(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who served nearly three years in the Trump Administration is heading home. Bill Northey resigned as Iowa Ag Secretary in March of 2018 to become Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “It’ll be different waking up now every day not thinking about all the things we need to do at USDA,” Northey says. “There’s other folks that’ll work on that. Now I can start thinking about what I might do next.”

Northey helped draft the agency’s rules for implementing the 2018 Farm Bill and he helped set up the payments to farmers impacted by trade disputes and the pandemic. “Those were all in addition to the Farm Bill programs and the disaster programs that are there to respond in case of weather programs,” Northey says. Northey oversaw a division of the U-S-D-A with 21-thousand employees, operating out of about three-thousand locations and Northey traveled extensively. He visited U-S-D-A offices in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as well as in 48 of the 50 states — he didn’t make it to Hawaii or Alaska.

Northey says he got to see massive cattle ranches, blackberry farms and other types agriculture he wasn’t familiar with before. “It was very interesting to realize the breadth of agriculture in this country,” Northey says. The biggest surprise for Northey was the intensity of internal agency activity to implement and support U-S-D-A programs. Northey cites the pandemic relief fund as an example.

As the former state ag secretary exits the U-S-D-A, a former Iowa governor is returning. Tom Vilsack served as President Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture for eight years. “It’s really nice to have somebody who knows how the place works and probably has had a little bit of time to think about what he might want to do the next time around, if there was a next time around,” Northey says, “so he’ll hit the ground running.” Northey says he has no idea if his service in the Trump Administration will impact his future prospects.

“It’s kind of interesting in my time in Washington, D.C., sometimes I almost felt farther from politics than I did when I was secretary of ag in Iowa,” Northey says. “There I need to keep track of it when I was out and around. When I got out and around as Under Secretary of USDA, they just asked me about programs.” Northey says he paid less attention to politics — and to Twitter — than he had during his 11 year tenure as state agriculture secretary and he had no comment on Trump’s actions on January 6th.

“I’m probably not the best person to understand either the pieces that happened or the consequences of those,” Northey says. “We’ll see what time brings.” Northey was in the U.S.D.A’s D.C. office building when rioters breached the U.S. Capitol. Northey says the building is at the opposite end of the National Mall from the Capitol and he never felt threatened. Northey’s sister and brother-in-law took over his farming operation near Spirit Lake when Northey left for D.C. in 2018. Northey and his wife are moving back to a townhouse in the Des Moines area with a U-Haul this weekend. Northey says he’s not coming back to retire.

“Not ready to rock on a front porch some place,” Northey says. “Certainly interested in being able to do some other things and we’ll figure those out.” Northey, who is 61, graduated from Iowa State University with an agri-business degree and earned an M-B-A from Southwest Minnesota State. Northey served as president of the National Corn Growers Association in the mid-1990s and won his first term as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2006.

(Radio Iowa) – The world’s third-richest man is now reportedly the biggest farmland owner in America and he’s also among the largest in Iowa. Billionaire Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, now holds claim on some 269-thousand acres of land across the country, including 242-thousand acres of farmland in 19 states. A story in The Land Report magazine says Gates owns more than 500 acres of farmland in Iowa, though most of his tracts are in Arkansas and Louisiana.

The most expensive purchase was reportedly of 14-thousand-500 acres in Washington state for almost 171-million dollars. Not a biggie for Gates though, as his net worth is pegged at 132-billion.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa is among the top states when it comes to the number of organic farms in operation, but producers have long struggled to obtain crop insurance that can better protect them from losses. A new initiative aims to help close these gaps. Last summer’s derecho storm left many Iowa farm fields flattened. Kate Hansen, policy assistant at the Center for Rural Affairs, said these situations can be especially devastating for small to mid-size producers who don’t have the right crop insurance that can soften the blow. She noted about a decade ago, when more organic farms came into existence, there weren’t many coverage plans that matched up with their products. But that’s changed.  “Now, there are over 80 certified organic crops that can be insured at higher organic prices,” Hansen explained. “And so, they’re just kind of more effectively insuring what they have out there in the field.”

Ripe carrots growing in soil, closeup with space for text. Organic farming

Despite the expansion of coverage, Hansen acknowledged there’s still a disconnect in getting these farmers and ranchers to navigate newer plans. That leaves many organic crops under-protected. Her group is out with a new resource guide that covers everything from contract prices to the claims process. The guide also features feedback from crop-insurance agents across the Midwest. Joshua Manske, an Iowa-based agent, said with the effects of climate change resulting in more extreme weather events, making connections with these producers can mitigate a lot of trouble. “You know, I can’t imagine somebody who’s dreamed of farming their whole life, and worked hard every single day of their life to be able to do what they love… and some sort of event comes along and wipes out your crop,” Manske remarked.

Hansen added helping these producers with the process not only reduces the effects they can feel from such an event, but can also benefit their communities.  “Small family operations are sort of the backbone of rural communities,” Hansen maintained. “And crop insurance is a way to help them continue farming next year if they have a really bad year.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Iowa had nearly 800 organic farms in 2019. That ranks the Hawkeye State sixth in the nation.

