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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!
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Labor, public health, environment and animal protection organizations are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reject plans to change the way hogs are slaughtered and processed for meat.
Thirty-five organizations, including Compassion Over Killing, Friends of the Earth and Waterkeeper Alliance, asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Tuesday to reject the rules proposed last month.
The rules allow plant employees instead of government inspectors to determine which animals are slaughtered and allow increased line speeds. The groups say the changes risk increased food contamination, worker injuries, animal abuse and water pollution.
The USDA says the rules don’t risk food safety and improve industry practices, and the National Pork Producers says they increase efficiency, inspection effectiveness and the rapid adoption of new food-safety technologies.
The USDA is taking comments until April 2.
Despite many challenges in the ag industry, the new president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says he looks forward to the opportunities ahead in 2018. Gregg Hora (HORE-uh) of Fort Dodge replaces the retiring president Curtis Meier, of Clarinda. Hora says this is an exciting era to be raising hogs in Iowa. “The pork industry has been changing with the times, modernizing our facilities, the way that we house our pigs, the efficiencies and the health status of what we do with our pigs in the barns,” Hora says. “Part of that in this structured change is worker safety and worker productivity. We have new technologies that we’re implementing on the farms.”
One of his primary objectives is making more improvements across the industry in the year ahead. “Some of our goals have to do with continued training and education of our members from the environmental perspective, what we do around our farms and what we do around our pig buildings,” Hora says. “The PQA or pork quality assurance and the trucker quality assurance or TQA are two important aspects that we do with all of our farm workers.”
Hora says it’s vital that pork producers are good neighbors in their communities, calling the pork industry the bedrock of rural Iowa. He says the state’s pork industry continues to have annual growth of two-to-three percent which he calls a job creator. We always talk about efficiencies as an important aspect but consistent improvement is another aspect,” Hora says. “Iowa Pork, along with a number of different ag organizations, continue to have leadership training programs where we’re talking about quality improvements.”
Hora is a contract grower with three finishing sites in Webster County. He finishes 25-thousand hogs per year and raises corn and soybeans on nearly 2,000 acres. He is also the president for the Webster County Pork Producers.
(Radio Iowa)
EAGLE GROVE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities have punished a north-central Iowa egg facility for allowing wastewater to reach a creek. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the Department of Natural Resources said Daybreak Foods Inc. must pay an administrative penalty of $5,500.
The department says a heavy rain in August washed a recent field application of wastewater into the creek near the facility in rural Eagle Grove. The company has a permit to spread the wastewater but can’t let it run into surface waters.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that redirects existing money toward voluntary water quality programs in Iowa. Reynolds signed the bill Wednesday at the state Capitol, marking her first bill signed as governor. The law is expected to redirect $282 million over 12 years from an infrastructure fund and water tax. Research shows it would cost billions of dollars to effectively clean Iowa’s waterways, in large part blamed on farm runoff.
The law doesn’t mandate comprehensive water quality metrics and excludes benchmark improvement goals. Environmental groups argue that lessens the impact. State agriculture officials counter that existing water quality programs rely on extensive research from a voluntary state-backed initiative.
Reynolds says the bill is a first step. It’s unclear if other water-related legislation will advance this session.
Montgomery County Extension and Outreach will offer the Commercial Ag Weed, Insect and Plant Disease Management Continuing Instruction Course (CIC) for commercial pesticide applicators Tuesday, February 13, 2018. The program will be shown at locations across Iowa through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP). The local attendance site is 400 Bridge St. Ste 2, Red Oak, IA. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the course runs from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The registration fee is $35 on or before Feb. 6 and $45 after Feb. 6. To register or to obtain additional information about the CIC, contact Angela Silva at the ISU Extension and Outreach office in Montgomery County by phoning 712-623-2592.
The course will provide continuing instruction credit for commercial pesticide applicators certified in categories 1A, 1B, 1C, and 10. Topics covered will include information on equipment calibration and safe application techniques, pesticide drift reduction, phytotoxicity, pesticide stewardship, and pest management. Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) Continuing Education Units (CEUs) in Integrated Pest Management will be offered at this program. Interested participants should bring their CCA number.
Additional information and registration forms for this and other courses offered by the PSEP program can be accessed at www.extension.iastate.edu/PSEP/ComAp.html.
(Clarification/correction)The City of Audubon will featured during a 15-second Cenex commercial during the Super Bowl. The spot was shown last Saturday night, during the annual Audubon Chamber of Commerce Banquet, auction and awards program. Filming the spot occurred in mid-November on location, in Audubon, and prominently features Albert the Bull, along with some local citizens.
Albert the Bull was spiffed-up prior to shooting the Cenex spot.
There is also a 5-minute tribute You Tube video for viewing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llKOk_AA02A
For the past nineteen years, the Cass County Master Gardeners have invited garden enthusiasts to learn about gardening through a daylong seminar of breakout sessions and hands on activities. 2018 marks the 20th year that the Cass County Master Gardeners will host a spring session on gardening, and the group is celebrating the milestone with a new format, new location and a prominent keynote presenter. This year’s event, “GROW-Weaving Plants Throughout Your Life” will feature celebrity author and award-winning speaker, J Schwanke. Schwanke is a 4th generation florist, host and creator of “Fun with Flowers and J”, and a frequent guest on P. Allen Smith’s “Garden Home.” Regarded as the most trusted voice in the flower industry, J is the CEO of uBloom.com, the first online community for flower fans.
Cass County Master Gardener and event chairperson Lori Reid says “For our 20th year, we wanted to do something different that everyone would enjoy,” says . “J is just as entertaining as he is informative. J has two books published and his own show ‘Life in Bloom’ on PBS. Everyone will complete the day with a smile as he shares his passion for flowers.”
J. Schwanke
“GROW-Weaving Plants Throughout Your Life” will be held on Saturday, March 17th at the Cass County Community Center and will open with keynote “How to Create Your Own Life in Bloom” by J Schwanke. Another new feature this year will be 80 minutes of “lightning learning” where attendees will have the opportunity to rotate between demonstrations on a variety of garden topics. A catered luncheon will be served while conference-goers enjoy a dessert demonstration by Janine Knop, aka “Miss Nini,” local baking celebrity and owner of Miss Nini’s Fine Desserts. Attendees will enjoy one of the featured desserts with their meal. A second presentation by J Schwanke entitled “Fun with Flowers” will complete the day.
Cost for the day, including continental breakfast, lunch and all session, will be $35. A schedule and registration form will be finalized soon, and available at the Cass County Extension office, or online at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass. Previous attendees who received a “save the date” postcard in the mail will also receive a brochure with registration form in the mail. For more information, call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email xcass@iastate.edu. Mark your calendars now for March 17th and plan to join the Cass County Master Gardeners for the 20th Annual Spring Garden Seminar- GROW!
After two major livestock diseases ravaged Iowa’s poultry and hog industries in recent years, state and federal officials are asking farmers to prepare for future outbreaks, even for viruses not yet found in North America. Three illnesses they’re most worried about wouldn’t sicken humans but could shut down meat exports, which Iowa producers depend on. Iowa State University veterinarian Jim Roth says farmers need to alert their vets as soon as animals get sick. He says early confirmation of a foreign, highly-contagious disease will be key. Roth says, “If we’re going to get it controlled, we have to do it in the first very few weeks to get it under control before it gets away from us.”
Officials have developed multi-step plans for farmers, veterinarians and government officials to prepare for and respond to a foreign animal disease. Foot and mouth disease, African swine fever and classical swine fever would not infect humans nor damage the food supply, but any of them could quickly spread through herds, causing massive economic impacts. While they keep an eye on where the diseases are in the world, Roth says there’s no way to know how a virus will get here. “It could come with people bringing in prohibited items, especially meat or meat products,” Roth says. “It could come from animals coming in or just trade. All of those containers that come in from all over the world could potentially be contaminated.”
Roth says feed was implicated but never confirmed as the source of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus several years ago. That one wasn’t as serious because it didn’t shut down export markets, but if one of these other diseases arrives, farmers could immediately see their overseas sales disappear. Roth recently presented a Secure Pork Supply Plan, developed over several years, to producers at the Iowa Pork Congress in Des Moines.
(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)
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