Cass County: Corn $4.17 Beans $10.19
Adair County: Corn $4.14 Beans $10.22
Adams County: Corn $4.14 Beans $10.18
Audubon County: Corn $4.16 Beans $10.21
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.20 Beans $10.19
Guthrie County: Corn $4.19 Beans $10.23
Montgomery County: Corn $4.19 Beans $10.21
Shelby County: Corn $4.20 Beans $10.19

Oats: $2.60 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University Extension is going to hold its home gardening webinar series again in January. Alicia Herzog leads the Master Gardener Program and the webinar series. “I really want it to be open to anyone who is interested in gardening, so I try my best to make it that way. Try to make it very accessible. I allow people to join on zoom or on Facebook live,” she says. Herzog says there are 10 different topics and she normally likes themes. ” This year was a little bit harder because I do look at past participant data about what topics people are wanting to see in the upcoming year and they didn’t fit as nicely into little theme boxes as I would normally like them to,” she says. Herzog says she likes the variety they will present.

“So they’re going to be a few sessions where we talk about gardening for wildlife, using native plants, pollinator gardens kind of in that realm, more of that conservation and gardening, meeting that realm. Then we’ll also have some that are very specific about vegetables and edibles,” Herzog says. She says one will focus on recommended vegetable cultivars for Iowa, specifically about growing garlic. She says they also will cover issues of what you plant in and where. “Soil health monitoring and testing, growing specialty cut flowers. And then we always do a few that are about design and kind of helping people be creative with how they design their spaces,” she says. Herzog says you can pick and chose topics.

“People don’t have to sign up for all of them, if there are only certain ones that are of interest to them, that’s fine,” she says. “If they’re interested in all of them, that’s fine as well. We would love to have people join us for all ten sessions, but it’s not required,” Herzog says. The Home Gardening Webinars will be Thursday evenings from 6–7 p-m central time from January 8th through March 12 th. Go to the Iowa State University Extension website to register.

Here’s the full webinar schedule:

• January 8: Gardening for Wildlife
• January 15: Recommended Vegetable Cultivars for Iowa
• January 22: Growing Great Garlic
• January 29: Right Perennial, Right Place
• February 5: Green Roofs for Home Gardeners
• February 12: Do-it-Yourself Soil Health Monitoring for Your Garden
• February 19: Why Choose Native Trees and Shrubs?
• February 26: Growing Specialty Cut Flowers in Iowa
• March 5: From Sight to Scent – Selecting Species for Sensory Spaces
• March 12: A Place for Pollinators

POLK COUNTY, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa Utilities Commission will have to decide whether Summit Carbon Solutions can change the ending destination for its carbon sequestration pipeline before a case against the company’s permit can proceed, an Iowa court ruled. The Iowa District Court for Polk County ruled in favor of Summit’s motion to pause the case that landowners, counties and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter filed in 2024.

Opponents of the proposed carbon capture pipeline sued over the IUC decision to issue a conditional permit to Summit in June 2024. The permit allowed the company to use eminent domain to build a pipeline that would connect to biorefineries across the state and transport carbon dioxide to North Dakota for underground storage. Per the IUC permit decision, Summit was required to obtain permission for its pipeline in North Dakota and South Dakota before it could begin construction in Iowa.

Since the permit was issued, however, South Dakota enacted a law prohibiting the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines, which complicated Summit’s plans to transport the captured CO2 to an underground storage site in North Dakota. Eminent domain forces unwilling property owners to accept easements on their land for projects considered in the public interest, for payment determined by a county commission.

In light of these developments along with ongoing legal battles in North Dakota, Summit filed for an amendment to its permit with the IUC in September 2025 to remove the requirement that the company receive approval from the Dakotas. Instead of specifying a state, Summit asked for the permit to prohibit construction until the company has “secured access to one or more sequestration sites and permits or agreements to allow it to reach such storage.”

Summit also requested the court stop proceedings on the lawsuit pertaining to the original permit until the IUC rules on the newly filed amendment. Polk County District Court Judge Scott Beattie sided with the company and remanded the case back to the IUC. In the decision Beattie, wrote that the South Dakota ban is “influential” to the decision.

During oral arguments, opponents said Summit’s requested permit amendment did not change the basis of their argument that Summit did not meet the definition of a common carrier and should not be granted eminent domain capabilities. The groups also argued, as described in Beattie’s decision, that it was unfair to pause judicial review based on “the mere possibility that a permit might be amended.”

