(Radio Iowa) – A Department of Natural Resources expert says they’re getting more data on a study of the decline of gray fox numbers. Furbearer biologist Vince Evelsizer says they’ve been putting collars on the elusive animals when they are found in live traps. “We’re up to three collared gray foxes since the start of this project two years ago. So, it’s a low and slow burn with this project, we knew it would be,” he says. “That’s why it started off as a pilot project.” He says it is encouraging that trappers and others have stepped up to help them collect data. “We’re getting more and more folks engaged with giving us reports of sightings. And so we’re going to continue trying to collar more gray foxes here this fall and winter,” he says.

Evelsizer says the tracking data and sightings are helping them track habitat and habits so they can get a picture of what is happening to the animals. “We have some pretty strong hypotheses or ideas about what may be leading to their decline, but we need to know what those are better. We need to , you know, have a better understanding of that,” Evelsizer says. He says they’ve enjoyed working with the animals. “The gray fox has been a really interesting animal to work with. They’re fairly small — adults weigh ten to12 pounds — so they generally are very easy to work with compared to some other species of wildlife,” he says.

Evelsizer says the public, trappers and partner groups such as the Iowa Wildlife Federation have also become really interested in finding out what is happening with the animals.

(Radio Iowa) – Mother Nature’s thrown Iowa a few curve balls this fall, making it difficult for people who love looking at the oranges, yellows and reds of autumn to know when and where to go. Chip Murrow, an urban forestry program specialist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says some parts of Iowa have trees that are already bare, while others are still fully leafed out and mostly green. The wide weather swings share part of the blame.

Radio Iowa photo

The amount of daylight may also play a role in the color show, plus, species like black walnuts might drop their leaves early, while oaks typically keep them well into winter. So, where can Iowans still go for the best fall color show?

While the recent weather has been unseasonably warm, the forecast calls for very cold temperatures and snow likely for this weekend. Murrow says that could spell the end of the fall color. Or not.

Typically, northern Iowa sees the leaves change color first, followed by central Iowa, then the south, although this year, parts of eastern Iowa have seen cold snaps that missed the rest of the state, prompting an earlier, faster fall in the east.

WASHINGTON (KCRG) – Iowa U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says there will be a bailout to assist farmers dealing with the impacts of the government shutdown and Trump Administration tariffs. “There will be a bailout and there should be a bailout,” Grassley told reporters Wednesday. “The federal government ought to make up for what they’ve done negatively to hurt the family farmer.”

Senator Grassley said the bailout would likely range from $10 billion to $13 billion. This announcement follows President Donald Trump’s recent agreement with China to reduce tariffs and resume purchasing U.S. soybeans.

Grassley’s office was unable to provide further details on the plan.

(Radio Iowa) – Ground is being broken today (Thursday) at the state’s largest zoo on an 18-million dollar expansion called Wild Iowa, which will showcase various species that are all native to Iowa. Alex Payne, spokesman for Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, says it’ll be their first installation for bobcats, and nearby they’ll build a new habitat for American bald eagles, which will include a place where the big birds can perch above visitors.

“There will be some enclosure there for them, but it will be a brighter area so they’ll be able to receive more sunlight than they have in their current habitat, and more room for them to be able to go out and explore around the area,” Payne says. Another section of the new exhibition will be dedicated to river otters, and it will offer visitors an up-close underwater view of the playful creatures. Payne says it’ll be a big improvement over the current otter habitat.

Otter Habitat (Blank Park Zoo image)

“We will move our otters over to the new Wild Iowa section, so the bald eagles and otters will be moving over there, and then next to that, we’ll also have our bobcat area that we’ll be adding, and then we’ll also have our Discovery Cabin and we’ll include some Blanding’s turtles, which are native to Iowa, and some other animals that are native to the Iowa area.” Today’s groundbreaking event also marks the launch of the zoo’s 60th anniversary, what Payne says will be a year-and-a-half-long celebration of the zoo’s past, and the exciting things that are still to come.

“We broke ground in May on our new lion habitat, so that will open next summer, and that’s part of our overall Expand the Impact campaign,” Payne says. “Then Wild Iowa, we’ll be breaking ground now and then that will probably be about a year, so we’re looking into probably spring of 2027 for Wild Iowa.” What was originally called the Des Moines Children’s Zoo opened in May of 1966. It now draws about a half-million visitors every year.

