Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency report the danger of fire spreading is getting much greater this week. They ask fire stations and participating businesses to place your Fire Danger notification signs into the HIGH category. Authorities say persons planning a controlled burn to “Plan your burn in advance and talk to your local Fire Chief before you start a fire that may be harder to control than anticipated.”

The extended cold spring weather has many people looking to get outside and active at the first sign of a warm day. Iowa D-N-R River Programs Outreach Coordinator Tom Robertson is worried some people may be in too big a hurry to get out on the water. “We’ve had such a long, drawn out winter that the water has never been given a chance to heat up at all. We’ve had no consistent warm days,” Robertson explains. “The big worry right now is people with the spring fidgets who’ve been cooped up all winter just want to get out on the water as quick as possible.”

Just having the sun’s rays poke through the clouds and the air temperatures rising is not enough to warm the water. “They see the first 60-degree day come along and they think that is the perfect time to go paddling. But they need to remember that the water is freezing,” Robertson says. Water temperatures need to be up in the 70’s to make it safe. “I don’t know exactly what the temperature is — but I do know a good guess is probably in the mid 40s — and that is ice water. So that’s definitely cold enough to cause hypothermia,” according to Robertson. “And then you’ve got to factor in what the air temperature is. It’s pretty cool, it’s been very windy. All that combined is a very, very, dangerous thing.”

He says cold temperatures can combine with inexperience and improper equipment to become deadly. “If you don’t have a wet suit and you don’t have a dry suit and if you don’t have the proper boat control skills — that is we are recommending that people just wait until it warms up a little bit before they head out onto the water,” Robertson says. There’s also issue with the uncertainty of water levels. He says it depends on which stream you are on as some are running, normal, some low and some are running high, depending on where you are in the state. “Our precipitation recently has just been so scattered that it’s just really hard to tell. It’s something you have to plan for and look out.”

Robertson says it’s just not worth it to risk you safety right now. “Right now it’s just too darn cold to be messing around with kayaking and paddling , I think until it warms up a little bit. And it’s going to take several weeks of consistently warm temperatures and sunshine to get that water heated back up,” Robertson says.  He says if you need something to do while you wait you should take the time to check your canoe or kayak for any needed repairs or maintenance. Look for holes and leaks, make sure all hatch lids fit snug and securely and check your paddle blades for signs of cracking or splitting. Dust off your life jacket and make sure all buckles and zippers work properly and look for holes and tears. Replace the life jacket if it has damage that cannot be repaired.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of bankers shows that concerns over a trade war have hurt confidence in the economy in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says weak farm income continues to weigh on the rural economy, but that the survey in recent months shows the economy is trending upward.

The overall Rural Mainstreet index slipped slightly to 53.5 in April from 54.7 in March. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy in the months ahead, while a score below 50 indicates a shrinking economy.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

Republicans on the U.S. House Ag Committee have approved their preferred version of the next Farm Bill. It includes a proposal from Iowa Congressman Steve King that attempts to stop state-level regulations on food grown or raised in another state. “For example, California’s cage-size regulations (mean) we have inspectors from California that are now traveling around Iowa with their tape measurers and measuring the cage sizes of our laying hens in Iowa,” King said. “We have states that have prohibited gestation crates…They prohibit the importation of, into their state, of meat that is produced in a fashion that they disapprove.”

King says states have every right to impose regulations on how farmers within their borders may farm, but he says having officials in one state dictate farming regulations in another state is wrong. “And that goes on with stalls for veal calves and the prohibition to feeding ducks and geeze for foie gras liver,” King said. “And it’s getting worse.”

King says the Farm Bill can help clarify that congress has the sole authority to regulate inter-state commerce, including agricultural commodities and food products. “Pre-empt some really bad things that are coming down the pike,” King told his colleagues on the House Ag Committee. “…It’ll be worse if we don’t do this now.”

King says without action, Iowa’s farmers will be “held hostage to the demands of California’s vegan lobby” and regulations adopted by California’s state government. King authored a similar proposal for the last Farm Bill, but it was not included in the final version. Critics of King’s proposal say it will “preempt states’ ability to enact laws that protect public health, the environment, and consumers.” Others argue laws in Arizona, California and Minnesota that prohibit the false advertising of foods as kosher could be jeopardized.

(Radio Iowa)

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports the Fire Danger Index will be in the Moderate category through this weekend. Continue to call your local fire department before conducting an open/controlled burn.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Forecasters say minor flooding is expected following the spring storm that dumped several inches of snow on most of northern Iowa. Up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow was reported Thursday in Winnebago County after Wednesday’s storm moved through the state. Other spots reported less.

