(Radio Iowa) – U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says small and mid-sized farms are part of the country’s muscular core and specialized farming is how they’re likely to flourish.  “The notion of getting big or getting out runs counter, I think, to the heritage of this state and to the heritage of American agriculture,” Vilsack says. Vilsack spoke to a crowd in Des Moines this (Thursday) morning. He pointed to 2022, which was a record year for farm income, with just seven-and-a-half percent of U-S farms got 89 percent of that income.

“Are we comfortable with a situation where income continues to be concentrated, with the understanding that folks who are large scale production agriculture have enormous risk financially and do an enormous service to the country and the world,” Vilsack asked, “or are we big enough and smart enough and innovative enough to basically create another alternative option so that folks can have a choice?”

Vilsack argues production of local foods or the use of farming practices that businesses and consumers are willing to pay a premium for as the way for small operators to find success.

Des Moines, Iowa, June 29, 2023 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today (Thursday) highlighted USDA’s investments to increase independent meat and poultry processing capacity and expand market opportunities for fertilizer producers, farmers and rural business owners in Iowa. Vilsack said “While American farmers and ranchers have been responding to the demand to produce more, their communities have struggled to see their share of the benefits. Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is committed to championing meat and poultry processors, increasing competition and lowering costs for working families. The announcement I’m making today highlights these producers and reflects the goals of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which advances a sustainable vision of agriculture, prioritizes the needs of our producers and small businesses, promotes competition, strengthens our domestic agricultural supply chains and brings prosperity to people and places in rural parts of our country.”

During a roundtable with producers and businesses at Landus Cooperative, Secretary Vilsack highlighted several new and recent investments in three key programs that support a wide range of agricultural interests in Iowa. For example:

• USDA is providing a $25 million Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) grant to Cattlemen’s Heritage Beef Company, LLC Pending final NEPA review. The MPPEP program helps independent processors expand their capacity and encourages competition and sustainable growth in the U.S. meat processing sector. Cattlemen’s Heritage plans to use the MPPEP grant to buy equipment for its new, 500,000-square-foot facility in Mills County. When the facility reaches capacity, it is projected to process 1,500 head of cattle per day, increasing consumer access to U.S. meat products at the grocery store.
• USDA is providing nearly $10 million through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP) to Landus Cooperative and Progressive Ag Cooperative to increase local fertilizer options for farmers and producers. The FPEP program increases innovative domestic fertilizer production by spurring domestic competition and combating rising fertilizer costs. Landus Cooperative will use a $4.9 million grant to build a greenfield fertilizer manufacturing and repackaging facility. The facility will manufacture a slow-release, leaf-based nitrogen fertilizer, which will decrease nitrogen application rates and increase overall nitrogen efficiency in growing corn. Landus is the largest agricultural cooperative in Iowa. It provides products and services to 7,000 farmers. Progressive Ag Cooperative will use a $4.9 million grant to construct a dry fertilizer facility to help farmers and producers in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.
• On June 28, Vilsack announced the award of $2.5 million in USDA Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) grants to nine companies to expand the use and availability of higher-blend biofuels in Iowa. For example, Kimmes Enterprises LLC received a $510,500 grant to replace four E15 dispensers and four ethanol storage tanks at three fueling stations located in Carroll, Rockwell City and Baxter. This project is expected to increase annual sales of ethanol by approximately 635,000 gallons.

USDA Rural Development Iowa State Director Theresa Greenfield said the “USDA is helping build up rural communities by investing in ag producers and hometown businesses that support the security of our food supply chain. The Biden-Harris Administration is leading the way in supporting our rural neighborhoods. When we partner with innovators in the business community, job opportunities for Iowans increase.”

Jim Field visits with Shelly Greving of Emerge Marketing about the local agritourism event “Evolution of the Heartland” in Manning and Audubon on August 3 and 4.  Registration ends July 15 at:  https://www.evolutionoftheheartland.com.

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(WASHINGTON, D-C June 28, 2023) – U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will travel to Des Moines, Thursday (June 29), where he is expected to announce a major investment by USDA to expand meat and poultry processing capacity in Iowa and across the country. The investment is intended to increase competition, support producer income, strengthen the food supply chain, and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas.

Secretary Vilsack will also highlight other efforts under the Biden-Harris Administration to build more, new and better markets and strengthen farm and food businesses. The announcement reflects the goals of the President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild our economy from the middle-out and the bottom-up and create transformative new economic opportunities for families and businesses.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A is distributing grants to 10 gas stations in Iowa to replace fuel pumps and storage tanks. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the new equipment will be able to dispense a higher volume of ethanol and biodiesel. “This grant program can essentially pay up to 75% of the cost of installing these dispensing systems and storage facilities,” Vilsack says. “That’s a deal pretty difficult to say no to.”

