(Radio Iowa) – Iowa has a global reputation for its fertile soil and all of the agricultural products we raise on it — and a new book is both a memoir and a call to action to preserve and respect that valuable ground. Professor Neil Hamilton, who recently retired after 36 years directing the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University, says he allows the land to tell its own story in his book, “The Land Remains.” “I use the Back Forty as a narrator to help us think about how the land may look at history and may look at our activities and how the land may think about its future,” Hamilton says. “I don’t think we hear from the land very often, and so that was a device I tried to use to help tell the story.”

Hamilton grew up in southern Iowa’s Adams County near Lenox. In recent years, he sold the final piece of his family farm to a young neighbor farmer, enabling the agricultural cycle to continue. “That land that I grew up on had been in our family since the 1870s,” Hamilton says. “So the land has this type of resilience. Our opportunity is how we use it and how we shape it and I think I say in the book, how we treat the land is really a portrait of the owner.” While the book tells the history of Iowa land conservation, Hamilton says it’s also an analysis of contemporary issues dealing with soil health, water quality, public lands, and future challenges.

“At a personal level, it’s really asking people who are landowners or who want to become landowners to think about how they use their land,” Hamilton says. “So if there’s a call to action, it’s for us, perhaps, to be more sensitive and thoughtful and taking the long-term view recognizing that the land is resilient and how we shape it today is also going to determine its future.” One message of the book is to have optimism, he says, as we can find hope and resiliency from the land by examining how new attitudes can address past abuses. Hamilton notes how demand for better food is creating opportunities for better land stewardship — and new farmers.

The book is available through many Iowa bookstores and the publisher, Ice Cube Press, based in North Liberty.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the governor’s priority proposals for the 2022 legislature is an Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard and it passed the Iowa House in early February. A key lawmaker says negotiations in the Senate are focused on responding to concerns about the scope of the plan. The House bill would require Iowa gas stations to sell fuel with 15 percent ethanol — E-15 — if they have compatible equipment now AND stations installing new pumps would have to choose equipment in the future that can handle higher blends of ethanol. Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs is the Republican leading negotiations on the bill in the Senate.

“We want to support ethanol. We want to make sure that Iowa has a voice in the national stage when we talk about renewable energies here, but there’s a lot of details that need to be worked out,” Dawson says. “I don’t think anyone is against ethanol, but…how it actually gets to the end user, there’s a lot of rungs along there and those are important rungs that we need to make sure we hear all the voices.” The governor originally proposed a state Renewable Fuels Standard last year and offered a reworked plan this year that won bipartisan approval in the House.

Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque says she and other Democrats in the Senate have been looking much more closely at the bill now. “When you consider what happened in the House, it went from start to finish in nine days and that is a very fast moving bill and I’m not so sure they all had time to really digest everything that the bill contained,” Jochum says. “…We’re getting a lot more feedback from people like independent, small gas station owners in more of our rural and smaller towns that are saying: ‘Whoa!'”

Jochum says any small station that has to install a new underground tank and fuel pump in the future would have to spend in the neighborhood of 300-thousand dollars on an ethanol-compatible system and that’s a financial stumbling block. Dawson says there’s an opportunity to do something to expand use of E-15, but it’s still not clear what the final product might be.

“We want to make sure we get this done right,” Dawson says, “and the impacts on some these gas stations, you know, the retailers out there, needs to be heard.” Dawson and Jochum made their comments during a recent appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

Chris Parks and Cass/Adair County Conservation Officer Grant Gelly talk the great outdoors. This week they touch on Turkey season, fishing heating up, and safe practices in the woods.

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(Logan, Iowa)- Harrison County Emergency Management Coordinator Philip Davis, today (Friday), said an  open burning ban proclamation has been issued for Harrison County starting, effective from Noon today (April 15, 2022) until further notice.

The burn ban prohibits all open burning in Harrison County. Although there has been recent moisture, the current weather forecast and environmental conditions indicate a very high fire danger. Under the current dry conditions, dead and drying vegetation is the perfect fuel to spread fires rapidly and constitutes a danger to life or property.

During these dry conditions, citizens are reminded to not throw out cigarettes from moving vehicles and to discontinue burning yard waste, piled tree debris, grass or agricultural grounds and other flammable items during the ban.

Davis said “So far this year, our volunteer fire departments have responded to 235 calls for service. In 2021, the total number of calls for service from the fire departments was just shy of 400 calls. We have seen abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions much of this year already, and these conditions create an extreme fire danger throughout the area.”

Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to citation or arrest for reckless use of fire or disobeying a burn ban. You could also be held liable for any damages caused as a result of the fire.

For updated information on burn bans please check the Harrison County EMA Facebook page or contact Harrison County Emergency Management at 712-644-2353. The ban will remain in place until environmental conditions improve.

DES MOINES – The City of Atlantic was recently honored with the 2021 Tree City USA Award at the 31st Annual Community Forestry Awards Luncheon in Ankeny. The award was presented by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources April 12th at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny. State forester Jeff Goerndt says “The Tree City USA award is a symbol for communities who have made a commitment to the management of public trees. The City of Atlantic,” he says, “has provided an outstanding example for other Iowa communities by enhancing our forest resources and demonstrating the great value of trees in providing multiple benefits for future generations.”

Atlantic was one of 74 Iowa communities to qualify for Tree City USA status. To receive the award, a city must, at a minimum, have either a city forester or an active city tree board; have a tree ordinance; spend at least $2 per capita annually for its community forestry program; and have a tree planting and maintenance plan.

