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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
The Shelby County Extension Service in Harlan announced Friday (Today), Tim Christensen has joined Iowa State University Extension and Outreach as a farm management specialist. Christensen, who has worked at Iowa State as an agricultural specialist since 2015, will cover the counties of Ida, Sac, Calhoun, Monona, Crawford, Carroll, Greene, Harrison, Shelby, Audubon and Guthrie for ISU Extension and Outreach. Christensen joins a team of eight farm management specialists located throughout Iowa who deliver the latest in research-based information on farm financial and risk management, instructions on government programs such as the farm bill and crop insurance, guidance on strategic and business planning and information on agricultural marketing tools and supply chains to farm owners and operators.
Prior to joining ISU Extension and Outreach Christensen was as an agriculture specialist for Iowa State University, working to monitor the health and wellbeing of Iowa State’s animals, maintaining detailed herd health records and training students and staff on animal welfare protocols. Christensen also has experience as a location manager for Farmers Cooperative and as a group leader of vet services at Boehringer Ingelheim in Fort Dodge. He holds a degree in animal science with a minor in commercial agriculture from Northwest Missouri State University.
Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports the Board of Supervisors are expected to take action next Wednesday (Aug. 15th), on a request for a 50-percent, five-year property tax abatement for a company that is in the process of acquiring the ADM grain elevator north of Atlantic. Pipeline Foods, LLC – a developer of supply chains in agriculture with a focus on organic foods and feeds, grains, oilseeds, and ingredients will be acquiring, converting and utilizing the ADM facility for organic grain handling. Total capacity of the facility is expected to be about 3.4 million bushels.
An approximately 2 million bushel capacity will be utilized for conventionally grown grain and the other 1.4 million bushel capacity will be for organic crops. Pipeline’s plan is to acquire the facility in mid-September. Local farms are expected to transition from conventional to organic farming as organic farming allows farmers to reap up to three times the profit margins of non-organic farming. It was stated that crop land can be rotated in and out of organic production. The company’s request for an abatement was taken under advisement during the Board’s meeting on Aug. 8th.
(Radio Iowa) — He’s anything but Itty Bitty, but that’s his name, and he’s the winner of the 2018 Iowa State Fair’s Big Boar Contest. The ironically-named big pig weighed in at 1,163 pounds, just two more than runner-up Yo Yo. Itty Bitty is owned by the West Delaware High School FFA chapter and many of the 44 members of the group were at the fair’s Swine Barn Thursday for the annual contest. They say their four-year-old pig’s favorite food is Iowa corn and he’ll often eat 16 pounds of it in a day.
(Oakland, IA)—The Golden Hills RC & D in Oakland reports the Loess Hills Missouri River Region’s (LHMRR) Parks to People plan, has officially designated its first round of priority projects for funding from the MidAmerican Energy Foundation’s $500,000 commitment to the Parks to People Plan.
The LHMRR Board is dedicating $338,000 towards seven priority projects: the Harrison County Conservation Board’s Willow Lake Nature Center; Friends of Lake Manawa’s Dream Playground; Mills County Trails Board’s Glenwood Trail Project; Mills County Conservation Board’s Pony Creek Expansion; West Nishnabotna River Accesses; and Overland Hiking Trail. Regional projects include the Lewis & Clark Today Route signage and Green Hill Ranch.
The Parks to People plan addresses the future of the tri-county region’s parks, trails, and cultural assets to enhance overall economic and community vitality. One of the primary goals is to offer a premier parks system. The selection and approval of the priority projects by the LHMRR Board will allow them to use the specified amounts as match when seeking additional funds for the projects. The projects represent over $9.5 million in planned recreational improvements to the tri-county region. To date, over $3.5 million of that has been secured or pledged towards their implementation.
The plan supports collaborative, regional projects to enhance economic development and tourism; public health and social vitality; natural resources (habitat, water) health, parks, and trails; and overall regional vibrancy. The initiative intends to attract and retain young people interested in an active lifestyle, which will stimulate Iowa’s economy and promote business growth.
