More women are now actively engaged in agriculture in Iowa and other states than ever before. A group of women who farm aims to start conversations about the food they grow and how to protect our land. Ashley Pool, spokeswoman for CommonGround, says they want to spread the message about what is being done on the farm and how they’re always thinking of conservation of precious resources, especially our water.

“We use a lot of conservation pools that the USDA and NRCS teams up with us, they help us to learn the new trends that are going on,” Pool says. “We also use cover crops. We like to keep our nutrients in the soil. We don’t like our organic matter to blow away.”

Pool says CommonGround stresses the importance of technology that maximizes production while conserving resources and protecting the environment.  “We are farm women. We are moms,” Pool says. “We are not going to put anything into the soil, put anything into feed that’s GMO-related. We are not going to do anything that will harm our family, our soil. We want this to last generations.”

The average American is now at least three generations removed from the farm. Back in 1920, before the Great Depression struck, one in three Americans worked and lived on farms and ranches. Today that number is about one in 50. Pool was raised in the city and says her transition to the farm has been an exciting adventure.  “Coming from the city, I just want you to know that we are thinking about cities, we are trying to produce jobs,” she says. “We are trying to make sure that this sustains our nation.”

The change from a rural, agricultural nation to one that is mostly urban and industrialized has been constant over the past century in Iowa and elsewhere. She says farmers are the best stewards of natural resources.

(Radio Iowa w/Thanks to Karla James)

A company that’s been in Sioux City for over 20 years is hosting an event this weekend to honor the many farmers they’ve helped over those two decades. Wally Kuntz is the clinical manager for the Sioux City office of Clark and Associates Prosthetics and Orthotics. Kuntz says he grew up on a farm and knows how much pride farmers have in their work. But, it’s also a dangerous job.

“We’ve helped a lot of farmers in the area who suffer from amputation or limb loss,” Kuntz said. “We get them into well-fitting, comfortable prosthesis and get ’em back to working and farming.” Kuntz’s businesses is hosting an “appreciation dinner” for the farmers they’ve served Sunday night in Merrill.

“A lot of people don’t realize how many individuals, whether they’re a farmer or not, are walking around on a prosthetic device,” Kuntz said. The dinner, according to Kuntz, will honor those that push through their disability to stay on the farm. Clark and Associates has seven offices in Iowa. They’re located in Sioux City, Clive, Mason City, Marshalltown, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Dubuque.

(Radio Iowa)

Organizers of the world’s largest bacon festival, held every winter here in Iowa, are launching the first-ever bacon festival in Japan — in Iowa’s sister state of Yamanashi. Brooks Reynolds, chairman of the Iowa Bacon Board and co-founder of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, says they’re donating at least one-thousand pounds of Iowa bacon to jump-start the Japanese event in November.

“Twenty percent of Iowa pork is already sent to Japan. They’re one of the largest importers of Iowa pork,” Reynolds says. “We just thought why not try to do what we do here in Iowa — over there?” The Japan Bacon Festival will take place in Kofu, the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture on November 3rd. Those who attend will get to sample Japanese and American-style bacon. There will also be bacon-inspired contests, beverages, music, a chef exchange, and more. Reynolds says, “We’re going to have 20 different food vendors using bacon in various ways, whether it’s bacon yakitori, bacon ramen, or fun, interesting bacon sushi items.”

Japan Bacon Festival

The Iowans have launched successful bacon festivals elsewhere, including in Keystone, Colorado and in Reykjavik, Iceland. Reynolds says the large shipment of bacon to Japan will arrive with specialty cookbooks to assure the delicacy is prepared just right, a combination of crispy with a little bit of chewy. “I’m going over for 11 days so I’ll be in the Kofu area for a week, working with the various food vendors,” Reynolds says. “If they have any questions or need any help, hopefully I’ll teach them the right way to cook quality bacon.”

The popularity of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, held in downtown Des Moines, has continued growing exponentially year after year. “We started in 2008 with 200 people and for the first six years, we doubled, going from 200 to 400 to 800 to 2,000 to 4,000 to 8,000,” Reynolds says. “This year was our 10th year and we had 11,000 people from 40 states and seven different countries attend the largest bacon festival in the world.”

Next year’s bacon festival is set for February 17th at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The Japan Bacon Festival was inspired by a historic humanitarian effort in 1959. Japan was devastated by two huge typhoons and Iowa’s response was to airlift 36 breeding hogs and ship 100,000 bushels of corn to help with the recovery. The so-called Iowa Hog Lift is credited with setting the stage for Iowa and Yamanashi becoming Sister States by formal agreement, opening markets in Japan for U-S goods and services, and initiating agricultural cooperative programs between the two nations.

More info. at: www.blueribbonbaconfestival.com

(Radio Iowa)

Another mountain lion has been spotted in northwest Iowa — and this time it was captured on camera. A motion-sensor camera was set up by Aaron Anderson near the town of Linn Grove. He was hoping to film the movement of deer, but instead he caught a mountain lion in the images. He posted pictures on Facebook, leading to several posts from others who’d heard about the big cats and a couple of reported sightings, including one around the Linn Grove cemetery.

