SHELBY – Iowa farm history will be showcased September 9 and 10 at Carstens Farm during the 41st Annual Carstens Farm Days. This farm show showcases threshing, sawmill operations,

An event for all ages, Carstens Farm Days showcases a variety of tractors and implements each day during a parade. The 41ST Annual Farm Days show is September 9 & 10, 2023.

crafters and vendors, a quilt show and of course, tractors. The Farm Days show has something for everyone throughout the weekend.

Horse, steam and gas power

Come see steam engines powering antique threshing machines, antique cars, trucks and machinery, a parade, crafts, and entertainment.  Over two hundred restored antique tractors will be on display.  The original Carstens farm buildings will be open for tours. The buildings will be alive with demonstrations that will bring back memories for older visitors and teach valuable history lessons to young people.

Food for all

A Friday evening pulled pork sandwich dinner will be hosted by the Friends of the Shelby Stone Arch Trail Committee. Proceeds of the Friday evening dinner will go to the trail committee.  The dinner will be served from 5:00 – 7:30 pm.

All good days begin with a good breakfast and to start Farm Days off right, a great breakfast is planned at 6:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Snacks and lunch options provided by the Hodges Smokehouse Catering of Minden will be available. Various non-profit local groups will be offering refreshments and delicious desserts all weekend.

Homemade ice cream will be in plentiful supply during Farm Days. Serving Benny’s Ice Cream will be Carstens board member Ben Ausdemore and his wife Katie. This is a treat visitors won’t want to miss!

On Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. enjoy Staley’s Chicken for a delicious dinner at the farm. The dinner will be $15 for adults and $10 for kids age 8 and under. Dinner proceeds will go toward on-going maintenance at Carstens 1880 Farmstead.

Farmall Tractors and Equipment To Be Featured

Farmall equipment of all types will be featured during Farm Days.  Farmall tractor and implement owners are invited to bring their exhibits to display throughout the weekend.

Horsepower-testing, sawmill operations and field demonstrations will occupy tractor exhibitors all day. Over 250 pieces of vintage equipment were on display during the 2022 Farm Days show. Visitors will enjoy watching most of the restored tractors as they go through the parade each afternoon at 2 p.m.

Quilt Show

A colorful display of quilts, wall hangings, wearable art and other types of quilting projects will be featured in the special event building at the farm. Many talented quilters from around the area will allow their works of art to be displayed for all to enjoy. Even if you have never displayed a quilt before, consider joining the fun and bringing a quilt to display.  Exhibitors are asked to deliver their quilts on Friday, September 8. For details about the quilt show or to inquire about adding your quilt to the collection, please call Jan Hursey at 712-544-2662.

Crafts, plants and treats galore

In case visitors run out of vintage tractors and other pieces of equipment to look at, there will be over fifty crafters and vendors on hand. A wide array of crafts, plants, vintage and antique items will be available.  From unique wooden creations to home raised honey, there will be something for everyone.

A very healthy crop of farm-grown potatoes will also be available for purchase. Proceeds from the sale of potatoes will help make improvements to the farmstead.

Sunday Worship 

On Sunday morning a non-denominational worship service will take place at 9:00 a.m. on the lawn in front of the Carstens home. Worship will be led by the United Lutheran Church, Shelby. Everyone is welcome to join in the worship service.

Admission

Admission is $10 per day for everyone nine years and older.

Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteers, oversees an 80-acre working farm museum exhibit located between Minden and Shelby, Iowa in Pottawattamie County.  The farmstead is the home of Carstens Farm Days, which is held the first weekend after Labor Day each September.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  For more information visit the web site: www.carstensfarm.com

Thursday:  Sunny, with a high near 96. Heat index values as high as 105. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon.

Thursday Night:  A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Friday:  A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday:  Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. North northeast wind around 10 mph.

Sunday:  Sunny, with a high near 83. East wind around 10 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon.

Wednesday’s high was 96 and this morning’s low 77.  This day last year the high was 87 and the low 63.  The record high is 105 set in 1936 and the record low 37 set in 1908.  Sunrise today is 6:37 am and sunset at 8:06 pm.

w/Kate Olson.

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Wednesday:  Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Heat index values as high as 112. Southwest wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

Wednesday Night:  Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South southwest wind 9 to 13 mph.

Thursday:  Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Heat index values as high as 106. Southwest wind 7 to 9 mph becoming north in the afternoon.

Friday:  A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. East wind 8 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon.

Saturday:  Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. North northeast wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Sunday:  Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. North wind around 9 mph.

Tuesday:  Sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Heat index values as high as 116. South southwest wind 10 to 13 mph.

Tuesday Night:  Mostly clear, with a low around 76. South wind 11 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.

Wednesday:  Sunny and hot, with a high near 102. Heat index values as high as 109. Southwest wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Thursday:  Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Southwest wind around 9 mph becoming north in the afternoon.

Friday:  A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. North northeast wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Monday’s high was 94 and this morning’s low 68.  This day last year the high was 83 and the low 56.  The record high is 100 set in 1914 and the record low of 41 was set in 1904.  Sunrise this morning at 6:36 am and sunset this evening is at 8:09 pm.