For more information about the Loess Hills Missouri River Region Parks to People Plan or to submit project ideas for funding consideration, visit goldenhillsrcd.org/lhmrr or facebook.com/loesshillsmissouririverregion.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – August 8, 2018 – Taking on the challenge of improving Iowa’s water quality and going the extra mile to protect soil and water has long been a priority for Chad Ide, who farms in the rolling hills of southwest Iowa with his father. Ide, an Iowa Farm Bureau member from Shannon City, was recently named the 2018 Iowa Conservation Farmer of the Year for his wide-ranging conservation efforts and commitment to promoting conservation education. Now in its 66th year, the prestigious Iowa Conservation Farmer of the Year Award is sponsored by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS). Ide will be presented with the award in early September at the Conservation Districts of Iowa (CDI) annual meeting in Des Moines. “Conservation just comes naturally to me,” Ide said. “My dad has always been very conservation-minded, and it was something that just made sense to me, too.”
Ide and his father, Monty, have seen the environmental benefits of incorporating various conservation practices into their farming operation, but they’ve also seen economic benefits. In addition to conservation practices like buffer strips and terraces incorporated into their row crops, the Ides have added conservation efforts on their grazing ground which have benefited their cow-calf herd. “Conservation just fits really well with cattle,” Ide says. “We plant cover crops after we chop silage and after soybeans. That gives us a chance for some extra forage in the late fall and the early spring. Having that extra forage can really be a big help, especially in a year like this one when the cold weather in the spring kept the pastures down for so long.”
“Leading by example is so important, because everyone has a role to play in protecting our soil and water quality,” says IFBF President Craig Hill. “Our role as farmers is to do more than grow food; we must all work towards leaving the land and watershed better for the next generation. The regional and statewide award winners have certainly shown their commitment to protecting Iowa’s soil and water and a willingness to share their experiences with fellow farmers, so we can all work together to make big strides in conservation.”
“We continue to see farmers making investments and doing more to improve water quality and protect soil health,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said. “These conservation awards are an opportunity to highlight and recognize farmers who take the extra step in their conservation efforts and serve as conservation leaders in their communities and across the state.” For earning the award, Ide will receive the free use of a John Deere 6E Series utility tractor for up to 12 months or 200 hours. The tractor prize is sponsored annually by Van Wall Equipment of Perry and John Deere.
Ide was nominated for the award by the Union County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), and the application recognized him as a “steady leader in soil and water conservation in our county.” Along with being celebrated for his numerous on-farm conservation efforts, the Union County SWCD noted the Ides’ willingness to promote conservation education through field days, tours, and trainings which inspires other area farmers. Regional winners from 2018 include: John and Roger Wilcox of Woodbury County; the Patricia L. Smith Family Trust (owner) and Howard Farm and Mark Howard (operator) of Fayette County; Dennis and Cheryl Crall of Adair County; Dan and Ila Jean Taylor of Dallas County; Paustian Enterprise LTD of Scott County; and John Peck of Jefferson County.
(Press Release from the IA Farm Bureau)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State agricultural officials say an insect that’s killed millions of ash trees has been found in three more Iowa counties. Officials said in a news release Wednesday that the emerald ash borer has been confirmed in Crawford, Delaware and Page counties. That brings Iowa’s total to 64 counties.
People are urged to report any suspected infestation. Mike Kintner with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says tracking the whereabouts of emerald ash borers across the state helps in formulating treatment recommendations. Infected trees usually lose leaves at the top of the canopy and the die-off spreads downward. The trees usually die within four years.
The bugs are native to Asia and were first reported in the U.S. in Michigan in 2002 and in Iowa in 2010.
