(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A Nebraska-based grain dealer with elevators in western Iowa has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said farmers have 120 days to file for indemnity if they had unpaid grain sold before Nov. 17 to Hansen-Mueller Co.  The Iowa Grain Indemnity Fund will pay farmers up to 90%, with a $400,000 maximum, for their sold grain in the event a state-licensed grain dealer goes broke before it can pay the farmer.

The Iowa Grain Indemnity Fund is supported by farmers who pay a per-bushel fee into the fund when it is below its lower boundary, which the Legislature raised this year to $8 million. The fund was depleted in 2023 due to the bankruptcy of a large dealer, but the Grain Indemnity Fund Board stopped collecting the fees in September this year.

(Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

A spokesperson with IDALS said the fund is currently at $12.6 million and the department does not anticipate that indemnity payments resulting from the Hansen-Mueller bankruptcy will result in the board reinstating grain indemnity fees. According to Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings for Hansen-Mueller, none of its 20 largest unsecured claims were with Iowa companies. Some of the top claims include one for more than $4.6 million with Viterra Canada Inc., a more than $2.5 million claim with Cargill in Minnesota and just over $2 million to Beloit, Kansas-based Agmark LLC.

Hansen-Mueller had its grain dealer license revoked in Nebraska earlier this year, according to reporting from Nebraska Public Radio, when the company failed to make payments to producers.  The company later made the payments and its license was reinstated by the state licensing agency in early November.  According to a press release from the company, it intends to continue operations under the supervision of the bankruptcy court and “meet obligations” to employees and suppliers while the sale of its assets is finalized.

Hansen-Mueller, according to its website, had locations in 10 states, including Iowa. The company had elevators in Sioux City and Council Bluffs.  Iowa farmers with unpaid grain sold to Hansen-Mueller before Nov. 17, 2025, have until March 17, 2026 to file a claim with the state grain indemnity board.

Claims must be made in writing and mailed to IDALS Grain Warehouse Bureau. More instructions are available online.

Cass County: Corn $4.00         Beans $10.81
Adair County: Corn $3.97        Beans $10.84
Adams County: Corn $3.97     Beans $10.80
Audubon County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.83
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.03     Beans $10.81
Guthrie County: Corn $4.02   Beans $10.85
Montgomery County: Corn $4.02    Beans $10.83
Shelby County: Corn $4.03      Beans $10.81

Oats: $2.63 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wynja Feedlot in Orange City have reached a settlement of $20,000 for the feedlot’s unpermitted wastewater discharges. The EPA can charge up to $68,445 per day of Clean Water Act violations, but the agency lowered the charge on the basis that the feedlot had “a limited ability to pay a civil penalty.”

In addition to the fee, Wynja Feedlot Inc., a 999-head capacity cattle feedlot, is required to apply for an National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit, construct a lined containment basin and sample discharges from the surrounding tile for possible pollutants.

The EPA discovered in March 2021 that the confined animal feeding operation had been discharging wastewater through a drainage pipe that led to a “relatively permanent” tributary of the West Branch of the Floyd River. According to EPA, the wastewater contained high levels of bacteria, ammonia, chlorides, and unprocessed organic matter, all of which can contribute to impaired water quality. The feedlot did not have an NPDES permit for the drainage pipe, and according to EPA, the facility admitted the observed discharge had occurred for three consecutive days.

(Radio Iowa) – A ribbon cutting Wednesday celebrated the new facility in Scott County that converts landfill waste gas into usable natural gas. The facility was built by Waga Energy and Bryce Stalcup, the executive director of the Scott County Waste Commission says the gas generated will help power around four-thousand homes each year.  “Unfortunately, there’s waste that you just can’t recycle or divert, and it has to go somewhere,” he says. “Well, when we can then capture the gas as that waste breaks down and then get that use of it, that’s the best thing that we can think possible for our community.”

The process at the Davenport plant takes the gas produced by decomposing garbage and filters it to extract carbon dioxide and other pollutants, and then sends it straight into the MidAmerican energy pipeline. “For Scott County, what this means is cleaner air, better use of our natural resources, and proof that sustainability and economic responsibility can go hand in hand,” Stalcup says.

