Several Iowa state parks are hosting spring clean-up events to get ready for the summer season this April and May. Events will be tailored to each park’s needs and could include activities such as litter and branch pick-up, painting, trail work, and clipping back limbs and plants. Todd Coffelt, State Parks bureau chief, says “We greatly appreciate the time and energy our volunteers provide to help take care of Iowa’s parks. Even if you haven’t visited one of these parks, we invite you to come out for an event and spend time outdoors lending a hand.”

Here are some of the (local) state park volunteer events for April and May:

• Lake Anita State Park, Cass County – April 20, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. Join a DNR naturalist on an earth hike to pick up litter. Participants can also make plant pots from recycled newspaper to plant milkweed seeds and take home. Meet in the campground near the popcorn stand. Contact Anne Riordan at (641) 747-8383.
• Springbrook State Park, Guthrie County – April 21, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Help remove weeds and a newly established pollinator plot. Activities that day will also celebrate Earth Day week, including art projects and family activities. Meet at the campground gazebo. Contact Anne Riordan at (641) 747-8383.

Kellerton, Iowa – The first rhythmic and haunting cooing begins as the night sky fades and sunrise begins. The short grass prairie booming grounds prepares for a display found nowhere else in Iowa. This is prairie chicken country and on April 7, it will be the 15th Annual Prairie Chicken Day at the Kellerton Wildlife Management Area, in Ringgold County. Activities originate from the viewing platform on 300th Avenue, southwest of Kellerton. The annual ritual begins as early as mid-March and lasts through April. Male prairie chickens meet at the booming grounds every morning to display, spar and fight with other males trying to catch the eye of the females watching nearby.

“They will be out there until 8 or so, when they begin to slow down,” said Stephanie Shepherd, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Diversity Program. She said there are typically 20-40 birds that use the lek at Kellerton, and they will display each morning regardless of the weather. The area has an elevated viewing platform to help see all the action. “Some mornings you can hear them and some you can’t. They are out there every day, but are less active if it’s raining or really cloudy,” she said.  While there will be some spotting scopes available to use, attendees are encouraged to bring their own or a set of binoculars.

The prairie chicken population at Kellerton has benefited from a collaboration between the states of Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, and the Nature Conservancy, Blank Park Zoo and the Ringgold County Conservation Board. The collaboration extended to area producers who help to manage 30 percent of the grasslands through grazing. Some of the partners captured and relocated prairie chickens from Nebraska to the Kellerton area and the Dunn Ranch in northern Missouri to increase bird numbers and introduce new genetics to the population. While others worked to reestablish the rolling grasslands in the area.

“There has been a lot of collaboration to improve the landscape across the state line to recreate 160,000 acres of rolling hills of grass with few trees,” Shepherd said. “This partnership benefits not only the prairie chicken, but other grassland species as well.” One grassland species in particular, the Henslow’s sparrow, has benefited from this partnership. The Henslow’s sparrow is listed as a state threatened species in Iowa but the population at Kellerton is so large the area has been recognized as globally important for this species.

Officials with the East Pottawattamie County Extension service said Monday, the Pottawattamie County Fair is now accepting applications for the 2018 Pottawattamie County Fair Queen and Junior Fair Queen.  All area youth ages 13-15 who are an active member of a service organization in the community may compete for Junior Fair Queen.  All area youth ages 16-21 who are an active member of a service organization in the community may compete for Fair Queen.

The 2018 Pottawattamie County Fair Queen and Junior Fair Queen will be crowned during Family Night at the Pottawattamie County Fair in Avoca, Iowa on Thursday, July 19, 2018.  The crowned 2018 Fair Queen will represent East Pottawattamie County at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa in August to compete for the 2018 Iowa State Fair Queen.

All candidates must complete an application, which can be found on our website, www.iastate.edu/eastpottawattamie along with a list of rules and expectations.  All queen candidates will go through an interview process with judges prior to crowning.  Applications are due to the East Pottawattamie County Extension Office, 321 Oakland Avenue, Oakland, Iowa by 5:00pm on May 15^th.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency says the outdoor Fire Danger Index will remain in the LOW category, through at least Thursday. Soil moisture is sufficient to keep controlled burns under control. Please be sure and notify your local fire chief, if you plan to conduct an outdoor burn, though, just in case things get out of control. The next update on burning conditions will be on Thursday.

BEIJING (AP) — China raised import duties on a $3 billion list of U.S. pork, apples and other products today (Monday), in an escalating dispute with Washington over trade and industrial policy.
The government of President Xi Jinping said it was responding to a U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum. But that is just one facet of sprawling tensions with Washington, Europe and Japan over a state-led economic model they complain hampers market access, protects Chinese companies and subsidizes exports in violation of Beijing’s free-trade commitments.

Already, companies are looking ahead to a bigger fight over U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval of higher duties on up to $50 billion of Chinese goods in response to complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Forecasters say the impact of Monday’s move should be limited, but investors worry the global recovery might be set back if other governments respond by raising import barriers.

