Jim Field visits with Derek Deist about the Audubon Lions Club 33rd Annual Farm Toy Show Saturday, February 24 from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm at the Agri-Hall on the Audubon County Fairgrounds.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (23.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – A central Iowa farmer is appealing to members of Iowa’s congressional delegation to develop and pass a new Farm Bill before this fall, focusing on legislation that he says is climate-smart. Scott Henry, the owner of Longview Farms in Nevada, says farmers, consumers and the environment would all benefit from legislation that lead the transition to more sustainable food production. Henry says, “A climate-smart Farm Bill is one that allows farmers on a voluntary basis to adopt practices such as cover crops, no-till, prescriptive farming, split applications of nitrogen and other fertilizer sources that help reduce reliance upon synthetics, whether that be through livestock integration or biologicals.”

Henry grew up on the multi-generational family farm in Story County, where he grows corn and soybeans, and raises cattle. He was in Washington D-C last week, meeting with Iowa’s senators and members of congress, along with House and Senate Ag Committee staff. “For us, it’s really working towards making sure that farmers have knowledge about these tools and that those tools are available to them,” Henry says, “and to a certain extent, if there’s any incentive to help get a farmer started down that path, that would be good.”

Much of his farm’s corn crop was knocked flat by the powerful winds of the derecho in 2020 and Henry says they could’ve plowed it under and collected the insurance, but didn’t. Instead, they chose to use the combine, even moving forward at one-mile-an-hour, to harvest the corn off the ground.  “That was the most revealing thing to me in my farming career,” Henry says, “that these production practices that we had implemented really were making the crop resilient in a volatile weather pattern, but it still means we’ve still got to work hard and roll our sleeves up to get the work done.”

A new Farm Bill didn’t materialize last year, and Henry is urging our elected leaders to ensure passage of a progressive measure by this fall. “We’re on a one-year extension right now, that does come up I believe in September,” Henry says. “And the question right now is if we’ll have a new bill by that time, or still pass another extension, or if they’ll do nothing, which is a scenario I don’t think anybody wants. I truly hope that both sides can come together and we can get a Farm Bill that’s passed.”

Farmers and consumers shouldn’t be at odds, Henry says, and he calls this a rallying cry where everyone can have a seat at the same table with the common goal of a sustainable future.

(Lewis, Iowa) – Cass County Conservation officials, today (Wednesday) acknowledged a scholarship was awarded to Naturalist, Lora Kanning, by the Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP), ICCS and Iowa Association of Naturalists.

The scholarship will assist Kanning in attending the 2024 National Association of Interpretation, Heartland Region workshop in Council Bluffs, Iowa this April. The scholarship was funded by REAP-CEP. The Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP): Invest in Iowa, our outdoors, our heritage, our people.

REAP is supported by the state of Iowa, providing funding to public and private partners for natural and cultural resources projects, including water quality, wildlife habitat, soil conservation, parks, trails, historic preservation and more.

(Radio Iowa) – A fourteen year old boy has died in a north Iowa farm accident. Howard County Sheriff Tim Beckman says the incident occurred at about 5 p-m Tuesday about 10 miles west of Elma.

Initial reports indicated that a juvenile boy had been pinned underneath a tractor, but Beckman says it appears the family was taking a large steel wheel off the tractor when the steel wheel tipped over on the teen.

The Howard County medical examiner determined his death was accidental.

Jim Field visits with Atlantic FFA student leaders Colton Rudy, Lola Kommes, Lily Johnson and Charli Goff about National FFA Week.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (29.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/Kate Olson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(DES MOINES, Iowa) – As the 2024 crop production season begins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact producers nationwide to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season. “Each year, the agriculture industry anticipates USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, which provides initial survey-based estimates of U.S. farmers’ planting intentions for the year,” said Greg Thessen, Director of the NASS Upper Midwest Regional Field Office. “The March Agricultural Survey provides the data that underpin projections, making it one of the most important surveys we conduct each year.”

NASS will mail the survey to approximately 2,300 Iowa producers on Feb. 19 asking producers to provide information about the types of crops they intend to plant in 2024, how many acres they intend to plant, and the amounts of grain and oilseed they store on their farms. Producers can respond online at agcounts.usda.gov or by mail. Those who do not respond by Feb. 27 may be emailed a reminder or contacted for an interview.

In accordance with federal law, NASS keeps responses confidential and publishes data in aggregate form only, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

The data will be published in the Prospective Plantings and quarterly Grain Stocks reports on Mar. 28, 2024. These and all NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications. For more information, call the NASS Upper Midwest Regional Office at 800-772-0825.

(Radio Iowa) – As we move toward spring, a program providing discounted trees is once again available for some state residents. The D-N-R’s Pete Hildreth says it’s designed to help plant more trees in the state. He says the D-N-R and Alliant Energy are partnering to offer landscaped-size trees to private residents at a discount. Hildreth says trees provide a variety of benefits to homeowners.

