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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!
Chris Parks speaks with DNR Conservation Officer Grant Gelle about the great outdoors. Hunter education classes, dove season, teal season, and rabbit/squirrel season are topics this week.
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A new display honoring the memory of “Past Friends of the Farm” is installed by Mel Hursey (left) and Del Von Eschen, Shelby. Carstens 1880 Farmstead will be open for all to see during the 2017 edition of Carstens Farm Days which takes place September 9 & 10, 2017.
SHELBY – Iowa farm history will come to life September 9 & 10 at Carstens Farm during the 35th Annual Carstens Farm Days. Threshing, sawmill operations, crafters and vendors, a quilt show and of course, tractors. The Farm abounds with something for everyone throughout the weekend.
Horse, steam and gas power
Come see steam engines powering antique threshing machines, antique machinery, a parade, crafts, and entertainment. Over two hundred restored antique tractors will be on display. The original Carstens farm buildings will be open for tours. The buildings will be alive with demonstrations that will bring back memories for older visitors and teach valuable history lessons to young people.
Food for all
An evening pork loin sandwich dinner will be hosted by the Shelby Stone Arch Trail Committee. Proceeds of the Friday evening dinner will go to the trail committee.
All good days begin with a good breakfast and to start Farm Days off right, a pancake breakfast is planned at 6:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Snacks and lunch options will also be available. Various non-profit local groups will be offering refreshments and delicious desserts all weekend.
On Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. enjoy Staley’s Chicken for a delicious dinner at the farm. Proceeds from the dinner will go toward on-going maintenance at Carstens 1880 Farmstead.
John Deere Featured
John Deere GP & D will be the tractors featured during Farm Days. All John Deere tractors & equipment owners are invited to bring their exhibits to display throughout the weekend.
Horsepower-testing, sawmill operations and field demonstrations will occupy tractor exhibitors all day. Nearly 250 pieces of vintage equipment were on display during the 2016 Farm Days show. Visitors will enjoy watching most of the restored tractors as they go through the parade each afternoon at 2 p.m.
Quilt Show
A colorful display of quilts, wall hangings, wearable art and other types of quilting projects will be featured in the special event building at the farm. Many talented quilters from around the area will allow their works of art to be displayed for all to enjoy. Even if you have never displayed a quilt before, consider joining the fun and bringing a quilt to display. Exhibitors are asked to deliver their quilts on Friday, September 8. For details about the quilt show or to inquire about adding your quilt to the collection, please call Jan Hursey at 712-544-2662 or Marilyn Evans at 712-544-2266.
Raffle tickets for the beautiful hand-stitched quilt, which will be raffled during Farm Days will be available during the quilt show. This quilt, pieced by Marilyn Evans and Jan Hursey of Shelby, will be a featured part of the quilt show. “Area quilters added quilt blocks of their own creation to make this quilt,” says Jan Hursey, Shelby. “It is a one-of-a-kind, very special quilt. It’s a new version of a “neighborhood quilt’ that were quilted locally years ago.”
Crafts galore
In case visitors run out of vintage tractors and other pieces of equipment to look at, there will be over fifty crafters and vendors on hand. A wide array of crafts will be available. From unique wooden creations to homemade jams and jellies, there will be something for everyone.
A very healthy crop of farm-grown potatoes will also be available for purchase. Proceeds from the sale of potatoes will help make improvements to the farmstead.
Sunday Worship
On Sunday morning a non-denominational worship service will take place at 9:00 a.m. on the lawn in front of the Carstens home. Everyone is welcome to join in the worship service.
Admission
Admission is $5 per day for everyone nine years and older.
Now is the time for Seniors to get their America the Beautiful — The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Lifetime Senior Pass. The price of the pass is set to increase from $10 to $80 on August 28th as result of the National Park Service Centennial Act.
The Act will also raise the rate of an annual pass for senior citizens to $20. Four annual passes may be traded in for a lifetime pass at that point as well.
The price is being increased to better align with the regular lifetime pass price and to help fund upkeep and projects at parks across the country. The pass provides access to more than 2,000 recreation sites managed by six Federal agencies. The Senior Pass covers all entrance fees and standard amenity (day use) fees and may provide senior discounts for things such as tours or campsites. The pass also waives the entrance fee for traveling companions.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – This year’s Iowa State Fair set an attendance record, with more than 1.13 million people visiting the 11-day event in Des Moines.
