Farm income is forecasted to have decreased in 2024 by 4% from 2023, largely because of a decrease in cash receipts, or the gross income, from the sale of commodity crops, according to the December update of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm income forecast.  The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Carrie Litkowski, the farm income team leader with USDA Economic Research Service, presented the latest update in a webinar Tuesday, and said the forecast was very similar to its previous September iteration.

“But somehow it feels a little more important, as we near the end of the year, to evaluate the current state of the farm economy as a starting point for considering what challenges and opportunities may lie ahead for U.S. agriculture,” Litkowski said.

Net cash farm income for 2024 is projected to be $158.8 billion, which in inflation-adjusted figures is 3.5% lower than net cash farm income in 2023. The forecast shows the 2024 figure, however, is 9.8% above the 20-year average for net cash farm income, and represents a less gradual decline than that of 2022 to 2023.  Net cash farm income is the income minus expenses of the farm, including government payments, but excluding things like changes in inventories or economic depreciations, which are reflected in the “net farm income” figures.

The sale of agricultural commodities is projected to decrease by less than 1 percent overall as an over 8% increase in animal and animal product receipts nearly offsets the over 9% decrease in forecasted crop receipts.  Because of this, net cash income for all farm businesses specializing in crops is forecasted to be lower this year than last, but all farm businesses specializing in animal or animal products are expect to have higher net cash farm income than they did in 2023.

This could mean lower net cash income for the farming sector in Iowa for 2024, as the majority of cash receipts on Iowa farms in 2023 were for corn and soybeans, which are projected to decrease, nationally, by 23% and 14% respectively in 2024.

The data used in the USDA ERS forecasts represents the entire farming sector of nearly 2 million farms and ranches. Litkowski said the reports are used to inform policy makers and lenders, and in determining the ag sector’s contributions to the U.S. economy. It’s forecasted that farmers in 2024 will have a decreased need of supplemental and disaster assistance, as well as lower dairy margin payments. That will result in a forecasted $1.7 billion decrease from 2023 in direct government payments to farmers.

Litkowski said natural disasters like hurricanes Helene and Milton have not yet shown up in the data, because much of the harvesting in the affected regions had already been completed at the time of the hurricanes, and payments have not yet been issued. USDA also forecasts overall lower input costs, primarily in feed fertilizers and pesticides for farmers in 2024. Other inputs, however, like labor, interest rates and livestock and poultry purchases are forecasted to have increased.

Median farm income for 2024 is expected to increase to $100,634, which is almost 3% higher, without adjusting for inflation, from 2023. Off-farm income, which represents the biggest share of income for most on-farm families, is projected to increase in 2024, after decreasing slightly over the past three years. Litkowski clarified that “half of all farms are residential farms” where the owner’s primary occupation is not farming, which typically leads the median on farm income to appear as a negative amount.

The forecast will be updated again Feb. 6 when the department will release its first projections for 2025.

(Radio Iowa) – Wolf Carbon Solutions has withdrawn its application for a state permit to build a carbon pipeline in eastern Iowa. Developers had plans for a 95-mile pipeline to capture carbon emissions from A-D-M plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton — and ship the liquefied carbon to underground storage in Illinois. The company withdrew its permit request in Illinois last year. Emma Schmit is director of Pipeline Fighters, which is part of a group called BOLD Alliance which works on land and water use issues in rural states.

“Talking with landowners, it’s been months and months since they’ve even heard from Wolf, so they’ve seen the writing on the wall,” Schmit says. “…We tend to see these companies withdraw their applications and then never resubmit, so as far as I’m concerned, things are basically kaput.” The company’s withdrawal notice did not say whether it would revise its plans and submit a new permit request to the Iowa Utilities Commission. A spokesperson for Wolf Carbon Solutions has not replied to Radio Iowa’s request for comment.

Wolf had been seeking voluntary access to land along its proposed pipeline route. In early 2023, the company announced it would not ask Iowa utility regulators for eminent domain authority to seize land from unwilling property owners.  “That’s what they said in Illinois as well and I think that was one of their major problems both in terms of finding space for storage and the support from the community wasn’t there,” Scmit said. “…If they’re not going to basically, in my opinion, abuse eminent domain powers, they’re kind of stuck with no other option but to cancel the project.”

