LYONS, NEBRASKA – Farmers and ranchers are invited to attend three webinars on crop insurance in January. The webinars are free to attend, hosted by the Center for Rural Affairs. “These sessions are for beginning and any other farmers and ranchers who may be unfamiliar with how crop insurance works and whether it is applicable for their operations,” said Anna Johnson, policy manager with the Center for Rural Affairs. Each webinar is from noon to 1:30 p.m. central. Topics include:

• Jan. 8, Crop insurance for beginners;
• Jan. 10, Flexible crop insurance option: Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and
• Jan. 11, Revenue insurance options for livestock.

“Many farmers and ranchers grow or raise crops and livestock that are not covered by traditional policies,” Johnson said. “This webinar series is designed to provide information on insurance options that are not as well known.” The webinar on Jan. 10 will address the insurance product Whole Farm Revenue Protection, which covers an operation’s revenue. “If you grow or raise organic, value-added, specialty crop, or are interested in new markets, Whole Farm Revenue Protection might be right for you,” Johnson said. “Sign up for our webinar on Jan. 10 to learn more.”

Visit cfra.org/events to register.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge ordered settlement talks Thursday in a lawsuit filed by black farmers from Mississippi and Tennessee who claim a company sold them faulty, low-yield soybean seeds because of their race.

During a court hearing in Memphis, U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes told the farmers and Stine Seed Co. to begin mediation in a lawsuit alleging the company conspired with a seed salesman to sell thousands of dollars’ worth of defective seeds to the farmers because they are black. Fowlkes also questioned whether the farmers have enough proof of a conspiracy and facts that support claims of discrimination, or if they were just making “speculative comments” in their lawsuit.

The farmers allege the seeds were much less productive than expected and salesman Kevin Cooper misled them with claims of good yields from soybean plants grown in fertile Mississippi Delta fields. The suit filed in April alleges the good seeds the farmers thought they had bought from Stine were replaced by inferior seeds before delivery. The farmers claim they were given the bad seeds as part of a larger pattern of discrimination and “racial animus” against them.

Stine and Cooper have denied accusations of false advertisement, fraud, racketeering and discrimination, calling them baseless, irresponsible and inflammatory. They have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it doesn’t cite a single racist comment or instance where the black farmers were treated differently from white farmers. “It seems to me that the parties need to sit down and talk about this,” the judge said.

In March 2017, farmer Tyrone Grayer met Cooper at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis, the lawsuit states. Cooper said he had soybean seeds that were suitable for Mississippi’s growing conditions. The farmers ordered 12,000 pounds of Stine seeds. The farmers say they planted the seeds correctly and under optimal farming conditions in Sunflower and Quitman counties in May 2017. They soon observed that the plants were germinating slowly, did not stand uniformly, and were too short.
The farmers had expected 48 bushels or more of plump soybeans per acre, based on prior performance from other seeds. Instead, they got about 25 bushels per acre, and sometimes less — as little as five bushels per acre, the lawsuit claims. The farmers allege Cooper and another man, Greg Crigler, swapped out the good seeds for the bad ones at a warehouse in Sledge, Mississippi. The black farmers were given the inferior seeds, and white farmers got the good ones, the lawsuit claims.
Daniel Van Horn, an attorney for Crigler, has denied Crigler switched out the seeds. Van Horn said accusations of racism are bad, but “falsely accusing someone of racism is equally as bad.”

Maria Calaf, a lawyer for Adel, Iowa-based Stine, said the racism accusations were “rank speculation.”
And, Fowlkes asked the farmers’ lawyers if they had any facts supporting their racism claims.
“How do we make the leap?” Fowlkes said. One of the farmers’ attorneys, J. Gerard Stranch, said that while he only joined the case late last year, he could file an amended complaint with more facts. The defense opposed that. Stranch did accuse Stine of engaging in a “continuous pattern of racketeering conspiracy.”

Fowlkes set a March 15 mediation deadline. David Hall, one of the farmers, said he would rather go to trial than discuss a settlement. “I’m not happy with it,” Hall said of the mediation order. Defense attorneys declined comment after the hearing.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa legislators must create rules to regulate hemp production in the state now that Congress has legalized the crop and farmers are eager to start planting. Hemp comes from the same plant as marijuana but doesn’t contain THC, the compound that causes a high. Hemp is used in clothing, textiles, building materials, paper and food. Congress approved hemp production in the 2018 farm bill. The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa attorney general and state agriculture officials will meet this month to discuss state regulations for hemp.

