(Lewis, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Department invites you to join them for a family friendly afternoon of fun at their Fireside Fair inside Cold Springs Park campground shelter. The event takes place Saturday October 25th.

Come and go from 1-until 5-p.m.. There will be fall crafts and treats, and you can try out the CCCD’s “Crack the Code” trail inside the campground.

They hope you will bring the family and enjoy the activities.

(Lewis, Iowa) –  Trumpeter Swans have visited the Schildberg Quarry in Atlantic for at least 27 out of the last twenty-eight winters. Now, it’s time once again for the Cass County Conservation Board’s contest, which asks you: When do you think the first Trumpeter Swan will arrive at the Schildberg Quarry?

Please call in your prediction (by November 10^th) to the Conservation Board at 712-769-2372, leave a message and return phone number if we are not in. Duplicate dates will not be allowed. For example, if a caller predicts November 25th, no one else will be allowed to predict that arrival date. So, call anytime until November 11th to make your prediction! One prediction per family, please.

The sponsors of this contest will determine the official arrival of more than 6 trumpeter swans to Lake 4, and if they arrive before the Nov. 11^th no more dates will be taken. The winner will receive a Trumpeter Swan Prize from the Cass County Conservation Board. Sorry, this contest is only for residents of Cass County.

Previous Arrival and departure dates of the swans have been as follows:

1997/1998 December 18 – January 2

1998/1999 Nothing on record

1999/2000 December 25 – February 15

2000/2001 November 23 – March 6

2001/2002 December 25 – February 24

2002/2003 November 23 – March 15

2003/2004 November 26 – March 21

2004/2005 November 25 – March 18

2005/2006 November 17 – March 5

2006/2007 October 30 – March 9

2007/2008 November 22- February 14

2008/2009 November 18- March 12

2009-2010 November 19 – January 5

2010-2011 November 5 – February 10

2011/2012 November 17 – February 21

2012/2013 November 24– March 4

2013/2014 November 12- April 7

2014/2015 November 11- April 6

2015/2016 November 22- March 24

2016/2017 November 19- March 9

2017/2018 November 9- March 20

2018/2019 November 11- January 23

2019/2020 November 8- March 3

2020/2021 November 30- February 13

2021/2022 November 22- February 28

2022/2023 November 22- February 22

2023/2024 December 2- January 30

2024/2025 December 1- February 24

(Radio Iowa) – Immigration experts anticipate more federal immigration officers will show up on American farms in the coming months, and legal experts say there are steps employers can take ahead of time. Kristiana Coutu is senior counsel for the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University. Coutu recommends farmers work with an attorney to develop a plan for potential immigration actions, including designating a point person to engage with federal officers.

“…to understand why they’re there, know that they can ask for identification and their reason for being there,” she says. Coutu says it’s also helpful to understand the difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant. “That administrative warrant is not going to allow that broader search of the non-public areas,” she says, unless someone gives consent. An agricultural employer can work with an attorney to figure out what areas on a farm are non-public and clearly mark them with signs.

Coutu says the point person should know what’s allowed under those different types of warrants. “And then be able to understand how to then communicate that to either the owner or the attorney, or whoever else,” she says. “I think it’s just really good practice for all employers.”

Employers cannot impede an investigation or tell employees what they can or can’t say, but Coutu says they can document the officers’ activities and ask where employees are being detained to share with their emergency contacts.

(Radio Iowa) – Three Republican candidates for governor appeared at a rally on a western Iowa farm yesterday (Sunday) and each promised to defend the private property rights of Iowans who’ve been fighting to keep a carbon pipeline off their land. Candidate Adam Steen of Runnels — an entrepreneur and former state agency director — says he’d sign a bill that would bar Summit Carbon Solutions from using eminent domain to seize land along the company’s proposed pipeline route. “Ain’t no way a private entity is going to abuse eminent domain on my watch,” Steen said. “There’s no chance.”

The candidates were given 15 minutes to speak to the crowd and then answered questions from the audience. Steen brought up Congressman Randy Feenstra, who’s expected to formally launch his campaign for governor soon. “Why isn’t Randy Feenstra here? Why isn’t he answering these questions? Where is he?” Steen said. “I’d be getting more animated, but I’m going to fall off the stage because it fires me up. He’s hiding in D.C., he’s hiding in his basement and he’s going to come out with millions of dollars in his campaign. Where do you think those millions of dollars came from?”

