(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is facing a potential strike. Unionized John Deere workers voted Sunday night to reject the company’s latest contract offer. The unions say 90-percent of members voted against the six-year offer which was for more than 10-thousand workers at 14 Deere factories, including those in Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo.

A news release from the Quad Cities-based Deere says the offer “would have made the best wages and most comprehensive benefits significantly better for our employees.” The deadline to reach a new accord and avoid a strike is midnight Wednesday.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hogue says “It’s the LAST week of Produce in the Park, and we’re celebrating with a little Halloween action–Trick-or-Treat in the Park.” Produce in the Park takes place Thursday, Oct. 14th, from 4:30-until 6:30-p.m. in the downtown Atlantic City park, and features Trick-or-Treating fun!

Costumes are not required, but expect to see some costumes at the park, along with:

• Fresh Local Produce: Pie pumpkins, squash, melons, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, aronia berries, & more!
• More farm favorites: pumpkin butter, jams, jellies, and syrups, goat milk soaps, granola, honey, and local meat.
• Local Crafts: Soaps, candles, and wax melts in cozy fall scents from Smudge, Bags, jackets, and more from Tracie Lobstein.
• Baked goods:
  • Kringleman Danish Pastries in fall flavors including pecan
  • Sue’s Country Garden baked goods
  • Brun Ko Farm pumpkin pies pre-order only (pre-orders are due by noon on Oct. 13 to brunkofarm@gmail.com or 712-249-3187)
• Guest Chef: Jennifer from Erickson Foods – samples and recipes of Maple Butternut Squash Casserole
• Oct. 14 Park Packs featuring Erickson Foods’ Maple Butternut Squash Casserole: Park Packs can be pre-ordered from Brun Ko Farm at www.brunkofarm.com or purchased from Brun Ko Farm at the market as supplies last.

Community Organizations at the Market (all are joining in on the trick-or-treat!) include:

• Atlantic Elks Lodge
• Cass County PROSPER: info. and resources on mental health and mental wellness
• Atlantic Rising
• Cass County Master Gardeners
• Advanced Services employment services

Entertainment during the evening is as follows:

• Sarah Selders 4:30-5:25
• Atlantic Rising Update 5:25-5:35
• Lisa Johnston 5:35-6:30

Snack at the Market: kettle corn and fresh-squeezed lemonade, plus a sneak peek at Atlas Atlantic Cinemas’ Holiday Popcorn!

Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/JP5KrmsF

(Atlantic, Iowa) – More than 90-thousand young Iowans are involved with the 4-H program and this is National 4-H Week, that wraps up this Sunday, with a County 4-H Carnival for the entire family. Cass County Extension 4-H Youth Coordinator Shelby Van Horn says the time is special because it gives them an extra chance to reach new audiences and help kids reach their full potential in 4-H.

The 4-H program empowers young people to make their community a better place to live — be it urban or rural.

Even in these challenging pandemic times, the program is maintaining its popularity. Kindergarten through Third-grade children can be a part of the “Clover Kids” program in Cass County.

Regular 4-H programming is primarily for kids in grades 4-through 12.

In Cass County, they’re wrapping up the week with games and food during a 4-Carnival.

Hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, cotton candy and snow cones are being provided free of charge. Admission is FREE! Game tickets are 10 cents and can be redeemed at 4-H Club Activity Booths. The Carnival takes place on the Cass County Fairgrounds this Sunday, October 10th, from 4-6 PM.   There are nearly 15-hundred 4-H clubs statewide being guided by some 7,000 adult volunteers. Learn more about the program at www.4-h.org.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Extension Service is getting reports of a pest that’s damaging hay fields, pastures and even some lawns. Gentry Sorenson, an I-S-U Extension field agronomist based in northwest Iowa, says it’s a caterpillar known as the fall armyworm. “The fall armyworm basically blew up as a moth from Florida and the Gulf Coast area through the hurricane winds,” he says. “The armyworm that we’re seeing is the rice strain and that strain of fall armyworm particularly feeds on alfalfa and forage grasses.” The fall armyworm can grow to be up to an inch and a half long.

Sorenson says farmers can use an insecticide if the bugs are causing a lot of damage.  “The best times to scout for fall armyworm are early mornings or late in the evenings,” he says, “mainly because the fall armyworm is more of a noctural pest and they come out at night and do a lot of feeding at night or when it’s cooler.”

Army worm in a field. (Photo by Rebecca Vittetoe.)

Sorenson says some parts of southern Iowa have been hit hard by fall armyworm infestations that drifted here due to winds from Hurricane Ida, but even farmers in northwest Iowa are starting to see the pest in their fields. The bugs flourish in warm climates, according to Sorenson.

“So once we see the hard freeze, it will essentially wipe out the fall armyworm population,” he says. The rice strain of the fall armyworm is found primarily in the southeast United States and cannot survive the mild winter in Alabama according to that state’s Extension Service. The bug is known to feed on crops like rye, wheat and oats as well as rice and various grasses.

(Radio Iowa) – Firefighters are working a fire at a grain elevator fire at the Ag Partners facility in Albert City. Initial reports indicate that the fire is believed to be electrical in nature in the outside conveyers. There is no dust or grain involved and the flames are not in any of the bins. Multiple fire departments have responded to the scene.

Radio Iowa via KCIM

(Radio Iowa) – Union workers at a dozen John Deere plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas will vote Sunday on a new, six-year contract. The agreement would cover more than 10-thousand John Deere employees. United Auto Workers leaders have said the deal would provide significant economic gains and it includes a minimum starting wage of 19 dollars an hour that could range as high as 30 dollars an hour if the worker has experience.

