(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A crop report released Monday, says farmers were able to harvest five percent of the corn in the last week. That is five days behind last year but equal to the five-year average.

The report found nine percent of the beans were out of the fields and into the bins at the end of the week. The harvest rate is equal to last year and one day ahead of the five-year average.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig is back from a trade trip with the governor and business leaders to India. “Met with folks who could be customers of ours in India in terms of importing, food and agriculture products, but also had a chance to brag on Iowa a little bit and talk about what it’s like to do business here, and try to recruit some folks who may want to put a footprint in or make an investment in the state,” he says. Naig says India has a lot of potential.

“The largest country by population, over one-point-four billion people,” Naig says, “and from a food and agriculture standpoint, there are so many things that they need in order to meet that demand. They’ve got a rising middle class, a middle class that will exceed 500 million people.” Naig says there are some key Iowa products that could fill the void there. “We think that there’s tremendous opportunity for us to supply feed to their livestock sector. They’re also looking to improve and increase the amount of ethanol that they’re blending into their fuel. And so ethanol is a very, very real possibility for us to have significant exports to that country,” he says.

Mike Naig (Iowa PBS photo)

Naig says feed and ethanol are just a couple of the items that could be exported. “There are just opportunities abounding there for the things that we produce and have so much in abundance here in the state of Iowa,” Naig says. Naig says they did sign two memorandums of understanding with India. “One with the sort of the livestock and feeding grain sector to explore ways that we can work together, and the other was with a research institute to look at ways that we can work together in terms of research on crop and renewable energy,” he says, “also, how do we prepare the next generation with the skill set that they need to take advantage of the types of technology that we have here in the United States.”

Naig says the trip is part of the effort to lay the groundwork for longer term trade. “I think what we want to do is be positioned to have an opportunity to enter that market and do so in a big way, but it’s going to take some time for that to develop,” he says.

Naig joined the governor, and directors of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority on the ten-day trip to India.

(Area News) – ISU Extension in Adair, Audubon, Cass and Guthrie Counties will host a free, one-hour learning session for private well owners on Wednesday evening, October 9th (2024) at 6-p.m. The program will help attendees understand their well’s water quality and connect them to resources to manage their well. A representative will also be on hand from the Guthrie County Environmental health department, which provides services to all four counties to offer free well-water testing.

Did you know that Iowa has a unique funding source for free or low-cost annual testing of private wells? Or that some water pollutants are odorless, tasteless and will not be removed by boiling water? If you’re curious about the answers to these questions, then take advantage of the upcoming learning session which will detail how to test your well and who can help, common contaminants, and factors that affect well water quality.

The program will be taught by Catherine DeLong, Water Quality Program Manager for ISU Extension and Outreach. According to DeLong, “About 230,000 Iowans rely on private wells as their home’s main water source, yet many do not know they should be testing once a year and that Iowa has a unique funding source to help cover the cost of testing.”

The free program will take place on Wednesday evening, October 9 from 6:00pm –7:00pm at the Anita Community Center, located at 805 Main Street in Anita. While there is no charge to attend, pre-registration is requested for seating and materials. To RSVP contact the county Extension office in Adair (641-743-8412), Audubon (712-563-4239), Cass (712-243-1132) or Guthrie (641-747-2276) county, or email keolson@iastate.edu. Information about this and other upcoming programs can also be found online at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.

(Des Moines, Iowa) –  Officials in charge of Iowa’s state parks invite you to lend a hand this Saturday, Sept. 28 for Statewide Volunteer Day. Several state parks and forests will host events that include picking up litter, trail maintenance, prairie seed gathering and more. No experience is necessary. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites you to come out and enjoy the outdoors! The list of state parks and forests where volunteer help is needed can be found HERE.

In southwest Iowa, that includes: Lake Anita State Park, in Anita; Springbrook State Park, in Guthrie Center, and Waubonsie State Park, in Hamburg.

You can learn more about specific events, on the DNR’s Volunteer webpage

(Iowa News Service) – Advocates for a fair, sustainable and healthy food system have released a report showing that nearly all of the corn seed in Iowa is controlled by just four companies. Economists say concentrations that large can lead to market manipulation. Farm Action’s report shows nearly 90-percent of the corn seed in Iowa is controlled by Corteva and Bayer. AgReliant and Syngenta control the rest. Farm Action President Angela Huffman says that kind of control and concentration is happening all the way from seeds to the consumer’s plate, and she warns it makes market conditions ripe for abuse.

The same type of consolidation is happening in ag operations where livestock are raised in large confinements, and manure runoff is known to damage the air, ground and surface water in rural Iowa.

SALO, FINLAND – AUGUST 22, 2015: Line up of four John Deere agricultural tractors, 6115R and 7340 on the left, at Puontin Peltopaivat Agricultural Harvesting and Cultivating Show.

Operators have said they’re always looking for more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to raise livestock.

Huffman argues that monopolies like this can lead to collusion, price fixing and other types of market manipulation. She and other advocates have called on lawmakers in Congress to address the issue in the pending Farm Bill.

The current Farm Bill, which was supposed to expire in September of last year, has been extended – but debate still hasn’t started on a new version.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s bumper crop of buzzing cicadas this year may lead to a population boom in another, much-smaller insect known as the oak leaf itch mite. St. Louis-area entomologist Tad Yankoski says the mites are tiny, but there are many, many millions of them emerging in Missouri, and Iowa could be next.

Unlike mosquitoes, these weensy mites don’t seek people out, but he says if they find you, you’ll know it.

Those mite bites can leave annoying welts that might persist for days or even weeks.

Cicadas (Photo by Ginny Mitchell at Iowa State University’s Insect Zoo)

Cicadas can grow one to two inches in length, and they’re insect giants compared to these mites.

Iowa saw emergence’s of both the 13- and 17-year cicada broods this spring, with large populations in both northeast and southeast Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The final public meeting on the expansion of the Summit Carbon Solutions carbon capture pipeline expansion project is today (Friday). Farmer Dave Balder (bald-er) plans to attend the meeting in Buena Vista County and opposes the project. “This is a dangerous, profit-driven project, and I see that it will be obsolete before it even gets completed.” Balder, who lives a mile north of the Valero Renewable Fuels plant in Albert City already granted easements on his property for two natural gas pipelines. He says those pipelines are projects that benefit the public, but the carbon pipeline is not.

“I do not agree with someone coming in and with eminent domain and taking over, especially since this is a private situation,” Balder says. Summit Carbon Solutions scheduled public meetings in 23 counties as required by the Iowa Utilities Commission as it seeks to increase its nearly 700-mile carbon capture pipeline by 340 miles.

Several property owners, lawmakers, and the Sierra Club have filed lawsuits opposing the use of eminent domain to build the pipeline connecting about 60 ethanol plants across five states.

(Anita, Iowa) – Nishna Valley Trails, Cass County Conservation, and Healthy Cass County’s “Tour de Lake Anita” free, community group bicycle ride is set to take place 2-p.m. October 6, 2024, beginning at the Lake Anita Shelter number 5. Freewill donations will be collected for the Cass County Coalition on Mental Wellness.

Tour de Lake Anita is a guided, leisurely five-mile group ride around Lake Anita that will make stops along the trail where various community groups and organizations will greet riders and provide information on activities and organizations involved in the Anita community. Participating organizations include Anita Sesquicentennial, Anita Health and Wellness Center, Friends of Lake Anita, Anita Town & Country, and Iowa Bluebird Conservationists.

The ride will start and end at Lake Anita State Park shelter 5 (55111 750th St. Anita IA 50020). When cyclists finish their ride, singer Sarah Selders will be performing and the Nishna Valley Trails will be sponsoring a free-will donation snack bar for participants; all donations will go to the Cass County Coalition for Mental Wellness.

Tour de Lake Anita participants can expect to ride on hard-surfaced trails and roads around Lake Anita. The route will be guided by Dave Chase, Bruce Henderson, and Jon Jordan. ‘Tour de Lake Anita’ is a play on the name of the famous bike race, the Tour de France, but unlike the famous event, this bike ride is not a race. Registration for the event is preferred by September 29 to ensure that participating organizations bring enough supplies and food. Cyclists can register with Grace McAfee by calling 712-250-8170 or emailing mcage@casshealth.org. Registration for this event is preferred by September 29 to ensure that participating organizations bring enough supplies and food.

Nishna Valley Trails is a tax-exempt local nonprofit that promotes the development of recreational trails and cycling. People who support these causes are welcome to join the group. For more information on Nishna Valley Trails or to join the organization, contact President Dave Chase at 712-249-3059.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest Iowa Drought Monitor shows moderate drought conditions have returned to about four and a half percent of the state, with the rest of Iowa rated as abnormally dry. Just over half of Fremont County in southwest Iowa is considered to be in moderate drought, along with five counties in the northeast corner of the state. All of Clayton County and most of Fayette County is in moderate drought, along with the northern tip of Dubuque County and southern areas of Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties.

Through Wednesday, rainfall in Iowa was about four percent of what’s normal for September. If the dry weather persists, this month would rank as the second driest September in Iowa since weather records have been kept.

The Iowa Drought Monitor is released weekly, on Thursdays, using weather data collected through 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. Already today (Thursday), rain HAS fallen in areas of Iowa mainly north of Interstate 80. Forecasters say a line of storms stretching from Minnesota, through Iowa and down to Missouri will develop tonight (Thursday) that could be capable of producing large hail. There is the potential for isolated tornadoes as well.

(Lewis, Iowa) –  Cass County Conservation is hosting their 8th Biennial Lighted Halloween Campground on Saturday October 19th, at Cold Springs Park in Lewis.  The event takes place from 7-until 9-p.m. It’s intended to be a non-scary, Family Friendly, FREE drive into the night.

Prizes will be for the top 3 voted sites, and for some special categories. Sign up to decorate a site in the Lighted Halloween Campground. Deadline for decorating a site sign up is October 11th and the groups will have Saturday(19th) from Noon on to decorate. Please help make the event a success! Decorating participants receive Saturday night camping for FREE. (if you choose to camp- not required).

You DO NOT have to have a camper. Message, call, or email the Cass County Conservation Department. Include your name, email and phone number. Call the Cass County Conservation Office to get involved, at 712-769-2372.

The event will be cancelled if there is inclement weather. https://www.facebook.com/share/UNFJZZm1EBqbUsBj/