(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has missed this week’s deadline to set new annual amounts of ethanol that small oil refineries must blend into gasoline. The E-P-A hasn’t set new volume levels since 2020. Monte Shaw is executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. He says, “While this is not uncharted territory for us, it’s about what is that opportunity cost? What is not happening? You know, E-10’s being sold, you kind of get stuck in the status quo of blending.”

The E-P-A has proposed extending the ethanol blending deadlines for oil refineries. The agency has scheduled a virtual public hearing on the issue this Friday, December 3rd.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes)

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa farmers who attended the “COP 26” climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland say agriculture is finally being welcomed to the discussions. Ray Gaesser of Ankeny represented the group, “Solutions from the Land,” as one of the nearly 40-thousand official participants. Gaesser says after years of fighting to get into the meetings, farmers are being given a seat at the table.  “We’re having a presence finally of agriculture at the UN meetings,” Gaesser says. “The climate discussion started out ten or 15 years ago with no agriculture involved and it’s really important that we share our story and how we will make a difference for the climate and still feed people.”

U-S-D-A officials contacted the group prior to the 26th annual COP, or Conference of the Parties, asking members to meet with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Gaesser says they provided input on how agriculture can help to slow climate change. “The message that USDA is sharing has been the message that we’ve had from Solutions from the Land for several years, about farmers being a part of the solution,” he says, “that one-size-fits-all regulations are inadequate, that we are very diverse in agriculture, not only within our state but within our nation.”

Gaesser says agriculture is utilizing nature’s energy sources in solar and wind as well as biofuels. He hopes those elements will be integrated into U-S-D-A’s climate change mitigation and a possible climate bank.  “We have made an impact because their message is very similar to what ours is,” he says. “It’s about agriculture being part of the solution. It’s about farmers making a difference and providing opportunities, and it’s about all the innovations that we’re doing in agriculture in the United States.”

Still, he says farmers at COP 26 faced more aggressive anti-meat rhetoric about how methane emissions from livestock globally have grown over time and production should be eliminated. Gaesser says much of the animal agriculture message was just not accurate.

(Radio Iowa) – Clearfield Mayor Chris Knox is hoping an egg production facility that was heavily damaged by fire this weekend will be able to recover. Knox says he noticed the plant burning at around 7:30 Saturday morning — and most of the facility’s employees were standing outside when he drove by. The mayor says the gusty winds made for what he called “a scary deal.”

“The wind did pick up pretty strong there Saturday afternoon,” he says. “It was blowing right towards town at that particular time, and there was a pretty big concern about starting a cornfield on fire right to the east side of where the fire was. From there, it could have carried into the town of Clearfield.” Knox says the facility was bought from Iowa Cage-Free last month and is now known as Hen Haven Fire crews brought the fire under control by about 6 p-m Saturday–but not before it caused considerable damage.

“One complete hen house was burned clear to the ground. I would estimate it to be 700-to-800 feet long. It took it completely down. From there, the barn was connected by breezeways to the processing facility, and to the office space, and I believe to the distribution center. The processing, the office space, and the distribution area were all completely damaged, as well,” according to Knox. It’s believed hundreds of thousands of chickens died in the fire. Knox says the plant employs up to 70 people and the fire is a big blow to more than just the facility’s workers.

“It goes to people supplying the facility with feed resources and other resources,” he says. “It doesn’t even affect just the employees, it affects everybody that has ties to that business, as well. It would be really great if we could salvage what we can out of the mess, and continue to have that for the community. It really would.” Knox praised fire departments from surrounding communities for their assistance in battling the fire.

There’s no word on what caused the fire. None of the facility’s employees were injured, but Knox says two firefighters reportedly were treated for smoke inhalation.

(Atlantic, Iowa)  – Beef producers needing to renew or obtain their certification for Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) can attend an in-person workshop held Monday, December 6^th from 6:30 – 8:30 PM.  The training will be held at Cass County Community Center at 805 W 10^th Street in Atlantic.