John Deere’s Iowa factories are in Ankeny, Davenport, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo. The last time Deere workers went on strike was in 1986, during the upheaval of the Farm Crisis.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – A man died in a weekend accident at a hog facility in Northern Kossuth County. According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, a 9-1-1 call came in Saturday reporting a farming-related accident about two miles south of the Minnesota border. When emergency personnel arrived they determine that a man was dead.

An investigation determined that the victim, identified as 37-year-old Ryan Chad Adams of Ledyard, and another individual were attempting to work on a manure pump when the accident occurred. It was determined a piece of equipment disengaged under pressure and struck Adams in the head.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Oct. 4, 2021) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented today (Monday) on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly from April through November. Naig said “This past week, western Iowa experienced above-average rainfall, which slowed fieldwork. However, the entire state saw a return to summer-like weather as temperatures felt more like late August as opposed to early fall. Overall, final October outlooks show the possibility of warmer and wetter conditions and minimal chances of an early frost.”

Crop Report:

Harvest made good progress even with variable precipitation late in the week, allowing Iowa’s farmers 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending October 3, 2021, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Field activities included harvesting hay, soybeans and corn. Topsoil moisture levels rated 13 percent very short, 32 percent short, 53 percent adequate and 2 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 17 percent very short, 36 percent short, 46 percent adequate and 1 percent surplus.

Eighty-seven percent of the corn crop has reached maturity, six days ahead of normal. Corn harvest for grain reached 19 percent statewide, eight days ahead of the 5-year average. Moisture content of field corn being harvested for grain fell to 20 percent. Iowa’s corn condition rated 60 percent good to excellent.

Soybeans dropping leaves or beyond reached 92 percent, eight days ahead of normal. Producers harvested over 20 percent of Iowa’s soybean crop during the week ending October 3, with the total harvested reaching 40 percent, ten days ahead of the five-year average. Farmers in central and east central Iowa have now harvested half of their soybean crop. Soybean condition was rated 64 percent good to excellent.

Pasture condition rated 27 percent good to excellent. Spotty precipitation helped keep some pastures green for cattle to continue grazing, but water for livestock continues to be an issue.

Weather Summary
Provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Unseasonably warm temperatures blanketed the state over the reporting period with some stations observing seven-day temperature departures close to 15 degrees above normal. The statewide average temperature was 70.1 degrees, 11.6 degrees above normal making it the warmest week since late August. Widespread rain also fell across Iowa with a majority of western Iowa stations reporting above-average totals; stations in northwestern Iowa observed positive departures of two to four inches.

Warm conditions and gusty southwesterly winds continued through Sunday (26th) afternoon under sunny skies as temperatures pushed into the mid to upper 80s. As winds died down overnight, lows ranged from the low 50s north to mid 60s south; the statewide average low was 53 degrees, six degrees above normal. Monday (27th) was another hot day with daytime highs in the mid 80s and low 90s at a majority of Iowa’s reporting stations as winds shifted behind a weak frontal boundary. Overnight lows reported at 7:00 am on Tuesday (28th) were slightly cooler than the previous morning with winds out of the east under clear skies. Unseasonable warmth persisted throughout the day as high temperatures varied from the low 80s east to low 90s west as winds gradually shifted to a southwesterly direction. A stationary front draped north to south in western Iowa was a focusing mechanism for isolated showers in the southwest corner early in the afternoon on Wednesday (29th). Temperatures remained in the mid 80s as cloud cover increased in western Iowa. The first wave of showers and thunderstorms formed over the state’s western half overnight into Thursday (30th) and persisted through the morning hours before dissipating in northwestern Iowa just after noon. A secondary wave formed later in the evening over the same region as overnight temperatures were held in the 60s under overcast skies. Rain totals for the event were highest across western Iowa while much of eastern Iowa missed out. Nearly 100 stations reported an inch or more with 30 measuring above two inches; Atlantic (Cass County) reported 2.02 inches and Estherville (Emmet County) observed 3.21 inches with general totals across the region around 0.22 inch.

As the low pressure center pushed east Friday (1st) morning, light showers formed behind the system into the afternoon hours. Sunshine peeked between gaps in the clouds as light rain and drizzle fell across much of Iowa through the evening hours. Stations reported totals below a few tenths of an inch though a handful of north-central and southeastern stations observing over a 0.50 inch; Donnellson (Lee County) measured 0.52 inch with Estherville picking up another 0.94 inch. Afternoon temperatures varied from the low 70s west to low 80s east, where more sunshine was present. Cloud cover and fog were present overnight into Saturday (2nd) with dreary and damp conditions hanging on throughout the day. Winds shifted to a westerly direction as isolated showers formed in southeastern Iowa. A majority of stations reporting rain had under a tenth of an inch, though De Witt (Clinton County) measured 0.49 inch. Clouds began to clear in western Iowa at sunrise with lows in the 50s northwest to mid 60s southeast on Sunday (3rd) morning.

Weekly rain totals ranged from no accumulation at several eastern Iowa stations to 4.15 inches at Estherville. The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.55 inch while the normal is 0.70 inch. Red Oak (Montgomery County) observed the week’s high temperature of 95 degrees on the 28th, 21 degrees above normal. Eldora (Hardin County) reported the week’s low temperature of 37 degrees on the 27th, seven degrees below normal.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is asking…”When do you think the first Trumpeter Swan will arrive at the Schildberg Quarry?” Call in your prediction (by November 11th) to the Conservation Board at 712-769-2372, leave a message and return phone number if their staff are not in. 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. So, call anytime until November 11th 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. Sorry, this contest is only for residents of Cass County.

Officials say Trumpeter Swans have visited the Schildberg Quarry for, at least, Twenty-two out of the last twenty-three 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

2017/2018 November 9- March 20

2018/2019 November 11- January 23

2019/2020 November 8- March 3

2020/2021 November 30- February 13.