Jeff Goerndt, State Forester and Dolly Bergmann, Atlantic Trees Forever (photo submitted)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund said today (Thursday), they are pleased to be a sponsor of the Southwest Iowa Fishing Team again, this year. Trevor’s mom and Foundation spokesperson Melanie Petty says fishing was a huge part of Trevor’s life and watching this program grow in the last two years is wonderful to see.  Anyone who is interested in joining should email swifishingteam@gmail.com or reach out to Bob Harris at 712-304-2015.  The club has several opportunities to fish with a Boat Series, a Kayak Series and a Virtual Series.

(Grant Petty and Bob Harris) – photo submitted

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund raises money each year at their annual golf tournament.  This year the 14th TFred Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club on Saturday, June 18th.   Although the tournament is already full we are still accepting hole sponsors and items for our silent auction that will be held in the club house all day.  Stop out and have lunch with us and bid on some amazing items.  All monies raised are given back to the things that Trevor loved in a community that held a special place in his heart.

For further information call Melanie Petty at 712-249-3696.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Officials in Mills County report a county-wide Burn Ban will be effect from 8-a.m. Thursday (April 14th) until further notice. Mills County EMA Director Gabe Barney says the ban, which prohibits open burning in Mills County, and includes all the cities within the county, is being implemented due to the abnormally dry air conditions, temperatures and high winds. A majority of the local fire departments were in agreement, and the ban was approved today (Wednesday), by the State Fire Marshal in Des Moines.

An application to your local fire chief can be obtained to allow a permit for an open burn IF your local fire official believes it is safe to do so. After approval of a permit, several county entities are informed, to lessen the danger of false alarms and the unnecessary expenditure of crews and equipment. Barney says “This is a dangerous situation, and we relay on the public to assist us in this ban.” The conditions are such that a fast moving wild land fire and quickly destroy property, and become life threatening if left uncontrolled.

Citizens are reminded to:

• Avoid using fireworks and other items that produce a flame or sparks.
• Do Not throw cigarettes from moving vehicles.
• Discontinue the burning of yard waste, piled tree debris, or other such items, during this ban.

Small recreational camp fires are permitted ONLY if they are conducted in a fireplace made of brick, metal or heavy, one-inch wire mesh. Any camp fire not in an outdoor fireplace is prohibited. Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to a citation or arrest for reckless use of fire, or disobeying a burn ban. For more information on burn bans and the law, contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 515-725-6125, or go to www.dps.state.ia.us.  You may also call the Mills County EMA Office at 712-527-3643.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Atlantic Trees Forever spokesperson Dolly Bergmann says spring tree vouchers are now available. Bergmann says “Because of the past year there are many people needing trees this spring.  We ask that you limit one voucher per homeowner so more people can get a start replacing trees that were destroyed.” Tree vouchers are a great way to help with the cost of a tree to plant.  The vouchers are worth $30 off the cost of a tree, and can be obtained at Pymosa Farms, north of Atlantic.

Dolly Bergmann said there are a limited number of vouchers available. Those at Pymosa Farms can help you determine what kind of tree would work best in the location you would like to plant a tree.  It is important to water the trees this spring and during the summer.

Pymosa Farms is located at 50979 Buck Creek Road, Atlantic, but Bergmann suggests calling owner Tim Reavis, at 402-659-1213 before driving out to the farm to ensure someone is available to help you.

Photo 1. A species of pinion moth found in a true armyworm trap. Photo by Ryan McClintock.

(Lewis, Iowa) – Although it has been uncharacteristically cold recently, it is officially springtime in Iowa and many insects are coming to life. One of the first things the field crop entomologists do each year is coordinate the Iowa Moth Trapping Network. Aaron Saeugling, ISUEO Field Agronomist out of Lewis, reports usually, these traps catch the specific species we are interested in, but there can also be a lot of bycatch. It seems the past few years a particular look-alike continues to show up in the true armyworm (Mythimna unipuncta) traps placed around the state, and others not in the trapping network have noticed and contacted me for clarification as well.

True armyworm is a moth in the family Noctuidae, which is a family that contains a lot of “little brown moths” that may or may not be economically important for field crops in Iowa. I did not run these moths through an identification key, but I suspect the look-alikes are either Bethune’s pinion (Lithophane bethunei) or Nameless pinion (Lithophane innominata) moths (Photo 1). Neither are considered agricultural pests in Iowa and instead feed on broadleaf trees as larvae (caterpillars). You can learn more about their biology by clicking their scientific names.

True armyworm is an agricultural pest in Iowa (consumes leaf tissue), and we monitor true armyworm moths each spring to provide scouting information. True armyworm can be identified by the light brown forewings that each have a white spot in the center, plus there is a fading black line from the wing tip to the interior (Photo 2). As these moths migrate to Iowa from southern states this spring, we will provide weekly scouting updates on the ICM Blog.

Photo 2. Left: The features used to identify a true armyworm moth. The circles show the location of the white spots on the forewings, and the arrows point to the black lines that start at the wing tips and fade going into the center. Photo by Province of Manitoba. Right) A true armyworm moth. Photo by Ashley Dean. Note the range of color variation, with the identification features being prominent on both moths.

• KJAN, Atlantic  .46″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .41″
• Massena  .51″
• Elk Horn  .58″
• Anita  .51″
• Neola  .35″
• Bridgewater  .5″
• Audubon  .6″
• Manning  .24″
• Shenandoah  .61″
• Red Oak  .34″
• Underwood  .24″
• Creston  .66″
• Corning  .64″
• Carroll  .2″