Some area contestants have picked up awards at the Ak-Sar-Ben Livestock Show in Omaha.  Among the winners:

• Annie Herr of Fontanelle won champion Mainetainer Breeding Heifer
• Heath Downing of Creston won champion Feeder Calf Heifer-Overall and champion Feeder Calf Steer-Overall
• Cody Birt of Prescott won 3rd place Market Swine Showman
• Dustin Lund of Croning won reserve champion Continental Breed Market Steer
• Violet Lapke of Logan won champion Composite Charolais Breeding Heifer
• Reagan Gibson of Panora won reserve champion Team Purebred Market Barrow
• Sydney Sherer of Pisgah won 5th place Market Broilers
• Erin Sorenson of Villisca won champion AOB Breeding Heifer
• Lane Miller of Creston won champion Horse-Senior Western

Annie Herr
(photo courtesy of Ak-Sar-Ben)

Dustin Lund
(photo courtesy of Ak-Sar-Ben)

Erin Sorenson
(photo courtesy of Ak-Sar-Ben)

Heath Downing
(photo courtesy of Ak-Sar-Ben)

w/ Kate Olson

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A recent change by the Internal Revenue Service gives farmers who have been hit by drought a little more time for recovery. I-R-S spokesman, Christopher Miller, says the agency has changed the rules when it comes to livestock losses. He says farmers often sell off livestock during drought conditions, and in order to take advantage of tax conditions under the law, they have to replace the sold off livestock within a specified time. Miller says that time limit had been four years, but the I-R-S has extended the deadline another year for those who were facing a December 31st deadline this year.

“And that also means that impacted farmers can defer taxes on capital gains on that sale of the livestock,” Miller points out. The I-R-S regulations say the one-year extension applies to capital gains realized by eligible farmers and ranchers on sales of livestock held for draft, dairy or breeding purposes due to drought. Sales of other livestock, such as those raised for slaughter or held for sporting purposes, and poultry are not eligible.

“If you are a farmer in Iowa impacted by drought conditions over the last few years, you will have an extension of time to replace the livestock that you had to get rid of because of those conditions. And you also have an extension of time to defer any taxes that you get because of the gain in selling that livestock,” according to Miller. Miller urges Iowans to check to see if they qualify under the extension.

“To learn more, farmers simply need to read the I-R-S publication, 2-2-5, and that’s available on our website irs.gov and we’ll also have a notice there that outlines the affected counties in Iowa,” Miller says. He says you should be able to find all the information you need on the website.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The harvest remains behind schedule in Iowa but weather conditions are favorable for allowing farmers to try to catch up.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Iowa is about 18 days behind the normal corn harvest pace with 19 percent harvested while typically at this time more than half of the crop is in. Nationally, only a third of the crop is in when normally half is finished by now. The Iowa soybean harvest is nine days behind schedule with 61 percent harvested, less than the 77 percent average. Nationally, just over half the crop is in. The average is 66 percent.

The USDA says in its weekly update released Monday 93 percent of the corn crop and 94 percent of soybeans nationally are in fair, good or excellent condition.

Police in Glenwood are asking for your help in finding the person or persons responsible for the theft of lawn and garden equipment. Officials say two John Deere lawn mowers, a 2010 Z-925 and 2013 Z-930m, along with two Echo lawn trimmers, along with a black H&H tandem-axle trailer, were taken from Jim Hughes Realty at 410 S. Locust Street in Glenwood.

The thefts occurred sometime between 7:30-p.m. Oct. 15th and 8-a.m. Oct. 16th. Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to call the Glenwood P-D at 712-527-4844

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Three Iowa companies have received U.S. Department of Agriculture grants for research projects officials hope will lead to new technologies that advance agriculture. Small Business Innovation Grants were awarded to Harrisvaccines in Ames, which has recently developed a new vaccine for a pig virus; Agren Inc. in Carroll, a consultant that helps farmers deal with environmental issues; and Diamond V Mills in Cedar Rapids, which develops animal food.  Each company receives more than $99,000.

The USDA says the grant program was created to stimulate technological innovations in the private sector and to strengthen the role of federal research and development in support of small businesses.  More than $18 million in grants were announced Monday by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Agency have begun their twice-weekly Fire Danger notices. From today (Monday) through this Thursday (Oct. 23rd, the Fire Danger rating is LOW, meaning the danger from runaway fire is minimal at this time. Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

When the rating is in the LOW or green category on the sign, you are asked to call in and report your burning projects to dispatch at 755-2124 and notify your local fire chief. The next update will be on Thursday, October 23rd.

