(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the state is getting closer to the end of the bird flu outbreak. There are just a few commercial poultry sites left to release from quarantine and then they can bring in new birds. He says that’s not the only step in recovery. “There’s the financial piece of this as well, which is a significant disrupter, and it’s a financial hardship for these producers. And so, in terms of financial recovery, that could take time,” Naig says. The process for lifting the quarantine involves cleaning and disinfecting the sites and then testing for the virus.

“It takes some time for these things to happen. And we anticipate that by the end of June, all of the quarantines will have been lifted,” Naig says. The U-S Ag Department pays producers for their bird losses and for cleaning and disinfecting their barns, but Naig says these payments don’t make producers whole. More than 13 million birds in Iowa have died from the disease or been killed to stop it from spreading. The state had its last case of bird flu in early May.

(Radio Iowa) – Just in time for the summer fishing season, the state Department of Natural Resources is adding more than two-thousand fish structure locations to the maps of lakes on its website. John Lorenzen, a fisheries research technician at the D-N-R, says it’s valuable information for anyone who’s on the hunt for fish. “These structures are habitat fishing structures that congregate fish and allow anglers to have a better success rate,” Lorenzen says. “The structures include things like brush piles, rock reefs, spawning beds, things of that nature.” D-N-R Fisheries staff and partners, like county conservation groups and fishing clubs, strategically place fish structures in Iowa lakes to attract fish for anglers.

In addition to the various underwater structures, another 215 lake contour maps have also been added to the website. “That information is also uploaded to our Online Fishing Atlas, which is an interactive satellite map,” Lorenzen says. “You can turn your location on on your phone and it shows where you are in relation to the lake and its features. So, those individual habitat fishing structures will be located on the map as well as our lake contours.” The information can be downloaded to the “fish finder” gadget on your boat, or just access it directly from your phone.

Lorenzen says, “So, if you don’t have a fish finder but you want to fish from shore or fish even in a boat using your smartphone, that information is also available to anybody who wants it.” The new maps can be found by Googling “Iowa fishing maps” or through the website: www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Fishing-Maps

(Radio Iowa) – Anyone who’s driven through Iowa’s farmland lately likely noticed the corn and soybean crops are beginning to sprout. Angie Rieck-Hinz, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension in north-central Iowa, says so far, the crops are coming in strong. “We have a lot of corn that’s already at that V4 stage and I think the most advanced beans I’ve seen are V2 or V3,” Rieck-Hinz says. “So for those folks that planted earlier, we got some really nice looking crops out there. For folks who’ve planted in the last week or 10 days, we’ve got stuff just coming out of the ground.”

Recent rains flooded some central Iowa fields, and Rieck-Hinz says that’s not be the only weather challenge of late. “There has been some replanting in some of those areas that were hit by that Memorial Day storm because between the wind and the dust blowing, we just kind of lost some of those soybeans out there,” Rieck-Hinz says. “So there are some people that are replanting those fields or trying to go back in and thicken up those stands.”

The new U-S-D-A report shows 98-percent of Iowa’s corn crop is planted, three days ahead of the five-year average, while 94-percent of soybeans are in the ground, which is six days ahead of the average.

• KJAN, Atlantic  1.63″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .66″
• Elk Horn  .76″
• Anita  .95″
• Massena  .54″
• Corning  .91″
• Marne, 1.9″
• Treynor, 1.7″
• Wiota, 1.4″
• Avoca  .9″
• Oakland  .5″
• Neola  .38″
• Bridgewater  1.1″
• Villisca  1.2″
• Missouri Valley  .38″
• Clarinda  2.1″
• Harlan .69″
• Kirkman .5″
• SE of Irwin, .43″

w/Kate Olson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Court of Appeals has upheld the eight-year prison sentence given to a woman in 2021 after she admitted to damaging the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jessica Reznicek pleaded guilty to conspiracy to damage an energy facility after admitting to vandalism in Buena Vista, Mahaska and Wapello County that included taking a blowtorch to the pipeline. Reznicek argued she was motivated by saving the environment, and the district court erred by classifying her actions as terrorism.

Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya in 2017. (RI photo)

The Appeals Court ruling says the district court would have imposed the same sentence without the terrorism enhancement. It says the district court sentencing considered Reznicek’s “laudable, though ultimately misguided, motivations,” as well as her encouragement of others to imitate her crimes, that her vandalism caused “a grave risk to others,” and that her crimes continued over a long stretch of time.

Ruby Montoya admitted to the vandalism along with Reznicek and reached a plea deal with prosecutors. She has been fighting to withdraw her plea and take the case to trial.

• KJAN, Atlantic  Trace
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .25″
• Massena  .21″
• Anita  .33″
• Audubon  .25″
• Carroll  .14″

(Radio Iowa) – A small percentage of corn and soybean planting remains after a busy week in the fields. The U-S-D-A report shows that 98 percent of the corn crop is in the ground. That’s three days ahead of the five-year average — but eleven days behind last year’s quick pace. Eighty-seven percent of the corn crop has emerged and the condition is rated 86 percent good to excellent. Ninety-four percent of soybeans are planted — which is six days ahead of the five-year average.

Sixty-nine percent of soybeans have emerged, which is one week behind last year but one day ahead of average. The first soybean condition rating showed 82 percent in good or excellent condition. (67% good 15% excellent).

The Friends of Lake Anita hosted their annual Kids Fishing Day program in conjunction with the Iowa free fishing weekend this past Saturday. The event drew a nice crowd of 75 kids registered on the day.

Kids in attendance heard a presentation on fish identification from Iowa DNR Fisheries Technician Mark Boucher. He used some posters to talk about the differences in fish species in Iowa and then brought out some live fish to have the kids put their identifying skills to the test.

Kids then had about an hour to fish and with some bait and tackle provided if needed. After fishing all kids received a prize package and everyone in attendance was treated to a free will hot dog meal from the Friends of Lake Anita.

The City of Atlantic is informing residents that mosquito spraying will begin this week and will continue every week until further notice. Spraying will take place on Thursday and Friday mornings from 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.