(Radio Iowa) – A northern Iowa organization called “Hunting with Heroes” is gearing up for an annual pheasant hunt later this week in Kossuth County. Bernie Becker, a spokesperson for the group, says six veterans from other states who’ve been wounded in combat will go hunting and four veterans who’ve been guests of the group before will be mentors. “We have probably about 1500 acres lined up that’s never been hunted just for these guys to hunt this year and we’re really looking forward to it,” Becker says. “We’ve got a great bunch of guys coming. We’ve talked to them and they’ve been chosen by people that have been here before and they are capable of doing the hunt because it’s kind of strenuous for combat wounded guys.”

Becker says they try to make sure the wounded vets are comfortable handling new shotguns. “The first day they come in we take them to a sporting club and get them used to shooting these new shotguns that we provide for them and we donate them to them to take home,” Becker said. “We try to hunt about two hours and then we take a break. Everybody has to catch their breath, even me, and then we go back at it again.”

The wounded veterans participating this year are flying in tomorrow (Thursday) and they’ll be hunting in Kossuth County this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Veterans Day, they’ll participate in an annual food distribution event in the small Kossuth County town of Lakota. Last year, the group provided over 500 complete Thanksgiving meals to area veterans and the widows of veterans. Becker says this year they’re planning on handing out over 600 meals for the upcoming holiday.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with AgriVision Equipment and PrairieLand Partners have announced the Next-Gen Tech Expo will take place this Saturday, November 8, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., at the WeLead Training Center in Council Bluffs. The event provides a unique opportunity for high school juniors and seniors interested in becoming agricultural technicians to showcase their mechanical knowledge, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, all while engaging with industry professionals.

Throughout the day, students will take part in a series of interactive challenges. Top performers for the day, will not only earn prizes but also be considered for a spot in the 2026 class of the WeLEAD Tech Institute, a program dedicated to developing the next generation of highly skilled service technicians. While students compete, parents will have the opportunity to explore the many ag tech education and career pathways available through partnerships with AgriVision Equipment and PrairieLand Partners.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn and a small group of central Iowans from the ag sector say farmers don’t like bailouts, but emergency federal assistance is needed after tariff tensions roiled the grain markets. Vernon Flinn, who raises corn, soybeans and cattle in five central Iowa counties, says he’s prefer to have the free market dictate prices — but short term help is needed.

“Part of the problem we’re facing is brought on by the government, so I think the government’s got an obligation to help maybe bail guys out of it,” Flinn said. Flinn recently paid a huge bill to replace two tires that were punctured when the combine rolled over a set of deer antlers in a field. “(With) $4 corn, there’s not a lot of money to go around to buy $26,000 tires,” Flinn said.

Nunn, a Republican from Ankeny, says President Trump’s recent negotiations with China will yield results for Iowa soybean farmers — and the Big Beautiful Bill Trump signed in July provides tax benefits to farmers. “No farmer that I’ve ever talked ever says they want a bailout. What they’d like to be able to do is expand their market — that’s both internationally, as the president just showed in his Asia trip, but it’s also domestically — something that the Biden Administration failed to do for us for four years, something that this administration can do for us right now,” Nunn says.

“It’s one of the reasons I just had a conversation with (Treasury) Secretary Bessent about opening up E15 year round…and expansion of biofuel consumption in the U.S.” Nunn hosted a roundtable discussion yesterday (Tuesday) at the Heartland Co-op in Carlisle. Tom Hauschel (HAH-shell) is the co-op’s C-E-O. “We’re off to a very difficult start this year, with the farm economy what it has been and the crop size with all the fungus and rust that we had,” Hauschel said. “It’s the most stressful year we’ve had in the entire history of the cooperative.”

The Heartland Co-op was formed in 1987 with the merger of co-ops in Panora, Dallas Center, Minburn and Granger and it expanded in 1993 when a grain business in Carlisle and co-ops in Alleman and Mitchellville joined the enterprise. Hauschel says the financial pressure that started at the farm gate is now being felt at the retail level and federal officials need to develop a long-term plan for the ag sector.