Vince Evelsizer, a D-N-R furbearer biologist based in Clear Lake, says he’s also seen the comments from people who want to shoot and kill the animal, but he hopes they won’t. “They’re not protected in Iowa however, so people can do what they want with them,” Evelsizer says. “Our recommendation is just to leave them be. They’re a wild animal that’s not causing any problems.” Some residents in Buena Vista and Clay counties expressed fears on social media about sending small kids out in rural areas to wait for the school bus.

Evelsizer says the children will be fine as cougars generally don’t want anything to do with people. “There’s times when they can be a threat to human safety or livestock but most of the time, mountain lions are not a threat to humans or livestock,” Evelsizer says. “They’re usually really secretive animals that feed on deer and other animals. They’re not something that goes around seeking people usually.”

In late June, a D-N-R officer killed a female mountain lion that had climbed into a tree on a farm near Galva. The D-N-R said it was the first confirmed female mountain lion in Iowa in more than a century. The animal was suspected of killing some cattle about 30 miles from where it was found and the agency reported it was only the fourth time a mountain lion had been killed in Iowa.

“It’s good to know that we have a mountain lion or two around and we will continue to monitor them,” Evelsizer says. “I would also say that people don’t really need to feel like they should change their habits. They should continue to enjoy the outdoors. It’s safe to spend time outdoors.”

Mountain lions that wander into Iowa generally come from South Dakota and Nebraska, which have natural populations.

(Radio Iowa)

w/Denny Heflin.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (13.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Republican Congressman David Young has developed a new plan for distributing a block of federal dollars reserved for water quality improvement projects. Young hopes to tack his idea onto the next Farm Bill and change the way money in the U-S-D-A’s already-existing “Environmental Quality Incentive Program” is distributed. “You’ve heard of precision agriculture. I see this as precision conservation,” Young says. “What it does is it targets funds in a new way, a new approach from this EQIP account, to watersheds.”

Young got input from a variety of groups that are often at odds — including the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Farmers Union as well as the Des Moines Water Works and the Iowa Department of Agriculture. “We’ve had the debate in Iowa about water quality and so I thought to myself: ‘What is there that maybe I could do or congress could do at the federal level to help with this issue?'” Young said. “…There’s a way to target existing federal funds.”

Young envisions communities, farmers, researchers and other stakeholders developing a “precision conservation plan” for watersheds in order to qualify for any federal EQIP grants in that area. Young says states should provide matching funds and the projects should be monitored to find out which conservation methods are most effective.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa DNR report today (Wednesday), one of the main water pumps at the Riverton Wildlife Area, in Fremont County, experienced a mechanical failure and stopped pumping over Labor Day Weekend. The pump, on the West Nishnabotna River, pumps water at 32,000 gallons per minute to the more than 1,500 acres that provides a waterfowl refuge and duck hunting opportunities to hundreds of hunters. The water level is about 10 inches below full pool, making it difficult for boat hunters.

Matt Dollison, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources covering the Riverton Wildlife Area, said he has been in contact with a crane operator to remove the pump from the housing, and a specialist to diagnose and hopefully fix the problem. The work could begin as early as this week.

Dollison said “It takes a while to fill the marsh. Every day it’s down means it will be that much longer before we get to full pool. While it’s not great news for boat hunters, this area will still offer some good walk in duck hunting opportunities.”

The Jensen Tract, south of the town of Riverton, is not affected by this pump and is available for boat hunters. The Riverton Wildlife Area is in the south duck and goose zone. The special September teal season is open through Sept. 10. Regular duck season opens Sept. 30.

The Iowa DNR has resources on its website for hunters looking for options to pursue ducks at www.iowadnr.gov/hunting then click on Migratory Game Birds in the left column.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A $625,000 settlement has been reached in a pay dispute at a meat plant in northwest Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports that a federal judge approved the settlement of lawsuit filed in 2016 by five women. Their lawsuit said Curly’s Foods violated federal law by not paying plant workers for time they spent putting on and taking off required gear before and after their shifts and during their unpaid 30-minute meal breaks.

Each of the women will receive $5,000. The remaining $600,000 will be divided among 460 current and former workers who joined the class-action lawsuit. Curly’s, a division of Smithfield Foods, which was also named in the lawsuit, admits no wrongdoing as part of the settlement agreement. Ribs and other precooked meats are processed at the plant.

Shelby County ISU Extension officials invite you to part 2 of a New and Beginning Farmer Peer Group “Commodity Marketing Night,” Thursday, Sept. 7th, from 6-until-8-p.m., at the Shelby County Extension Office (906 6th St., Harlan). The workshop will focus on helping new and beginning crop producers create successful corn and soybean marketing strategies. Part 1 of the workshop was held July 25th. Persons who attended Part one don’t need to attend the second part.

Topics of discussion, Thursday, include:

A corn and soybean market outlook.
Calculating the cost of production.
Commodity marketing strategies.
Developing a marketing plan.
And, resources from ISU Extension and Outreach.

Guest speaker for the session is Shane Ellis, ISU Extension Farm Management Specialist. A light meal will be provided, so you’re asked to RSVP by no later than Wednesday, Sept. 6th, by calling (712)-755-3104.

If you have any questions, call Amanda Oloff, Associate Extension Educator at (712)- 755-3104, or Shane Ellis at (712)-520-0601.