(Radio Iowa) – The Emmet County Board of Supervisors is seeking a second legal opinion on a proposed settlement with the company that has planned to build the Red Rock Energy Center wind farm. Last December, the Emmet County Board of Adjustment rejected a permit for the project and the company sued. Doug Hanson, chairman of Emmet County’s Planning and Zoning Commission, says the county would sign away a lot if it agrees to settle the lawsuit. “The citizens of Emmet County, you really owe it to them to fight,” Hanson said during the supervisor’s meeting this week.

Emmet County Attorney Melanie Summers Bauler is warning that seeking a second legal opinion would likely be a lengthy process. “Unless you can tell that attorney we’re talking about 7000 pages of discovery, then they don’t have any idea how long it would take them to review,” she said. She says a lengthy delay could derail the negotiated settlement. Supervisor Tim Schumacher says that’s not a comfortable spot for the board, but county officials have heard from a lot of people during public hearings who oppose the settlement, and they’re getting a lot of letters from residents who’re urging the board to sign the agreement and let the wind farm’s construction begin.

“I think it makes sense to get another opinion,” Schumacher said. Schumacher volunteered to reach out to a Des Moines law firm the county has previously used and see how quickly an attorney could review the settlement. The agenda for the Emmet County Board Supervisors meeting on November 25th also indicates the board will again discuss the issues surrounding the settlement.

Invenergy is the Chicago company that has proposed building a wind farm in Emmet and Dickinson Counties. In May, the Dickinson County Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the company’s permit to erect 67 wind turbines in their county. Invenergy is the largest private developer of wind energy projects in North America.

Cass County: Corn $4.00         Beans $10.81
Adair County: Corn $3.97        Beans $10.84
Adams County: Corn $3.97     Beans $10.80
Audubon County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.83
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.03     Beans $10.81
Guthrie County: Corn $4.02   Beans $10.85
Montgomery County: Corn $4.02    Beans $10.83
Shelby County: Corn $4.03      Beans $10.81

Oats: $2.63 (same in all counties)

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

DES MOINES— Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, today (Wednesday), signed a proclamation related to the weight limits and transportation of grain, fertilizer, and manure. The proclamation is effective immediately and continues through December 19, 2025. The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, soybean meal, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.

The proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (b), by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.

(Radio Iowa) – A new study suggests year-round activities on the Iowa State fairgrounds in 2024 had a 629 MILLION dollar statewide economic impact. Iowa State Fair C-E-O Jeremy Parsons released the study’s results this (Wednesday) morning. “Iowans should be proud of their Fair, not only for what we do for the state socially, culturally, and in the news, but also economically,” Parsons said. A large part of the overall tally is the nearly 480 MILLION dollar impact of just the 11 day run of the 2024 state fair itself.

“In 2024, that number compared to the economic impact of the Kentucky Derby? $405 million. The economic impact of the men’s NCAA final four in San Antonio? $440 million,” Parsons said. That tally for the 2024 fair does not include how much vendors made selling food, drinks and other items during the Fair, which would significantly boost the overall figure. This is the first-ever study of the financial ripples the state fair’s year-round operations create. Nearly 700-thousand out of town visitors came through the gates for the 2024 Iowa State Fair, creating demand for tens of thousands of hotel rooms, plus there were more than 200 events on the fairgrounds throughout the rest year. “We want to be more than a big neighbor on the east side of Des Moines,” Parsons said. “We want to be a good neighbor.”

Parsons says the information will help officials plan for the future — and the 175th Iowa State Fair in 2029.

Cass County: Corn $4.00         Beans $10.78
Adair County: Corn $3.97        Beans $10.81
Adams County: Corn $3.97     Beans $10.77
Audubon County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.80
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.03     Beans $10.78
Guthrie County: Corn $4.02   Beans $10.82
Montgomery County: Corn $4.02    Beans $10.80
Shelby County: Corn $4.03      Beans $10.78

Oats: $2.62 (same in all counties)

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

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Just 3% of corn acres and 1% of soybean acres across the state of Iowa remain unharvested, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop progress and condition report. The according to the report, the corn harvest is just slightly ahead of the five-year average and on target with 2024 harvest figures. Soybean harvest was 100% completed this time last year, but this year’s pace is in line with the five-year average.

