Cass County: Corn $3.98 Beans $10.10
Adair County: Corn $3.95 Beans $10.13
Adams County: Corn $3.95 Beans $10.09
Audubon County: Corn $3.97 Beans $10.12
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.10
Guthrie County: Corn $4.00 Beans $10.14
Montgomery County: Corn $4.00 Beans $10.12
Shelby County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.10

Oats: $2.58 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission has approved a new three-year contract for monitoring the water quality in the state’s lakes. D-N-R environmental specialist Dan Kendall says the contract continues the partnership with Iowa State University. “I-S-U will be collecting samples from 154 sites, and then the D-N-R will be collecting samples from an additional lake sites,” he says. They are testing for several things in the lakes, including phosphorus levels. Kendall as the data is used for the Clean Water Act water quality assessments report produced by the D-N-R every two years.  “This monitoring typically yields about 10-thosuand sampling results from over 600 sampling events for each year of this contract,” he says.

He says the Lake Restoration organizations uses the data from this program to prioritize their lakes in their restoration plan. The also use it to track the effectiveness of things like alum (aluminum sulfate) treatments in lake restoration efforts.  “Alum treatments are often used as a tool to reduce that internal load of phosphorus in a lake, and then that reduction of phosphorus and often lead to the reduction of phytoplankton overgrowth or algal bloom conditions in the lake,” he says. “So they were wanting to be able to track their efforts as they as they do these applications.” Kendall says I-S-U has a new tool that will help them in monitoring lake water quality.

“I-S-U has acquired a flow cam Cyano, which is essentially an automated imaging microscope that can differentiate between the different types of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria,” Kendall says. “And this new process will basically allow the lab to identify the samples faster as well as kind of in that time frame that that we really want to be able to see the information.” Kendall says this contract cost is more than one-point-seven million dollars ($1,741,679), a 20 percent increase. “This is due to several factors, one of which is we’re going from a two-year contract back to a three-year contract again,” he says. “And then some of the other factors contributing to this increase are staff and technician salary increases at I-S-U, increases in the cost of supplies and reagents for analysis, we’ve kind of seen a big jump there. And then increased transportation costs.”

Kendall was asked by a commissioner if working with public agencies and their increased salary costs is the best way to go. He says the legislature requires they work with public agencies and says it is a delicate balance of working with universities and continually trying to see what they can do to limit costs without reducing services.

(Radio Iowa) – As the U-S Supreme Court weighs the legality of President Trump’s tariffs, several farm groups say the administration’s trade policy will have harmful, long-lasting effects. Aaron Lehman is a farmer and president of the Iowa Farmers Union. “This chaotic tariff policy is not getting us any closer to fair trade,” Lehman says. “We are no closer to stopping product dumping, manipulative monetary policies, uneven labor and environmental standards, and unfair labeling restrictions.” Last April, Trump declared a national emergency posed by trade deficits and announced taxes on imports from nearly every U-S trading partner. Small businesses and a dozen states sued, and the case is being reviewed by the highest court.

Lehman says the bigger issue is Trump’s overall approach to trade policy. He says, “It’s wrong to use tariffs like we’re trying to change a light bulb with a hammer.” Lehman says the damage to trade partners and uncertainty makes it difficult to plan for the 2026 growing season, especially as production costs continue to outpace prices for corn and soybeans. “Farmers already have few choices in the marketplace,” Lehman says, “and a chaotic trade policy makes a bad situation even worse.”

He says the administration’s approach undermines decades of investments by farmers to build relationships with buyers overseas, many of whom may switch to suppliers in other countries. Lehman spoke during a press call organized by the group Tariffs Cost US.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has passed a bill that would prevent Summit Carbon from using eminent domain authority to seize land along its proposed pipeline route. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says people who don’t want the pipeline on their property should have the right to say no.