(Radio Iowa) — A central Iowa artist is busy creating special sculptures in butter for -two- major state fairs. Sarah Pratt, of West Des Moines, says the Iowa State Fair asked her to create the famed “Waterloo Boy” tractor in butter to honor the 100th anniversary of Quad Cities-based Deere and Company.
The Waterloo Boy tractor
Pratt says the tractor posed some construction difficulties. “The wheels are so open and exposed with the spokes and the gears and I really want that to shine through and not get bulky and clunky with a lot of structure,” Pratt says. “That’s been a challenge, to design something that will hold up, hold the butter weight, without getting in the way of the butter.”
As a 14-year-old 4-H member, Pratt learned how to sculpt from Norma “Duffy” Lyon, Iowa’s “butter cow lady” and Pratt took over in 2006 when Lyon retired. Also this year, the Illinois State Fair asked Pratt to create something unique for that state’s bicentennial, but she can’t reveal what it is before the unveiling at the fairgrounds in Springfield. “After a tradition has been, like the state of Illinois, for 200 years and the tradition of having butter sculptures in Illinois for over 90 years now, a lot of ideas have been done,” Pratt says. “It’s a mix between what’s fresh and what’s traditional.”
Butter sculpting is a family affair in the Pratt household. Her dad, brother and husband help out by welding the frame together. Environmentalists and sanitarians will be happy to know the butter is recycled. “Each fair has their own stock of butter that’s been donated by a local dairy producer,” Pratt says. “The cooler gets warmed up just a little bit, softens it, and then it gets scraped down, packed into the buckets really firm to leave out any air and moisture and then it gets frozen — until the next fair and then it starts all over again.”
The Iowa State Fair worked with Deere which sent Pratt photographs of the 1918 Waterloo Boy. She also visited the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum in Waterloo to study the iconic tractor. At the Iowa State Fair, which opens Thursday, Pratt will answer questions and put the finishing touches on her butter sculptures — the tractor and a cow. She’ll have to complete her works of art for the Illinois State Fair before opening day, which is also Thursday.
(Iowa News Service) LOGAN, Iowa – Iowa vegetable farmer Danelle Myer admits she was both a bit headstrong and starry-eyed when she started farming in Harrison County, and that’s why she’s eager to share lessons learned from her seven-year undertaking. Myer is participating in the Whole Farm Financial Project through Practical Farmers of Iowa that evaluates profitability and helps with sustainability of the local food movement. Myer grew up on a farm, but didn’t take up vegetable farming until 2011 when she was 40. “And since the beginning, I’ve had kind of this stubborn, idealistic goal of making a living off of a farm, and so I thought this study would help me look at my numbers,” she relates.
Iowa farmer Danelle Myer started her One Farm on a half-acre in 2011 to grow tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, beets and other vegetables. (Danelle Myer)
Myer says by sharing her financial data with other farmers who participate in the project, there’s a chance to compare and contrast, learning what’s profitable and what isn’t. The project analyzed data from 2013 to 2016, and can be reviewed online at practicalfarmers.org. Myer says like many new farmers, she originally stretched herself too thin. Looking at her financials over several years, she has simplified operations, eliminating online orders and pop-up farm stands. “So, what I’m trying to do now is get better at what we do, get more efficient at what we do,” she states. “And instead of it being about more, more, more, it’s like, let’s just do a better job of growing less food and sell every single thing that we grow.”
One agriculture expert says a good, stable vegetable farm takes about 3 to 5 years to become profitable, and 8 to 10 years to become stable and self-functioning. Myer says being part of the Practical Farmers study has improved her perspective on her accomplishments. “It did give me a little bit of a positive boost, where I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m okay!'” she explains. “Even if I’m not making a living off of this within in the first five years of my farm, I am in the same boat with everybody else.”
Data from the three-year report shows that of the eight fruit and vegetable farms participating, four had a “favorable” four-year average net-income ratio. On average, 7 of the 8 farms earned from 79 to 100 percent of their total farm income from their crops.
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