Iowa’s governor has assembled a task force that’s planning for possible drought this summer. Rather than hiring one state official to focus on water usage issues, Iowa Department of Natural Resources director Chuck Gipp says it makes more sense to have people from a variety of state agencies involved. “We’re not here to scare anybody about what the water usage available is, but we want to caution people that we are still in the middle of a drought and we have stream segments that are way below normal flow,” Gipp says. “In fact, if you look up at Ames to see the Skunk River, you won’t see a Skunk River.”

The state climatologist, the state geologist and a handful of other state officials are part of the “Hydrology Work Group.”  “They issue a report about every other week about water flows and streams that are in drought condition here and severe drought condition,” Gipp says. Current state law already lays out the protocol for which water users should be cut off first if the water supply dips. “It says that out-of-state water users get it cut off first. Then it’s lesser priority things like crops and then organic crops and then it’s livestock,” Gipp says. “And, obviously, the last entity that gets cut off of the use of water is people.” Gipp’s agency — the Department of Natural Resources — has the authority to order “lower echelon users” to give up their water supply if it’s coming from a river with a water level that’s dangerously low.

“We are required to allow enough water to go past that particular user to make sure there’s sufficient for the downstream user, so minimum flows we have to maintain, if we can,” Gipp says. “If there’s enough water coming from the top side, we have to maintain that for users all the way down the river system.” According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of the northwest third of Iowa is suffering through “extreme” drought. “Severe”drought conditions are reported in 58 percent of the state. A federal report issued last week concluded 60 percent of the entire country is in a drought, including the entire state of Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening passed a motion in support of efforts by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, to begin the process of securing a dog park for the Schildberg Recreation Area. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring explained the Board thinks a nearly 2.4-acre off-leash dog park is necessary and beneficial in the grand scheme of recreational development in the area. He said it would be a great amenity to the campground (the pads and roads for which are under construction), and will draw more people to the area, much like the walking trails have done.

Herring says a fenced-in dog park will also offer safety and security for dog owners and their dogs, in a controlled environment. He says large and small dogs will have their own compounds. Dogs will be able to exercise and socialize in their respective areas, and the park will promote responsible pet ownership. He said Trees Forever will work to provide over a dozen shade trees for the area, and, a dog park would make Atlantic the first city of its size in southwest Iowa, other than Council Bluffs, to have a dog park.

Herring said the 14-to 15,000-dollar project would be paid for through fundraising efforts, and not through local tax dollars.
Fencing accounts for the bulk of the costs. Fundraising would be accomplished by applying for corporate grants, local sponsorships, and through donations from the community. Herring said the Parks and Rec Department would be responsible for maintaining the facility.

He said also, the Parks and Rec Board will work to put together a proposal for a Master Plan for the Schildberg Rec Area as an official Municipal Park, and present it before the council during a public hearing at a later date. A formal Master Plan for the area has never been adopted by the Council since discussions began in 2003. Only a general concept for how it would be developed has been followed by the City.

Officials with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Wednesday, report the Guthrie County Agri Drain Corporation in Adair, has been named the “Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneuer Award” winner for February, 2013. The IFBF says Agri Drain, founded in 1976, has played a vital role in helping generations of farmers manage water and reduce erosion. The company operates an 80,000 square foot manufacturing company and provides jobs for more than 50 people, many of them, longtime employees.

The IFBF says the company’s farm tile innovations, erosion control products and drainage systems make them a leader in the industry. Renew Rural Iowa (RRI) is an IFBF initiative supporting new and existing businesses through education, mentoring and financial resources. The next Renew Rural Iowa Business Success Seminar takes place March 5 at Iowa Central Community College in Ft. Dodge. For more information, go to www.renewruraliowa.com.

An animal rescue operation group is in the process of trying to find new homes for four horses that were found emaciated on a Fremont County farm. The one Arabian and three quarter horses were confiscated from a farm near Farragut, on Monday. Sheriff’s officials and a local veterinarian visited the farm late Monday afternoon, after they received a telephone tip.

The veterinarian examined the horses and determined they had been neglected. Two of the animals were said to be several hundred pounds underweight. A 22-year old man who released the animals while authorities were making arrangements to have them removed from the property, was cited on suspicion of interfering with official acts and livestock neglect. The unidentified man was taken to jail, plead guilty Tuesday, and paid a fine.

The horses were removed from the land by court order. Their current location has not been disclosed. Anyone interested in adopting the animals can call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424. Hooves and Paws Rescue of the Heartland is trying to find homes for the horses.