A majority of packers require cattle sellers to be BQA certified.  BQA is a nationally coordinated, state implemented program that raises consumer confidence through offering proper management techniques and a commitment to quality within every segment of the beef industry.  The Iowa BQA Program is funded by the Iowa Beef Industry Council (IBIC) and the Beef Checkoff.  The education component is delivered as a joint effort by Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University and IBIC.

There is no cost to attend the training, but pre-registration is appreciated. To reserve a seat at the training, please RSVP by noon on Monday the 6^th by contacting the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132 or emailing keolson@iastate.edu. A light meal will be served to all who RSVP in advance, grilled by the Cass County Cattlemen, starting at 6:00 PM ahead of the meeting.

To learn more about the Iowa BQA Program and other upcoming certification trainings in your area, please visit www.iabeef.org.  BQA certification is also offered online for free at www.bqa.org.  For more information, feel free to contact Erika Lundy-Woolfolk, ISU Extension beef specialist at 641-745-5902 or ellundy@iastate.edu.

AMES, Iowa – The 2022 Crop Advantage meetings will give producers a solid foundation of current research-based crop production information to help make smart, informed decisions for their farming operation. The meetings are an opportunity for farmers and crop advisers to hear current research and crop production information from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Specialists will travel to 14 locations around Iowa (Including Atlantic, Denison & LeMars), from Jan. 4-27, providing updated management options and recommendations on crop production issues facing Iowa growers.

Meetings include continuing education credits for Certified Crop Advisers and pesticide applicator recertification. All sites offer private pesticide applicator continuing instruction, which is included in the registration fee. The Chariton location also offers commercial ag pesticide applicator continuing instruction for an additional cost.

Nearly 2,000 individuals attended one of 14 Crop Advantage meetings across the state in 2020, representing all 99 Iowa counties and surrounding states. Approximately 85% of attendees said information from Crop Advantage would likely save them between $5 and $20 per acre.

Program topics vary by location and are selected for regional issues. Topics on this year’s agenda include: crop market outlook for 2022, precipitation and weather variability trends, corn rootworm management, managing cover crops before corn, fertilizer management for 2022, management of corn and soybean disease issues, tax law changes and many more.

Financial support for this farmer-focused meeting series is provided by the Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Corn Growers Association. Locations, times and program details are available online.

Early registration for each location is $60; late registration made less than seven days prior to the meeting, or on-site, is $75. Registration includes lunch, private pesticide applicator recertification, and CCA credits.

Online registration and additional information is available at www.cropadvantage.org. For questions, contact ANR Program Services at 515-294-6429, or anr@iastate.edu, or contact your regional Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomist.

2022 Meeting Dates and Locations

• Jan. 4 – Sheldon.
• Jan. 5 – Storm Lake.
• Jan. 6 – Burlington.
• Jan. 11 – Okoboji.
• Jan. 12 – Ankeny.
• Jan. 13 – Cedar Falls.
• Jan. 14 – Mason City.
• Jan. 18 – Chariton.
• Jan. 19 – Webster City.
• Jan. 20 – Atlantic.
• Jan. 21 – Davenport.
• Jan. 25 – Coralville.
• Jan. 26 – Le Mars.
• Jan. 27 – Denison.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Iowa Learning Farms (ILF), the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach conservation and water quality education program, will host “Coffee and Conservation,” Wednesday, Dec. 15, from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield. The in-person event will provide local farmers and landowners with a chance to discuss conservation practices and ask questions of ILF and local extension staff.

Liz Ripley, ILF conservation and cover crop outreach specialist, says “Our intent with this event is to help build community through encouraging farmers to talk with their peers and ILF about topics important within the community, what keeps them up at night, what challenges they see with conservation practices, and what they want to learn more about. There will be no formal presentations or agenda, just a chance to talk, ask questions, listen and learn while enjoying a beverage and provided food.”

ISU hosts at the Greenfield event will include Mark Licht, assistant professor and extension cropping systems specialist in agronomy at Iowa State University, and Liz Ripley, ILF conservation and cover crop outreach specialist. The Coffee and Conservation event is produced in collaboration with ISU’s Conservation Learning Group and the Adair County Extension Office.

To ensure adequate space and food, please RSVP for the Greenfield Coffee and Conservation by calling 515-294-5429 or email ilf@iastate.edu.

