From County extension to conservation to grain prices, we provide lots of information every day on KJAN. Here is some of that information on the web too! We hope you find it useful.
From County extension to conservation to grain prices, we provide lots of information every day on KJAN. Here is some of that information on the web too! We hope you find it useful.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Holiday storms that pounded much of the nation with snow and rain did little to ease the overall grip of the worst U.S. drought in decades. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday shows that about 61 percent of the continental U.S. remained in some form of drought as of Tuesday, down less than a percentage point from the previous week. That number has been above 60 percent largely since July.
More than 21 percent of the lower 48 states are in extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories. That’s down slightly from the previous week. All of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota are in drought. But some areas in the Southeast are emerging from drought after heavy rains since Christmas Day.
JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) – A group that monitors the biodiesel industry in Iowa says a record has been set for production. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the state’s biodiesel plants produced 184 million gallons in 2012. That’s up from the previous 2011 record of 169 million gallons.
IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw says he expects more production in the new year after Congress reinstated the biodiesel tax incentive that had expired. He says that will be beneficial for jobs, the environment and energy security.
The group, which represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry, says soybean oil accounted for more than 70 percent of production. Animal fats came in second at 18 percent. Canola oil, inedible corn oil, and used cooking oil made up the remaining 10 percent.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The bill Congress approved Tuesday night providing tax relief for most taxpayers also helps wind energy and ethanol producers by extending tax credits designed to encourage continued development. States like Texas, the nation’s leading wind energy producer, and Iowa, the leading ethanol maker, should benefit from the incentives. Many of the credits had expired in 2012.
The bill extends to the end of the year a production tax credit for wind energy on any facility under construction before the end of 2013. The bill also extends a $1.01-per-gallon tax credit for cellulosic ethanol made from corn plants, grasses, algae, and sources other than corn kernels. The bill allows ethanol makers to depreciate equipment for new plants placed in service in 2013 and extends biodiesel production tax incentives for two years.
Officials with ISU Extension and Outreach say Confinement site manure applicators should plan to attend a two-hour workshop offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, in order to maintain or renew your confinement site manure applicator certification. The Shelby County workshop will be offered on January 29th, 2013 at 1:30 pm in Harlan at 906 Sixth Street.
Angela Rieck-Hinz, ISU Extension and Outreach program specialist and coordinator of the manure applicator certification program, says “Iowa law requires confinement site manure applicators to attend two hours of continuing education each year of their three-year certification period, or take and pass the exam once every three years. “If applicators fail to get the two hours of continuing education each year, they will be required to pass a written exam to be eligible to recertify.”
The workshop serves as initial certification for those applicators that are not currently certified, recertification for those renewing licenses and as continuing education for those applicators in their second or third year of their license. Operators must be certified to handle, transport and apply manure if the confinement livestock operation has more than a 500 animal unit capacity, unless the manure is applied by a commercial manure applicator. The certification fee is $100 for a three-year certificate. The fee is paid when applicators initially get certified and then every three years when they re-certify to apply manure.
Confinement site applicators are also required to pay an annual education fee of $25. All fees and application forms must be sent to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to complete certification requirements. ISU Extension and Outreach will charge a $10 fee to applicators choosing to view the certification materials on a non-scheduled reshow day at the county office. For this reason all applicators are encouraged to attend the workshops or to plan to view training materials on the scheduled reshow date at their local county extension office. This fee will not apply to workshops or scheduled reshow dates. Contact the county extension office to determine which days are scheduled for the manure applicator certification programs.
Applicators are encouraged to complete certification requirements prior to March 1st to meet certification deadlines and avoid being assessed a $12.50 late fee for re-certification.
For more information about meeting dates and locations, or to schedule an appointment to attend training, contact the ISU Extension – Shelby County office at 712-755-3104 or visit http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/certification/confdates.html to see the 2013 workshop schedule.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa fisherman will be able to drop a third line in the water on the same fishing license beginning Tuesday. The law is among a handful taking effect Jan. 1. It allows anglers to fish with three poles and a total of six hooks, up from two poles and four hooks.
Another law would allow hunters and anglers to use three-year licenses. A separate law allows combined licenses for hunting and fishing. Most laws approved by legislators in 2012 take effect July 1, 2013, but a few start with the new year. Other laws include one making Iowa’s volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians eligible for a $50 income tax credit. Also, childcare providers who serve children eligible for the state’s assistance program will receive a rate increase.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sentencing has been scheduled for a former manager at Iowa egg farms who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a federal inspector. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett this week ordered Tony Wasmund to appear Feb. 12 in his courtroom in Sioux City. Wasmund has been free pending sentencing, where he will face a maximum of five years in prison. Wasmund was a supervisor at the network of companies owned by Jack DeCoster, whose operations in northern Iowa were blamed for a 2010 salmonella outbreak that caused the recall of 550 million eggs.
Months before the outbreak, Wasmund authorized giving $300 in petty cash to another employee to bribe a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector to allow sales of shell eggs that had been withheld for failing to meet federal standards.
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