Iowa pheasant hunters should see more of what they came for, as they step into the field this fall. More pheasants. The Iowa DNR says a strong rebound in August roadside counts of Iowa’s most popular game bird has buoyed expectations, heading toward the October 25 opener.DNR pheasant biologist Todd Bogenschutz says “We have the best pheasant numbers since 2008. People are telling me that more birds are flushing; that they are hearing more crowing and cackling out there.”

Counts this summer averaged 17.4 pheasants per 30 mile survey route, up 151 percent from last year’s 6.9…an all-time low. Of the nine regions monitored, eight had increases ranging from 102-290 percent. Only northeast Iowa showed no change.

Bogenschutz says drought conditions across the past two summers probably kept pheasants in the fields on August mornings, rather than pushing up to road edges, to escape heavy dew. That may have kept many from being tallied on the 200 gravel road routes surveyed. Hunters harvested 10,000 more pheasants in 2013, despite the record low counts.

Bogenschutz predicts “The best habitat will hold birds; good winter cover, good nesting cover, too. Hunters should be happy hunting those areas, over just decent nesting cover.”  He suggests hunters conduct their hunts around the best habitat, and urges hunters to “Talk to the farmers where you will be hunting. Ask what they have seen while harvesting the crops.”

With a better bird outlook, the numbers of hunters should climb, too. Last year, only 41,000 pheasant hunters were in the fields. Early in the season, standing crops are going to be a factor. Bogenschutz says “Harvest is running a little behind. The season is starting a couple days earlier, too. That could be a challenge for hunters, until the corn is out. Our counts were up; hens with broods were way up. There will be a lot of young roosters, who aren’t wise to the ways of the wild, yet.”

Hunting hours for Iowa’s pheasant seasons are 8 a.m. until 4:30 each day. The daily limit is three rooster pheasants. The season closes on January 10th.

Iowans have a way to look into Iowa’s past and view changes of their entire state, from decade to decade, thanks in part to REAP funding of the Iowa Historic Digital Aerial Photo Project. The public can now see where former buildings were located, what kinds of industries and operations were on a site 70 years ago, and how development and urbanization has changed Iowa’s city and agricultural landscapes by visiting http://programs.iowadnr.gov/maps/aerials/.

In 2009 and 2011, Historical Resource Development Program grants from REAP helped the DNR’s Geographic Information System Section procure photographs from various archives across the state and nation. Archives in Washington D.C., the University of Iowa Map Library, the Iowa Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Aerial Photography Field Office, county offices and private national archives all contained valuable pieces to Iowa’s geographic time puzzle.

Steve King, deputy state historic preservation officer, said “The Iowa Historic Digital Aerial Photo Project makes these images available to researchers, developers, landowners and others who need to understand the history of properties in Iowa. We appreciate preserving these important historical documents and making them available online to Iowans and others around the world.”

Developers, landowners and managers, and planners often need to understand how a property was previously used in order to evaluate history’s environmental and character impacts. Knowledge about a site’s resource use is also beneficial, and difficult to find elsewhere. Soil and streambank erosion patterns, conservation improvements and changes in natural vegetation and habitat can also be used to compare trends in land use and natural resource management.

Once the photos were scanned and made digital, GIS staff diligently matched them to their actual location. A processing algorithm then aligned the photos into blocks, which were mosaicked together to produce statewide coverage. Because of this approach, the photos can now be viewed with other mapped features such as roads and land boundaries.

The GIS Historic Aerial Photography Project took more than eight years to complete, from 2004-2012, because of its detail specific and comprehensive nature.

A sample of Iowa corn growers will soon be asked to report on their use of pesticides and fertilizer. The Agricultural Resource Management Survey is conducted on different crops each year and 2014 is a corn year. Greg Thessen, regional director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, says once the data is compiled and released to the public, it’s a tool policymakers can use to evaluate proposed changes. Thessen says, “This provides a good source of information for them to take a look at see, okay, if they change a policy what impact is that going to have on farmers and how they grow crops or corn in particular.”

Thessen says about 10-percent of the farmers polled for this year’s corn survey will be in Iowa. The information gathered will be released in public reports beginning next May. Thessen says the survey gives farmers a chance to tell the government how they grow their crops. He says, “What kind of inputs it takes as far as fertilizer and pesticides go, as well as any pest management practices, and really show other people that may not be involved with agriculture how they are good stewards of the land.”

Thessen says selected farmers will receive a notice in the mail and then a U-S-D-A employee will visit the farmer to record detailed information about the use of chemical inputs. Thessen says one use is for the U-S Environmental Protection Agency to see whether products are being used according to their labels.

(Radio Iowa)