(Radio Iowa) – After disruption in the meat supply at the start of the pandemic, the federal government will spend half a billion to expand meat and poultry processing and another 150 million specifically for small meat lockers. In Iowa, officials are reviewing 72 applications for grants from a 750-thousand dollar state fund for expanding meat lockers. Iowa State University economist Chad Hart grew up in southwest Missouri where his parents ran a small meat locker for several decades and he says running a meat locker is hard work.

“You’re not only doing that physical work, but maintaining that customer base has been difficult, so when you think about it, we saw these small town locker plants disappear due to one — the physicality of the work — and two — the economics that drove larger and larger facilities to be built.” Finding people capable of doing the work in a meat locker will be difficult, according to Hart.

“It is a very labor intensive business, especially when you’re doing it on a small scale and that can be difficult for folks, especially as we’ve transitioned to labor that is specialized and less — let’s call it brute force hard labor, which is what small town meat processing was,” Hart says. “I remember with my parents’ locker plant, you’re talking about horsing around sides of meat.”

A side of beef is usually between four-hundred and five-hundred pounds. A whole pig routinely weighs between 150 and two-hundred pounds. The other conundrum for meat lockers is building a customer base willing to pay more for locally raised and processed meat — since meat from the four large corporate processors will cost less per pound.  “If you’re just competing on the commodity scale and working against your Cargills and your JBSes, you’re never going to be able to beat them on the low-cost scale,” Hart says, “so you have to offer something more.” Hart says securing repeat customers is key for meat lockers.

“The problem’s going to be that just like smaller plants disappeared in the past, it’s likely a lot of these that are started up under these grants will likely to disappear going into the future unless they can figure out to specialize themselves within that local market to help drive demand for their services, reaching out to their cattle producers and hog producers in that area and saying: ‘Hey, bring your animals to us. Allow us to process them,'” Hart says. “…And can we benefit from the local food movement to truly drive that business?”

Hart made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – The DNR’s annual trout stocking of ponds across the state is now complete. Northeast Iowa regional fisheries supervisor Mike Steuck says it’s a way to introduce trout fishing outside their normal habitat. He says they stocked 18 community ponds with the goal of getting people excited about trout fishing with the hope they will then try trout fishing in the northeast Iowa trout streams. They put between 1,500 and 2,000 trout into the ponds.

“They’re usually about two to the pound or a half a pound apiece and they’re ten to twelve inches in size. And then, of course, each pond gets a few of the broodstock that we don’t use for breeding anymore or spawning, gets stocked into each of the community trout fisheries as well. So, there’s some five to six-pound trout to be had,” he says. Steuck says the stock trout are not hard to catch. “They’re hungry and they readily bite on most lures and baits. We want them to be caught out of there before summer anyway when water temperatures rise up,” he explains.

Trout were stocked in 18 community ponds. (DNR photo)

The pond stocking of trout has become so popular that the DNR waits until after they are stock to announce the location. He says most are caught pretty quickly once people find their location. “We’ve had very, very few that we’ve seen hold over into the summer, but there are a few ponds out there that have some cooler water yet. There’s a few that have survived, but most of them are caught,” Steuck says.

Steuk says the goal is to raise interest in trout fishing — but it also can raise interest in fishing overall. “The neat thing about these ponds is you really don’t know what you are going to catch. You could catch the trout of course that we stock — but you could also catch largemouth bass or bluegill, or a channel catfish, a small pike. It’s a mixed bag catch a lot of times. Folks are doing pretty well,” according to Steuck.

You can go to the DNR’s website to find out more about the ponds which have been stocked.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is issuing a stellar financial report, after just emerging from a major labor dispute. Quad Cities-based John Deere reports 4th quarter net income of nearly one-point-three billion dollars compared to 757-million a year ago. Deere also shows its fiscal-year-end net income of almost six-billion dollars. That’s more than twice the two-point-seven billion with which it ended the last fiscal year. Last week, the U-A-W ended its 35-day strike against Deere and the new contract includes immediate ten-percent raises. Deere announced Tuesday all salaried workers are getting eight-percent raises.