(By Suzanne Potter – Iowa News Service) =  Iowa has the highest number of hog farms and the sixth-highest number of cattle feedlots in the country, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. Researchers mapped large cattle and pig farms, finding Iowa hosts almost more than 2,100 pig animal feeding operations, known as AFOs. The state also hosts 604 cattle AFOs.

Sanaz Chamanara, now a researcher at the University of California-Santa Barbara, who led the study while at Michigan, said air pollution measures 11% worse in areas near pig AFOs and 28% higher near cattle AFOs, specifically particles measuring 2.5 micrometers. “2.5 is a concern because it lingers in the air,” Chamanara explained. “And its association with asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and leukemia.”

The pollution comes from dust kicked up by the animals’ hooves and from massive lagoons of waste found near AFOs. Industry trade groups criticized the study, claiming it does not take pollution from transportation and human sources into account, something the authors deny. Plymouth, Kossuth, Hardin, and Franklin counties have the highest number of hog farms but the number is high because local size limits means Iowa AFOs are smaller than the national average.

A farm with more than 1,000 animals is called a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO. Chamanara noted communities near CAFOs tend to have a lot in common, with many of them hosting a high percentage of vulnerable, low-income Latino residents. “The poverty is higher, the uninsured people are higher,” Chamanara reported. “But we should mention that actually the unemployment rate is lower, because these CAFOs also offer job opportunities.”

The study is the first national database of its kind and counters the argument from AFO owners no evidence links feedlots to air pollution. The authors suggested states limit the number of AFOs and encourage farmers to reduce air pollution with windbreaks and covers on waste lagoons.

(Radio Iowa) – The mourning dove season in Iowa opens today (Monday). D-N-R wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz says the participation by hunters and number of birds have been steady. “Basically 14 to 15-thousand hunters, pretty stable there, and our harvest has bounced around between, 150 and 200-thousand doves over the last couple of years,” Bogenschutz says.
Bogenschutz says there are no changes in regulations for doves, and the D-N-R has plenty of information about where to find them.

“If you go to our website and and just search for morning doves, a lot of folks are asking about, you know we do do some managed food plots for doves and we have that listing on our website,” he says. Bogenschutz says dove are found across the state, but cooler weather recently may make the hunting better in southern Iowa. “Part of that might just be due to migrations probably already started. And so we’ve got those that probably left northern Iowa. But I mean we, you know, our hunters have good hunts from north to south. So definitely, I think southern Iowa does carry a little bit higher densities than northern Iowa at this time of the year,” he says.

Bogenschutz says dove hunting has a lot of positives that make it good for beginning hunters. “Obviously a very early season here, starting one of our earliest in September, so it’s relatively warm. Doves are very abundant, you don’t need a lot of gear to to dove hunt, basically a bucket to sit on and a shotgun and some shells and an area the doves are using, and you’re good to go,” be says. “So from that perspective it’s a it’s a great way for beginning folks into the the hunting realm.”

Bogenschutz says there’s a lot of opportunities to hunt on private land if you get permission, and there are also the public wildlife areas.

(Radio Iowa) – Labor Day marks what many Iowans consider the end of summer, but it’s not the end of our problems associated with ticks. The region has seen a rise in cases of Lyme disease and other ailments ticks carry, which one expert blames on warmer winters which allow millions of the tiny insects to survive and thrive.

“Tick season essentially now is moving year-round,” according to Megan Meller, an infection preventionist at Emplify Health by Gundersen. She says Iowans should do tick checks during every month of the year. There are more than a dozen species of ticks in Iowa. The three most common are deer ticks, dog ticks and lone star ticks. Meller says some are easier to spot than others.

“If we’re lucky, they’re large and we can find them right away but some of them are really tiny, the size of a dot at the end of a sentence, and if you overlook those, they can also cause an infection,” Meller says. “It’s really important to not just do a thorough tick check on yourself and on your pets and children, but to also take additional preventative measures.” Those measures include wearing long pants and long sleeves.

“Wearing bug spray when you’re outside that repels ticks. It’s closing up your sock line. That’s an easy way for ticks to get up, too. It’s wearing long socks over your pants,” she says. “It’s just being really mindful that there are also hidden dangers lurking out there.”

There’s another tick to be watchful for, especially if you raise livestock. The Asian longhorned tick was found in southeast Iowa in June. It apparently doesn’t have a taste for human blood, but can be quite harmful for animals, including cattle, horses, sheep and deer.

Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

If you want to learn more about what your local government representatives do—or ask them questions directly – This is your chance! Expect to find representatives from City Council, the Mayor, the County Board of Supervisors, County Assessor, County Treasurer, County Recorder, Atlantic Parks Commission, County Conservation Board, Planning & Zoning, Board of Adjustments, County Local Food Policy Council, Atlantic School Board, and more!

Plus, don’t miss Local Government BINGO! Everyone who completes their BINGO card will be entered in a $50 Farmers Market gift card drawing (ages 18+ for the drawing, but we have a separate kids’ version of BINGO too!). Free YMCA Bounce House. Visiting community organizations and businesses include the Atlantic Public Library, Cass Health, Healthy Cass County, Cass County Tourism, and more.

Thanks to September Sponsors: Rush CPA, 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.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial close of lake-recreation season, and the official end of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ weekly beach monitoring program for summer 2025. This summer, 28 state park beaches, out of 41 monitored, had at least one weekend where swimming was not recommended due to high levels of E. coli or microcystins, a toxin released by certain types of algae.

For the final week of monitoring, swimming is not recommended at 15 state park beaches. The majority of these beaches have excessive levels of E. coli present, and one beach has excessive levels of algal toxins, according to DNR’s beach monitoring database. The “swimming not recommended” advisories are not a beach closure, but rather a warning to recreators that the beach may carry a higher risk of causing things like diarrhea, nausea or other acute symptoms than can result from exposure to E. coli and microcystins.

A single water sample taken at the beach must exceed E. coli measurements of 235 colony forming units, or CFU, per 100 milliliters, for a swimming advisory to be issued. An advisory is also triggered if the mean of five samples over a 30-day period exceeds 126 CFU/100 mL. At these levels, an estimated 36 out of 1,000 swimmers will experience minor illnesses. Single samplings at some state park beaches this summer had E. coli concentrations as high as 24,000 most probable number, or MPN, per 100 mL. MPN is a statistical calculation of the number of colonies rather than a direct count.

Microcystins are toxins produced by certain green-blue algae that typically have a paint-like or oily appearance on the water. The blooms occur in nutrient dense water. This summer five state beaches had microystin levels in excess of 8 micrograms per L, which is the level that triggers an advisory.

There are 15 weeks between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. Three state beaches, at Backbone State Park, Beeds Lake State Park and Pine Lake State Park, had swimming advisories for all but three of the weeks. 13 beaches had no swimming advisories this summer due to water quality, this number includes the beach at Lake Keomah State Park, which was not monitored this summer due to ongoing renovations.

This means more beaches had adverse water conditions this summer than last summer. Iowa Environmental Council follows the DNR beach monitoring data each week and found that in 2024, 16 state park beaches did not have an advisory in place all summer.

IEC reported in 2024 that Green Valley Lake, Honey Creek, and Lake Anita were the only monitored state beaches that had never had an E. coli related advisory. This statistic holds true after this summer’s beach monitoring season, though the beach at Green Valley Lake had one advisory for microsystins.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Montgomery County ISU Extension and Outreach office report Brian and Mary Carlson, of Montgomery County, were inducted into the 2025 Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the 4-H Exhibits Building at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday, Aug. 17. Ninety-two Iowa counties participated this year and selected 122 inductees for their outstanding service and dedication to 4-H. Inductees or their surviving family members were presented a certificate by the Iowa 4H Foundation President, Don Timmins, and State 4-H Program Leader, Mitchell Hoyer, as they were introduced on stage.

Brian and Mary Carlson have always tried to lead by example. Mary serves as a static superintendent and has for 30+ years. Brian and Mary served as 4-H leaders when their four children were participating in 4-H. Brian held several woodworking workshops for the club, as well as helping 4-H members with their projects. Brian served on the Fair board. Brian and Mary are usually helping on the fairgrounds before, during and after the fair. Most evenings you can find them in the Grandstands concession stand working with many other fair supporters. Mary has announced for the livestock auction for the last few years. Brian and Mary have always tried to help and encourage our future leaders through 4-H.