This could be the hottest week Iowans have endured in years, as near-record to record heat is likely. Forecasters say highs through Thursday will range from 95 to 105 degrees, with heat indices as high as 115. If the forecast holds, National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Ansorge (an-SORE-ghee) says it will be the first time in a decade that August has had four or more consecutive days this hot in Des Moines.

Triple-digit temperatures are common in August, but he says highs are typically in the 80s by this late in the month. Southern California was just hit with its first tropical storm in more than 80 years, though it was a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean for a while. Ansorge says that’s one of the reasons temperatures will be near or above 100 degrees in Iowa most of this week, as the low pressure system is pushing record high heat from the Southwest to the Midwest.

All of Iowa is under an excessive heat warning through at least Wednesday night, and relief may not come until Friday. The National Weather Service says this may be Iowa’s hottest string of consecutive days since 2013. The service predicts above-normal temperatures until September.

An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect for all of the KJAN listening area until 9:00 pm Wednesday.

Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Heat index values as high as 112. East southeast wind 6 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 75. South wind around 10 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 102. Heat index values as high as 112. South southwest wind 9 to 13 mph.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 102. Southwest wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. West southwest wind around 10 mph becoming north northeast in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 16 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Sunday’s high was 92, this morning’s low is 68.  This day last year the high was 83 and the low 56.  The record high is 100 degrees set in 1936 and the record low is 40 set in 1956.  Sunrise today is at 6:34 am.  Sunset tonight is 8:11 pm.  Tuesday’s sunrise is at 6:36 am.

Riverton, Iowa- A delay in the delivery of the precast concrete and new metal screw gate required to replace the failing Spring Creek outlet at the Riverton Wildlife Area will impact the ability for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to pump water on to the main marsh, north of county road J46.

“The materials were supposed to arrive in plenty of time to complete the outlet replacement so we could begin pumping on the normal start date of August 15, but that didn’t happen,” said Matt Dollison, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR’s Nishnabotna Wildlife Unit. The new expected completion date when pumping will begin is around September 1.

The delay will not impact the ability to pump water onto the Jensen Tract, south of the highway.

“The teal only season hunting opportunity north of the highway is going to be limited, but it will be business as usual south of town, so if the teal show up, there should be some good hunting on the Jenson Tract,” Dollison said.

He said they are monitoring the water levels in the East and West Nishnabotna rivers, which are the sources for water pumped into the Riverton area.

“Since we began pumping here, the rivers have been able to provide water for Riverton, and we are optimistic that will be the case again this year,” he said.

Staff have disked the holes on Riverton and the habitat looks excellent ahead of the regular duck season, he said. “There should be good hunting on the entire marsh for the regular duck seasons. The water may just be a little lower than normal up north.”

The National Weather Service forecast is calling for hot and humid air to flow into Iowa this weekend and it could stick around through the middle of next week. The conditions might be uncomfortable for humans and animals and they could potentially pose a problem for corn producers as well. Farmer Dave Rossman from Hartley, in northwest Iowa, says this year has been a mixed bag that started out cold and dry.

Recent rains helped, and usually corn thrives with heat and humidity, but Rossman worries about the heat and wind.

Breezy conditions could offset the humidity.

The most recent U-S-D-A crop report shows both corn and soybeans rated 58-percent, good to excellent, with one-third falling into the fair category. Rossman says his soybeans do have early signs of disease.

The Iowa Barn Foundation will hold their annual All-State Barn Tour on September 16th and 17th with 72 historic barns across the state open for touring inside and out. Many of the owners and family members will be on hand to share the stories behind their barns, which served as the central hub of activity on the farm. The Iowa countryside will be one expansive museum with barns located across the state. The self-guided tour is free and open to the public.

The Iowa Barn Foundation is especially excited to have a record eight round barns on the tour this year, which are the most unique and rare type of barns built in the state. Out of the approximately 200,000 barns built in Iowa, only 250 were round (including octagonal and multi-sided) representing just 0.13% of all barns built. Only 74 of Iowa’s round barns remain standing today, and many in various states of disrepair. Each of the 8 restored round barns on the tour are unique works of art, and visitors will leave with a great appreciation of the craftsmanship that went into their construction.

Why were round barns built? The largest surge in Iowa round barn construction came in 1910-1920 after they were promoted by universities, including Iowa State, for dairy operations. The circular interior layout was pitched as more efficient for the farmer to work in a circular pattern, accentuated by a central silo. Material efficiency in construction and greater structural stability were also key advantages cited. The enthusiasm for these barns was short-lived. Many of the efficiency claims were largely overstated and offset by more complicated and expensive construction methods. Construction largely ended as the 1920s came to a close.

The 1883 Secrest Octagonal Barn in Johnson County received an Award of Distinction in 2023, and it is joining the fall tour for the first time. The three-story bank barn is like no other barn in the world featuring an 8-sided bell-shaped roof topped with a cupola 72 feet above the ground. All eight of the round barns offer a glimpse into a unique period of agriculture history in our state. Don’t forget about the 64 other historic barns to visit as well, each with their own story to tell.

Full tour details can be found online at https://iowabarnfoundation.org/barn-tour/2023-fall