The weekly harvest-season reports from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service were paused during the 43-day government shutdown. The report for the Nov. 10 through Nov. 16 period shows the tail end of Iowa’s harvest.

According to the report, soil moisture conditions were slightly dry across the state. On average, 62% of topsoil and 63% of subsoil across the state had adequate moisture. Twenty-seven percent of both top and subsoils averages across the state were short in terms of moisture. Eastern parts of the state had the driest soils, with between 39% and 57% of topsoil and subsoil in the regions listed as short.

According to State Climatologist Justin Glisan, precipitation across Iowa was low for the reporting period, with most stations reporting no precipitation. The normal statewide average for the period is four-tenths of an inch, but Glisan said the statewide average was below a measurable amount.

Temperatures at the beginning of the week were 18 degrees Fahrenheit below the climatological normal, but on Friday, average temperatures across the state were 15 to 30 degrees above normal. The statewide average temperature for the week was about 42 degrees, which is nearly 4 degrees above normal.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the dry weather and warm temperatures allowed farmers to make a “final push” on harvest and move on to other field work. According to the crop report, farmers had 6.4 days suitable for field work during the period. “With dry conditions and drought creeping back in, many will welcome the forecasted moisture that could help recharge our soils as we head toward Thanksgiving,” Naig said in a statement.

(Radio Iowa) – Members of the Iowa Natural Resource Commission are expressing frustration about the declining level of state spending on wildlife programs, habitat restoration and acquisition of property for hunting and other outdoor activities. The money for those programs comes from the fees for state hunting, fishing and trapping licenses — fees that haven’t been raised since 2019. Uriah (yer-RY-uh) Hansen of Huxley is vice chair of the Natural Resource Commission. “We’ve had the conversations,” Hansen says, “We’ve brought it up and, quite honestly, the cans continue to be kicked down the road.” Hansen says since 2019, inflation has skyrocketed.

“On the flip side, there’s been massive reductions in DNR spending, head count — all these other pieces,” Hansen says. Hanson points to state records which indicate the number of employees in the Department of Natural Resources has dropped at least four-and-a-half percent since 2019. He says the commission had hoped to spearhead a push to raise the fees, but D-N-R staff have told them they need to show evidence of public support — like a survey of outdoor groups — by mid-December. Hansen says given his role on the state commission, he’s been getting plenty of unsolicited input from Iowans.

“The constituents or the users of the public spaces, they’re the ones wanting it, right? This isn’t a broad based tax that’s impacting non-users,” Hansen says. “This is something that those that are going to be directly impacted are the ones that are directly asking for the increase.” Terry Thompson, president of Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club, spoke at the commission’s meeting his month. He says the state desperately needs to increase the Department of Natural Resources budget — and a five percent increase in hunting and fishing license fees would help.

“Really, sportsmen are willing to do that,” Thompson said. “There’s no doubt it. Everybody that I’ve talked to is way in favor of this license fee increase.” Fred Long of Jefferson says the travel budget for state employees is so constricted the National Wildlife Turkey Federation recently paid to send the state turkey biologist to educational seminars out of state. Long, who is president of the Iowa Conservation Alliance, says all 16 groups in the organization back a five percent hike in hunting and fishing fees.

“It’s important to us that we’re all willing to spend more money,” Long said. An Iowa Department of Natural Resources staff member, however, recently cautioned the commission that any public recommendation they make has to be cleared by the governor’s office. “We have to be cognizant of what the administration’s priorities around government fees, taxes, regulatory costs generally are,” she said.

Nebraska’s Game and Parks Commission has proposed raising their state’s hunting and fishing fees by an average of 14 percent next year. Missouri officials have raised hunting and fishing license rates this year, with significant increases for people who do not live in Missouri. Last year, South Dakota lawmakers approved fee increases for outdoor recreation, including a 66 percent increase in state park entrance licenses for out of staters.

(An Iowa Capital Dispatch report) – The Iowa State Association of Counties is seeking financial assistance from counties for a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Story and Shelby counties’ request for U.S. Supreme Court review of a case against Summit Carbon Solutions.  The association said, in a letter addressed to county boards of supervisors, the case before the court “highlights the importance of local control” and “has the potential to impact all counties nationwide.”  Several counties in southwest Iowa have committed funds for the legal proceedings, including Cass, Adair, Mills, Montgomery, and Page, to name a few.