Meanwhile, the deadline to purchase insurance for most spring crops is March 15.

(Mike Moen/Iowa News Service)

The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Department Board of Directors will meet Monday evening, via Zoom, beginning at 5:15.  On the agenda, is action on, updates and-or new business, with regard to:

• The Dog Park (an update)
• Native Landscaping
•  Schildberg Rec Area signage
• Campground Registration
• Shelter Reservations
• Playground Inspections
• and Eagle Scout Bluebird Houses Project.

In his report to the Board, Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen will talk about:

• Walkability Maps
• Winter Recreation
• Recreation Equipment
• and continued parks maintenance matters.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The federal government faces a second lawsuit over flooding along the Missouri River after it was ordered last month to pay some landowners for damages. R. Dan Boulware, of the Polsinelli law firm, filed the new class-action lawsuit on behalf of 60 plaintiffs who experienced damages during flooding in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2014. The St. Joseph News-Press reports that Boulware successfully argued in the earlier case that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers knowingly flooded some farmland when it made changes to protect endangered species.

Boulware currently is waiting for the class-action lawsuit to be certified. If that occurs there could be additional plaintiffs added to the case. He estimates that the current claim of damages exceeds $50 million.

The Cass County Conservation Board (CCCB) is holding Cabin Fever Escape program. The program/open house will be held at the Outdoor Educational Classroom outside of Massena, on Saturday, January 23rd. The event takes place from 1-until 4-p.m., and is FREE for all ages. The Board invites you to cure cabin fever by spending some time outside with family friendly FUN! Bring your mugs, sleds, dress for the weather, and snowshoes will be available!

If you get cold, warm and tasty drinks and a movie will be playing inside our lodge! There will be no-snow activities planned, as well! To get to the Outdoor Classroom, take Highway 148 south of Massena, turn Left on Tucson Road, and follow it East for about two miles.Then make a right hand turn into the parking lot.

The Cabin Fever Escape Program qualifies for the CCCB’s 120hrs Outdoor Challenge, so don’t forget to use #120hrsCassCoIA as a hashtag for your adventures.

ATLANTIC, IA (January 15, 2021) – Produce in the Park is holding another winter farmers market. Share a little more love this year with Sweetheart Market! Sweetheart Market will be held the day before Valentine’s Day. The market will offer pre-order drive-through pick-up only (there will be no in-person shopping). Pre-orders will be accepted from Thursday, February 4 –
Thursday, February 11. Purchases can be picked up on Saturday, February 13 at the Cass County Community Center between 12:00 – 3:00 PM.

Sweetheart Market is being held the day before Valentine’s Day, so customers can get treats and gifts for all their loved ones and Valentines—whether friends or sweethearts. The market
offers delicious baked goods and sweet treats, cookie bouquets, cookies to decorate, date night dinners, Valentine’s day soaps and candles, local foods including meat and produce, and more.

Vendors interested in participating in Sweetheart Market should contact the market manager at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com by Wednesday, January 20. Event details, including vendors, and information on pre-orders will be posted on Produce in the Park’s website www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com and on the Produce in the Park Facebook page www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark.

(Radio Iowa) – Much of western Iowa was in drought last year and even with a couple of heavy snowstorms already this winter, the drought is expected to continue at least into spring. Dennis Todey, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says it’s unlikely things will change soon. Todey says, “While a big snowstorm can provide melt-off and provide surface water, which is a positive, our soils are mainly frozen now so we need to get thawing soils before we can get any kind of precipitation into those soils.”

Todey says scientists are most concerned about the western third to western half of Iowa because the soils are the driest there.  “I would expect it to improve some in the spring,” Todey says. “Will it go away? I have a hard time thinking it’ll go completely away.” The U.S. Drought Monitor report released this week shows western Iowa in a moderate to extreme drought. Since 2018 and 2019 were very wet years for Iowa, the Iowa D-N-R’s Tim Hall says that probably helped get western Iowa through last year’s “harsh, dry conditions.” “I think we didn’t see as significant an impact because of the wetness coming out of the two years leading into this one,” Hall says.

Their comments were part of a drought webinar held by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

(By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Two northeast Iowa men have pleaded guilty to the illegal taking of wild ginseng on state-managed land in September of last year.  A D-N-R Conservation Officer charged 58-year-old Gregg Latham of Oelwein and 49-year Dustin Millard of Strawberry Point with 112 counts of unlawfully harvesting ginseng on state timberland and other charges. Officers found ginseng roots on the state land and also found more evidence in a search of their homes.

Each pleaded guilty to 24 ginseng violations — along with theft, trespass, and littering. They face some 57-hundred dollars ($5,743.75) in criminal penalties and have to reimburse the state 257-dollars, 81 cents each for their portion of the stolen wild ginseng.

w/Kate Olson.

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