The tariffs “signal a most unwelcome development, which is that countries are becoming protectionist,” said economist Taimur Baig of DBS Group. But in commercial terms, they are “not very substantial” compared with China’s $150 billion in annual imports of U.S. goods, he said. Monday’s tariff increase will hit American farm states, many of which voted for Trump in 2016. Beijing is imposing a 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork and aluminum scrap and 15 percent on sparkling wine, steel pipe used by oil and gas companies, and an array of fruits and nuts including apples, walnuts and grapes. American farm exports to China in 2017 totaled nearly $20 billion, including $1.1 billion of pork products.

There was no indication whether Beijing might exempt Chinese-owned American suppliers such as Smithfield Foods, the biggest U.S. pork producer, which is ramping up exports to China. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday on the television show “Fox and Friends” that Trump was “going to fight back and he’s going to push back.” Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said China’s “subsidization and continued overcapacity” were the root cause of low steel prices that have hurt U.S. producers. The dispute reflects the clash between Trump’s promise to narrow the U.S. trade surplus with China — a record $375.2 billion last year — and Beijing’s ambitious plans to develop Chinese industry and technology.

Ten Iowa youth organizations will receive funding from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH) for a farm safety project.  Since 1999, I-CASH has designated funds for Iowa youth groups to promote farm safety awareness in their local communities.  The grants are awarded to the proposals that show the highest involvement by youth in the planning and carrying out of the project. Among this year’s grant recipients locally, is the Shelby County 4-H Youth Council, and the Ida County Farm Bureau. Since 1999, I-CASH has awarded 155 grants, investing more than $140,000 in youth safety projects.

According to I-CASH director Brandi Janssen, this year was especially competitive.  She said “We were pleased to have nineteen applicants, it’s exciting to have such interest in the grants.  I just wish we could fund more projects.” Ten groups received $500 to carry out their project.  Several of the projects are Farm Safety Days that will teach elementary students about electrical hazards, livestock safety, chemical safety, ATVs, and other topics related to rural safety and health.  In Shelby County, members of the 4-H County Youth Council will do a presentation at Farm Safety Day in June on the prevention and treatment of animal bites and insect stings. All youth participants will receive a 1st aid kit. A video of the presentation will be made available on the Shelby County Extension and Outreach website. Youth groups ranging from 4-H to FFA to County Farm Bureau groups were represented.

At the end of the season, grant applicants will submit a final evaluation that will again be judged by the grant selection committee.  One group will be awarded the “Outstanding Youth Grant Award,” which carries another $500 in funding and a trip to the Midwest Rural and Agricultural Safety and Health Conference (MRASH), which will be held in Council Bluffs, IA this November.

For more information about the Youth Grant program, go to www.i-cash.org.

Cass County: Corn $3.33, Beans $9.60
Adair County: Corn $3.30, Beans $9.63
Adams County: Corn $3.30, Beans $9.59
Audubon County: Corn $3.32, Beans $9.62
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $3.36, Beans $9.60
Guthrie County: Corn $3.35, Beans $9.64
Montgomery County: Corn $3.35, Beans $9.62
Shelby County: Corn $3.36, Beans $9.60

Oats $2.33 (always the same in all counties)

(Information from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency offices)

Whatever their religious beliefs, many thousands of Iowans enjoy coloring, decorating, hiding and eating eggs on the Easter holiday — but egg prices have cracked the two-dollar mark in recent weeks and it’s no yolk. Shayle Shagam is a livestock analyst for the U-S-D-A and says wholesale prices on eggs are up significantly. “They’re running about $2.27 a dozen compared to about 94-cents a dozen last year,” Shagam says. “Easter is coming a couple of weeks earlier this year so you’ve pushed that normal demand period forward somewhat.” Iowa is the nation’s top egg producer, with roughly 60-million laying hens producing nearly 15-billion eggs per year. Annemarie Kuhns, an economist with the U-S-D-A, says grocery store prices are reflecting the big rise in wholesale prices.

“The average price per dozen is now $1.76,” Kuhns says. Shagam says egg production has increased, but demand is coming sooner than usual, which is forcing producers to change up their schedules. “You would tend to bring on young chickens and you would tend to keep some of your older chickens,” Shagam says. “Both of those are are probably not going to be at their optimal rate of lay and to some extent, that could be providing a little bit of a constraint on the production of eggs.” Shagam says if you shop around, you’ll likely find egg specials. Also, he notes prices will likely fall after tomorrow (Sunday), once demand drops.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Corn has been dethroned as the king of crops as farmers report they intend to plant more soybeans than corn for the first time in 35 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its annual prospective planting report released Thursday that farmers intend to plant 89 million acres in soybeans and 88 million acres in corn.

The primary reason is profitability. Corn costs much more to plant because of required demands for pest and disease control and fertilizer. When the profitability of both crops is close, farmers bet on soybeans for a better return.

The only year that soybean acres beat corn in recent memory was 1983, when the government pushed farmers to plant fewer acres to boost prices in the midst of the nation’s worst farm crisis.

w/Beth.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS