Members of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa are getting some special training to be able to handle horses and other large animals who get into trouble. The A-R-L’s animal intervention welfare coordinator, Scott Wilson, says they received a 66-hundred dollar grant from American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to purchase equipment and go through the training.

“One of the common things you’ll see around the country is horses will get stuck in ponds, or they will get into a swimming pool and not be able to get back out. Or they’ll fall into a shallow well. So, a big part of the training will be utilizing a sling and A-frame to actually hoist the horse of these situations and back onto solid ground,” Wilson explains. It might seem like you could offer the horse a carrot and coax them out of trouble. Wilson says it’s not that simple.

He says this is done when the horse absolutely won’t come out on their own. Wilson says horses don’t do well on ramps or stairs and that’s how they can get stuck in a swimming pool. Those trained for the A-R-L’s equine rescue team will have the skills to rescue horses and other large animals during disasters or emergencies. “It doesn’t happen very often,” Wilson says,”but the problem is horses are actually very fragile creatures sometimes. And when the need arises, it requires an immediate response. So — even if it only happens once every couple of years — having the equipment on hand like this and the training will give us the possibility of actually saving the horse’s life. While a delay of several hours waiting for something to be figured out could cost the horse’s life.”

The training also teachers the rescuers how to be safe. “Horses can be very unpredictable and when they get scared you’ve got over a thousand pounds of scared animal trying to get away. So, you’ve really have know what you are doing both with the horses and the equipment to minimize any sort of risk,” Wilson says. He says they hope to be able to help other agencies if they are ever faced with a horse rescue or the rescue of another large animal.

(Radio Iowa)

AMES, Iowa – Are you prepared for implementation of the Veterinary Feed Directive on January 1st, 2017? Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Iowa Farm Bureau, and the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association are partnering to offer an educational series about the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). Iowa State Extension beef program specialist Chris Clark said Iowa veterinarians, livestock producers, and feed industry personnel are invited to participate.

“The program will include a general overview of the VFD, species break-outs, and discussion panels featuring veterinarians, producers, and feed industry personnel,” Clark said. “The implementation date of January 1, 2017, is approaching and at this point people may have some specific questions or scenarios that they are unsure about. Hopefully we can help answer some questions and clarify some of those issues.”

Iowa veterinarians, livestock producers and feed industry personnel are invited to attend any of the 11 session locations. Each program features breakout and discussion sessions, with a primary objective of helping attendees learn about the roles and responsibilities of all involved parties.

“Implementation of the VFD will require cooperation and communication between veterinarians, producers, and feed industry personnel,” Clark said. “It’s important that each party knows not only their own responsibilities but also what to expect from the other two parties. It may be really valuable to hear what others are thinking and planning in regard to implementation of the VFD.”

The series runs from Aug. 22 through Sept. 1 with specific times set for each location. There is no fee to attend, but preregistration is encouraged to assist organizers with planning. Register by calling the numbers below, associated with the session you would like to attend.

·        Monday, Aug. 29, 9 a.m. to noon – Swan Lake Conservation Center, Carroll. RSVP to the Carroll County Extension Office, 712-792-2364

·        Monday, Aug. 29, 6 to 9 p.m. – Cass County Community Center, Atlantic. RSVP to the Cass County Extension Office, 712-243-1132.

w/Max Dirks.

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While the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have both blasted proposed trade agreements, Iowa’s top ag official says trade is essential to agriculture and especially to Iowa agriculture. Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says he’s concerned when he hears Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump speak out against trade deals. Northey says the Pacific Trade Pact would be a boon to agriculture.

“TPP is another one of those, Trans Pacific Partnership, with a dozen of us around the Pacific Ocean that would be very beneficial to agriculture,” Northey says. “It’s very easy to come out opposed to those agreements and talk about the problems without appreciating the benefits.” Iowa is the top pork-producing state and Northey says the export of Iowa pork products is a great example of how agriculture benefits from world trade.

“We ship about a quarter of all our pork production overseas,” Northey says. “We’ll ship maybe the majority of some of the products like pork feet or pork hearts or other kinds of things, and we’ll keep those things we value, like pork chops and bacon.” Northey says many of Iowa’s key ag products are being shipped out of the country. “Excess of 40% of our soybeans are exported, a lot of those go to China,” Northey says. “It’s very important that we retain those markets. That’s true of distillers grain and that’s true of beef and corn exports. These are all very important and our markets would be severely impacted if we lost some of those markets.”

On Monday, Iowa entered into a partnership of memorandum of cooperation with India. Northey says India doesn’t constitute a major market for Iowa agricultural goods at the moment, but he believes with time, that will change. India has a growing population of 1.2 billion.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa agency has approved changes to administrative rules regarding water pollution that two groups say will weaken environmental protections. The Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Iowa Environmental Council say the Iowa Department of Natural Resources scaled back protections to Iowa’s waterways by changing its anti-degradation standards on Wednesday. Those standards help regulate when new pollution is added to Iowa waters. It guides businesses that propose adding or expanding operations.

A DNR commission met and voted to implement changes that guide how to balance the potential costs of a proposed project with its environmental impact. It goes into effect Friday. The environmental groups say the tweak in language eliminates consideration of the environment. Groups supporting the changes disagree. A DNR spokesman says it will clarify the process.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair will begin an 11-day run that likely will draw more than a million visitors to the fairgrounds in east Des Moines. The fair will start Thursday morning, with most buildings open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the midway open from 10 a.m. to midnight. The fair will run through Aug. 21st.

The fair saw its largest attendance last year, when 1.1 million people attended. There will be plenty to see and do, with hundreds of performances, a giant livestock shows, Iowa’s biggest art exhibition, the midway, more than 75 kinds of food on a stick and, of course, the butter cow.

Regular gate admission is $12 for those 12 and older, $6 for children 6 to 11 and free for kids 5 and younger.

w/Kate Olson.

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Farmland values in Iowa have dipped for the second year in a row according to the U.S.D.A. The U-S-D-A’s National Agricultural Statistics Services estimates the average price for Iowa “cropland” is now eight-thousand dollars ($8,000) an acre. That’s a nearly two-and-a-half percent decline from 2015. Experts say the drop is fueled by low commodity prices. The average price for Iowa land used as pasture for livestock is 34-hundred dollars, unchanged from a year ago.

A spring survey of realtors who sell Iowa farmland indicated a bigger drop in the price for Iowa cropland, of nearly nine percent. The U.S.D.A.’s report concluded the total value for farm real estate in Iowa is 244 TRILLION dollars. That’s the value of all the agland as well as the barns and farmhouses in Iowa.

The RENTAL price for cropland in Iowa averaged 235-dollars ($235) an acre for this growing season. That’s down 15 dollars an acre from a year ago.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa DNR says Iowa hunters this fall will have access to hunt on more than 25,000 acres of private land on 132 sites around the state as part of a program that helps landowners improve habitat on portions of their land in exchange for allowing hunter access.

The Iowa Habitat and Access Program (IHAP) provide expertise and funding to landowners who are interested in improving wildlife habitat on their property. Landowner participation varies from three to 10 years depending upon the contracts.

“Hunters told us they felt access to private land was an important step to improving their hunting experience and to attracting new hunters to the outdoors. We were fortunate to have this opportunity to provide them with access to these areas through the IHAP,” said Kelly Smith, private lands program coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources who manages the IHAP.

Areas are posted with signs, are regularly patrolled by Iowa DNR conservation officers and will be treated like public hunting ground, with the noted exception that it is private property.

“Hunters should respect private property, stay on the land enrolled in the program and pick up after themselves,” Smith said. “This program is only available because landowners were willing to participate in it.”

Site maps are available at www.iowadnr.gov/ihap showing boundaries, which species would be most likely attracted to the habitat and the location of a checkout box where hunters are asked to leave their comments on the program. The checkout cards are used to evaluate the program to see if hunters are getting what they expected from the program.

Walk-in public hunting through IHAP is available between September 1 and May 31. The IHAP is supported with money from Federal Farm Bill and Habitat Stamp.

The Iowa DNR says a new license went on sale July 13th that allows anyone age 16 and older to bypass the hunter education requirement for purchasing a hunting license while they give hunting a try under the direct supervision of an experienced, licensed adult hunter.

“We want to reach out to our fellow Iowans who missed hunter education when they were 12 and are now in their 20s and 30s and are interested in trying dove hunting or small game hunting,” said Megan Wisecup, hunter education administrator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “If they like it, we can get them in the hunter education program and hopefully they become lifelong hunters.”

The apprentice hunting license includes the habitat fee and is available to residents for $30 and nonresidents for $123. There must be one licensed adult mentor hunter for each apprentice hunter. The apprentice hunting license may be purchased up to two times without having completed hunter education.

Resident apprentice licenses may be used to pursue small game and as the hunting license requirement for deer and turkey licenses and waterfowl stamps. A person hunting with an apprentice license must shoot and tag their own deer or turkey.

The nonresident apprentice hunting license is not allowed as a license for nonresidents to hunt deer or turkey. The apprentice program was approved by the Iowa legislature and signed by Governor Branstad during the 2015 session. More information is available online at www.iowadnr.gov/learntohunt.