By early 2022, three pipeline companies — Wolf, Navigator and Summit Carbon Solutions — had announced plans to build carbon pipelines in Iowa. A year ago, Navigator cancelled its project. Summit hopes to extend its proposed pipeline route to ethanol plants that had signed up for Navigator’s pipeline. Schmit doubts the A-D-M plants involved in Wolf’s project will try to connect to Summit’s proposed pipeline. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if a different corporation came along,” Schmit says, “or if they even tried exploring carbon sequestration on site.”

The University of Iowa is leading a more than 11 MILLION dollar project to see if carbon can be successfully stored underground in Iowa, in what’s called basalt rock. The Iowa Utilities Commission has voted to give Summit authority to seize land along its Iowa pipeline route from owners who have refused to sign easements to their properties — but only if regulators in two neighboring states approve the pipeline project. Last month, North Dakota’s Public Service Commission granted Summit’s permit and Summit resubmitted its request form a permit in South Dakota.

(Radio Iowa) – While some Iowa motorists and sidewalk shovelers may be cussing the snowfall, those who love winter sports are celebrating the brisk temperatures and the new blanket of flakes. Mark Gordon, general manager of Sundown Mountain Resort in Dubuque, tells KCRG-TV they had an excellent first weekend of the ski season. “It’s a fabulous opening day,” Gordon says. “We had a great time yesterday, and last night, the snow makers were able to open up a whole new set of runs, so we have even more people here today to check out the snow.” Gordon says the resort had a very high turnout, with hundreds of people going skiing and snowboarding.

“People that ski tend to be a little more optimistic, and skiing makes you feel good,” Gordon says. “It’s a lot like in a weird way, flying. You’re going down at sometimes 40 or 50 miles an hour, and you know you feel good.” Skiier Katlyn Fogg tells KCRG-TV that she was thrilled to be there for the premiere of another season of winter sports. “We’ve been talking about skiing all year,” Fogg says. “We were so excited about it, so we were ready for opening weekend. We were excited it was this soon.” Steele Schmitz was in Dubuque for the snowboarding. “I’ve been here for the past three years,” Schmitz says. “I went with my friend and it’s just a great experience to come out here and snowboard during the winter, since there’s not much to do in Iowa.”

The resort’s general manager says the cold weather is good news for the entire rest of the season, as it helps Sundown to stock up on snow, so they can stay open during warmer spells.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Wild deer with chronic wasting disease have been detected in 25 counties, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which is seeking help from Iowans to spot the disease and limit its spread. The DNR is hosting a public meeting this Thursday, Dec. 5th on statewide management and surveillance efforts. Chronic wasting disease was first detected in Iowa in 2013 and is fatal to infected deer, though it has not been shown to infect humans. The DNR has tested more than 100,000 deer for the disease to monitor its spread through the state. Rachel Ruden, state wildlife veterinarian with the DNR, said it will be a “generational challenge.”

Iowans can register for the virtual webinar on this LINK. The public meeting, which will be held virtually, will allow Iowans to ask questions and learn about the role they play in managing the spread of the disease. Chronic wasting disease affects the animal’s brain, but is present in all tissues. It causes deer to lose weight, act abnormally and is “always fatal,” according to the DNR. The public information meeting takes place just before the start of gun season for deer, which the DNR said roughly 100,000 people participate in each year.

The DNR is partnering with deer hunters to test for chronic wasting disease and has county-specific sample collection goals, depending on the presence of CWD. Interested hunters are asked to contact their local wildlife staff, who can be found on the department’s website. DNR aims to collect samples from each county, and reach 5,000 samples statewide, according to a press release. CWD is tested via a sample from a lymph node found behind a deer’s jaw.

And while humans have yet to be infected by the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges hunters to “avoid” eating meat from an animal with CWD, to wear gloves while field dressing the animals and to “minimize” contact with brain or spinal cord tissues. Even if a hunter’s particular county has reached its testing quota, or the deer doesn’t qualify for the collection, hunters are encouraged to submit samples to the DNR for testing, especially if they plan to eat the meat.

According to the DNR, most deer that test positive for CWD don’t have visible symptoms, which is why testing is important. Hunters can seek assistance from their local wildlife staff, and from an instructional video, on how to remove the lymph node and send it in for testing.  Tyler Harms, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR, urges Iowans to help stop the spread of chronic wasting disease and avoid putting out grain or mineral blocks that will cause the deer to gather. Hunters should also refrain from transporting carcasses across counties, as this can also spread the disease.

DNR is also offering some additional tags and licenses for hunters in deer management and incentive zones.

