(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University researchers say the recent outbreaks at several poultry operations in northwest Iowa are connected to a virus circulating in wild birds. I-S-U veterinarian Yuko Sato says the version that has hit twelve poultry operations is different from the strain that infected 13 dairies and three poultry operations in late May and June.

“And one of the first ways we know what kind of virus is out there to figure out that link is to find dead wild birds in the area,” she says. The Iowa D-N-R says there’s been a spike in sick and dead waterfowl from avian influenza since early December. The D-N-R’s state wildlife veterinarian Rachel Ruden asks everyone to be on the lookout for diseased birds and report them to a conservation officer.

“If you see sick birds in your yard or at the park or whatever, you know, keep your pets away from direct contact. And, you know, don’t handle those birds, but we still want to hear about them.” Ruden says the D-N-R is tracking detections of the virus in wild birds to understand the scope of the current outbreak and will remove infected carcasses where possible to prevent the spread of the virus.

(Radio Iowa) – Tomorrow (Saturday) will mark the official arrival of winter, and with spring a long three months away, some outdoor plants may need special care. Aaron Steil, a consumer horticulture specialist at the Iowa State University Extension, says the past few years of drought have been tough on our landscaping, and some recent plantings, trees and shrubs may already be stressed as cold weather settles in. Steil says it’s normal for some shrubs to turn brown or orange at this time of the year.

“Eastern red cedar, for example, tends to get kind of a brownish color in the winter, but it’s more dark green during the summer,” Steil says. “It’s been a pretty stressful growing season. Most of the state has been on the dry side this year and the last couple of years, and so it’s starting to build up, especially on younger or less established plants in our landscape.” Homeowners may be concerned about their trees and other plants being damaged by a heavy, wet snow, especially if their limbs are sagging. “Most of the time, plants do a pretty good job of shedding that snow off all on their own,” Steil says, “but if you do have a younger plant, or an evergreen that seems to be very weighed down by snow, you can go out and brush it off using your hand or a broom.” If you want to clear that snow off yourself, he says there is a right way — and a wrong way — to go about the process.

“Just make sure you do it in an upward motion instead of a downward one,” he says, “so that you don’t stress branches that are bending down even more.” Steil says ice can do infinitely more damage to young plants than snow, however, he says you need to resist the urge to try to remove ice from their frozen boughs and limbs. “You’re likely to do more damage than good. If you try to go out and remove ice from shrubs and trees in your landscape, you can go out and maybe prop something up with a board, if you’re really worried about it,” Steil says. “Otherwise, trying to break it off or throwing hot water on it to try to melt it off, all of those always do more damage than help.”

The best thing you can do for an ice-coated tree, he says, is to leave it alone and let the sun warm it up.

URBANDALE, Iowa [KCCI]— Hunger-fighting organizations and more across Iowa are coming together and urging Governor Kim Reynolds to submit a notice of intent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to operate the Summer EBT program in 2025. The deadline for states to submit the notice of intent is Jan. 1st. The Summer EBT program, or SUN Bucks, allows most of the families in the U.S. with school-aged children who are eligible to receive $120 per child to buy groceries during the summer.

The Urbandale Food Pantry is one of 153 Iowa organizations and groups that signed a letter calling on Reynolds to sign a notice of intent to participate in the program next summer. According to the Iowa Hunger Coalition, the letter was delivered on Tuesday. The Iowa Hunger Coalition reports that 245,000 children would benefit from Summer EBT in every community across Iowa.

The program gives eligible families $40 per child per month in the summer. Organizations and groups say this program does a lot, including giving families the flexibility to pick food for their specific needs and households.

A few months ago, Gov. Kim Reynolds had submitted a waiver asking the USDA to allow Iowa to instead provide the food directly to families. The plan would provide three months of food boxes to eligible families. The governor also says it would feed more children than the Summer EBT program. The USDA denied the waiver request.

The Governor’s Office did not share a comment, but the governor has previously said she plans to reapply after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

(Radio Iowa) – Farm groups are urging state officials to continue funding development of livestock vaccines for bird flu and other foreign animal diseases like African Swine Fever and Food and Mouth Disease. Kelli Wicks is with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association.

“Aside from total depopulation, which takes a toll not only on producers, but on our rural economies, vaccination remains the best way to stop the spread of those diseases,” Wicks says. Joel Harris is C-E-O and co-founder of Genvax Technologies, which is based in the Iowa State University Research Park. The start-up has received a state grant and a 250-thousand dollar state loan.

“These funds are helping us invest in critical equipment, personnel, facilities,” he says, “and it’s bringing us closer to creating safe and effective vaccines that address the top disease threats to Iowa’s $35 billion livestock industry.” A decade ago, Harris was involved in previous research that developed a vaccine for P-E-D-v — a deadly virus that has killed millions of piglets. Harris says developing a bird flu vaccine is essential.

“It’s not just poultry at risk anymore, but continues to threaten dairy and swine as well,” Harris says. “Now more than ever, strong investment in foreign animal disease preparedness, especially vaccines, needs to be a priority for the state. It’s one of the best ways to protect Iowa’s agriculture and stop these outbreaks from persisting.”