Beattie wrote, however, that a pause in judicial proceedings while the permit amendment is evaluated is “warranted” as the court would otherwise be evaluating “outdated” facts. Emma Schmit, an organizing director with the pipeline fighter group Bold Alliance, said in a statement the ruling did “not come as a surprise.” “After years of working to protect property rights from hazardous carbon pipelines, we know not every judge, regulator, or legislator will stand by us the first time around,” Schmit said in the statement. “But, we know the people of Iowa stand with us. So, we’ll continue to explore property rights protections through every possible avenue, including through the courts, the Iowa Utilities Commission, and the legislature.”

Summit Carbon Solutions did not respond to a request for comment on the decision.

(Iowa DNR Outdoor News) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will release rainbow trout in nine locations across Iowa this winter in areas that would not support them during warmer months. Winter trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A family-friendly event is paired with some stockings to help anglers have success and fun while fishing. The popular program is supported by the sales of the trout fee. Anglers need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10.

Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but together, they can only keep one daily limit. Children can pay the trout fee, allowing them to keep their own daily limit.

2026 Winter Community Trout Stocking Schedule

• Jan. 10, Blue Pit, Mason City, at 11 a.m.
• Jan. 22, Bacon Creek Lake, Sioux City, at 1 p.m.
• Jan. 23, Big Lake, Council Bluffs, at 3 p.m.
• Jan. 23, Moorland Pond, Fort Dodge, at Noon
• Feb. 7, Scharnberg Pond, Spencer, at Noon

Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake (Ames),  Lake Petocka (Bondurant), and Triumph Park West and Triumph Park East (Waukee) will also be stocked this winter. These stocking dates will not be announced until ice conditions are suitable.

Winter trout stocking events are dependent on favorable weather and ice conditions. Check the DNR Trout Fishing website at www.iowadnr.gov/troutstocking for possible changes to the schedule. Trout will be stocked in several other locations later this spring. Dates and locations will be announced in February.

(Iowa DNR Outdoor News) – Iowa’s stretch of unseasonably warm temperatures has deteriorated the quality of ice across much of the state south of Iowa Hwy. 3, to the point where any remaining ice is considered unsafe and ice fishing is discouraged.

“Ice fishing in central and southern Iowa, is not advised,” said Colonel Craig Cutts, chief of law enforcement for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “We will return to more seasonable weather next week and that should put down a fresh layer of ice, but we have to give it some time to freeze.

“It’s better for the quality of ice to restart from open water, than to grow ice thickness over bad ice conditions.”

North of Iowa Hwy. 3, anglers are encouraged to check the ice as they go and to avoid any dark or discolored ice as these are signs of deteriorating conditions. The Iowa DNR recommends a minimum of four inches of quality ice for ice fishing. The weekly Iowa Fishing Report will have the latest information on ice conditions across the state.

(Radio Iowa) – Today (Monday) marks the first full day of winter, though Iowa’s already seen plenty of snowfall in the weeks since Thanksgiving. Aaron Steil, a consumer horticulture specialist at the Iowa State University Extension, says some homeowners may be concerned about their trees and other plants being damaged by the snow, especially if their limbs are sagging.

“Most of the time, plants do a pretty good job of shedding that snow off all on their own,” Steil says, “but if you do have a younger plant, or an evergreen that seems to be very weighed down by snow, you can go out and brush it off using your hand or a broom.” If you want to clear that snow off yourself, he says there is a right way — and a wrong way — to go about the process.

“Just make sure you do it in an upward motion instead of a downward one,” he says, “so that you don’t stress branches that are bending down even more.” Steil says ice can do infinitely more damage to young plants than snow, however, he says you need to resist the urge to try to remove ice from their frozen boughs and limbs. “You’re likely to do more damage than good. If you try to go out and remove ice from shrubs and trees in your landscape, you can go out and maybe prop something up with a board, if you’re really worried about it,” Steil says. “Otherwise, trying to break it off or throwing hot water on it to try to melt it off, all of those always do more damage than help.”

The best thing you can do for an ice-coated tree, he says, is to leave it alone and let the sun warm it up.

(Radio Iowa) – The minority leader in the Iowa House says Democrats will be engaged in trying to resolve the long-running debate over the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline. House Democratic Leader Brian Meyer says it’s important to get a bill passed and signed by the governor in early 2026. “I believe that there is a way to get this done that will benefit every farmer in the state and also protect property rights,” Meyer said.

Meyer says PART of the solution could be an idea touted last week by the Senate’s Republican Leader that would give
developers more flexibility in changing a pipeline route — to go around landowners who don’t want the pipeline on their property. “You have to bring everybody to the table and unless you bring everybody the table and get consensus, it just is not going to work,” Meyer says. “There’s everybody all over the place on this thing. It’s not a partisan issue. Democrats, we’re happy to engage. We want a solution. We have friends on all sides of this. We want rural Iowa to succeed, but we want to protect landowners as well.”

Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner isn’t predicting what kind of a compromise package might emerge — but she says Iowan’s private property rights should never been infringed upon for a pipeline developer’s private gain.  “We’re busy talking to various parties to see what the lay of the land is — pun not intended — as well,” Weiner said. Weiner says if the disagreement among Republicans on the pipeline issue isn’t resolved quickly in 2026, she predicts it will be difficult for the legislature move on to other issues.

A dozen Senate Republicans forced a vote and joined Senate Democrats last spring to pass the pipeline bill that Governor Reynolds vetoed. The bill had easily passed the House on an 85 to 10 vote.

(Radio Iowa) – Milk production is up across the U-S and worldwide, which has had some benefit to Iowa dairy producers. Iowa State University dairy expert Fred Hall says the increase is linked to fewer younger cows known as heifers going into the milking rotation. “What we found is, because the price of heifers are so expensive, people are keeping cows longer. And one of them unique things, more mature cows gives more milk than a heifer,” he says. Hall says the U-S has benefited from the increase in milk production. ” So if you have more of the commodity, that means the price is going to go down. And this is really good for the United States the last year because we were the cheapest dairy product in the world, so we sold a lot more,” Hall says.

He says as other countries produce more milk their prices go down and that impacts U-S dairy exports. Hall says that could impact milk prices and people will look for cheaper products. “Does it mean that they will quit buying dairy? Very unlikely. You know, a young family with children will continue to buy milk, but you may see instead of buying organic or grass fed, they may say, okay, we will have to buy commodity milk or we will go to two percent,” he says.

Hall says the same thing is happening with butter, as imported butter prices will drop and that could impact domestic sales. “The season for baking is coming up, we’ll know in January what that’s going to be. So yeah, we’re in a state of flux and I think a big part of it is that balance between production and consumption,” he says. Hall says the Iowa dairy industry is doing okay now, though the number of dairies has dropped.

“We’ve kept the same number of cows, fewer dairymen. And we know that as we have this abundance of feed we’re getting just a little more milk, and I believe it’s about a pound a day per cow more. And that’s significant. So Iowa is placed well,” Hall says. Hall says Iowa has the processing available to handle the milk produced or to add a little more, which is good. He says much of the processed milk in Iowa goes to cheese production.

(Radio Iowa) – House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann says there’s a high level of interest among House Republicans to respond to landowners who don’t want Summit Carbon Solutions to seize segments of their property for the company’s proposed pipeline. Kaufmann was highly critical of Governor Reynolds decision six months ago to veto a bill that would have made it more difficult for Summit — and other companies — to use eminent domain for pipelines and other utility infrastructure.

“Certainly I supported last year’s bill 1000%, but it was a big target for people to politically shoot at,” Kaufmann said, “so I think you’ll see something very, very simple and very, very straightforward early on.” Kaufmann isn’t predicting what proposal may come up for a vote, but during an interview Radio Iowa, he mentioned the law South Dakota’s governor signed in March that bans the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

“I’ll take my majority leader hat off for a moment,” Kaufmann said, “and Representative Kaufmann 100% supports a South Dakota-style bill coming out of the House very soon.” But Kaufmann says he’s polling his fellow House Republicans to determine what the group supports and he plans to meet with Governor Reynolds to discuss it. Kaufmann isn’t withdrawing his criticism of her pipeline bill veto.

“On a scale of 1 to 100, my thoughts on that were about negative 2,000,000,000,” Kaufmann said, “but that does not take away from the good things she has done, the good things she will do and I’m happy to have a conversation with her at any time on any topic.” Meanwhile, Senate Republican Leader Mike Klimesh will be introducing a bill to create a 10 mile zone around the proposed routes for utility infrastructure. Klimesh says it would let developers find new paths to avoid properties owned by people who don’t want the project on their land.

“And I think that’s where we find a place in Iowa where we all but eliminate the need to use eminent domain ever again,” Klimesh said. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says the proposal Klimesh is talking about has no guarantee that Summit would be prohibited from using eminent domain to seize property along the pipeline route. “They could get the expanded corridor and still use eminent domain and so that solution alone is not acceptable to us,” Holt said.

“Now, if you want to talk to us about expanding the corridor and including language that says: ‘No eminent domain for the CO2 pipeline in the State of Iowa,’ then we could have the discussion.” Holt is among a group of House members who’ve worked on and passed several bills over the past few years to set up new regulations for carbon pipelines or even block the Summit project.