Sioux City, Iowa (KTIV) – Another cleaning company has been fined thousands of dollars by the U.S. Department of Labor for employing children to clean Sioux City’s Seaboard Triumph Foods pork processing plant. Qvest LLC of Oklahoma was the cleaning contractor for the plant between September of 2019 and September of 2023.

The Labor Department says the first company fined for hiring minors, Fayette Janitorial Services of Tennessee, took over the contract from Qvest, and hired some of the same children Qvest had employed to clean the plant.

Court documents filed in the Northern District of Iowa show that Qvest will pay $171,919 in child labor civil money penalties, hire a third party to review and implement company policies to prevent the employment of children, and set up a process to report possible child labor law violations.

The Labor Department’s investigation found 11 children had been cleaning equipment in the packing plant, including saws used to cut the pork. Federal law prohibits children under age 18 from working in dangerous jobs like meat processing facilities.

In a statement released to KJAN on Dec. 3rd, 2024, Seaboard Triumph Foods Communications Manager Riley Kohn said:

“The legal filings against Qvest Sanitation by the Department of Labor (DOL) do not include any claims against Seaboard Triumph Foods (STF). STF did not employ any of the alleged individuals and has no evidence that any underage individuals accessed the plant. In addition, this vendor, who had express contractual requirements to follow all labor laws, has not been
present at the STF facility for more than a year, as the company’s sanitation needs are currently supported through an ongoing partnership with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).

“This situation underscores the problems facing employers throughout the country: individuals, including minors, obtaining jobs through their use of fraudulent identification documents, which are sophisticated enough to fool even the federal government’s E-Verify system. Businesses are victimized by this fraud,” notes Paul DeCamp, the former head of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and counsel for STF.

“Safety, ethical practices, and compliance with regulations and industry standards are of paramount importance to STF. We expect the same from our vendors and partners, and we will not tolerate any vendor’s use of underage labor within our facility, and will also take measures to prevent fraud against our company.”

(Radio Iowa) – A tax credit for biodiesel production expires at the end of this year and Senator Chuck Grassley says congress is unlikely to address the issue in December.

However, early next year Republicans in congress are hoping to extend a package of tax cuts approved in 2017 and Grassley says it’s possible the biodiesel production tax credit could be inserted in that bill.

Iowa is the largest U-S producer of biodiesel. The state’s nine biodiesel plants produced about 350 million gallons of the soybean-based fuel last year. The biodiesel tax credit was established in 2005 and has been extended several times. Grassley says the U-S Treasury Department and Environmental Protection Agency rulings on the scope of other tax breaks for renewable fuels should have been made long ago.

In February, the E-P-A approved the sale of a 15 percent ethanol blend at gas pumps in Iowa and seven other Midwest states year round, but the higher blend of ethanol still cannot be sold in other states during the summer months. The agency has long cited concerns that E-15 can cause smog during hotter weather.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa law changed in 2023 to allow for a continuous open season on raccoons after concerns about an increase in their numbers and reports of them being a nuisance. Iowa furbearer biologist Vince Evelsizer says he doesn’t know yet how the law has impacted the animals.

The extended season allows people to use two kinds of raccoon traps.

The law change also simplified the process for nuisance animals.

You can find more about the rules regarding raccoons and other animals on the D-N-R’s website.

(Iowa DNR News) – Pheasant hunting has been as much a part of the Thanksgiving holiday for generations of Iowans, as cranberries and stuffing. And with a weather forecast that will likely put birds in cover, this would be a good year to continue that tradition and get back to the fields. Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), says “It’s a good opportunity for hunters to get out with less competition. Would also be a good time to invite someone new along and pass along that tradition.”

The Iowa DNR offers an apprentice license that allows someone to give hunting a try under the supervision of an adult mentor without completing hunter education. This license may be purchased twice in a lifetime before the individual is required to complete a hunter education course. Iowa’s pheasant population is down slightly from last year when hunters bagged the highest number of roosters since 2007. According to the August roadside survey, the regions with higher pheasant counts are north of Interstate 80. “The harvest is following what the roadside counts showed – better hunting in northern Iowa with lots of young birds out there,” Bogenschutz said. Last year, more than 83,000 hunters harvested over 590,000 roosters, providing an estimated economic impact of $180 million in Iowa.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.

The Iowa DNR and Pheasants Forever are celebrating 100 years of pheasant hunting in the Hawkeye State. The first season was held Oct. 20-22, 1925, when 13 counties in north central Iowa were opened to pheasant hunting. Hunters were allowed a three-rooster limit, for a half-day of hunting. An estimated 75,000 hunters participated.