The National Weather Service issued a warning early this (Thursday) morning for the Cedar River at Cedar Falls. The water was nearing flood stage of 88 feet (27 meters) and is forecast to crest 18 inches (46 centimeters) above flood stage Tuesday evening. Flooding in a corner of Tourist Park is likely.

Minor flooding also is expected along the Winnebago River in Mason City, the Rock River at Rock Rapids, the Ocheyedan River near Spencer and the Little Sioux River at Cherokee,

w/Denny Heflin.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

DES MOINES, Iowa – The 2018 Farm Bill is now headed to the House floor in Washington after Wednesday’s approval by the GOP-controlled House Agriculture Committee on a party-line vote. In addition to requiring new work and job requirements from those who receive food stamps, sustainable farming advocates say the bitterly contested bill would eliminate programs that help farmers get their products to market and undermine successful investments that have helped create more resilient farms. Policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Greg Fogel, says the current farm bill is more extreme than other farm bills in attacking sustainable agricultural programs.

“There’s definitely a certain vision behind this farm bill and it’s not one that puts small and mid-sized farms or diversified agriculture or organic agriculture or beginning farmers or the environment front and center,” says Fogel. The Agriculture Committee is asking Congress to vote on the Farm Bill by early May. The Farm Bill was drafted by Republicans without input from Democrats. House Speaker Paul Ryan has hailed the bill as a “critical component” of the House Republican agenda. The Farmers Union opposed the bill and called for language to provide more funding for working lands and energy programs.

The bill would eliminate the nation’s 70-million-acre Conservation Stewardship Program, with cuts to incentive programs that help protect water quality, conserve soil and build resilience to floods and drought. Fogel says it also would eliminate investment in programs that connect farmers with new local customers. “It’s more extreme than any other farm bill in the past, in its attack on these sustainable ag programs,” says Fogel. “You see these programs working every day in communities, and this bill would end all that.” The Farm Bill also adds new work and job-training requirements for recipients of the nation’s nutrition assistance program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. If passed, workers in their 50s would be ineligible to receive food assistance if they are not working 20 hours a week or participating in an approved training program.

(Iowa News Service)

Many Iowa farmers are anxious to start their spring field work, but Mother Nature has other ideas, with recent snowfalls and continued cold weather. Iowa State University Extension crops specialist Joel DeJong says due to the frigid soil temperatures, farmers are limited on what they can do. “I’ve heard of a little manure being hauled, but past that, very little other activity out in the fields,” DeJong says. “I’m not sure it’s really been fit for the activities to go on. We know it’s going to take a little while for that soil to warm up. It’s going to take a few days of average to above-average temperatures to get us there.”

DeJong says soil temperatures need to be at least 50 degrees — and climbing — for suitable growing conditions for corn and soybeans, and we’re nowhere near that. “Soil temperatures are still in the low 30s, just over 32 degrees, and actually looking at temperatures all the way at our sites that measure to 50 inches, it’s only about 35 to 36 degrees at 50 inches,” DeJong says. “That’s a big chunk of slab of soil that we’re going to have to warm up before it’s really fit for the crop growth.” If we would start having outside air temperatures in the 60s for a period of about a week, we may begin to see the soil temperatures rise enough to germinate corn seeds. However, DeJong says farmers may be lacking in patience.

“We’re probably not going to see people wait that long, because more than likely, if we had that scenerio, we’re going to be drier, so, we’re going to see a lot of those other activities start,” he says. “There’s a few producers that probably will, if it’s early next week, that’s typically the week that most people really want to get going and going hard. So, if the soil conditions are fit, they’re going to go out there and plant and they’re are just going to trust that it’s going to warm up.”  He notes, the good news farmers can take away about this year’s field conditions is that we do have either adequate — or surplus — levels of moisture.

(Radio Iowa)

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A county zoning board in northeast Iowa has approved a 35-turbine wind farm despite heated opposition from neighbors who raised health and property value concerns. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the Black Hawk County Planning and Zoning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend the approval of the Washburn Wind Energy project, which is being developed by RPM Access south of Waterloo. Area residents are concerned about the project’s impact on their health, wildlife and property values.

RPM Access Spokesman Felix Friedman says the company has taken steps to reduce the project’s impact on surrounding property owners. He says the concerns of negative health impacts and property value loss don’t have scientific merit. The county Board of Adjustment is expected to make the final decision on the issue next week.