The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports the Local Fire Danger index will remain Moderate, through Monday.  Officials say with the incoming rain, they expect to discontinue the Spring Fire Danger posting next week, due to increased green up, and more moisture predicted.

w/Denny Heflin.

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Iowa beef producers are touting their industry throughout the month of May as part of beef month activities. The Iowa Beef Center based at Iowa State University recently conducted an economic impact study on the state’s beef industry. Center director Dan Loy says the industry has been gaining ground here in the last decade. “In the early 1980’s there was a significant loss of cattle feeding numbers in Iowa to the plains states,” Loy says, “but in the last ten years, we’ve seen a gradual steady increase of market share for cattle on feed numbers moving from the Southern Plains to the Upper Midwest.”

He says the a resurgence is due in part to the growing ethanol industry and better competitiveness with the an abundance of ethanol by-products to feed to cattle. “But then in addition to that, I think an increase demand for high quality beef is something we’ve seen nationwide. Iowa certainly backs up its reputation as a state that produces a significant number of high quality beef,” according to Loy. Loy worked with Agricultural Economist Lee Schultz and determined the state’s beef industry is responsible for generating six-point-three billion dollars in revenue for the state. “Its certainly important to the state of Iowa. It ranks among the major commodities, and in northwest Iowa, interestingly — Sioux and Lyon county alone …beef resents approximately a one billion dollars of economic activity there,” Loy says.

He says the industry is responsible for around 32-thousand jobs. “Those are the direct jobs, or direct and indirect for both the cattle and slaughter and processing,” Loy says, “but it doesn’t include the jobs that are created by cattle marketed outside the state of Iowa. About 75 percent of the cattle are marketed outside the state of Iowa. We send a lot of cattle to Nebraska and a lot of cattle to Illinois as well.”

Loy says consumer demand for beef been on the rise again in both the domestic market, and the international export trade. He says check-off dollars spent on the “Beef, its what’s for dinner” campaign has assisted with that increase of demand for beef.

(Radio Iowa)

The leader the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says some good things came out of a White House meeting on ethanol Tuesday– but there are still some things that remain unsettled. I-R-F-A executive director Monte Shaw says the reports he got on the meeting from Iowa’s two U-S Senators was positive in one area. “There was some very good news,” Shaw says, “the president did agree to authorize the sale of E-15 year-round. That was talked about before, that was stated very clearly in the meeting and even (Texas Senator) Ted Cruz tweeted about that part of the meeting accurately. So, that’s something that we can take away from this.”

Shaw says there now needs to be action on the E-15 issue. “We need to see ’em do it, they need to get that process going,” Shaw says. One of the issues that Shaw says was left unresolved is handling the credits given to refineries for blending ethanol with gasoline that are commonly known as RINS. Shaw says Senator Cruz brought up a plan to let refineries get the credits for ethanol that is exported to count toward the gallons required under the Renewable Fuels Standard.

“It’s awfully hard for me to imagine how a program like that could even function number one — let alone be good for us,” Shaw says. “If you start allowing exported gallons of renewable fuels to count toward the R-F-S, it’s just gallon-for-gallon demand destruction. Every gallon we export is a gallon they don’t have to blend here in the United States.” Shaw says the reports he’s gotten indicate things should be moving the right way for ethanol.

“From what we’ve been told, everybody in that room from the president all the way down to Ted Cruz was on the same page that the president was going to move forward on E-15 year round sales. That is excellent news,”according to Shaw. “They all agreed — despite Cruz promoting this — that there was not going to be any type of RIN cap or R-F-S waiver scheme of the type that he was promoting. That is good news,” Shaw says.

He says another issue is the ethanol exemptions that were intended to help small refineries deal with the ethanol blend mandate that were given to large refineries. Shaw says Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and E-P-A Administrator Scott Pruit are exploring that situation and will report back. “That was I would say an outstanding discussion that was not finalized and we have to now see what E-P-A Administrator Pruit and U-S-D-A Secretary Perdue come back with . They were charged with coming up with a plan that would deal with small refinery exemptions,” Shaw says.

He says the outcome could go either way. “They could come up with a plan that we could support and that’d be great. Or they might come up with a plan that says ‘hey we’re just going to do these export RINS’ — and that would be horrible and we would oppose that. So, we’ll just have to wait and see and the story continues,” Shaw explains.

Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing nearly four-point-four (4.4) billion gallons annually.

(Radio Iowa)

w/Kate Olson.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators say President Donald Trump will allow year-round sales of renewable fuel with blends of 15 percent ethanol as part of an emerging deal to make changes to the federal ethanol mandate.

The Environmental Protection Agency currently bans the 15-percent blend, called E15, during the summer because of concerns that it contributes to smog on hot days. Gasoline typically contains 10 percent ethanol. Farm-state lawmakers have pushed for greater sales of the higher ethanol blend to boost demand for the corn-based fuel.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley is calling the proposed deal good news for farmers and drivers alike.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says the deal will save the jobs of thousands of blue-collar workers at refineries in Texas, Pennsylvania and other states.

AMES, Iowa  (May 8, 2018) — Landus Cooperative today (Tuesday) announced it has signed an asset purchase agreement with ADM to acquire ADM’s grain facility in Manilla, Iowa. Under the purchase agreement, Landus Cooperative gains more than 2.3 million bushels of grain capacity for its first wholly-owned Crawford County, Iowa location including

·         775,000 bushels of upright storage

·         More than 1.5 million bushels of bunker storage

·         32,000 bushel per hour receiving capacity

Pending final documentation, Landus Cooperative is slated to take possession June 1, 2018. Milan Kucerak, chief executive officer for Ames, Iowa- based Landus Cooperative said in a news release, “This Manilla, Iowa site is a strategic purchase for Landus Cooperative and farmers in western Iowa,” explained . “While this grain asset has been well cared for, we expect to improve efficiency on behalf of the customer utilizing best practices from our nearly 60 grain locations in Iowa. Our domestic and international grain end-users continue to demand high-quality corn and soybeans, and we know Crawford County, Iowa farmers can help meet that demand.”

Under terms of the purchase agreement, ADM and Landus Cooperative plan to honor all outstanding grain contracts. Landus Cooperative also plans to host a grower meeting shortly after final documents are signed, and the facility changes ownership. According to the North American Grain & Milling Annual ranking of the largest grain companies in North America based on storage, ADM ranks 2nd and Landus Cooperative ranks 6th.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Although spring storms initially slowed spring planting progress in Iowa and Nebraska, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports farmers have nearly caught up to five-year averages in the past week.

Iowa farmers have 40 percent of the corn crop planted, about three days behind the average at this point in the season. Three percent of corn plants have emerged, a slower pace than the five-year average of 9 percent.

The USDA said Monday in its weekly crop update that Iowa soybean planting is at the average of 12 percent completed. Farmers in Nebraska have 42 percent of the corn planted, near the 46 percent average. About 2 percent of the plants emerged behind the five-year average of 10 percent. Soybean planting is slightly ahead of schedule with 16 percent completed.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports the grassland/field fire Danger Index will be in the “Moderate” category, this week. Persons wanting to conduct an open burn on their property should pay attention to the weather conditions (Including wind direction), and notify their local fire chief of your intentions.  The next update on the danger index will be Thursday morning.

Spring has finally arrived, and just in time for the annual Cass County Master Gardener Plant Sale! The sale is being held at the Cass County Community Center north parking lot, Saturday, May 12 beginning at 8 AM and lasting until the plants are gone. Cost is a free will offering for most plants.

The sale consists of perennial flowers and plants from local Master Gardeners’ own beds- hostas, iris, yarrow, sedum and day lilies, to name a few. Plant selection changes each year depending on what is being dug and divided by our gardeners! The plants this year may be a little smaller due to a late spring, but should be hardy and catch up in no time. All plants will be labeled with information on color, height, and shade vs sun preference, to assist you in finding the perfect spot to plant them in your own landscape.

Besides perennials there will be books from the 2018 Spring Garden Seminar available for purchase; authored by our garden seminar presenter, J. Schwanke, these would make great Mother’s day gifts. There will also be yard art, garden supplies, and other garden books to buy.

It’s recommended that you come in the first hour for best selection, as plants go fast! Cass County Master Gardeners use funds from the plant sale to support their scholarships and community grants, as well as projects they do around the county each year. For more information on the sale, you can find a flier at the Cass County Extension office, or on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.

You can also call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email xcass@iastate.edu. Mark your calendar now, and plan to join the Cass County Master Gardeners for their annual Plant Sale on May 12, from 8 AM until the plants are gone!