One issue lawmakers may consider is if hemp should be allowed to make cannabidiol. Advocates say CBD can treat anxiety, epilepsy and depression. While hemp-derived CBD is allowed federally, Iowa’s medical marijuana law doesn’t allow CBD to be processed from industrial hemp.

(Radio Iowa) — The company that bought the former Tyson Foods plant in northwest Iowa will open for business later this month. Iowa Food Group will purchase, further process, and package beef, pork, and chicken at the plant in Cherokee. The products will be sold to grocery store and restaurants. Bill Anderson, with Cherokee Area Economic Development, says the company received around 400 job applications. “We have a number of folks, hundreds of people, who leave Cherokee County every day to go to work outside of the county, so I think for citizens of Cherokee County this is an opportunity to find employment closer to home,” Anderson said.

Tyson Foods shut down the Cherokee facility in 2014. Mack Zimmerman, with Iowa Food Group, says his company will maintain a relationship with Tyson. “We’ll be a customer of theirs, which is a win-win,” Zimmerman said. Tyson employed around 450 people in Cherokee before it closed. Zimmerman said he was confident there would be plenty of interest in the jobs offered by Iowa Food Group. “Especially those who had experience at the plant before and what-not…in that regard, we didn’t have a lot of concern that we’d have good employees,” Zimmerman said.

Iowa Food Group has already hired staff for its front office and sales. The company aims to start off with 100 employees and eventually grow to over 400.

(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release trout in seven locations this winter in areas that would not support them during warmer months. The winter stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A family friendly event is paired with most of the 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 they must limit their catch to one daily limit. The child can purchase a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit. Winter stocking events are dependent on favorable weather and ice conditions. Check the DNR Trout Fishing website at www.iowadnr.gov/trout for possible changes.

The 2019 Winter Community Trout Stocking Schedule includes:

Jan. 12, Bacon Creek, Sioux City, at 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 19, Big Lake, Council Bluffs, at 2:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The end of 2018 seemed to signal good things to come for America’s farmers. Fresh off the passage of the farm bill, which reauthorized agriculture, conservation and safety net programs, the USDA last week announced a second round of direct payments to growers hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Then the government shut down.

The USDA in a statement issued last week assured farmers that checks would continue to go out during the first week of the shutdown. But direct payments for farmers who haven’t certified production, as well as farm loans and disaster assistance programs, will be put on hold beginning next week, and won’t start up again until the government reopens.

There is little chance of the government shutdown ending soon. Trump and Congress are no closer to reaching a deal over his demand for border wall funding, and both sides say the impasse could drag well into January. Although certain vital USDA programs will remain operational in the short term, that could change if the shutdown lasts for more than a few weeks.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, helps feed roughly 40 million Americans. According to the USDA, eligible recipients are guaranteed benefits through January. Other feeding programs, including WIC, which provides food aid and nutrition counseling for pregnant women, new mothers and children, and food distribution programs on Indian reservations, will continue on a local level, but additional federal funding won’t be provided. School lunch programs will continue through February.

USDA has earmarked about $9.5 billion in direct payments for growers of soybeans, corn, wheat, sorghum and other commodities most affected by tariffs. The first round of payments went out in September. The deadline to sign up for the second round of payments is January 15. The impact of the shutdown, which began shortly before most federal workers were scheduled for a holiday break, started coming into focus by midweek.

About 420,000 employees are working without pay, while another 380,000 are being forced to stay home. In the past, federal employees have been paid retroactively. But government contractors won’t get paid for hours they’ll lose staying home, causing problems for those who rely on hourly wages. In anticipation of the financial bind many federal workers and contractors may soon find themselves in, the Office of Personnel Management offered some advice: haggle with landlords, creditors and mortgage companies for lower payments until the shutdown is over.

The shutdown also is affecting national parks, although unevenly: Some remain accessible with bare-bones staffing levels, some are operating with money from states or charitable groups, while others are locked off.

