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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
ONAWA, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host a public meeting at 6:00 p.m., Sept. 11, at the Lewis & Clark State Park Visitor Center, to discuss plans for the Missouri River Fish Management Office. Any person attending the public meeting and has special requirements such as those related to mobility or hearing impairments should contact the DNR or ADA Coordinator at 515-725-8200, Relay Iowa TTY Service 800-735-7942, or Webmaster@dnr.iowa.gov, and advise of specific needs.
PELLA, Iowa (AP) — An industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturer plans to expand an Iowa plant less than two months after a tornado tore through the facility. The Des Moines Register reports that the July tornado reached speeds of 144 mph, ripping apart buildings and idling production lines at Vermeer Corp’s campus near Pella. CEO Jason Andringa says the company worked hard to get production back in order. All employees were back to work by Aug. 20.
Andringa says the company is meeting production demands even as work continues to fix the storm’s damage. He says two of the company’s plants will be demolished and rebuilt. Andringa says the company also plans to add a new engineering facility to the Pella campus. Vermeer is Pella’s largest single employer with about 2,800 employees.
(Radio Iowa) — The use of a pesticide recently banned by a federal judge has already been declining for 20 years. But one researcher says chlorpyrifos (klor-PEER-uh-foss) could still have long-term health effects in Iowa. Some scientists have linked the pesticide to nervous system damage. Ralph Altmeier is with the Iowa Center for Agricultural Safety and Health. “Over long-term it has some effect on the human nervous system. I wonder what I’ll experience in another 10 or 20 years because I used some of those same chemicals,” Altmeier said. “Some of that neurotoxin effect is cumulative and non-reversible.”
In August, a judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the pesticide. Altmeier believes his father may have developed nerve damage from chlorpyrifos. “His toes would burn, and that’s perhaps a result of chronic exposure to this,” Altmeier said. “That’s not life-threatening, but it was uncomfortable for him at times. So, there could be some long-term chronic effects that are just showing up now.”
Chlorpyrifos is used on corn, soybeans and other crops. According to federal data, its use has been dropping off since 1994. But farmers in the Upper Midwest use it more than any other region.
(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio via Radio Iowa)
Converting row crop acres back to perennial pasture may seem like a move back to an earlier time, but for Dave and Meg Schmidt of Exira, it represents the future of their grass-fed livestock farm. Dave and Meg started Troublesome Creek Cattle Co. in 2012 when they got married. In 2014, they purchased 80 acres of the Century Farm where Meg grew up, and where her parents still raise row crops. This year, the Schmidts will finish converting the row crop ground they purchased to perennial pasture. The farm operation consists of a herd of about 30 red and black Angus cows, plus a small flock of Katahdin hair sheep and a few hogs. Dave and Meg will share their experience with grass-fed beef production at a Practical Farmers of Iowa field day they are hosting on Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., near Exira (2858 Quail Ave., about 6 miles east of Exira). The event – “Grass-Fed Beef: From Production to Marketing” – is free to attend and will include lunch. RSVPs are appreciated for the meal to Debra Boekholder, debra@practicalfarmer.org or (515) 232-5661, by Wednesday, Sept. 5. The field day is sponsored by Prudenterra.
Guests will learn about the Schmidts’ strategies for raising grass-fed beef, including summer and winter grazing management and grass-finishing at different times of the year. Dave and Meg will share results from an on-farm research trial analyzing meat samples for fatty acids, including omega-3 content, and discuss their approach to direct-marketing grass-fed beef – as well as their future marketing streams. The Schmidts retain their best calves for breeding or grass-finishing, and direct-market 100 percent grass-fed and finished beef and lamb to customers in Des Moines, Omaha and surrounding areas. Dave and Meg have also served as mentors for Practical Farmers’ Savings Incentive Program. Their mentee, Matthew Wiese, of Heirloom Farm near Earlham, will join them to share his experience in the program.
Directions from I-80: Take the Anita / Corning exit (Exit 70), head north on County Road F58 / Littlefield Drive and go 7 miles to 300th Street. Turn right, go about 1 mile and turn left on Quail Avenue. The farm will be on the right in 1 mile.
From IA Hwy 44 (from the north): Take Co Rd N36 south 6.4 miles to Co Rd F58 / Littlefield Drive. Go east 1.7 miles to 290th Street, turn left and go 1 mile to Quail Avenue. Turn north and go 0.5 mile; the farm will be on the right.
Practical Farmers’ 2018 field days are supported by several sustaining and major sponsors, including: Albert Lea Seed; Applegate Natural & Organic Meats; Blue River Organic Seed; Cascadian Farms; Center for Rural Affairs; Farm Credit Services of America; Gandy Cover Crop Seeders; Grain Millers, Inc.; Green Cover Seed; Green Thumb Commodities; Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance; Iowa Beef Center; Iowa State University Department of Agronomy; Iowa Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE); ISU Extension and Outreach; La Crosse Forage and Turf Seed; MOSA Organic Certification; Natural Resources Defense Council; Organic Valley / Organic Prairie;PepsiCo; Pipeline Foods; Premier 1 Supplies; Sunrise Foods International; The DeLong Company; The Fertrell Company; The Scoular Company; Unilever; University of Iowa College of Public Health (I-CASH); USDA: Natural Resources Conservation Service; Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture; and Welter Seed & Honey Co.
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