Officials with the Cass County Extension Service and other state/local partners, invite area farmers and the public to attend an informational presentation this Friday, Jan. 25th, from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), on Laws and Regulations that affect your farming operation. Janelle Kracht, District Field Manager for Iowa Corn, says  “The laws and regulations change all the time. It is important to share up to date information and this is directly from the DOT, so farmers can ask questions.”

The free presentation takes place 2-PM Friday, at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic (805 W. 10th Street). A question and answer period will follow the presentation for any farmers who have questions related to specific rules and regulations. Presenting partners for the event include the Iowa Corn Growers Association, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, the Iowa Soybean Association, Cass County ISU Extension, and the local Cass County Corn and Soybean Association.

There is no cost to attend, no preregistration required and the meeting is open to the public. Questions in advance of the event should be directed to Janelle Kracht at 515-229-9980.

Results of an annual poll show many of the state’s farmers believe farmland is overvalued and the market bubble will eventually burst. J. Gordon Arbuckle, co-director of the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, says nearly 13-hundred (1,300) farmers were asked a series of questions about land values and prices. An overwhelming number pointed to one major reason for the recent surge. “High grain prices, which really are the major drivers of land price increases right now, were the highest rated factor,” Arbuckle said. Around 90-percent of the farmers surveyed cited grain prices as a “strong or very strong influence” in land prices. Arbuckle, an Iowa State University sociologist, said he found the response to one survey question troubling.

“From an economic stand point, if something is more valuable, you would think that you would take better care of it. But, what we found was that almost 50 percent of the farmers disagreed with that statement and said they did not believe that the increase in land values were leading to a greater commitment to soil conservation,” Arbuckle said. The Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll has been conducted by a number of agricultural agencies since 1982. It’s the longest running survey of its kind in the nation. In the 2012 survey, the average age of the farmers who responded was 64.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with Shelby County DevelopSource are inviting area farmers to a workshop in February designed to help families begin the conversation and put together a plan, on transitioning farms from retiring, to beginning farmers. The discussion and information will be held at the Shelby County Center of Iowa Western Community College, during a two day Farm Succession Conversation and Planning Workshop on February 8^th and 9^th. The workshops are planned as a multi-generational event for exiting owners and spouse and succeeding owners and spouse.

Workshops are held on consecutive days to allow for the initiations of conversations and written plans. The Succession Conversation and Planning workshop will feature several guest speakers including David Baker from Iowa State University and John Baker, Beginning Farmer Center Administrator and Attorney at Law. Over the two days, participants will review the retirement plan concept and receive information on transfer plans, estate plans and a process for creating a family statement of intention. Family groups will be given time to write a statement of intent and vision of the future.

The workshops will be held from noon to 8pm on Friday, the 8^th and 9am to 3pm on Saturday, the 9^th. Cost of the two day event is $150 per family of four, $25 per each additional person and includes refreshments and meals for both days. Interested Beginnings Farmers and Retired Farmers can register by contacting Jane Nielsen at Shelby County DevelopSource at 712-755-3569. Registrations must be received by Friday, January 25^th.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Iowa bicycling enthusiasts may not be able to do much pedaling in the freezing cold right now, but they’ll be flocking by the thousands to Des Moines later this week for the Iowa Bicycle Summit. Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, says it’s actually three big events rolled into one weekend. “We have the Iowa Bicycle Summit which is our education conference,” Wyatt says. “We train people to build trails and teach people how to install bike lanes and build better bicycling facilities into communities. The second thing we have is the Iowa Bike Expo which is our big outdoor enthusiast’s place to see new gear, new bicycles and find new destinations to vacation with your bicycle next summer.”

The third event is the Route Announcement Party for the annual RAGBRAI, a statewide ride that draws more than 10-thousand cyclists from across the world every summer. Wyatt says this statewide summit event at the Iowa Events Center continues to grow every year. “We’re actually setting a record for the Iowa Bicycle Summit at 140 people so far registered, so that’s outstanding,” Wyatt says. “The Iowa Bike Expo, last year we had great weather and had about 3,000 people attend. We have over 90 vendors that are going to be present to talk about bikes and gear and destinations.”

Iowa has some two-thousand miles of bike trails, with some of the longest continuous trail systems in the country. “Over half of Iowans, and we have 3-million Iowans, over half own a bicycle,” Wyatt says. “They may not ride them but certainly we know people have access to bicycles. It’s not too difficult to see the large increases in the amount people bicycling, especially with the introduction of a lot of trails and bike lanes and other infrastructure we have that really make it easy to go out and enjoy yourself.”

Learn more about the events on Friday and Saturday at www.bikeiowa.com.