(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa DNR has released fish kill numbers from a spill last month in the south Branch of Lizard Creek in Fort Dodge.

The DNR says 71,933 fish  were killed after a fertilizer byproduct leaked from the CJ Bio America plant and into the creek on April 14th. A statement from DNR fisheries biologist Ben Wallace says cooler water and higher flow reduced the number of fish impacted, and larger fish species may have still been in the Des Moines River and not the creek.

Iowa DNR reports thousands of fish killed in Lizard Creek spill

The DNR says samples no longer show any byproduct in the water, and they will complete their investigation before determining any enforcement action against the company.

(Radio Iowa) – A study at Iowa State University shows how packaging can affect your choice of bacon. Stephanie Major is a senior in meat science who looked into the issue as they tested natural antioxidants and their impact on the way meat looks. “My project kind of came about because we were just kind of interested in seeing how those natural antioxidants might hold up in kind of like a retail setting with LED lights and a couple of different types of packaging type,” Major says. The meat can take on a grayer color due to lighting and exposure to oxygen, but it is still okay to eat. Major says the vacuum packed bacon kept its color better than bacon that was simply wrapped in plastic.

“We all shop with our eyes and you see something that’s prettier in the store shelves is a little bit redder, pinker. And so we’re going to kind of shift our gear towards buying that product,” Major says. Major says the vacuum packaged bacon also did better than bacon in an open meat case. “What was interesting was, is we actually saw the bacon become redder in pigmentation so it became more desirable appearance wise,” she says. Major says the study leads to several tips for displaying bacon. “I would say with stores, pretty much controlling the atmosphere, controlling the lighting conditions, especially because you know as that lighting intensity becomes brighter and becomes more intense, especially with those LED lights. you see further oxidation occurring more rapidly and you also see that color fading occur more rapidly as well,” she says.

Major is from Albia and plans to do an internship with Tyson Foods after graduation, and then wants to return to Iowa State to attend graduate school.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he had a private meeting late Monday afternoon with Mexico’s ambassador to the U-S. Grassley says he and Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán focused on trade issues between our two countries, which included discussion of deadly threats to livestock and humans from a tiny parasite. Grassley says the Mexicans are also concerned about exports of a certain vegetable. Grassley says, “He’s asking for consideration of certain attempts by some members of Congress to end a decades agreement that we’ve had on tomatoes.” Almost all of Mexico’s tomato exports come to the U-S, and the Trump administration plans to end the trade agreement that allows Mexican tomatoes into the U-S duty-free. Starting in July, the U-S Commerce Department says tomatoes from south of the border will face a tariff of nearly 21-percent.

“A certain percentage of the tomatoes that are eaten in the United States come from Mexico,” Grassley says, “and that’s under some agreement that certain states — and their senators from those states — want to abrogate that agreement.” The looming changes worry Mexican growers, Grassley says, as tomato exports to the U-S generated more than a billion dollars in revenue in 2023. Grassley says there’s rising concern about parasitic screwworms that are coming into the U-S on some livestock from Mexico, though he notes the animals may have originated in South America. A release from the U-S-D-A says New World screwworms are deadly flies that lay eggs in open wounds. Once the larva hatches, it attacks living flesh and can be extremely deadly for livestock, pets, wildlife and even humans. “So yesterday, the Secretary of Agriculture put some restrictions on bison, cattle and other animals coming into the country because they could possibly bring in screwworms,” Grassley says. “That’s hopefully just a temporary restriction.”

The U-S has halted all imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico, a ban U-S-D-A officials say will be reviewed on a month-to-month basis.

(Radio Iowa) – Dry weather gave farmers almost one full week to pull their planters through the fields, and they got a lot of seed into the ground. Corn planting moved from 49 to 76 percent complete by the end of last week. That percentage pushed the planting from two days behind last year to eight days ahead.

Soybean planting has moved from 38 to 64 percent, now completed. Corn planting is three days ahead of the five-year average, and soybean planting is five days ahead of average.

The U-S-D-A report says 30 percent of the corn has emerged and 16 percent of the beans are popping out of the ground.

(Radio Iowa) – The legislature has approved a bill to make it clear that when the State of Iowa seizes abandoned animals, the state owns the livestock. Last September, the state took over the care of one-point-three million chickens after the owners of Pure Prairie Poultry in Charles City declared bankruptcy. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says after several weeks, the State of Iowa went to the bankruptcy court with a plan to have the broiler chickens processed. “Those animals were getting bigger and we were going to miss their marketing window,” Naig said.

Other Pure Prairie Poultry creditors objected, arguing over ownership of the birds, and the chickens were euthanized.  “After we took custody of the animals we were unable to market them and recoup costs for the taxpayer because of some lien issues and title issues with the livestock,” Naig said. “What we wanted to do this legislative session was to ensure that if the State of Iowa has to step in that the taxpayers are first in line to recoup any costs or any revenue that’s generated then from the sale of the livestock.”

