An international delegation of ten farmers and ag industry leaders from as far away as Australia and New Zealand is arriving in Iowa today (Friday) to spend a week studying the Iowa way of life. Ed Kee, Delaware’s former Secretary of Agriculture, is now president of Nuffield American. “Nuffield International is a group that sponsors significant travel for young farmers from different countries to go around the world and learn about agriculture in those countries,” Kee says. “They travel 16 weeks divided over a year’s time to do that work.”

That work includes compiling an in-depth report on their experiences. Kee is no stranger to Iowa as he’s had a long working relationship with Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey. “It’s a real treat for me to help these people from these different countries to visit Iowa,” Kee says. “Secretary Northey and his department have been a big help in arranging it but as we did that, the Iowa farmers, the Iowa agribusiness people are so welcoming and encouraging.”

Members of the delegation were expected tol begin their tour meeting with Secretary Northey today. “The group is interacting with the different farm organizations and commodity leaders to really start off trying to understand Iowa agriculture,” Kee says. “The most exciting thing is just getting out on the farms, interacting with different agribusinesses, different farmers.”

The tour will include stops on farms and tours of agricultural industries in the Des Moines area as well as Ames, Anita, Bridgewater, Sigourney, Nevada and Ellsworth. They’ll also take in an Iowa Cubs game in Des Moines, the first baseball game for many of them. Ag officials participating in the tour are from Australia, Brazil, England, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

(Radio Iowa)

Give dad something he will always treasure this Father’s Day – quality time together. Take dad fishing and create memories that you can relive every time you’re together. “Fishing is a fun way to celebrate special family events,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Bureau. “Enjoy your time together in Iowa’s great outdoors without the stress of busy schedules and interruptions from mobile devices.”

Snap a picture of you and your dad fishing and enter it in the 2017 #MissionFishin Photo Contest. Find the complete contest rules at www.iowadnr.gov/missionfishin. Visit the Iowa DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing for tips on making the most of your fishing trip this Father’s Day including what’s biting where, fishing maps and great places to fish close to home.

The Cass and Adair County Farm Bureaus are partnering with other ag organizations to put on Ag Adventure at the July 4th celebration in Massena. A highlight of the Ag Adventure is the Iowa State University “Conservation Station,” an engaging learning center that educates persons of all ages about the importance of clean water and healthy soil.

Visitors to the Conservation Station can partake in free, fun, hands-on activities and demonstrations. You can play the watershed game and learn how water flows in a watershed, as well as how all Iowans can make a difference for water quality. There’s a rainfall simulator, that shows how water can run off or infiltrate into surfaces, both in agriculture and urban environments. The water runoff and subsurface drainage is collected in jars to show how different land management choices can impact water and soil movement.

The Conservation Station is sponsored by the Water Rocks! and Learning Farms programs. The Station is one of just 10 stations that make up this year’s Ag Adventure, which allows attendees to meet local farmers and learn about agriculture through hands-on experiences. The event was successfully hosted last year in Greenfield, and moves to Massena this year.

The site will open immediately after the 4-p.m. 4th of July parade in Massena and remain open until 7-p.m. Many of the popular stations will feature live animals. Participants will be treated to home-made ice cream, once they’ve completed the adventure.

For more information, check out “Who’s your IA Farmer” on Facebook, or contact the Adair or Cass County Farm Bureau offices.

w/ Extension Program Coordinator Kate Olson

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DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Tuesday) encouraged Iowa hay and straw producers to register or update their listing on the Iowa Hay and Straw Directory.  The directory lists Iowa producers with hay and straw for sale, as well as organizations and businesses associated with promoting and marketing quality hay and straw.

“The directory has been a great tool for both buyers and sellers and we hope farmers will take the time to review and update their information so that it remains a valuable resource,” Northey said.  “This directory can serve as a critical link for those producing hay and those looking to buy, so we encourage Iowans to take advantage of this free directory.”

The listing is available to interested buyers throughout the nation, however only sellers from within Iowa can be included on the list. Names are gathered throughout the year with added emphasis now that hay harvest has started. Sections within the Hay and Straw Directory include “Forage for Sale,” “Forage Auctions,” “Hay Associations,” “Forage Dealers,” “Hay Grinders” and “Custom Balers.”

Farmers interested in listing should visit the Department’s website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov.  An application form can be found by going to the “Bureaus” link and then selecting “Agricultural Diversification and Market Development.”  Then click on “Hay & Straw Directory” on the right side of the page under “Directories.”

For those without internet access, please call the Hay/Straw Hotline at 800-383-5079.  The Department will fax or send a printed copy of the application to be filled out. The Department is also supporting the Iowa Crop Improvement Association’s “Iowa Noxious Weed Seed Free Forage and Mulch Certification Program.”  Through this program Iowa forage and mulch producers can take advantage of many emerging market opportunities for “Certified Weed Free” products.  For more specific information on this program producers should contact the Iowa Crop Improvement Association at 515-294-6921.  More information can also be found by visiting http://www.iowacrop.org/Weed_Free.htm.

The Adair County Historical Society Eighth Annual Heritage Tractor Ride is set to take place Saturday, July 8th. Organizers say this year’s ride will be “For the Fun of it” and will start with breakfast at the Heritage Center on the west edge of Greenfield, at 7 a.m. Tractors will depart at 8 a.m., and head across country to Casey, taking in the fun of a good old-fashioned drive on little-traveled country roads.

They will arrive in Casey for a short break before driving through the Casey Fun Days Parade. From there they will travel to Adair for lunch in the Adair City Park. Riders and the public can purchase lunch at the Adair Lion’s Club Snack Shack. Folks are encouraged to join the riders on the noon break to view the tractors and support the Lions.

Riders can register in advance by picking up a form at various locations in the community, or they can register the morning of the ride. Registration fee is $10 and includes breakfast. Contact the Historical Society at 641-743-2232 for more information.

A study done by researchers at the University of Iowa College of Public Health finds the suicide rate among farmers continues to be higher than other professions. Occupational and environmental health Corinne Peek-Asa (Ay-suh) is one of the co-authors. “For as long as the data’s been collected, we’ve seen consisted increases for farmers compared to many other occupations,” Peek-Asa says. “And that’s persisted through very rough periods in the farm economy and even good economic times for farmers.”

She says Wendy Ringgenberg of Des Moines University researched the statistics as part of her masters program. The research across the country from 1992 to 2010 and found 230 farmers committed suicide during that time, an annual suicide rate that ranged from to point three-six (0.36) per 100-thousand farmers to point-nine-five (0.95) per 100-thousand. The rate is well above that of workers in all other occupations, which never exceeded point-one-nine (0.19) per 100-thousand during the same time period. Peek-Asa says some of the causes for the suicide in farmers are the same as for other groups.

“Being very isolated, not having a lot of access to health care resources, maybe mental health care resources, is an issue,” Peek-Asa says. So she says if a farmer is suffering from depressions, they may have less access to care for a mental health condition.

Some of the issues are directly related to the demands of the occupation. “Farming can be very stressful, it’s physically demanding, it requires a lot of knowledge, it can be financially stressful. Those are things — especially financial stress — are things that may contribute to someone who may have already been thinking of a suicide,” Peek-Asa explains.

Their findings were published in the Journal of Rural Health. Asa-Peek says they don’t want the study to overshadow the positive aspects of farming. “All the authors are Iowans and we do believe that farming is an extremely valuable and rewarding occupation. So, we don’t in any way want this article to point negatively to farming as an occupation,” Peek-Asa says. “But I think it makes us think that wee need to dig a little deeper to find out what resources need to be more available to farmers.”

She says they also need to let farmers know that the resources are there to help them get through tough situations. Asa-Peek says farmers are extremely tough and it’s important to separate the notion of being tough from seeking help. “The smart thing to do when you need help is to seek help. So it doesn’t diminish your toughness in any way to have a period where you need some resources.”

The survey found farmers in the west were more likely to commit suicide, at 43 percent of total farmer suicides, followed by the Midwest at 37 percent, south at 13 percent, and northeast at six percent. Kelley Donham, U-I professor emerita in the College of Public Health and Marizen Ramirez a visiting associate professor in the U-I College of Public Health, also co-authored the study.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Construction has begun on a 17-mile long bike trail that will link three southwest Iowa communities. The Daily Nonpareil reports that work began on the first segment of the Railroad Highway Multi-Use Trail Saturday. The trail is expected to link Council Bluffs, Underwood and Neola.

Brian Shea, chairman of the Pottawattamie County Trails Association, says the nearly 2-mile long section is scheduled to be completed this year. Underwood Deputy City Clerk Jan Ehrens says the trail is meant to provide bicyclists a safe place away from traffic.

Brian Leaders is with the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. He says more than $4 million has been raised for the trail, which will be part of a larger network of trails that will cover about 100 miles.

Officials with ISU Extension in Montgomery County, report the Montgomery County Fair Queen Contest, sponsored by the Montgomery County Fair Board, will be held July 9th, at 4 pm. All judging will take place July 9 in the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital Conference Room. The Fair Queen will be crowned Tuesday, July 18, at 7:30 pm in the Fairgrounds Auditorium.

To qualify, contestants must be 16 to 21 years of age, have not been married, be enrolled in or graduated high school and be an active member of a community organization.

The Fair Queen and all other contestants are expected to help and take part in many activities throughout the week of fair, July 16 through July 23. Candidates will be asked to help hand out ribbons and awards at livestock shows as well as attend events sponsored by the Fair Board.

As Montgomery County Fair Queen you will receive the opportunity to represent
Montgomery County at the 2017 Iowa State Fair. If interested in competing for Montgomery County Fair Queen please stop by the Montgomery County Extension Office for an application. Along with the application form we ask you attach a head and shoulder picture, a current school picture is ideal.

If you have any questions please contact Dawn LeRette at 712-623-2525 or the Extension Office at 712-623-2592. The fees for service will be used to offset direct expenses and to support the 4-H Youth Development County Extension Program.

Officials with the new Seaboard Triumph Foods pork processing plant in Sioux City say the plant will be operational by early September. Seaboard Foods president and CEO Terry Holton says about two-thirds of the hogs going through the plant will come from Seaboard and Triumph facilities. “Seaboard will provide one-third and Triumph Foods will provide a third,” Holton said, “and then, whether it’s through contracts from local producers or some spot market, we will buy one-third from local producers that exist today.”

The plant is designed to process 21-thousand hogs per day. “One question several people have asked is, ‘What impact are you going to have on hog prices?’ Well, we’re probably going to raise them, because it’s new capacity. That just how it works,” Holton said.

Officials say the plant will feature the latest in robotics and automation. It will employ 11-hundred people by the end of this year. The addition of a second shift in 2018 will add another 1,000 workers.

(Radio Iowa, w/reporting by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News)