conditions are getting worse in several states, and extreme heat and weeks with little rain have begun to stress corn, soybeans, wheat and livestock in some areas. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says nearly 11 percent of the continental United States is in moderate drought or worse. The most severe drought area is centered on portions of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The United States Department of Agriculture has designated several counties in those states as areas of natural disaster, paving the way for emergency loans for producers. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas also are seeing stressed crops and farm animals. About half of U.S. spring wheat, 15 percent of corn and 14 percent of soybeans are in drought.
A question Tim Eggers, Field Ag Economist for Iowa State University Extension, was asked in his first year on the job was, “What’s a fair lease rate?” Over 20 years later that question continues to be relevant. Given the competitiveness for access to farm land and changing economic pressures on farm operators, the number for one farm and one year is not the same for that farm the next year or another farm in the same year.
ISU Extension will be holding Farm Leasing Arrangements meetings across southwest Iowa August 1-10. The meeting in Atlantic is set for August 9 at 6:30 pm. at the Cass County Community Center on the fairgrounds. Contact the Cass County ISU Extension office at 712-243-1132 to pre-register. There is a $20 registration fee. Participants receive a copy of the presentation and a booklet with ISU Extension leasing publications.
In addition to the methods to find fair rents and provisions, legal issues related to farmland leases will be addressed. ISU Extension leasing survey results will be shared, and through discussion participants will put those results in context. Hands-on activities will help participants become active learners as they use the “size of the pie” notion to help illustrate the changes landowners and tenants are each managing.
In preparation for this year’s leasing meeting, ag lenders across southwest Iowa have been visited by Tim Eggers and the southwest Iowa Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Intern Haley Carlson. “Every lender has mentioned flexible cash leases this year, so we’ll spend time visiting about setting an appropriate base,” says Eggers. Carlson will cover boundary by acquiescence using materials from the Iowa State University Center for Ag Law and Taxation.
If you are a landowner, tenant, or agricultural professional concerned about the fairness of your lease, consider registering for the August 9 Farm Leasing Arrangements meeting in Atlantic. Cass County ISU Extension staff would be glad to take your registration information via email at lander@iastate.edu or over the phone at 712-243-1132. For a list of all meeting across the state, visit the ISU Ag Decision Maker Website at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/info/meetings.html.
Iowa State University’s Armstrong Research and Demonstration farm will feature a variety of agricultural topics at a field day August 17th. The field day will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon, with lunch following. Registration begins at 9 a.m. There is no charge for attending the field day.
Mark Licht, ISU Extension assistant professor and cropping systems specialist, will begin the program speaking about yield response to delayed corn and soybean planting dates. Tim Youngquist, ISU STRIPS project farmer liaison, will feature the soil, water and wildlife benefits of row crops integrated with prairie strips. A high-tech cattle feed bunk that measures individual feed intake will be demonstrated by Garland Dahlke, ISU assistant scientist. 
The Armstrong Research Farm is located 13 miles southwest of Atlantic on Highway 6, one-half mile south on 525th Street, and three-quarters of a mile east on Hitchcock Avenue.
DES MOINES – An invasive beetle that kills ash trees, the emerald ash borer (EAB), has been confirmed in Ringgold County, making it the 52nd county in Iowa where this highly destructive insect has been found. The recent EAB infestation was discovered by a tree service that reported suspect ash trees to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Insect larvae were collected from this rural site west of Tingley, and positively identified as EAB.
EAB-infested ash trees can include branch dieback in the upper crown, water sprouts along the trunk and main branches, vertical bark splits, D-shaped emergence holes, S-shaped tunneling under loose bark, as well as woodpecker damage. EAB is difficult to detect in newly-infested trees.
All ash tree species are susceptible to attack by EAB. The larval stage of this insect kills ash trees by tunneling under the bark and feeding on the part of the tree that moves water and nutrients throughout the tree.
Mike Kintner with the Iowa Dept. of Agriculture and Land Stewardship EAB & Gypsy Moth Coordinator, says “We are already up to 13 new counties confirmed with EAB this year. As we continue to track EAB’s spread across the state, people are encouraged to report suspect trees in counties that have not yet been declared positive.”
EAB is native to Asia and was first identified in the U.S. in 2002 and in Iowa in 2010 in Allamakee County. Much of the pests’ spread can be attributed to humans inadvertently transporting it to new areas under the bark of firewood, logs and tree debris. At this calendar date, the treatment window for soil-applied preventive treatment measures (soil injection, soil drench or granular application) and basal bark sprays has ended.
Trunk injections can be done now through the end of August if a landowner is interested in protecting a valuable and healthy ash tree within 15 miles of a known infestation. Good ground moisture is essential for systemic insecticide movement in a tree. Full details are available in Iowa State University Extension and Outreach publication PM2084: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/13114
To learn more about EAB and view maps of its distribution, please visit www.IowaTreePests.com.
Today (Thursday), marks the first full-day of activities at the Cass County Fair, in Atlantic. The morning begins with breakfast at the Food Stand, with the KJAN crew serving up some awesome food. The Swine weigh-in takes place from 7:30-until 9:30-a.m. Rabbit check-in is from 8-to 9:30-a.m., and the Poultry will be checked-in from 10-until 11-a.m.
Other scheduled activities include:
The president of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association says the “master matrix” rules for confined animal feedlot operations in Iowa are working properly and don’t need strengthening. Mike Cline, of Elgin, says it’s critical those regulations are left intact and that there’s one statewide regulation in place for all producers to follow. “We’re strongly in support of one master matrix for the whole state and not have it divided out into a county decision where we could have 99 different decisions across the state,” Cline says. “We’ll be in attendance of any meetings that we can be following it and keeping everybody up to date on where they need to go and give comment on.”
Activist groups are petitioning for putting stricter master matrix rules in place. Cline says the state’s water is being protected by the current rules and changing them now doesn’t make sense. “All the bases are pretty well covered with the current master matrix,” Cline says. “We always need to keep evaluating where we’re at. All of the safeguards are in place and everybody should rest assured that everything’s being watched over.”
He says producers and their animals use the water and don’t want to see any contamination or environmental damage to it. “We would be the first ones to notice any ill effects,” Cline says. “We just don’t want to do the wrong thing and we would be constantly vigilant of watching for anything that might need to be adjusted or changed.”
He says producers and consumers need to work together to enhance the state’s water quality and putting some type of moratorium in place on CAFO operations would be disruptive and hurtful.
(Radio Iowa)
The FREE, 2017 Cass County 4-h & FFA Fair begins today in Atlantic and concludes Tuesday, August 1st, with the Livestock Sale and release of the Static Exhibits. Today at the Fair, there’s 4-H Static Exhibit Judging from 9-a.m. until 2:30-p.m., and the Clover Kids Showcase from 9-until 11-a.m. The Food Sale begins at 10-a.m. inside the Cass County Community Center on the Fairgrounds, and then at 6-p.m., Preparation Day for the rest of the activities will begin.
You can view the full schedule of events here: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/cass/2017%20Schedule_Final.pdf
The results from the shows and judging at the East Pottawattamie County Fair in Avoca are complete. CLICK HERE for all the details!
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS