CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
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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!
Here’s another sign that summer is arriving in Iowa — reports of swimmer’s itch have been increasing. D-N-R fisheries biologist Mike Hawkins says swimmer’s itch is a common issue on Iowa lakes. “Some years are better than others. This year looks like it could be a good year for swimmer’s itch — or bad — given your perspective,” Hawkins says. He says the itchiness is caused by the microscopic parasitic flatworm. “The flatworm has a pretty interesting life cycle. It goes from a bird through bird droppings into the water and from there a snail ingest the eggs. The eggs develop in the snail and the larvae emerge from there and try to go back to the bird. So, kind of an interesting organism, kind of a complex life cycle,” Hawkins explains.
The larvae end up trying to get under the skin of swimmers if birds are not available. Hawkins says the human body fights off the larvae, but it ends up being an itchy situation. Water that’s dirty or full of pollutants is usually what you want to avoid when swimming — but in this case — Hawkins says the cleaner lakes are the ones where you’ll find swimmer’s itch. “Typically our best lakes in Iowa and across the Midwest have healthy snail populations. So, clear water, lots of aquatic plants, those are the lakes that we’ll typically see more swimmer’s itch in,” according to Hawkins. “So, in a way, swimmer’s itch is an indication of good water quality in some of our lakes.”
He says swimmer’s itch usually is the biggest problem between Father’s Day and the Fourth of July. There are some things swimmers can do to avoid the problem. “You probably should stay away from the areas where the waves have been pounding in for a day or two or more. That tends to accumulate debris, but also that larvae that is in the water,” Hawkins says. “So avoiding those areas is probably the best thing you can do. Swimming in deeper water, open water, is better than wading at the shore.” He says be sure to take some precautions when are done swimming. “Toweling off and rinsing off when you get out of the water is important to try and get the water off of your skin. The swimmer’s itch tends to concentrate in those little water droplets in the skin and that’s where they’ll try to make entry,” Hawkins says.
He says it’s a problem that can happen all across the state, but they are seeing many reports now in the Iowa’s Great Lakes and surrounding northwest and north central Iowa lakes.
(Radio Iowa)
Midwestern farmers are seeing soybean prices fall as the U-S and China remain at odds over trade and tariff issues. Kirk Leeds, chief executive officer for the Iowa Soybean Association, says soybeans are one of Iowa’s top crops and this continued spiral in prices is disheartening.”China is very, very important for Iowa farmers,” Leeds says. “From soybean farmers in particular, they buy about 60% of all the soybeans traded in the world. Anything that causes a potential disruption in our ability to sell high-quality soybeans to a customer like China is very, very concerning.”
The initial cause came when the Trump Administration threatened to put high tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from China and China responded with threats of raising tariffs on a list of American goods, including soybeans. “None of these tariffs are yet in place but just simply the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs has been enough to drive soybean prices down,” Leeds says. “As you all know, at a time when farmers are already struggling to make ends meet, to have this kind of potential disruption in trade is very, very concerning.”
Leeds says he and other members of the Iowa Soybean Association are in contact with the Iowa delegation in the U-S House and Senate. “The administration has promised that they will take a look at some way to compensate farmers for the loss of income,” Leeds says. “I’m kind of skeptical that we’re going to find anything that they’ll actually follow through on and anything that’s WTO-compliant. So, it’s really troubled times and uncertain times.”
Leeds says they’ve gotten tremendous support from both Iowa U-S Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst as well as from the U-S Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor. Leeds says he’s taken around 25 trips to China over past 35 years, working to develop the trade relationship.
(Radio Iowa)
THOR, Iowa (AP) — A prairie and wetland in northern Iowa are flourishing a few years after two farming brothers donated the land following their deaths. Palmer Larson, 86, and his brother, Roger Larson, 82, both died in 2012. The brothers donated 150 acres (61 hectares) of their land in Humboldt County to the state, which was turned into the Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area, the Des Moines Register reported .
Bryan Hellyer is a wildlife supervisor with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He said the brothers weren’t openly conservationists, but arranged a meeting with him in 2001. He said they spoke about the goals of the agency, but that he didn’t hear about the donation until after their deaths.
“I nearly fell over,” Hellyer said. “I thought, ‘no way.’ As far as farmland, there is not much better, so this is not the typical type of land the DNR manages.” Farmers in the area were also surprised by the donation.
Hellyer and wildlife technician Rob Patterson have spent five years restoring the land to its native condition. Two portions of the land were seeded with native prairie plants. Patterson has used more than 100 species of grasses and wildflowers.
The remaining 30 acres has food plots for wildlife and a small patch of timber. The area also includes a 33-mile trail. The brothers gave eight other nonprofit agencies their gross estate of $2.6 million, including the Iowa Department of the Blind, the Iowa Radio Reading Information Service and the Humboldt County Historical Museum.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental activists are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ authority to manage a program designed to limit water pollution.
About 30 members of the group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement held a state Capitol rally Tuesday. They distributed a letter to the EPA alleging the DNR hasn’t done enough to regulate large hog farms, which can pollute water. The group is asking federal officials to manage water pollution regulations.
The DNR accepted a five-year work plan with the EPA in 2013 to bring its oversight of a pollutant discharge program into compliance with federal regulations. A department spokesman says the DNR is “sufficiently following” the plan.
The EPA will decide on any further action following a final DNR report in August.
Today (Monday) marks the start of a two-week effort to feed the needy in Iowa called “Haul Out Hunger.” The state’s largest pork producer will be filling freezers at food banks, pantries, schools and churches. Allyson Ladd, spokeswoman for the Iowa Falls-based Iowa Select Farms, says they’ll be delivering boneless pork loins by the ton. “School is out for summer so food pantry supplies are at an all-time low,” Ladd says. “We schedule our donations so that it’s timely and so these pantries can have access to fresh, high-quality, protein-packed products like pork when families need it most.”
Ladd says the total donation will be around 60-thousand pounds of pork, or about 30 tons. “The pantries really appreciate the five-pound pork loins we donate,” Ladd says. “From each pork loin, families are going to get about 24 servings of pork, so when it’s all said and done, we’ll have donated about 292,000 servings of pork for families in need here in Iowa.”
The effort is also being made possible by the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. The pork is being delivered through July 2nd. Deliveries at many of the food pantries will be live-streamed on the Iowa Select Farms Facebook page.
(Radio Iowa)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Republicans have picked a state agriculture secretary nominee, but it didn’t come easy. The Des Moines Register reports that incumbent Mike Naig was selected Saturday at the Iowa GOP state convention after four rounds of voting. After each round, the bottom candidate was dropped from the ballot. In the last round, Naig topped Corning farmer Ray Gaesser.
Naig nearly won the five-candidate June 5 primary, coming up a fraction of a percentage point short of reaching the 35 percent threshold needed to secure the nomination. That left the matter to be decided at the convention, where a candidate needs 50 percent plus one vote to win. Naig has served in the position since March after the departure of longtime agriculture secretary Bill Northey, who took a job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Naig faces Democrat Tim Gannon in the November general election.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have launched another investigation into the suspected misuse of public money by an employee at an Iowa soil and water conservation district. The latest case involves the Jasper County district in Newton. A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship tells The Associated Press the agency was notified May 25 about concerns involving a district employee’s use of funding, which were discovered during an audit of the district’s financial records. State Auditor Mary Mosiman and law enforcement officials are now looking into the case.
A similar audit and criminal investigation have been going on for months into an employee who allegedly misused funds while working as an assistant in the soil districts based in Black Hawk and Bremer counties.
A 2014 audit found that an employee in the Mahaska County district embezzled $280,000.
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