Rep. Steven Holt (R-Denison) speaks to crowd gathered for rally on Shelby County farm on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (RI photo)

A spokesman for Feenstra was not immediately available for comment on Sunday. Sundays’ event featured several state legislators who worked to pass a bill that would have established new regulations for the proposed pipeline. Candidate Eddie Andrews of Johnston says he loves Governor Reynolds, but Andrews says she was dead wrong to veto that bill in June. “What happened in Iowa is like throwing a middle finger to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of these United States,” Andrews said. Andrews has been a state representative since 2021.

“When I raised my right hand to defend the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of Iowa, it was to defend property rights and not to add to the pocket of Bruce Rastetter,” Andrews said, to applause and cheers. Rastetter owns Summit Carbon Solutions, the company that has proposed building a pipeline through five states to collect carbon from ethanol plants. Candidate Brad Sherman of Williamsburg, a pastor who served one term in the Iowa House, says there’s no need to build a pipeline to sequester carbon.

“It is a boondoggle that is based on a false premise…I’m for clean water and clear air and all the issues that go along, you know, with it. I mean we’ve got the highest rates of cancer. These are all issues that need to be addressed, but folks — CO2 is not causing cancer in anybody. This is life gas that makes our farms work,” Sherman said. “Everybody’s going to claim they’re for property rights…I won’t be bought. Government is not for sale, period, absolutely not.”

The forum was held on a Shelby County farm and the crowd was encouraged to donate to the campaign of local State Representative Steven Holt of Denison. Holt has led Iowa House debate of several pipeline-related bills over the past few years.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Organizers with Atlantic’s Produce in the Park have announced the first of five Holiday Market events takes place October 18th at the Nishna Valley YMCA in Atlantic. The “Boo-tique” Market by Produce in the Park will be held from 10-a.m. until Noon on the 18th, at the NV YMCA (1100 Maple St.), in Atlantic. There is no admission fee.

The BOO-tique market is a Produce in the Park farmers market with a LOT of extra fun–trick-or-treating, hand-led horse rides, face painting, bounce houses, balloon animals, and more. Costumes are welcome!

Food Trucks:

• Tikka Talk – Indian food including hot chai tea, rice pudding, butter chicken, naan, samosas, channa masala, wraps, kebabs, mango lassi, and more
• Liza’s Sushi & More

Vendors will be selling: fresh produce including sweet potatoes, butternut squash, onions, garlic, spinach, and more; local meats (chicken, pork, and beef); farm-fresh eggs; local honey; breads including sourdough; baked goods and desserts; freeze-dried snacks; arts and craft vendors; garden decorations and potted plants (like spider plants!).

Thanks to Sponsors: Gregg Young Chevrolet of Atlantic, City of Atlantic, 1st Whitney Bank, Cass Health, Cass County Tourism, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, and Nishna Valley Family YMCA

Event Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BFKuLqswo/

(Area News) – Multiple area fire departments in southwest/western Iowa were kept busy battling both combine and field fires, Saturday. At least two combines caught fire in Cass County. One was in the area of 740th and Boston Road, and was contained by crews from Anita, Wiota, Adair and Exira.

Emergency personnel responded to a field/ crop fire north of Clarinda on M-63.

Photo via Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce

At around 4-p.m., Saturday, firefighters from New Market, Clarinda, Bedford and Villisca worked a large field fire north of New Market, in Taylor County, near 200th/ Badger Avenue. Local farmers also provided their tractors and disk implements to help stop the spread of the fire.

Another fire was reported in Mills County. No one was said to have been injured during any of those and other incidents in southwest Iowa.

Dry field conditions (low humidity and high winds) again today (Sunday) prompted the National Weather Service to issue an ELEVATED FIRE DANGER Special Weather Statement through at least 4-p.m.

**Due to the Federal Government shut-down, there are currently no daily (M-F) Posted County grain Prices to report. **

(Des Moines, Iowa) – As the fall harvest starts across Iowa, the risk of wildfires in crop fields increases. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says parts of Iowa are seeing dry conditions with the risk of the relative humidity dropping to dangerous levels for wildfires and ignition sources in the fields.  Ready to harvest standing crops contain very low moisture, a condition which can create fuels that are receptive to ignition and at risk of rapid rates of fire spread. The DNR encourages farmers to get reacquainted with fire prevention practices to keep your farm ‘firewise.’

The following simple steps for a safer harvest can save time and money.