The fair announced Monday the fair that wrapped up Sunday had an unofficial attendance of 1,130,071. That topped the previous record of 1,117,398 set in 2015.
The busiest day was Saturday, Aug. 12, when 120,833 visitors were counted at the fair.
The Iowa State Fair has been held since 1854. Next year’s fair will be held Aug. 9-19.
| (Washington, D.C., August 21, 2017) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced Tony Tooke will serve as the new Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Tooke has worked for the Forest Service since age 18 and currently is the Regional Forester for the Southern Region. Following the announcement, Secretary Perdue issued this statement:
“The Forest Service will be in good hands with the U.S. Forest Service’s own Tony Tooke whose knowledge of forestry is unmatched. Tony has been preparing for this role for his whole professional life, and at a time when we face active and growing fires, his transition into leadership will be seamless. He will oversee efforts to get our forests working again, to make them more productive, and to create more jobs. His focus will be on ensuring we are good neighbors and are managing our forests effectively, efficiently, and responsibly, as well as working with states and local governments to ensure the utmost collaboration. No doubt, the stewardship of our forests is an awesome and sacred responsibility, and no one knows that better than Tony who has dedicated his career to this noble cause,” said Secretary Perdue. Tony Tooke Biography: Tony Tooke is the Regional Forester for the Southern Region of the USDA Forest Service. Tooke has worked for the Forest Service since age 18, including many assignments in Region 8 and the Washington Office (WO). He is responsible for 3,100 employees, an annual budget exceeding $400 million, 14 national forests, and two managed areas, which encompass more than 13.3 million acres in 13 states and Puerto Rico. His previous position in Washington, DC was Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System; with oversight of Lands and Realty, Minerals and Geology, Ecosystem Management Coordination, Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers, the National Partnership Office, and Business Administration and Support Services. As Associate Deputy Chief, Tooke was the Forest Service Executive Lead for Environmental Justice; Farm Bill implementation; and implementation of the Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment Improvement Strategy. Another priority included implementation of a new planning rule for the National Forest System. Also in the WO, Tooke served as Director for Ecosystem Management Coordination, Deputy Director for Economic Recovery, and Assistant Director for Forest Management. Prior to 2006, Tooke served as Deputy Forest Supervisor for the National Forests in Florida as well as District Ranger assignments at the Talladega NF in Alabama, the Oconee NF in Georgia, and the DeSoto NF in Mississippi. His other field assignments were Timber Management Assistant, Other Resource Assistant, Silviculturist, and Forester on six Ranger Districts in Mississippi and Kentucky. Tooke grew up on a small 200-acre farm in Detroit, AL. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Mississippi State University. He was in the Forest Service’s inaugural class of the Senior Leadership Program, and he has completed the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. |
Rain has hopscotched through the state this week and Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says the precipitation is coming at a make-or-break time for soybeans. This is the time when the beans are forming inside the pods on soybean plants. “(For) a lot of those beans, that rain could make the difference between 20-bushel beans and 55-bushel beans,” Northey says.
In 2016, the average soybean yield in Iowa was 60 bushels per acre. A U-S-D-A report issued Thursday, concluded seven southern Iowa counties are now in “extreme drought.” Overall, 70 percent of the state is considered to have some level of drought conditions. Northey says “most of the state” needs a soaking rain. “I’m sure roots are using every last drop of water there is out there,” Northey says. “…It’s a pretty amazing thing to think you’ve got a kernel of seed corn that was planted the end of April and now it’s got a 10 or 12 foot stalk out there…I’ve talked to folks who’ve found roots eight foot deep, going after that moisture that we had this spring.”
LaVerne Arndt farms near Sac City in northwest Iowa, one of the driest spots in the state. “That July hot spell really cooked our crops,” Arndt says. “I think we’re looking at on corn a 50-75 percent loss from last year, which I understand was a really great year.”
But Arndt says his soybeans still have the potential for good yields with timely rains. Kurt Olson farms near Grand Mound in east-central Iowa. He say his crops are doing well. “We’ve been getting moisture where other people haven’t,” Olson says. “(Compared to) anywhere else I’ve been in Iowa, we look really good.”
Olson farms in Clinton County. Much of northeast Iowa where heavy rains and flash flooding hit recently is out of the drought zone. However, portions of Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Madison, Union, Warren and Wayne Counties are rated in “extreme drought” by the U-S-D-A’s latest report.
(Radio Iowa, w/Reporting by Ken Anderson of Brownfield Ag News)
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