(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Lawsuits claiming that greenhouse gas emissions from an agricultural operation impacted the climate would be prohibited under a bill passed Thursday by the Iowa House.  Supporters of the bill, which passed with a vote of 66-24, said the bill protects against “frivolous” climate lawsuits, while opponents of the bill worried the language was too broad and would limit Iowans’ abilities to seek damages.  House File 2527 would limit farmers’ and ranchers’ liability in cases alleging an “actual or potential” effect on the climate caused “wholly or partly” by greenhouse gas emissions.

Rep. Derek Wulf, R-Hudson, introduced the bill and said on the floor that the “ag friendly bill” allows farmers to “continue to do what they do best, and that’s farm and ranch.” Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, introduced an amendment to the bill to exempt lawsuits related to nuisances or weather-related damages that could be tied to climate change. Scholten said the amendment clarified some of the “broad language” of the bill. He argued that without the amendment, a neighbor “suffering real tangible harm” like a farmer with damaged drainage, decreased property value or a polluted well, could be unable to seek damages in an Iowa court.

Scholten also took issue with the section of the bill that protects from lawsuits that are “wholly or partly” attributed to greenhouse gas emissions. This language, he argued, could be applied more broadly and allow a defendant to “escape liability entirely” for something like a “straightforward” weather damage claim, especially, as he argued it’s not uncommon for severe weather events to be partly attributed to climate change. Wulf said the bill’s intent was not to affect nuisance claims, nor to protect bad actors.

The House voted in favor of the bill and also adopted an amendment from Wulf that added “petroleum source” to the list of greenhouse gas emissions described in the bill. The House also passed, unanimously, House File 2596 to update language for Iowa’s grain indemnity program, which was revamped in 2025, and helps farmers get paid for sold grain when their buyers go bankrupt. The inclusion of credit-sale contracts – when a seller has sold and delivered the grain but will receive payment at a later date – was a source of conflict among lawmakers as they updated the grain indemnity program. Credit-sale contracts were included in the final version of the bill signed by the governor.

Both bills were sent to the Senate.

(Radio Iowa) – An ethanol industry leader says he doubts congress will pass a bill anytime soon that would allow the year-round sale of fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol. Yesterday (Wednesday) was the deadline for a vote in the U-S House on a bill to end the E-P-A’s anti-smog rule that bars E-15 from being sold in the summer months. Geoff Cooper is president of the Renewable Fuels Association. “I am not terribly optimistic that we’re going to see legislation before summer on year-round E15,” Cooper says. “I hope I’m wrong about that. I hope this council produces legislative text that has a path to passage out of both the House and Senate.”

The House Rural Domestic Energy Council, led by Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra, has been negotiating with lawmakers who represent states with oil refineries to try to find a compromise on E-15 after House G-O-P leaders removed a mandate for year-round E-15 sales from a budget bill that passed in January. Cooper spoke with reporters during the National Ethanol Conference that’s underway in Orlando, Florida. “The trick with E-15 is obviously we have to find a path,” Cooper says. “We have to find a way to thread the needle and get legislation through congress and to the president’s desk…That is not an easy thing to do.”

Cooper is skeptical of Feenstra’s effort to craft a bill on E-15 that includes new guidelines for the E-P-A waivers oil refineries may seek to avoid the ethanol-blending mandate.) “We need to see the path to get that done,” Cooper said, “because I’m not sure I see it from where I sit today.” On Tuesday, Feenstra told the Des Moines Register the snowstorm that hit Washington, D.C., delayed the arrival of lawmakers who were part of E-15 negotiations and a deal may be introduced in the House next week. Iowa advocates for ethanol are expressing frustration.

This (Thursday) morning, the Iowa Corn Growers posted a message on social media saying corn prices are falling, rural economies feel the pressure and it’s time for congress to finish the job on E-15.

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has detected two cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in flocks in Keokuk and Van Buren counties. IDALS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture categorize these flocks as multi-species backyard flocks. A spokesperson with IDALS said the Keokuk County flock had about 85 birds and the Van Buren County flock had about 45 birds. These are the third and fourth HPAI outbreaks in Iowa in 2026. The previous two outbreaks were both in Kossuth County, one in a flock of chickens and game bird pheasants and the other at a mixed species game bird hatchery.

Iowa has not seen an outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in a commercial bird flock since the beginning of December 2025, when it was detected in a Hamilton County commercial turkey flock of nearly 18,000 birds.  According to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, the ongoing outbreak of the virus has impacted more than 195 million birds since the outbreak began in February 2022.

IDALS, in a news release about the recent detections, urged producers to continue practicing heightened biosecurity measures like reducing exposure to wild animals and limiting the number of people visiting a facility, to help prevent the spread of the virus.  Producers should also seek veterinarian care if they notice sudden bird deaths, lethargy, swollen heads, decreased or thin-shelled egg production or any other symptoms of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to rate the public health risk of HPAI as low as there is no known person-to-person spread.

Cass County: Corn $4.04 Beans $10.86
Adair County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.89
Adams County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.85
Audubon County: Corn $4.03 Beans $10.88
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.07 Beans $10.86
Guthrie County: Corn $4.06 Beans $10.90
Montgomery County: Corn $4.06 Beans $10.88
Shelby County: Corn $4.07 Beans $10.86

Oats: $3.00 (same in all counties)

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

Cass County: Corn $4.02 Beans $10.84
Adair County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.87
Adams County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.83
Audubon County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.86
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.05 Beans $10.84
Guthrie County: Corn $4.04 Beans $10.88
Montgomery County: Corn $4.04 Beans $10.86
Shelby County: Corn $4.05 Beans $10.84

Oats: $3.05 (same in all counties)

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

LEWIS, Iowa – The Wallace Foundation will hold an educational event for the public, followed by its annual business meeting, on March 6 at the Armstrong Memorial Research and Demonstration Farm in Lewis. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by a welcome address from Mark Bentley, president of the Wallace Foundation. From 10 a.m. to noon, attendees will hear updates from two Iowa State University experts in nitrogen management and usage in Iowa.

Matt Helmers, professor and director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center (INRC) at ISU, will discuss what the center has observed regarding nitrates. Melissa Miller, project director of the INRC at ISU, will follow and share how to best manage nitrogen applications for maximum return, as well as new research on nitrogen management in Iowa from field trials conducted over the past several years.

The Wallace Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on research specific to farmers in Southwest Iowa and is actively looking for new members to set the direction of research to benefit farmers in the area. The annual business meeting of the Wallace Foundation will be held at 1 p.m.

The event is offered at no cost to attend and includes lunch by Downtowner Cafe and Catering. Attendees are asked to pre-register by March 2 to help with facility and meal planning. To register, email farm superintendent Matt Groves at mjgroves@iastate.edu or call him at 712-769-2402. The meeting will be held at the Wallace Foundation Learning and Outreach Center, located at 53020 Hitchcock Avenue, Lewis, Iowa 51544.

For more information, contact Aaron Saeugling at 712-254-0082 or clonz5@iastate.edu.

(Radio Iowa) – More than 20-thousand-500 F-F-A members in Iowa are marking the accomplishments of ag education as part of National F-F-A Week. Webster City High School student Megan Van Deer says she loves working with animals. “I want to go to school for veterinary,” Van Deer says, “and so just being part of the FFA program kind of helped me get more interested and stay along with it.”

Bridge Berninghaus joined the same Webster City F-F-A chapter for a host of reasons. “I think it’s a great program to get involved in,” Berninghaus says. “You get to meet new people, help others in the community, build more leadership, and have a great time.” Alyson McCarty is a vocational agriculture instructor at Webster City High School. In her native Connecticut, the F-F-A program varies from the one in Iowa, with much less emphasis on corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle.

“We have kids that are growing fish in their high school classrooms or looking at forestry, pine trees, cut flowers in greenhouses,” McCarty says. “It looks a little bit different, but they’re still learning the same: leadership, communication, all those skills.”

There are over one-million F-F-A members nationwide. The organization was started in 1928 to introduce youth to agriculture in the classroom. Members, in their blue jackets, are involved from grapefruit sales during the holidays, participating at county fairs, and driving tractors and farm machinery from their farm homes to their classrooms.

(Creston, IA) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says crews have been removing trees on the east side of the 12 Mile Lake Wildlife Area (east of Creston), in order to restore high quality, grassland habitat improving water quality for the lake and benefiting grassland wildlife. Josh Rusk with the Iowa DNR, says “The grassland has been threatened by invasive bush honeysuckle, autumn olive and eastern red cedar, which outcompetes the grassland, creating nothing but bare ground underneath, resulting in increased runoff to the lake.”

The most recent clearing is visible from the boat ramp. The DNR plans to follow up with a prescribed burn this spring. “It’s been a gradual, multi-year project that has a way to go,” he said. “We plan to burn the tree piles, restack, and burn again. Once we get the tree and brush skeletons cleaned up we will convert cool season grasses to native grasses and wildflowers.” A similar restoration effort is also happening on the west side of the lake. “In most, but not all cases, we are not cutting bur oaks and black oaks. The larger tracts of oak hickory woodland will continue to be managed as woodland,” Rusk said.

“We are already seeing an increasing number grassland wildlife, and the bird hunters have responded with the growing pheasant and quail numbers. The area will still support deer populations as they will use the high-quality grasslands and brushy ditches,” he said. Once completed, the restoration will benefit many grasslands and shrubland obligate birds, such as Henslow’s sparrow, bobolink, eastern meadowlark, field sparrow, loggerhead shrike, and indigo bunting. These birds are part of the fastest declining groups of species in North America.

“The restored grassland will lead to better water quality which also means better drinking water and better fishing in the lake,” he said. “It’s a win for everyone.”

Cass County: Corn $4.02 Beans $10.85
Adair County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.88
Adams County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.84
Audubon County: Corn $4.01 Beans $10.87
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.05 Beans $10.85
Guthrie County: Corn $4.04 Beans $10.89
Montgomery County: Corn $4.04 Beans $10.87
Shelby County: Corn $4.05 Beans $10.85

Oats: $3.06 (same in all counties)

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

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of one of the businesses that will benefit from a new state economic development program is providing more details about their plans. Vermeer Corporation in Pella is receiving incentives from the Business Incentives for Growth or BIG program. Vermeer C-E-O Jason Andringa says they are building a new 300-thousand square foot state-of-the-art plant in Bondurant to build parts for it trenchers and drilling equipment.

“For trenchers, the booms, and the cutting teeth that a trencher uses to make a trench. For horizontal directional drilling, which is an incredibly important product line for Vermeer, it’s the tooling that goes on the front of the drill stem and the tooling that opens up the hole,” he says. Andringa says the facility will also include machining, welding, painting and assembly functions to give Vermeer Des Moines versatility to meet a continually growing demand, including new generations of equipment, from their Utility, Tree Care and Landscape product line ups. Andringa says their Des Moines operations began in the spring of 2023 by leasing a 108-thousand square foot facility, but now need more space. He says the Des Moines metro also supplies more employees.

“And here in Pella, I would say that the size of our facility has more or less fully occupied the workforce that is available within a driving distance of Pella,” Andringa says. “With our experiment in Des Moines, we are able to tap into a much greater pool of workforce. And that’s what we need.” The IEDA says the new Vermeer plant in Bondurant promises to create 182 jobs with a capitol investment of nearly 103 million dollars. Vermeer Corporation is family-owned and began an agricultural equipment manufacturer, with 80 percent of its business now focused on industrial equipment.

Other companies that were awarded incentives under the BIG program include: Arconic aluminum of Davenport for a casting facility in Bettendorf, CCB Packaging in Hiawatha for an automated production line for packaging it provides to food and pharmaceutical companies, Sewer Equipment Company of America in Illinois plans to purchase a facility in Iowa to manufacture its sewer cleaning and vacuum equipment components, and Revolution Concrete Mixers in Minnesota will purchase an existing facility in Waverly and install approximately eight million dollars in equipment to establish new production and assembly operations.