Information on places to hunt, the August roadside survey results and more is available online by clicking the 100 Years of Pheasant Hunting graphic at www.iowadnr.gov/pheasantsurvey.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds pardoned two turkeys from a farm in Manson today (Tuesday) named Caitlin and Clark. The turkeys strolled quietly on the grass at the Terrace Hill Governor’s mansion as the governor read the proclamation. “Now therefore I Kim Reynolds, governor of the state of Iowa, do hereby proclaim Caitlin and Clark as symbols of Iowa’s great turkey industry, they are free to roam this Thanksgiving Day, and they’ve got a lot of ground to do it on,” she says. Governor Reynolds talked about the importance of the holiday.

“I always look forward to this time of the year. It’s not only is it a time for us to really recognize our farmers and producers and all that they do to feed the world, but it’s kind of a kick off to the holiday season,” she says. She says the first recognition of turkey producers came from then Governor Robert Ray back in 1976. “Now, at that point, they didn’t pardon the turkeys. They sent them back to the farm, so I can’t say, what happens after that,” Reynolds says. “But we didn’t start pardoning the turkeys until 1989.”

Turkeys Caitlin and Clark roam the grounds of Terrace Hill. (RI photo)

The two birds came from Golden Prairie Turkeys for the second year in a row. The farm is owned by Brad and Kelly Moline. Brad is the president of the Iowa turkey producers and his daughter Ava was on hand to help with the birds. “It’s just fun because it’s a tradition that goes on for years and years, and it’s just something that we get to do for the turkeys,” she says. Ava wants to become a veterinarian, and is an Iowa State fan, but she is okay with naming the birds after the Hawkeye great. “She’s a great athlete, and I would like to be a great athlete like her. And turkeys are great for protein for athletes. So I think it was just fitting,” Moline says.

Governor Reynolds says she bought a 23-pound turkey from the farm that she will cook for her family along with a ham and all the sides for Thanksgiving.

(Ag News) –  Thanksgiving remains one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the United States, with over 90% of Americans observing the tradition each year. For many, it ranks as a favorite holiday, bringing together family and friends around a meal that often centers on one iconic dish: roast turkey. Yet, few people consider the agricultural effort behind this holiday staple. Each year, an estimated 46 million turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving alone, with production largely concentrated in a handful of states. More than 85% of U.S. turkey production takes place in just 13 states, with North Carolina and Minnesota leading as the top producers. Together, these two states contribute more than 30% of the nation’s total turkey output.

Outside of North Carolina and Minnesota, Indiana is a major producer, contributing 11.9% of U.S. turkey production by weight, followed by Arkansas at 7.8% and Iowa at 7.3%. In general, turkey production is largely concentrated along or east of the Mississippi River, although California stands out as a notable exception. To determine the top turkey producers, researchers ranked states based on 2023 total turkey production, measured in pounds. Some national and Iowa statistics:

• The rise and fall of turkey production in the U.S.: Since 1960, per capita turkey production rose sharply and peaked in 1996 at 26.8 pounds per person. However, in 2022, annual production had dropped to just 20 pounds per person—a decline of approximately 25%.
• Rising prices and shifting consumer demand: Health concerns and changing dietary preferences play a significant role, with more Americans choosing plant-based diets and reducing meat consumption. Rising turkey prices, which increased from $0.80 per pound in 2018 to $1.40 per pound in 2023, also impact consumption.
  
• Larger birds soften the decline: The average size of turkeys raised in the U.S. has nearly doubled since the 1960s—averaging 32 pounds per bird compared to around 18 pounds in the 1960s. This trend has helped maintain relatively high production levels even as the total number of turkeys raised has declined (a peak of approximately 303 million birds annually in 1996, but an estimated 218 million birds in 2023).
• Iowa produces 7.3% of America’s turkey by weight: In 2023, Iowa raised 11.5 million turkeys, with an average weight of 44.2 pounds per bird. In total, Iowa produced over 500 million pounds of turkey last year—the 5th most in the nation.

Here is a summary of the data for Iowa:

• Turkey production (pounds): 508,300,000
• Turkey production value (dollars): $477,802,000
• Turkeys raised: 11,500,000
• Average turkey size (pounds): 44.2
• Share of U.S. turkey production: 7.3%
• Share of U.S. turkeys raised: 5.3%

The analysis was conducted by Trace One—a company specializing in regulatory compliance for the food and beverage industry—using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).