Cass County: Corn $4.32 Beans $11.28
Adair County: Corn $4.29  Beans $11.31
Adams County: Corn $4.29  Beans $11.27
Audubon County: Corn $4.31 Beans $11.30
East Pottawattamie County: $4.35 Beans $11.28
Guthrie County: Corn $4.34 Beans $11.32
Montgomery County: Corn $4.34 Beans $11.30
Shelby County: Corn $4.35 Beans $11.28

Oats: $ 3.10          (same in all counties)

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

(Radio Iowa) – Gasoline prices in Iowa have surged 88-cents a gallon in the past month, and backers of biofuels say the blend with 15-percent ethanol helps consumers save money. Nick Bowdish, president and C-E-O of Siouxland Ethanol, says E-15 is a solution for higher pump prices.

“We’re American-made and all of our plants are actually sitting on fuel supplies that could be doing more work in serving the consumer,” Bowdish says, “but there’s an archaic fuel regulation that still to this day limits ethanol and gasoline at 10% for all motor vehicles.” Federal rules restrict E-15 sales from June through mid-September because of air-quality concerns, and Congress has failed to pass legislation approving its year-round use.

The U-S Senate Agriculture Committee heard testimony last week on ways to boost demand for farm products, and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley called for the approval of year-round E-15. Craig Brodersen says all the corn he raises on his farm in western Iowa gets sold to a local ethanol plant. “The E-15 helps the consumer. It really does,” Brodersen says. “You’re not buying it from a foreigner. You’re buying it from us.”

Geoff Cooper, president and C-E-O of the national Renewable Fuels Association, says oil companies successfully lobbied lawmakers to block year-round E-15, though a Congressional task force is still trying to work something out. Cooper says, “It would make a bad situation worse if Congress and the administration don’t get something done very quickly on E-15.”

Cooper says President Trump could issue emergency waivers allowing existing retailers to continue selling E-15 in the summer, a move he says could save drivers up to 50 cents a gallon. Triple-A says the statewide average price for gas is $3.33 a gallon, compared to $2.45 a month ago.

(Des Moines, IA) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for prairie chickens this spring and Iowans can help. Iowa’s prairie chicken population had resided in three locations in Ringgold County – two on or near the Kellerton Wildlife Area; the third on private land – but have been seen in Union, Clarke, Decatur and Taylor counties.

“Whether your checking on the cattle or working the fields, we’d like you to keep an eye out for prairie chickens and let us know if you see them,” said Stephanie Shepherd, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR’s diversity program. Prairie chicken sightings can be reported by calling 515-230-6599 or emailed to vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.

“There’s a concern for this population,” Shepherd said. “Our numbers are down, not just here, but across the border in Missouri, and we want to keep tabs on any birds that we missed as part of our previous surveys.”

Cass County: Corn $4.34 Beans $11.40
Adair County: Corn $4.31  Beans $11.43
Adams County: Corn $4.31  Beans $11.39
Audubon County: Corn $4.33 Beans $11.42
East Pottawattamie County: $4.37 Beans $11.40
Guthrie County: Corn $4.36 Beans $11.44
Montgomery County: Corn $4.36 Beans $11.42
Shelby County: Corn $4.37 Beans $11.40

Oats: $ 3.13          (same in all counties)

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

(Radio Iowa) – The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Des Moines plans to continue environmental education and renovate its visitor center that’s been closed for nearly two years. Educational programs at the refuge were halted when storm damage forced The Prairie Learning Center to shut down in 2024.

During a public open house, refuge manager Scott Gilge said the staff is reevaluating what educational programs to offer while they plan for renovations. Gilge says they plan to cut the size of the learning center in half to keep costs down, but they plan to offer some programs outside of the center to encourage learning opportunities on the grounds.

The public can offer input on the future of educational programs at the refuge through early April.

(Radio Iowa/Brownfield Ag News) – An eastern Iowa farmer who’s a past president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says the price spike in fertilizer is out of control. Lance Lillibridge raises cattle, corn, soybeans and alfalfa in Benton County, near Vinton.  “Jacking up prices of fertilizer 77% on product that’s actually in the states right now and in warehouses because of something that’s happened half a world away, that’s not right,” Lillibridge said. “Somebody needs to get he cuffs slapped on them for that one.”

Lillibridge ordered his fertilizer supply before the war in Iran broke out, but about 25 percent of farmers have not. “We’ve had a problem with fertilizer prices for quite some time now and it hasn’t been dealt with and now that we have a situation, a geopolitical situation it has completely amplified that and it has gone completely out of control,” Lillibridge. “Eventually it is going to hurt everyone down the road if we don’t get this fixed quickly.”

On Friday the U-S Secretary of Agriculture said the White House is looking at every potential avenue to lower fertilizer prices and she’s talking with congress about additional funds for U.S. farmers. According to the American Farm Bureau, 49 percent of the global supply of nitrogen and 30 percent of ammonia comes from the Persian Gulf.

Cass County: Corn $4.33 Beans $11.50
Adair County: Corn $4.30 Beans $11.53
Adams County: Corn $4.30 Beans $11.49
Audubon County: Corn $4.32 Beans $11.52
East Pottawattamie County: $4.36 Beans $11.50
Guthrie County: Corn $4.35 Beans $11.54
Montgomery County: Corn $4.35 Beans $11.52
Shelby County: Corn $4.36 Beans $11.50

Oats: $ 3.16          (same in all counties)

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

RED OAK, IA (Press release)— The Nishnabotna Water Defenders (“NWD”), a grassroots organization formed in the wake of one of the largest environmental disasters in Iowa’s history, announced today (March 15, 2026) that they have filed a lawsuit against NEW Cooperative, Inc., an Iowa-based cooperative with nearly $3 billion in annual revenue. The petition, filed in Iowa District Court for Montgomery County, seeks to hold the cooperative fully accountable for the March 2024 release of 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer into the East Nishnabotna River, an event that decimated aquatic and other wildlife across over fifty miles of Iowa and Missouri waterways.

The legal action comes after a state settlement was widely panned as a “sweetheart deal,” totaling only $100,000 in penalties and supplemental project funding—a fraction of the environmental and economic damage caused when a tank valve was left open for an entire weekend.

“The scale of this disaster is almost beyond comprehension, yet the state’s response has been a mere slap on the wrist,” said Attorney James C. Larew, of Iowa City, one of the attorneys representing NWD. “By allowing hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic urea ammonium nitrate to flow unchecked into our public waters, NEW Cooperative committed an egregious violation of the Clean Water Act and state law. The state’s failure to enforce meaningful penalties not only insults the local community but sends a dangerous message to every corporate polluter in Iowa: that destroying a river is simply the low cost of doing business. In these cases, unfortunately, private citizens, acting as individuals or through their membership groups, must do for themselves and each other that which our governmental agencies should be doing—but, too often, are failing to do.”

The lawsuit highlights that the spill killed over 750,000 fish, as well as countless frogs, snakes, mussels, birds, and animals, effectively turning a 50-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna, Nishnabotna, and Missouri Rivers into a “dead zone.”

Attorney Carrie La Seur, co-counsel on the case, emphasized the broader legal implications regarding Iowa’s natural resources. “This case is about more than just one spill. It is about the public trust doctrine, which holds state lands and waters in trust for the people of Iowa,” La Seur said. “Iowa’s navigable waters are not private sewers for industrial accidents. The state has a fiduciary duty to protect these public resources for the benefit of all Iowans. When the state abdicates its duty, the people must step in. This lawsuit is a necessary assertion that the public’s right to clean living water is superior to any corporation’s right to be careless.”

The Nishnabotna Water Defenders seek full restitution for the value of the lost natural resources, the implementation of mandatory containment barriers and remote shutoff technology at all NEW Cooperative’s agricultural chemical storage sites, and new state permitting of these facilities, to ensure ongoing compliance.

Terry Langan, Co-President of NWD, summarized the reason for the lawsuit: “Local citizens are being deprived of the full use and enjoyment of what should be a public recreational asset and a source of clean water for personal and business uses: our rivers. The massive pollution event caused by NEW Cooperative—followed by ineffective enforcement of our water pollution laws by Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird make it imperative the citizens act to fill the gap that is harming the quality of the lives of those who live and work in Southwest Iowa. This lawsuit fits squarely within NWD’s clean water advocacy purpose.”

About Nishnabotna Water Defenders: Nishnabotna Water Defenders is a community-led organization, with a membership approaching 200 persons. The organization is dedicated to monitoring water quality and advocating for the health of the Nishnabotna Watershed. Formed by concerned residents of Southwest Iowa, the group works to ensure that local waterways remain safe for recreation, drinking, and wildlife for generations to come.

(Red Oak, IA) – Firefighters in southwest Iowa and elsewhere battled field and ditch fires, Thursday. According to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, multiple southwest Iowa fire departments were called to the 1300 block of Lumber Ave, in rural Essex, for a field fire. The blaze was reported just before 4-p.m. Upon arrival, firefighters had two separate brush piles on fire, with fire extension into a nearby grass/harvested corn field. Crews were able to make a quick knock down and bring the fire under control.Two separate farmers assisted with their tractors and disks to diminish the spread of the flames.

Photos from the Red Oak Fire Department’s Facebook page (3-12-26)

About a half-hour later, as the firefighters were wrapping-up fire control efforts, they were notified by Montgomery County Communications about a ditch fire at 270th/O Ave (Montgomery County). Fire crews arrived on scene just south of Montgomery-Page Street on O Avenue, to find several acres of CRP ground on fire with a large wall of fire moving very quickly, (crossing a rural road) and proceeding north into harvested corn and additional pasture ground.

One residence to the east was advised that evacuation may be imminent if fire crews weren’t able to contain/stop the spread of the fire. Fire crews were able to finally contain/stop the spread of the fire with approximately 60 acres burned. Chief Bruce said, thankfully mutual aid departments were still close on Lumber Ave, as well as several farmers assisting with various agriculture implements to assist stopping the progression of the fire.

No injuries reported. Fire-ground operations were eventually terminated at around 6:25-p.m.

Assisting/Responding Agencies to the incidents included:

Essex Fire Rescue

Clarinda Fire Department

Stanton Fire and Rescue Department

Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency

Montgomery County 911

Stanton Fire and Rescue Department

Villlisca FD

Grant FD

Clarinda Fire Department

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office – Red Oak, Iowa

Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency

Montgomery County 911

Page Co 911

Cass County: Corn $4.19 Beans $11.37
Adair County: Corn $4.16 Beans $11.40
Adams County: Corn $4.16 Beans $11.36
Audubon County: Corn $4.18 Beans $11.39
East Pottawattamie County: $4.22 Beans $11.37
Guthrie County: Corn $4.21 Beans $11.41
Montgomery County: Corn $4.21 Beans $11.39
Shelby County: Corn $4.22 Beans $11.37

Oats: $ 3.04          (same in all counties)

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