• KJAN, Atlantic  .27″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .17″
• Massena  .65″
• Elk Horn  .18″
• Avoca  .2″
• Neola  .2″
• Bedford  .31″
• Glenwood  .1″
• Red Oak  .05″
• Shenandoah  .75″
• Carroll  .89″
• Denison  .4″
• Corning  .05″
• Creston  .07″
• New Market  .73″

(OAKLAND, Iowa) August 2, 2017—Local farmer-owned cooperative officials today announced a purchase agreement has been signed for the sale of the Oakland, Iowa Landus Cooperative agronomy plant to be sold to Farm Service Cooperative (FSC). The purchase between Ames, Iowa-based Landus Cooperative and Harlan, Iowa-based FSC is slated to close Aug. 31, 2017.   As a result, all physical assets and the property at 41938 Industrial Drive just north of Oakland, Iowa will join FSC’s local operations.

“FSC is excited to add this state-of-the-art agronomy site to better serve our members and customers in Pottawattamie County,” stated Gary Jahn, Executive Vice President at FSC. The soon-to-be-acquired site includes an automated dry fertilizer blending system, automated seed system, 42,000 gallons of NH3 storage, a variety of bulk agronomy storage and the office. Current inventory, application machines, tender trucks and NH3 rolling stock are not part of the purchase agreement.

“This sale is a good move for both cooperatives,” stated Milan Kucerak, CEO of Landus Cooperative. “The acquisition of our Oakland site aligns well with FSC’s current customer base while allowing us to focus our capital in core geographies of our business.”

FSC’s focus will remain in the farm supply business, maintaining eight agronomy locations, an energy division, feed division, and a retail computer store. Landus Cooperative has three full-time and four part-time employees who will end their employment on Aug. 31, 2017. They have been offered an opportunity to apply for employment with FSC.

Growers who are members of either cooperative will not see a change in their membership status as a result of the change. Landus Cooperative will work with its Oakland-area customers to finalize work and invoicing on or before August 31, 2017 at which point those customers may choose to do business with FSC at the same location. Landus Cooperative and FSC have a multi-year grain marketing agreement for FSC’s locations in Harlan and Denison which is unchanged by the Oakland sale.

An annual survey of the state’s pheasant population was launched Tuesday and will continue through the middle of this month. Todd Bogenschutz coordinates the survey for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He suggests this could end up being the highest statewide pheasant count since 2006. “If we see a 40-percent increase like we did in 2015, I think that would be true,” Bogenschutz said. “That’s kind of what we’re hoping for I guess, but we’ll have to see.”

In 2015, the statewide pheasant count increased by 40-percent following a mild winter. Much of the state had very little snowfall this past winter, which likely resulted in good hen survival. “We brought more hens into the spring and more hens putting eggs down always gives you good potential,” Bogenschutz said.    

Iowa’s statewide snowfall average for this past winter was 20.4 inches, but most of the snow fell over northwest and north-central Iowa. Sections of central and southern Iowa received snowfall totals that were up to a foot BELOW normal. Bogenschutz says the pheasant HUNTER numbers in Iowa have increased as the BIRD numbers have improved. “If you go back to 2007, before our numbers crashed with that five years of bad weather we had, we were at about 100,000 hunters. We plummeted down to around 40,000 by 2011,” Bogenschutz said.

The number of pheasant hunters in Iowa last year climbed to roughly 60,000. The roadside pheasant population survey runs for 15 days. Data is collected from 208 30-mile survey routes around the state. In addition to pheasants, the survey also collects information on cottontail rabbits, jack rabbits, quail and Hungarian partridge. Results of the survey will be released in early-to-mid September.

(Radio Iowa)

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) – Tyson Foods has settled a 10-year-old class-action lawsuit and will disburse nearly $6 million to more than 3,900 current and former employees at a northwest Iowa pork plant. The Sioux City Journal reports that Storm Lake employees sued the Arkansas-based company in 2007 to collect back pay for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective work clothes and equipment before and after their work shifts.

A Sioux City federal jury ruled in favor of the workers in 2011, a decision the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld in 2014. Tyson appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court rejected the company’s appeal in March 2016 to limit workers’ ability to challenge pay and workplace issues.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson says each worker will receive about $1,700.

Officials with the Elite Octane, LLC ethanol plant in Atlantic, have just launched a website featuring information about the construction project, and information on available jobs. Go to www.eliteoctane.net and look for the “Join our team” careers tab for the Job Board.

The company has each position listed that they intend to hire, a job description, and a note on what the position will pay. You can also see an aerial view of the ethanol plant as it’s under construction.

From the Elite Octane home page

The livestock sale at the Cass County Fair will begin at 8:00 this morning at the indoor show ring.  We’ll have some live updates throughout the morning from the sale on KJAN.  CLICK HERE to see the sale listing!

The Iowa Department of Transportation is now distributing the 2017-2018 Iowa Bicycle Map. The popular publication has been updated to show new 4-foot or wider paved shoulders and recreational trails completed since the 2015-2016 version was published. As in past versions, the map highlights bike-friendly routes when traveling on two wheels through Iowa by identifying bike trails and traffic levels on all paved roads. The map also includes insets of Iowa’s 16 largest cities.    

A person riding a bicycle on a public road has all the rights, and is required to know and obey all traffic laws and rules of the road, applicable to the driver of a motor vehicle. To assist bicyclists in understanding their rights and responsibilities, a section of the map is dedicated to highlighting rules of the road. Bicyclists are urged to always wear helmets, use lights at night, and watch out for road hazards, including parallel-slat sewer grates, gravel, sand, and debris.

The 2017-2018 Iowa Bicycle Map is available online at  www.iowadot.gov/iowabikes/bikemap.aspx.

COLDWATER, Mich. (AP) – Officials say a more than $250 million hog processing facility in southern Michigan will handle hogs from states including Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. Hatfield, Pennsylvania-based Clemens Food Group held a ribbon-cutting Saturday at the plant in Coldwater that is expected to eventually employ 830 people. It starts running in August and be at full production in early September. It will process thousands of hogs per day.

The (Kendallville) News-Sun reports plans for the processing facility were announced in 2014. The Sturgis Journal reports the plant is getting local and state support that will total about $55 million, including about $12.5 million in Community Development Block Grant money.

Officials with Nishna Valley Trails invite all area youth and others to a Kids Bike Ride event on August 12th, beginning at 10:30-a.m. The ride takes place at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic. Check-in and the start of the ride will be at the west parking lot of the Schildberg Rec Area. There will be three age groups, with the length of the ride according to age. The event is free, and all ages are welcome.

The Kids Bike Ride is co-sponsored by Atlantic Parks and Rec, Cass County Conservation, Howard’s, Fareway, and the West Side Diner, in Atlantic. For more information, call Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning, at 712-769-2372. After the ride, be sure and check out AtlanticFest, that will be underway in the downtown area of Atlantic.

The Cass County Conservation Board is once again sponsoring a “Breakfast with the Birds” Program. The program will be held at Sunnyside Park, Camblin’s Addition Shelter in Atlantic, on August 12th, beginning at 9-a.m.  They’re asking for your free will donations to partake in the event.

Terrie Hoefer, rehabilitator and Educator at S.O.A.R. (Saving Our Avian Resources), will show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and she’ll hopefully have one that is fully recovered and ready to release back into the wild.

Donations will help to support the raptors and education at them.