The bill ensures the state of Iowa will hold the ownership title to seized livestock. Naig says the state has long had the authority to get a court order to take custody of abandoned animals, but it’s Naig says rarely used. In the case of Pure Prairie Poultry, the State of Iowa spent two MILLION dollars on feed and about three-hundred thousand dollars to euthanize the chickens.

(Iowa News Service) – New research at Iowa State University shows elevated nitrate levels have an outsize effect on the state’s most vulnerable populations.  Studies show exposure to nitrates can increase the risks of birth defects and various types of cancer. ISU Water Resources Assistant Professor Liu Lu said nitrates, which are prominent in ground and surface water near commercial agriculture operations, exceed safe levels, and affect Iowa’s most vulnerable. “Such as people of color,” said Lu, “low-income populations, elderly, and also children.”

Despite their negative health impacts, the Iowa Environmental Council reports only 4% of public water utilities in Iowa have nitrate removal systems. The data show the presence of nitrates in the water is especially high in rural communities, and Liu said northeast Iowa’s Blackhawk County stands out in her research. “This county has very high nitrate in their treated water,” said Lu. “They also have very high social vulnerability. So, people living in that county are disproportionately exposed to high nitrate in their drinking water.”

Giving granulated fertilizer, Hand in glove closeup, excess fertilizers, a lot of nitrates, excess pesticides, too much harmful chemicals, generative ai illustration

Her research includes an interactive map that shows which parts of the state have the highest nitrate pollution in their groundwater.

Liu’s work was published in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R is moving closing to making some changes in hunting and trapping regulations. The D-N-R’s Chris Ensminger discussed findings from public input meetings during the recent Natural Resources Commission meeting. “For deer, just general comments, we received 427, which is over half of the total comments received for just general comments, 110 for Waterfall, 112 for furbearers. Turkeys received 32 upland 66,” he says. Ensminger says the deer comments focused on some key areas. “Our population is too low, saw too few deer. E-H-D numbers were much higher than reported. People are asking to reduce or eliminate party hunting, reduce or eliminate antlerless tags, limit everyone to one buck, or need a buck only in all gun seasons. And so those six comments, out of 106 unique comments, that represent 42 percent of the total,” Ensminger says.

He also talked about in more detail about the furbearer comments. “Support a bobcat season in additional counties, increase the bag limit for bobcats, increased the otter bag limit, and I would like a bounty program. Those four comments resulted in 60 percent of the program discussions,” he says. Ensminger says the upland comments focused on the population of pheasants and game birds. He says there were also comments about allowing out-of-state hunters. “Eighty percent of the people would like to see us do something different, further regulate non-resident opportunity. Twenty percent would not like to see that. So you can think of that one as about an 80-20 issue,” Ensminger says.

Ensminger says the D-N-R staff will start to look at some rule changes based on the comments. He says they do have some three public meetings scheduled for May 19th through the 21st to get some input on possible changes. “We do have public meetings scheduled for May 19th through the 21st, three meetings, and we will have a kind of more defined proposal that will be taken out to those folks as far as what the core regulations might look like, the core concept would look like, and then we’ll be asking for them, obviously, do they support that still?,” he says. “And what other additional things, you know, do you want to have party hunting as part of those regulations? Do you want to, what do you want to do with the youth season? You know, because we’ve heard people say that, youth should not be impacted by any kind of additional regulations.”

Ensminger says they will be releasing information on antlerless deer licenses in June. He says proposed rule changes would come in July and go into effect in 2026.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senators met for hours today (Friday) to privately debate restrictions on the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline, then emerged late this (Friday) afternoon and adjourned for the week without taking any public action. Pipeline opponents say it was a stunning development after being told a bill would come up for a vote. Dennis King, a fourth generation farmer from Clay County, says the bill easily passed the House weeks ago with 85 out of 100 possible votes.

A dozen Republican senators have vowed to boycott votes on state spending plans until the senate votes to limit the pipeline company’s authority to seize land for the project.

A crowd in Iowa Senate viewing gallery awaited the start of debate on May 9, 2025. (RI photo)

Cindy Hanson and her sister are opposed to having the pipeline on their family’s Century Farm in Shelby County.

Monte Shaw of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association was at the capitol all day, too, lobbying against any move by legislators that would block the pipeline’s construction.

Having senators shelve the bill is also a win for the ethanol industry.

The senate’s only votes today (Friday) were to confirm three officials to seats on state boards and commissions and made changes in an education related bill.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she’s enthusiastic about the trade agreement reached Thursday between the United States and the United Kingdom. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says there’s promise the new accord will mean Iowa farmers will find more avenues to sell their products in the U-K and elsewhere, though only portions of the deal are being unveiled.

Initial reports of the trade agreement say the U-K will be making the customs process smoother, while buying more American commodities, including beef and ethanol.

As part of the trade deal, reports say President Trump agreed to cut tariffs on U-K-made vehicles, steel and aluminum, but the original ten-percent tariff on British goods is to remain in place. Hinson remains optimistic more trade agreements are pending with other nations.

Reports say the Brits also agreed to reduce tariffs on hundreds of U-S products, everything from sporting goods to olive oil.