Iowa State Association of Counties is a nonprofit organization with elected and appointed officials from all 99 counties, with a mission to promote effective and efficient local government.  Leadership with the county association were unable to share up-to-date figures Tuesday as to how many counties have pledged financial support on the amicus brief.

According to the letter, dated Oct. 20, 2025, it will cost the association $25,000 to submit the amicus brief to the court, which is why it is soliciting suggested donations of  $500 from counties to help “cover the cost.”  The association submitted the brief, according to the docket, Nov. 6.

The letter said the brief would be submitted on behalf of the association’s membership and would stress the importance of local control. The letter explained to supervisors that a brief can help the court to “better understand” different arguments and the importance of a case. The briefs can also help in “improving a case’s chance” of being taken up by the Supreme Court.

Story and Shelby counties were each sued by Summit Carbon Solutions — a company that seeks to build a carbon sequestration pipeline across Iowa and several other surrounding states – over local ordinances the counties enacted.  The ordinances included setbacks from structures and local permitting requirements to which Summit would have to adhere to build its pipeline through the counties.

The cases were combined as they worked through the courts. In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, located in Omaha, ruled in favor of Summit and a lower court, that the counties could not impose safety standards on a pipeline that is subject to federal standards. The counties then petitioned the federal appeals court for a rehearing of the case, which was denied, before the county supervisors voted in August to take the issue up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The letter to counties included a summary of the case from Timothy Whipple of Ahlers & Cooney in Des Moines. The summary said the counties seek the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the case because the appellate court decision was “legally wrong and problematic.” The counties allege the decision was wrong because it inquired into the motives of county supervisors when they made the ordinances, created a “vague and unworkable standard” and created a “regulatory void.”

At the center of these arguments, and of the Eighth Circuit Court’s decision, is whether or not state and local governments can consider safety when enacting ordinances or if they may enact safety standards. The summary of the suit said the appellate court’s ruling could “invalidate” a “wide range” of local ordinances. Additional counties in Iowa have also been sued by Summit over their ordinances, but those cases have been put on hold while Story and Shelby counties’ case plays out.

Summit filed requests to resume the other county cases on the argument that regardless of the Supreme Court outcome, counties would be preempted by state law in Iowa from dictating pipeline routes. Summit Carbon Solutions did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday (today).  The brief, submitted on behalf of the Iowa State Association of Counties, said Iowa counties exercise “home rule authority” to govern matters like land use.

“Expansive federal preemption, especially when based on motive, threatens counties’ autonomy,” the brief said. “The Association has a strong interest in vindicating the legitimate policymaking discretion of home rule counties.”

In addition to the association, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Preemption Law Professors and the states of Minnesota, Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont, have submitted briefs in support of the counties’ request for a reevaluation of the case.

DNR News – Iowa snowmobilers are no longer required to purchase and display an annual trail user permit, according to a new law that went into effect July 1, 2024. The law folded the trail user permit into the annual snowmobile registration fee, which will now be $30 plus administration fees. The previous price for each type was $15.

Registration and permit fees for snowmobiles are placed in a dedicated account for snowmobile programs in Iowa, including the Iowa Snowmobile Trail Grant Program, which is administered through the Iowa State Snowmobile Association. The grant program supports snowmobile trail development and grooming; equipment purchases and maintenance; and trail signage in cooperation with snowmobile clubs all across Iowa. 

Snowmobilers who own a new machine or have not yet entered the snowmobile into the state registration system need to go to the County Recorder’s office in their county of residence to start the registration process. To renew an existing registration, visit the County Recorder or go online to www.gooutdoorsiowa.com.

Nonresident snowmobilers will still need to purchase and display the trail user permit, which are available at any County Recorder’s Office, through retailers that sell hunting and fishing licenses, or online at www.gooutdoorsiowa.com.

Learn more about Iowa’s snowmobile programs at: www.iowadnr.gov/snowmobiles.

Cass County: Corn $4.00         Beans $10.74
Adair County: Corn $3.97        Beans $10.77
Adams County: Corn $3.97     Beans $10.73
Audubon County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.76
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.03     Beans $10.74
Guthrie County: Corn $4.02   Beans $10.78
Montgomery County: Corn $4.02    Beans $10.76
Shelby County: Corn $4.03      Beans $10.74

Oats: $2.63 (same in all counties)

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