“It affects their business. It affects their lives,” Holt said, “and they were there first.” The bill is similar to a law in South Dakota and it passed the Iowa House on a 64-to-28 vote. Republican Representative Chad Ingels, a farmer from Randalia, says the bill would block construction of the carbon pipeline, a project he says would be a public good because it would boost the bottom line for farmers who sell their corn to make ethanol.

“Having better markets for our products is not only in my family’s best interest, it’s my neighbor’s best interest, it’s in a farmer in southwest Iowa’s best interest,” Ingels said. “…It’s in the best interest of our state to have young people willing to come back and farm.” Republican Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant says the Iowa and U-S Constitutions require that laws apply equally to all those impacted and that’s why he can’t support the bill.

“What this bill does is create two separate regulatory schemes depending on what’s going through the pipeline if you say to one pipeline company…and their gas pipelines, ‘You can use the eminent domain,’ but then tell another pipeline that’s running a different kind of gas, ‘You can’t.'” Holt says the carbon pipeline may be beneficial to some, but it doesn’t serve a public purpose. “I think we all want economic development, but not at the expense of the constitutionally protected rights of our fellow citizens,” Holt said.

“…The precedent we will set if we allow private property to be seized for a private economic development project will reverberate for decades to come and could render property rights safeguards in our constitution meaningless for our children and our children’s children.”  This bill now goes to the Senate and is among a handful of pipeline-related proposals the House has passed over the past five years.

House debate on Wednesday afternoon lasted only half an hour for a bill that was just two pages long. The Republican leader in the Iowa Senate has proposed an alternative that would let the pipeline corridor so Summit could go around landowners who’ve refused to grant the company an easement on their property.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa hit an air quality goal in December that had been in the works for more than ten years. The D-N-R’s Don Tormey says the E-P-A determined that the Muscatine area reached the federal mandated level for sulfur dioxide emissions. “With that action by E-P-A, the entire state of Iowa is now in full attainment with all the federal national ambient air quality standards, the entire state,” he says. “that was the one part of Iowa, and that was the one criteria pollutant that was not attainment.” Tormey leads the D-N-R’s Environmental Services Division and says the E-P-A tests air quality for particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide, along with sulfur dioxide.

He says it has been a long time since the entire state met the E-P-A goals.  “We have not been in that status since December 30th, 2011, or 14 years ago. We are now the 17th state in the Union to be in full attainment with all those standards,” Tormey says. Tormey says there is a big difference in the air quality in Muscatine now compared to back then. “So actual sulfur dioxide annual emissions in the Muscatine area are down 13-thousand tons compared to 2011,” Tormey says. “And the measured ambient monitoring data values are currently at 17 parts per billion for this part of Iowa, which is well below the standard of 75 parts per billion. And back in 2011, it was 217 parts per billion.” Tormey says it took a lot of work and cooperation to bring the numbers down in Muscatine.

“Of course, this just didn’t happen overnight. We’ve been working with the Muscatine area businesses for the last ten years to make this happen, because they obviously needed to reduce emissions in the area for this to happen. And so it’s been a really good partnership between those businesses and our air quality staff, “Tormey says. Tormey says everyone is very proud of achieving this air quality standard. He made his comments during the Environmental Protection Commission meeting.

(Des Moines, IA via the IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A House panel advanced legislation Tuesday that would require land restoration efforts following the initial construction of electric transmission lines in Iowa. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, under House Study Bill 526, transmission line owners would be responsible for repairing tile drainage, tilling impacted soil and reseeding cover crops or other ground cover in the easement area following construction.

Kevin Kuhle, speaking on behalf of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said land restoration following electric transmission projects is a “really important issue” for Iowa farmers.  The bill language states that electric transmission owners must “restore the land to its original condition to the extent practicable.” The Iowa Utilities Commission would implement the rules and impose civil penalties if electric transmission owners do not comply with the restoration requirements.