• Properly prepare machinery to reduce the chance of a field fire from an overheated bearing (check the manufacturer’s recommendations). A spark from an improperly lubricated combine can instantaneously ignite dry plants and field debris.
  Check that all fire extinguishers carried on the machinery are fully charged with loose powder inside. If the powder is not loose, remove the extinguisher from its bracket then thump the canister with a rubber hammer until the powder moves when shaken.
  Make sure the size of the extinguisher is appropriate for the size of the machinery. You may need larger and/or additional extinguishers. Also make sure you have the correct extinguisher for the type of fire to be extinguished. There are two types of extinguishers, the powder extinguisher for electrical and petroleum-based fires and the water extinguisher for vegetative fires. You may need to carry both kinds of extinguishers.
• Keep equipment clean. Check and remove combustible harvest debris from motors, exhausts, ledges and brackets several times a day. A portable gas-powered leaf blower is great for blowing debris from the various surfaces of the combine.
  

  Combine harvesting corn. (ISU Extension photo)

  

  Combine/Field fire east of Earling. File photo)

• Service grain storage and drying equipment. Storage facilities are like your bank vault. Protect their contents by properly servicing all bearings, belts, motors and drags. Dryers frequently cause fires; have a qualified service technician perform the necessary maintenance before drying grain. Keep weeds mowed around the facilities to discourage a fire from spreading. All extinguishers should be handy, fully charged, and the proper size and type for the area.
• Turn off interior lighting in overfilled bins. A grain fire will start if the grain surrounds the bulb. Turn off the light’s breaker to avoid accidentally turning the light on. This also applies to hay storage facilities.
• Handle hay properly. Improper hay storage commonly causes or complicates farm fires. Preventative measures greatly reduce this risk.
  Planning proper hay storage is crucial. Store hay away from combustibles such as gasoline, fertilizers and pesticides, as well as open burning areas like burn barrels, brush piles and vegetative burning. Arrange round bales in groups of 10 or fewer and place at least 100 feet away from structures. Leave 30 feet of mowed grass, bare ground or rock between the bale groups, creating a solid fire break.
  Many hay fires occur by spontaneous combustion of moist hay, usually within six weeks after baling. Plan to bale hay at its driest stage and do not bale in the morning dew or too soon after a rain.
  Check stored hay frequently for hot hay or an internal hay fire. Be aware of a caramel or strong burning odor, a visible vapor or smoke, a strong musty smell, and/or hay that is hot when touched. If any of these occur, call the fire department immediately and do not move the hay. Moving it exposes overheated or smoldering hay to oxygen, speeding the fire.
• When tilling in the fall, till a 30 foot break around building sites, remote bin sites and outside storage facilities to minimize fire spread, and around fields if there is excess fine fuels in the area. Remove weeds and other combustibles around structures and stored equipment.
• If a fire occurs, remain calm, call 911 immediately. Provide clear, concise directions to your location. Many field and bin sites do not have 911 addresses, so be prepared to identify an intersection or landmark to direct responders.

To help control field fires until firefighters arrive, remain calm and act swiftly. Quickly disk a fire break approximately 15 feet wide around the fire. Be cautious when doing this as smoke will starve and stall a motor and will make hazards and bystanders difficult to see. To assist with a structural fire, make sure there are no flammable objects nearby and if the circuit panel is safely accessible, turn off the building’s electricity. If time allows, evacuate any livestock to a distant pasture. If possible, spray high-pressure water on any surrounding vegetation or structures, discouraging spreading embers. Do not take risks.

After using any equipment to fight a fire, check air filters, ledges, nooks and crannies for burning debris. For more detailed information, visit www.iowadnr.gov/fire.

Remember, in a fire emergency, call 911 immediately. Do not wait until all your means of fighting the fire are exhausted. Every minute impacts your losses.

DES MOINES— Today, Governor Kim Reynolds authorized a disaster proclamation for Calhoun County, Iowa effective immediately through November 1, 2025. The USDA has confirmed a positive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock.

This proclamation allows state resources from Iowa Homeland Security, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and other agencies to assist with tracking and monitoring, rapid detection, containment, disposal, and disinfection. The proclamation also waives regulatory provisions related to commercial vehicles responding to affected sites.

The recent HPAI detections in birds do not present an immediate public health concern, and it remains safe to eat poultry products. If producers suspect signs of HPAI in their flocks, they should contact their veterinarian immediately.