“Including and reduced home heating and cooling costs, decreased stormwater, shade for outdoor activities, higher home values, and enhance beauty,” Hildreth says. “Alliant Energy customers can place their orders on the D-N-R residential tree distribution program page found on our D-N-R website.” There are a variety of species available, and once you order the trees they will be deliver in several cities.

Here are the tree pick up locations:
Thursday, April 25, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Awaysis Park (1409 E Lakeshore Dr, Storm Lake)
Tuesday, April 30, 4:00-6:00 p.m., Greene County Extension Office (104 W. Washington St, Jefferson)
Thursday, May 2, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Grimes Farm and Conservation Center (2349 233rd St, Marshalltown)
Tuesday, May 27, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Burlington Depot (300 S Main St, Burlington)
Saturday, May 11, 9:00-11:00 a.m., Swiss Valley Park (13069 Swiss Valley Rd, Peosta)

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Here’s a reminder: The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hosting a series of town hall-style meetings where local staff will provide updates on recently completed hunting and trapping seasons, discuss possible changes to hunting and trapping rules and regulations, and address other topics as requested. “We want people to come out to these meetings, listen to the seasons reviews, ask questions and hear directly from our staff,” said Todd Bishop, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Wildlife Bureau. “Part of the meeting will be devoted to discussing potential rule changes and collecting feedback as we work through the rules process.”

The meetings are open to the public. Comments collected from these public meetings will be considered along with other related comments received by the Iowa DNR prior to proposing changes to hunting rules and regulations. Proposed rules will be presented to the Natural Resource Commission during a regular public meeting for consideration and additional public comment.

Meeting date, time and location

• Algona, Feb. 20, 7 p.m., Waters Edge Nature Center, 1010 250th Street
• Bloomfield, Feb. 20, 6 p.m., Wapello County Conservation Board Pioneer Ridge Nature Center, 1339 Hwy. 63
• Boone, Feb. 20, 6:30 p.m., Boone Wildlife Research Station, 1436 255^th Street
• Council Bluffs, Feb. 20, 6 p.m., Bass Pro Shops, Green Room, 2901 Bass Pro Drive
• Des Moines, Feb. 20, 6:45 p.m., Des Moines Izaak Walton League, 4343 George Flagg Parkway
• Maquoketa, Feb. 20, 7 p.m., Hurstville Interpretive Center, 18670 63^rd Street
• Okoboji, Feb. 20, 6:30 p.m., Maser Monarch Lodge, 22785 Nature Center Road
• Wapello, Feb. 20, 6 p.m., Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge Office, 10728 County Road X61
• Chariton, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m., Chariton Community Center, 502 North Main Street
• Creston, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m., PAC 124 Multi-Purpose Room, Southern Prairie Family Fitness Center, 1201 West Townline Street
• Iowa City, Feb. 21, 7 p.m., Johnson County ISU Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy. 218 South
• Lake View, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m., Speaker Park Shelter House, 418 North Blossom Street
• Perry, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m., Forest Park Museum, Dallas County Conservation Board, 14581 K Avenue
• Toledo, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m., Tama County Nature Center, 2283 Park Road
• Waverly, Feb. 21, 6 p.m., Waverly Civic Center/City Hall, 200 1st Street NE
• Decorah, Feb. 22, 7 p.m., Franklin W. Olin Building, Room 102, Luther College, 700 College Drive, next to the Prues Library
• Onawa, Feb. 22, 5 p.m., Onawa Public Library, 707 Iowa Avenue
• Ventura, Feb. 22, 7 p.m., Iowa DNR Wildlife Office, 15326 Balsam Avenue

Any person attending the public meeting that has special requirements, such as those related to mobility or hearing impairments, should contact the Iowa DNR or ADA Coordinator at 515-725-8200, Relay Iowa TTY Service 800-735-7942, or Webmaster@dnr.iowa.gov, and advise of specific needs.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest “Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll” answers the question of what we should call the men and women who grow the crops and livestock in our state.   J. Arbuckle runs the I-S-U Extension poll and says he noticed that people who work with those in agriculture tend to call them growers or producers. He put a question in the poll and the result was pretty clear, with 75 percent preferring the term “farmer.” Ten percent said they want to be called farm operator, eight percent preferred producer, while rancher and grower each received two percent of the vote. Arbuckle says it’s not surprising, as farmer is an all-encompassing term that indicates more of a lifestyle than a profession. But he says he didn’t anticipate that it would be as big percentage. He says everyone should know what farmers think to be able to communicating effectively with them.

“It’s important for people across the private and public sectors, you know stakeholders who work with farmers, to recognize that and to use the kinds of terminologies that farmers prefer,” Arbuckle says. He says no one seemed to ask the question before. “It’s just very interesting to me that the terminology that we at the university and then some of the private sector firms, and even the public sector, like the conservation agencies and stuff, often times use the term grower or producer,” he says. “And these are actually the least popular terms that the farmers think about when they when they think about terms that they would like to when they think about themselves, I guess.”

You can see more about the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll on the I-S-U Extension website.