The Iowa Farm Bureau is calling for state support of research into how bird flu is transmitted to cattle. State and federal officials have confirmed cases of bird flu in 13 Iowa dairy herds.

(Radio Iowa) – Lower commodity prices and a drop in farm income are some of the issues farmers have faced this year. Iowa State Extension field agronomist, Aaron Saeugling says the farmers he’s talked to in southwest Iowa are adjusting. “You know, people are probably a little more cautious than they were a year ago. I think big equipment purchases are going to be, you know — probably a lot more cautious before they make those investments,” he says. Saeugling says a lot depends which areas had the best crop development.

“Everybody’s in a little different scenario. I mean, the bushels are there, the price is not. So, you’ll hear the grain merchandisers will use terms like, you know, ‘bushel their way out of it’,” he says. “Which at least you have bushels to sell. That’s the advantage of having a big crop, is that you have something to market.” Those who had dry conditions will not have the advantage of volume.

“When you get into extremely short crops or dry crops, you just simply don’t have the bushels to market,” he says. Saeugling says planting got started late in southern Iowa and that led to a late harvest, but he some reports of very good yields.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa banker says interest rates and commodity prices are squeezing the farm economy. Jeff Plagge served as State Banking Superintendent for four years, retired from that post last December and is now a member of a state panel that forecasts state tax revenue. “Harvest was as fast as I’ve ever seen it, personally, this year due to the dry weather and I would say yields from what I’ve heard from most people were at least at or slightly better than usual, with some exceptions in some areas of the state, but the commodity prices have challenged the market,” Plagge says.

“It’s early in the credit cycle so we’ll find out a little bit more over the winter months what the true impact of that is going to be on ag.” In the agri-business sector, Cargill — which makes livestock feed — is laying off five percent of its workforce and John Deere has laid off over 17-hundred workers from its Iowa facilities this year.

“Farmers are pretty good at closing the checkbook when they feel like there are pressures on their balance sheet,” Plagge says. Plagge says despite the headwinds, however, the overall economy has been pretty resilient. Plagge has been in Iowa’s banking industry for 44 years and led four different banking organizations, including Northwest Iowa Banking Corporation in Arnolds Park.

Plagge retired from that family-owned bank holding company in 2020, shortly after he took over as state banking superintendent.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic’s Parks Advisory Committee, Wednesday, agreed to change the policy for shelter rental reservations from half-day, to full-day. The City has seven park shelters available for use. Commission Chairman Kevin Ferguson said the reason for the change has to do with keeping the shelters clean.

The fee for renting for a full day – regardless of whether or not it is used for that long – will be $50. The Committee will forward its recommendation to the full City Council for approval.

Sunnyside Park Shelter

The Committee agreed also to have Parks and Rec Coordinator Jeff Christensen arrange for the purchase of new trash cans for installation at the various City parks and along trails. The cost for 21 55-gallon capacity trash cans is $11,443.81. The cans, which come with lids, will be blue in color, and featured a metal, mesh construction. They will replace 21 cans that are worn out.

The Commission authorized the purchase of additional trash cans, as needed.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Waste Reduction Center in Cedar Falls is launching a program to help smaller communities in the Midwest use composting to improve water quality. The Center’s Jennifer Trent says they will work with seven communities across four states to help build small compost facilities. “We’re going to be training them how to take the compost that they manufacture and how to use that to protect local water sources,” she says. They can use the compost they get from those facilities. “Compost has the ability to filter out pollutants and to also break down pollutants,” Trent says. The towns in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois with populations of fewer than 25-hundred people sit on E-P-A designated impaired waterways. Trent says the goal is to get those waters off the impaired list.

“So when water enters into a river, if you have strategically placed compost, you can eliminate pollution from entering the water source,” she says. She says another benefit could be reducing the amount of food waste sent to community landfills. Education workshops will start in May and run through August.

(Iowa News Service report) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is training operators of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on the safest ways to apply manure to their fields and what to do if a spill happens. It is part of the state’s effort to help reduce accidents and protect the environment. Iowa produces about 50 million tons of manure every year or enough to fertilize roughly 17% of the state’s cropland.

Jeff Prier, senior environmental specialist for the Iowa DNR, said the state is teaching commercial and smaller operators how to apply it safely by following a required manure management plan. “When they go out to do their application, they need to comply with any separation distances to residence, church, business, school, public use area, water sources,” Prier outlined. “Dependent on their application method.”

Manure from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations is known to pollute air and groundwater when it is not properly applied. Commercial operators said they are looking for more environmentally friendly ways to operate while trying to meet consumer demand for high quality meat. The deadline to apply for the DNR training is next week.

organic piggery pig farm illustration fertilizer recycling, waste environmental, impact responsible organic piggery pig farm

The DNR charges commercial operators $225 for a manure application permit and $175 for smaller operators. Prier noted it is a small price to avoid fines of between $3,000 and $5,000 for applying fertilizer without state certification. “When they hear the numbers, they tend to open their eyes pretty big and think that’s a pretty big number,” Prier observed. “But the best reason is being in compliance with the rules and regulations and knowing what to do if there is a spill.”

Prier, who has been overseeing training for 26 years, added given the amount of manure spread on Iowa farms every year, the number of spills is relatively small.