(Radio Iowa) — Aside from the common sparrows, bluejays and cardinals, the experts say there are 429 species of birds in Iowa. If you’d like to attract a few more to your back yard during the wintertime, biologist Ryan Brady suggests making your feeder more attractive to your feathered friends. Brady says the best bird seed you can put out is black sunflower seeds.  “It’s fairly inexpensive, it works for a lot of different species and it has a high fat content,” Brady says, “so it’s good for the birds.” Brady says you should also be sure to find some cover for the birds that’s close enough to the feeder for them to hide from predators.  “Shrubbery that’s going to have a lot of thick branches, provide some cover from the elements,” Brady says. “Evergreens or conifers are excellent, so maybe plant a spruce or a fir.”

If it’s impractical to place a shrub near your bird feeder, consider creating other cover like a brush pile.  “Maybe branches or other clippings that you have cut around your yard to spruce things up, instead of discarding them, make a pile of them off in the corner of your yard or property, maybe near the feeding station,” Brady says.  If you have a live Christmas tree that you’ll soon be taking down, place that next to your feeder to provide songbirds protection from birds of prey and from the elements.

(Radio Iowa) — Concern is growing among farmers and ag groups that the U.S. and China won’t agree to a long-term trade deal ahead of a self-imposed deadline. President Trump announced at the end of the G20 Summit he and Chinese President Xi would halt the trade war for 90 days in hopes of reaching an agreement. The Summit was a month ago, meaning that window is now a third of the way closed. The trade war has hit soybean growers especially hard. Bill Gordon is vice-president of the American Soybean Association. “The worst thing that can happen is we roll product and have product in the ocean on the way over (to China), 90 days comes (and) we don’t have a deal or anything in the works and all of the sudden our boats are being diverted to other markets,” Gordon said. ” That would renege all the good that we’ve done in these markets now.”

China just recently resumed buying U.S. soybeans for the first time in six months, but the purchases are well behind the pace of previous years. Most soybean growers in Iowa have placed this year’s crop in storage, while waiting for better prices. Gordon suggests farmers shouldn’t hold out too long. “I also do accounting on the side and I tell my guys, ‘we’re not trying to hit grand slams here, we’re trying to get base hits,'” Gordon said. “You need to look at your profitability on your farm and everybody’s price is different. If we get to those levels where you’re profitable or at least break even at your yields, make some sales, don’t wait.”

Gordon grows corn and soybeans in Worthington, Minnesota – just 10 miles north of the Iowa border.

(Thanks to Mark Dorenkamp, Brownfield Ag News)

The Iowa DNR says the unseasonably warm weather is causing ice conditions to deteriorate across much of the state. Lakes with the best ice are north of Hwy. 3. Use caution and test the ice thickness frequently if heading out and trust your instincts – if it doesn’t look right, don’t go. Also, hunting seasons will begin closing soon, starting with pheasant, archery turkey and deer seasons, and late muzzleloader deer season on Jan. 10, then goose seasons starting in the north zone on Jan. 12, followed by the south zone on Jan. 19, and the Missouri River zone on Jan. 26.

The season for quail, partridge, ruffed grouse, and squirrels closes Jan. 31. Rabbit season closes Feb. 28. The furbearer hunting and trapping seasons also close on Jan. 31. Furharvesters can continue trapping beavers until April 15. The January antlerless deer season will open Jan. 11 and close Jan. 27, 2019.  The season is open in Allamakee, Clayton, Appanoose and Wayne counties. Currently, only Allamakee and Wayne counties have licenses available, Clayton and Appanoose have sold out.

Iowa hunters have reported harvesting 96,000 deer so far during the 2018 season. 2018 hunting, fishing and trapping licenses expire on Jan. 10, 2019.

Hunter Education Classroom courses are offered by knowledgeable and certified volunteer instructors and Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers. Classroom courses are typically 12-15 hours in length and are held over 2 to 3 sessions (days). In order to receive certification, a student must attend all sessions and pass the final exam. Iowa law requires that anyone born after January 1, 1972 must be certified in hunter education before they are eligible to purchase an Iowa hunting license.

Locally, a Hunter Education Class is set for: Feb. 18th in Glenwood, at the Southwest Iowa Sportsmans Club.

For more information on these and other hunter education opportunities, go to www.iowadnr.gov/huntered