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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is predicting President Trump will announce new ethanol production guidelines this week. “I can’t say too much because we’re waiting to see the final wording,” Reynolds says. Reynolds flew to Washington, D.C. last Thursday for a meeting at the White House to discuss how to increase the federal ethanol production mandate. President Trump in August gave the green light to waivers so 31 oil refineries do not have to blend ethanol into gasoline. Trump has said he had to save those refineries “from certain closing” — but he’s promised a “giant package” will be unveiled to boost corn-based ethanol. Reynolds says she “feels really good” about last week’s White House meeting with Trump and farm-state senators. “If what we agreed on is what we see in writing, we’ll be supporting it and inviting him here to announce it,” Reynolds said.
The governor says the ethanol waivers granted to the oil industry erased any gains from President Trump’s June announcement that gasoline with a higher 15-percent blend of ethanol could be sold year-round. She says that message has been delivered. “It’s going to have a direct impact on our farmers and our communities and our economy in rural Iowa and, you know, we helped put him there and he said when he ran for office that he supported renewable fuels,” Reynolds said. “And it was a really good meeting.”
Reynolds made her comments at the Clay County Fair in Spencer during an interview with K-I-C-D Radio. The Des Moines Register is reporting the Siouxland Energy Cooperative in Sioux Center has quit producing ethanol — the second ethanol plant in Iowa to close down this fall.
(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds met with the president Thursday to talk about ethanol policy. Governor Reynolds Tweeted last night (Thursday night) that she “appreciated the opportunity to meet with Trump at the White House to discuss the importance of ethanol to rural America!” She used an exclamation point at the end of that sentence, then concluded by saying she’ll “never stop fighting for” ethanol. A month ago, Trump gave the green light to waivers so oil refineries do not have to blend as much ethanol into gasoline. Reynolds has said Trump did not fully understand the negative impact that would have on the ethanol industry.
This (Friday) morning, Bloomberg News is reporting President Trump has revealed Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both U.S. Senators from South Dakota and Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (SASS) were part of a “big meeting” at the White House about ethanol.
No doubt you have heard how the latest clean water crisis now looms in rural America: the Des Moines Register has reported unsafe levels of bacteria and nitrates continue to pollute Iowa’s water, according to findings over the past 16 years. Clean water protections are jeopardized by recent escalated federal attempts to deregulate, slash budgets and restrict supervision and enforcement. Matt Russell, Executive Director of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light and fifth-generation owner of Coyote Run Farm in Lacona, spoke with KJAN News about the work being done to protect and preserve Iowa’s environment. He said there are four practice areas that are very effective: Conservation tillage, extend crop rotation – grow more than corn and soybeans, have something growing all year around, and integrating livestock by managing manure better…rotational grazing and more.
Russell grew up on a farm south of Anita. His parents, Bill and Connie Russell, and his brother and sister-in-law Todd and Cathy, still farm the same land. On his Lacona farm, they took 110 acres and turned it all into a managed grazing system. They used EQUIP, CRP and other conservation programs, partnering with the tax payers to help put practices on the farm that will help them sell their meat directly at a higher value. They built ponds, and changed to a rotational grazing system as well.
He said Interfaith Power and Light works with farmers in getting them engaged in their profession in terms of climate change and water clean-up. Those that are already using practices to be “High-level” stewards of the land in conservation, he says, take more risk and get less return than the farmers who take short cuts. The trick, according to Russell, is how to “shift the economics.” He says “We have an economic situation that does not reward those farmers who do the highest levels of conservation. Those who do the least level and sometimes poor conservation – they actually pay very little cost. The economics do not encourage better stewardship, and we don’t have a way of calling-out those farmers who are doing a poor job.”
Russell says “We know we have these increased nutrients and bacteria as well, and that’s not changing. That’s not getting better. We can’t just keep doing what we’re doing, expecting that something is going to change.” The Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS) is a solution to address nutrient pollution and reduce Iowa’s inputs by up to 45%. However, despite significant investments in the NRS – including a $242 million dollar water quality bill passed by the legislature in January 2018 – the implementation rates of water quality practices are actually slowing rather than ramping up.
The efforts of good land stewardship, Russell says, creates economic opportunities. “What we have to think about as Iowans, is that this water is all of ours. There are multiple problems with the water, but also gives a lot of opportunities for strategy to fix it and work together to do it. This is a great opportunity for that rural-urban divide that we hear about. How do we partner together instead of making this farmers against other folks in the State. How do we come together to all take responsibility to get solutions that are based in concrete efforts that works. We’ve got to move past talking about the problem to really engaging ‘How do we get the dollars, how do we get the practices, how do we get the partnerships to get to a place where everybody has access to clean drinking water, everyone can jump in a close-by body of water, and float and paddle, fish, and hunt water fowl.'”
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has allowed a lawsuit challenging Iowa’s management of fertilizer and hog farm pollution in rivers and streams to move forward, handing a significant victory to environmental and community activist groups challenging the state’s voluntary farm pollution regulations. Judge Robert Hanson says in a ruling filed Wednesday that Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch may proceed to trial in their effort to prove the state isn’t doing enough to clean up the Raccoon River, a drinking water source for 500,000 central Iowa customers of Des Moines Water Works.
The lawsuit claims the state has violated the rights of citizens to clean water for recreational and drinking water uses. It asks the court to order mandatory limits on nitrogen and phosphorous pollution and for a moratorium on new and expanding hog confinement facilities. A spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office says the state is reviewing the ruling and considering next steps. A spokesman for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will not comment on the decision.
Iowa News Service/DES MOINES, Iowa – The U.S. Department of Agriculture soon will release new regulations that livestock and poultry producers hope will better protect them from what they see as unfair competition in the highly consolidated meatpacking industry. The Packers and Stockyards Act was enacted by Congress nearly 100 years ago, but some experts say it hasn’t been effectively enforced. Joe Maxwell, executive director of the Organization for Competitive Markets, said small and mid-size producers need rules to help level the playing field with the large-scale meatpacking companies. 
“Congress acted in 2008, in the Farm Bill of 2008, and said, ‘USDA, you have to clarify these undue preference and these issues,'” he said, “and here we are, 11 years later, still trying to get the protections that Congress mandated.” Maxwell said four U.S,. companies control 82% of the beef market, 68% of pork and 60% of the poultry market, allowing them to keep farmers’ profits below the cost of production – and even to retaliate by refusing to buy their product.
A public comment period will begin after the proposed regulations are released by the USDA. Under the current rules, said Anna Johnson, senior policy associate with the Center for Rural Affairs, farmers face an insurmountable challenge if they go to court against a meatpacking company they believe hasn’t compensated them fairly for their livestock or poultry. “In order for the producer to prove that they were harmed under the contract,” she said, “they actually have to show that the company’s actions harmed not only them and their operation, but also harmed competition broadly for the whole sector, which is generally an impossible standard.”
Incomes for farmers have slumped in the past five years, while the costs of feed, seed, fertilizer, fuel and machinery have increased – and tariffs on ag exports have created more difficulties. The Department of Commerce has said personal income for farmers dropped in the first quarter of this year by the largest rate in three years.
ANITA, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa DNR report the water level of Lake Anita in Cass County will be lowered five feet for a seawall replacement project. This may limit access to Lake Anita this fall. The gate will be closed and the lake allowed to refill as construction allows. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources plans to extend the boat ramps to allow for boating access after the drawdown is complete. All other facilities at Lake Anita State Park will remain open.
AMES, IOWA – In an on-going effort to build future leadership for both the Iowa cattle industry and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, ICA is taking applications for the 2020 Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program. The application deadline is November 1, 2019 and can be downloaded from the ICA website, www.iacattlemen.org. Matt Deppe, CEO of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, says “With all of the issues facing agriculture today, it’s more important than ever that we equip young cattlemen and women with the knowledge and skills needed to lead our industry into the future. The Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program will help participants better understand the industry and work towards solutions to the problems their generation will face.”
Those selected for the Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program (YCLP) will meet six times in the coming year on January 8-9, 2020, February 18-19, 2020, May 28-29, 2020, August 6-7, 2020, November 5-6, 2020 and December 3-4, 2020. They will tour beef production facilities, learn about trending cattle issues, enhance their leadership and communication skills, and play an active role in the legislative process. The program is free to all participants.
The application for YCLP asks potential participants to explain why they are interested in participating in the program, as well as explaining their goals and giving their vision for the future of the cattle industry. Preference will be given to current ICA members. If you have questions about the program, or would like an application mailed to you, contact Adair Lents at adair@iacattlemen.org, or call 515-296-2266.
YCLP is sponsored by ICA with funding provided by the Iowa Cattlemen’s Foundation and members of the ICA President’s Council.
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa – Sept. 10, 2019 – Today (Tuesday), the Iowa Transportation Commission approved $1,500,000 for four State Recreational Trails Program projects. The State Recreational Trails Program was created in 1988 with the purpose of developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both motorized and non-motorized trail users. This funding is available to cities, counties, state agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations through an annual application-based program.
Among the projects approved for funding is the Raccoon River Valley Trail to High Trestle Trail Connector – Phase II Construction Project (Dallas County Conservation Board), in the amount of $ 392,610.
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