Last week, the biofuels industry blasted the Biden Administration for the E-P-A’s final ethanol and biodiesel production targets. This week, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association is thanking the U-S-D-A for aggressively implementing this incentive program — and for announcing applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July.

The Iowa gas stations getting grants in this latest round of federal funding are in Baxter, Burlington, Carroll, Cedar Falls, Chester, Kalona, Marengo, Rockwell City, Waterloo and Van Horne.

(Radio Iowa) – The number of insects flying around has picked up as we head into summer. Iowa State University insect specialist, Zach Schumm, says he’s heard reports of one in particular. “Small black flies that actually bite. You can call them buffalo gnats, you can call them biting midges, there’s different names for them as well so they tend to be an annoying one too that has been seemingly particularly bad in some parts of Iowa this year,” Schumm says.

Some areas got much needed weekend rain — but the trade off will be more mosquitoes. “For mosquitoes in particular they really need standing water to reproduce,” he says. “So if we have a lot of standing water around or if you know if rain is replenishing puddles of water that are on the side of the street or replenishing water in ponds and there’s more standing water there then that’s going to allow for more reproduction of mosquitoes.”

Schumm says you should take a look around your yard and empty any of the water sources that might provide a place for the mosquitoes to breed.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s two U.S. senators say NASA’s lunar research may help improve food production and resource conservation on Earth. The lawmakers joined NASA astronaut Raja Chari for a discussion at Grinnell College this (Monday) morning. Chari, who was raised in Cedar Falls, says as astronauts learn to live on the moon through NASA’s Artemis Project, they’ll need to learn to grow food.

“I think it’s important that we invest in the technology in getting there so that we can continue to lead as a nation and lead the world,” Chari says, “just as we did during the Apollo era.” Chari is the leader of astronaut development and testing for the Human Landing System for NASA’s Artemis Program. Republican Senator Joni Ernst says what astronauts learn from living on the moon may wind up influencing a wide range of federal policies.

“It’s important not just for the Farm Bill, but it’s important for other departments as well as we’re moving forward doing research on crops, on protecting our water — water purification,” Ernst says. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says NASA’s ag research may be more quickly adopted by the private sector. “What we learn from research out of gravity is very important for agriculture research,” Grassley says. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, was also at the event in Grinnell.

“My key takeaway is that collabortation is essential to making sure we can continue to collaborate,” Hinson says. “Hearing about the work happening on the International Space Station down to the work we’re going to be doing on the Farm Bill to make sure that research and that innovation is supported, I think it’s absolutely critical.”

NASA’s Artemis crew has begun training, with a target date in 2026 for landing on the moon and spending nearly a month living on the surface.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Fair doesn’t begin for another month, but that’s not stopping the fairgrounds from being used for an event this weekend. West Central Iowa Pullers and West Central Iowa Garden Tractor Pullers are hosting tractor pull activities this Saturday, at the Cass County Fairgrounds, in Atlantic. Alan Zellmer, with West Central Iowa Pullers, says once again the fairgrounds will serve as the location not only for the sights, sounds and smoke from the tractors as they roar down the track, but for some great food, and fireworks.

Activities begin at 10-a.m., with the Western Iowa Garden Tractor Pulls, out of Denison.

The big tractors are expected to travel on the track at around 4-p.m. Zellmer says there’s a new twist to the tractor pulls this year.

File photo from Western IA Pullers Facebook page

The working tractors will be allowed to pull the skid so that it won’t be hard on the tractor. The main (Sanctioned) tractor pull event will last about three-and a half hours. There are four Classes (categories) of tractors participating: Farm Stock; Altered Farm Class; 3,000 RPM Class, and the 3,200 RPM Class.

The track will be illuminated when it gets dark, for safety reasons. Duke Aerial, in Atlantic, is providing the lights. Zellmer says participants in the big tractor pull event come from all over, including the Sioux City area. The day concludes with a fireworks display by “Wild Willie’s Spectacular Fireworks Show.” In addition, there will be a beer garden, two food trucks, and the Cass County Pork Producers will be serving-up some delicious food and drinks.

There is NO CHARGE to attend the Tractor Pulls, but free-will donations will be accepted. Any leftover proceeds will benefit a fund for the Atlantic Splash Pad Project.

Chris Parks and Cass/Adair County Conservation Officer Grant Gelly talk about all things outdoors. This week they discuss safe boating over the upcoming holiday, hunter education classes set in Atlantic for September, Master Conservationist program and more.

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