Photo courtesy Katie Hart, Montgomery Co. Extension

Counties select inductees for their exceptional work in contributing to the lives of 4-H members and the overall 4-H program. Many inductees serve as club leaders, youth mentors, fair superintendents or fair board members, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county council members, county youth council members, fair judges, financial supporters, chaperones or ISU Extension and Outreach staff members. The inductees have demonstrated dedication, encouragement, commitment and guidance to Iowa’s 4-H’ers through the years.

“We are honored to recognize these special individuals, for their advocacy and dedication to the Iowa 4-H program,” shared Iowa 4-H Foundation Executive Director, Emily Saveraid. “This is a great way to honor the volunteers and staff across the state of Iowa that generously give their time and talents to foster positive partnerships with our 4-H youth,” said Tillie Good, Iowa 4-H staff and volunteer development manager.

The Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame was initiated in 2002 to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of 4-H. A summary of previous honorees was on display at the 2022 Iowa State Fair in the 4-H Exhibits Building. These summaries are also available at the Iowa 4-H Foundation office in the Extension 4-H Youth Building at Iowa State University. Information about previous inductees to the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame also is available on the Iowa 4-H Foundation website, organized by year and by county. Go to www.iowa4hfoundation.org/ and under the heading “What We Do” select “Recognizing Service” then “Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame.”

(Radio Iowa) – Harvest season will be starting soon and forecasts predict Iowa will have a record corn crop, which would bring a drop in prices. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says he’s working to continue finding new international markets for Iowa’s top commodities. “The governor and I will be traveling to India just in a little under two weeks as an example of what we’re doing at the state of Iowa, and I’ll be back leading a trade mission in November to Vietnam and Indonesia, so we’re going to continue to push hard,” Naig says. “We received visitors from Canada, Bangladesh and India just at the State Fair a couple of weeks ago, so this is a very active time in terms of trade.” Naig acknowledges this is a challenging situation when looking at prices and profitability for growers of corn and soybeans.

Radio Iowa file photo

“We’re not where we need to be,” he says. “The value of the crop is below the cost of production. That’s not sustainable and that has ripple effects throughout the whole supply chain, everything from equipment to inputs.” While many Iowans have been concerned about the Trump administration’s tariffs, Naig says those tariffs are translating to trade opportunities, including with partners in the U-K, Japan and Korea. “This is something that doesn’t have one solution,” Naig says. “We need to make sure we’re unleashing biofuels, year-round access to E-15, sustainable aviation fuel. We’ve got to use more of what we grow and let’s do it here domestically, but let’s also export it.”

Naig made his comments during a visit to northwest Iowa this week at the Heritage Bison Ranch near Hinton.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The 2025 Guthrie County Fair gets today (Thursday), and continue through Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1st. Some activities began Wednesday, but the bulk of the activities begin today. View the complete schedule below, go to www.guthriecountyfair.com, or follow the Fair on Facebook.

(Radio Iowa) – Smoke from a fire at a chicken farm in southwest Iowa’s Taylor County could be seen for up to 30 miles last (Tuesday) night. The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office said on social media the fire had been brought under control thanks to at least two-dozen fire departments and their more than 100 personnel, who responded to the fire near Clearfield (1641 Yellowstone Ave.) at an egg production company called Daybreak Foods. Responding departments included Creston, Clearfield, Bedford, Blockton, Diagonal, Mount Ayr, Lenox, Corning, Prescott, Afton, Murray, New Market, Gravity, Woodburn, Villisca, Sharpsburg, Greenfield, Massena, Stanton, Clarinda, Union Township, and Worth County, with the last two coming from the Grant City, Missouri area.

In addition to the fire departments, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office said four ambulance services, three county Sheriff’s Offices, the Taylor County EMA, Daybreak Foods employees “and countless community members” helped to combat the fire.  A Facebook Post by the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office at around 7 p.m. Tuesday had asked residents to stay away from the area.

Creston Fire Dept. photo

Creston Fire Dept. photo

According to information from the Iowa Area Economic Development Group, this is the second major fire at the site. In November 2021, when the facility was owned a company called Hen Haven, a fire destroyed the processing plant, biosecurity facilities and one of the barns for layer chickens. In February of 2022, in the midst of rebuilding, bird flu hit the site and the chickens had to be euthanized.

Daybreak Foods acquired the Clearfield chicken farm in 2023. Daybreak Foods is a family-owned, Wisconsin based company that employs 12-hundred people to manage 24 MILLION laying hens at its facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Taylor County Law Enforcement Facebook page photo

Taylor County Law Enforcement Facebook page photo