Similar language was included in Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposed energy bill from 2025, which did not make it to the floor for debate.  Several other farm groups, and environmental groups registered in favor of the bill, while utility companies remained undecided on the bill. While HSB 526 applies only to electric transmission lines, Kuhle with Iowa Farm Bureau Federation said “it’d be great” if lawmakers extended the restoration requirements to other projects, including natural gas and liquid hazardous pipelines.

The bill passed unanimously from the subcommittee, led by Rep. Shannon Latham, R-Sheffield.

Cass County: Corn $3.98 Beans $10.09
Adair County: Corn $3.95 Beans $10.12
Adams County: Corn $3.95 Beans $10.08
Audubon County: Corn $3.97 Beans $10.11
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.09
Guthrie County: Corn $4.00 Beans $10.13
Montgomery County: Corn $4.00 Beans $10.11
Shelby County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.09

Oats: $2.59 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa farmer who has agreed to let the Summit Carbon pipeline run through his family’s land is part of a group lobbying legislators today (Tuesday) — urging passage of the proposal that would give the company more leeway to re-chart its pipeline route around landowners who won’t sign a voluntary easement. Kelly Nieuwenhuis of Primghar is a former member of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and an investor in the Siouxland Energy ethanol plant.

“This project will create a lot of growth in demand for the corn producers across the state of Iowa, so trying to get the project done,” Nieuwenhuis said. “Do our best to get as many voluntary easements as possible. 100% would be awesome, but we’re in today’s work, so I don’t know how that’s going to happen.” Nieuwenhuis was president of Siouxland Energy’s board of directors when it signed the contract to hook up to Summit’s pipeline to export carbon from the plant in Sioux Center.

“At that time I thought: ‘Wow, boy, this is going to be a slam dunk. The benefit for the ethanol indusry that’s going to come from this project is going to be huge,'” Nieuwenhuis said. “And so it’s been more of a challenge than I anticipated, but I think the message is getting out that it is beneficial.” Nieuwenhuis points to Nebraska, where a natural gas pipeline was converted and in September began shipping liquefied carbon from a dozen ethanol plants to Wyoming. Eleven of those plants are in Nebraska. One is on Iowa’s western border.

Nieuwenhuis says Nebraska’s operation shows what could happen for every Iowa ethanol plant. “Having a pipeline like Summit Carbon Solutions lowers the carbon intensity of ethanol by 30 points,” Nieuwenhius said. “That’s huge.” Nieuwenhuis spoke with reporters after posing for a group photo with dozens of like-minded people who’re at the statehouse today (Tuesday). Based on his experience with pipelines and other utility projects, Nieuwenhuis told reporters he had no qualms about signing a voluntary easement for Summit’s pipeline.

“I’ve got four natural gas pipelines through our farms. We’ve got the Dakota Access pipeline through one of our farms. I’ve got wind turbines with MidAmerican. I’ve got electrical transmission lines that go diagonlly across one of my farms,” Nieuwenhuis said. “…I’ve never had an issue with any of them.” Nieuwenhuis farms with two brothers and all their corn is sold to produce ethanol. He’s a current member of the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Board, a group that supervises the organization’s activities and serve as public advocates for its goals.

(Iowa DNR News) – The paddlefish snagging season on the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers opens Feb. 1 and goes through April 30 (sunrise to sunset). Anglers fishing for paddlefish must have a valid Iowa fishing license, along with a special paddlefish license and unused transportation tag(s).

Keep track of your effort and catch throughout the paddlefish season. Complete the electronic survey when the season ends whether you harvested a fish or not. The information collected will help the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) evaluate the success of the season and determine what potential changes or modifications may be needed.

If you catch a jaw-tagged fish (numbered band in the lower jaw), call the phone number on the tag to report the tag number, date of capture, capture location and eye-to-fork length. Iowa DNR and other state fisheries agencies tag paddlefish to better understand and manage populations. Tagging provides valuable information to estimate population size, fish movement and growth.

Low river levels might affect Missouri River boat ramp access.

For more information about Iowa’s special paddlefish season regulations, visit the DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/paddlefish.