“Payments are a short-term fix. It’s not going to solve the problem next year because if we don’t move this ball forward, we’re not going to solve next year’s problems,” Hauschel said, “so this problem is just going to snowball and then we’re going to lose farmers. We’re going to lose the young kids.”

A recent Creighton University survey of rural bank C-E-Os in Iowa and other Midwest states found a firm majority of the bankers believe President Trump’s approach to trade with China is about right, but nearly 85 percent of the bankers surveyed support emergency federal payments to farmers due to the financial hit of trade losses.

Wednesday, November 5th, Atlantic-native Glen Smith will sit for a congressional hearing on his appointment as United State Department of Agriculture Undersecretary of of Rural Development.  Smith, Who served as President of the Farm Credit Administration, said this process began in April.

Smith said the F-C-A confirmation process was not quite this involved.

Smith says he’s honored to have the opportunity to work at the U-S-D-A.

Glen R. Smith (Official FCSIC photo)

The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 5th at 2:00 pm central time and can be viewed at:

https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/hearings/nomination-hearing-11-05-2025.

(Radio Iowa) – A new statewide initiative is being launched that will help support community gardens that donate fresh produce. The Iowa Donation Garden Network is designed to reach and link up garden organizers through expert-led education, shared resources and collaborative programming. Alicia Herzog, the Iowa Master Gardener program manager with I-S-U Extension and Outreach, explains how it’ll work. “The overarching goal of this network is to empower and connect community donation gardens across Iowa,” Herzog says. “It can feel like you’re an island, sometimes, trying to do this work of raising fresh produce to be donated to food pantries in the area and battling food insecurity in the local community.” There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of community gardens across Iowa that are helping to feed people in their immediate areas. Through this new network, Herzog says they hope to get a handle on roughly how many gardens are doing this good work across Iowa, and how much produce they’re donating.

“We’ll be asking the member gardens to provide us some basic annual reporting metrics that then we can help create a statewide map,” Herzog says, “and we can show all of the communities, all of the counties that are impacted by these different gardens.” Exact locations won’t be published, she says, as they don’t want gardens being overrun. Funding will end this year for the U-S-D-A’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, referred to as SNAP-Ed, so Herzog says the new network fills a critical gap in statewide support for donation gardens. “I’m sure that we won’t catch every donation garden that exists in Iowa, but we’re really trying to cast that net wide and far and let any donation garden that exists know that we want you to be a part of this story,” Herzog says. “We want to help tell your story about the good work that you may already be doing in your community and how that fits into the puzzle.”

Informational Zoom sessions to introduce the Iowa Donation Garden Network will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9 AM, noon and 6 PM. Go here to register:
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/mastergardener/iowa-donation-garden-network

Officials with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation have announced they have reached the Foundation’s $1.9 million fundraising goal for the Arnolds Park Nature Area and will purchase the property to ensure it is protected and open to the public.

In a press release, the INHF said a flurry of donations over the final weeks of the campaign made it possible for INHF to exercise an option to purchase the 73-acre property before an Oct. 31 deadline. More than 300 individuals and families donated to support the vision for a city-owned park in the heart of the Iowa Great Lakes, managed with water quality, flood reduction, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation in mind.

INHF partnered with the city of Arnolds Park, Ducks Unlimited and Dickinson County Conservation to raise the necessary funding. Dozens of community partners — including East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation, the Okoboji Protective Association and Iowa Great Lakes Pheasants Forever — championed the project and made meaningful contributions.

After closing on the sale, INHF will place a conservation easement on the property, ensuring its permanent protection. INHF will then transfer ownership to the city of Arnolds Park, and work with partners to plan for wetland and prairie restoration work on the site.   The city plans to install a small parking area, a picnic shelter, and soft surface trails through the park. Eventually, an off-road bike trail along the east side of the property will connect the Great Lakes Spine Trail north toward Bridges Bay.  Any funds raised in excess of the purchase price will go directly toward the native habitat restoration happening on site.

INHF is grateful to all the partners and supporters that made this project possible. Your efforts are improving the quality of life for Great Lakes-area residents and visitors and supporting INHF’s mission to protect and restore Iowa’s land, water and wildlife.

Supporters that made a pledge to the project can make a pledge payment online or send a check in the mail to:
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
505th Ave, Ste 444
Des Moines, IA 50309