A new facility in Scott County recovers gas from the landfill. (Waga Energy photo)

The facility is expected to help prevent the landfill site from producing nearly 16-thousand tons of C-O-2 equivalent emissions each year. The facility has been operating for more than a month. It’s the eighth landfill gas capturing facility in Iowa, and the second that Waga Energy has built in the United States.

(Radio Iowa) – The Emmet County Board of Supervisors is seeking a second legal opinion on a proposed settlement with the company that has planned to build the Red Rock Energy Center wind farm. Last December, the Emmet County Board of Adjustment rejected a permit for the project and the company sued. Doug Hanson, chairman of Emmet County’s Planning and Zoning Commission, says the county would sign away a lot if it agrees to settle the lawsuit. “The citizens of Emmet County, you really owe it to them to fight,” Hanson said during the supervisor’s meeting this week.

Emmet County Attorney Melanie Summers Bauler is warning that seeking a second legal opinion would likely be a lengthy process. “Unless you can tell that attorney we’re talking about 7000 pages of discovery, then they don’t have any idea how long it would take them to review,” she said. She says a lengthy delay could derail the negotiated settlement. Supervisor Tim Schumacher says that’s not a comfortable spot for the board, but county officials have heard from a lot of people during public hearings who oppose the settlement, and they’re getting a lot of letters from residents who’re urging the board to sign the agreement and let the wind farm’s construction begin.

“I think it makes sense to get another opinion,” Schumacher said. Schumacher volunteered to reach out to a Des Moines law firm the county has previously used and see how quickly an attorney could review the settlement. The agenda for the Emmet County Board Supervisors meeting on November 25th also indicates the board will again discuss the issues surrounding the settlement.

Invenergy is the Chicago company that has proposed building a wind farm in Emmet and Dickinson Counties. In May, the Dickinson County Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the company’s permit to erect 67 wind turbines in their county. Invenergy is the largest private developer of wind energy projects in North America.

Cass County: Corn $4.00         Beans $10.81
Adair County: Corn $3.97        Beans $10.84
Adams County: Corn $3.97     Beans $10.80
Audubon County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.83
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.03     Beans $10.81
Guthrie County: Corn $4.02   Beans $10.85
Montgomery County: Corn $4.02    Beans $10.83
Shelby County: Corn $4.03      Beans $10.81

Oats: $2.63 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

DES MOINES— Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, today (Wednesday), signed a proclamation related to the weight limits and transportation of grain, fertilizer, and manure. The proclamation is effective immediately and continues through December 19, 2025. The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, soybean meal, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.

The proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (b), by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.

(Radio Iowa) – A new study suggests year-round activities on the Iowa State fairgrounds in 2024 had a 629 MILLION dollar statewide economic impact. Iowa State Fair C-E-O Jeremy Parsons released the study’s results this (Wednesday) morning. “Iowans should be proud of their Fair, not only for what we do for the state socially, culturally, and in the news, but also economically,” Parsons said. A large part of the overall tally is the nearly 480 MILLION dollar impact of just the 11 day run of the 2024 state fair itself.

“In 2024, that number compared to the economic impact of the Kentucky Derby? $405 million. The economic impact of the men’s NCAA final four in San Antonio? $440 million,” Parsons said. That tally for the 2024 fair does not include how much vendors made selling food, drinks and other items during the Fair, which would significantly boost the overall figure. This is the first-ever study of the financial ripples the state fair’s year-round operations create. Nearly 700-thousand out of town visitors came through the gates for the 2024 Iowa State Fair, creating demand for tens of thousands of hotel rooms, plus there were more than 200 events on the fairgrounds throughout the rest year. “We want to be more than a big neighbor on the east side of Des Moines,” Parsons said. “We want to be a good neighbor.”

Parsons says the information will help officials plan for the future — and the 175th Iowa State Fair in 2029.

Cass County: Corn $4.00         Beans $10.78
Adair County: Corn $3.97        Beans $10.81
Adams County: Corn $3.97     Beans $10.77
Audubon County: Corn $3.99 Beans $10.80
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.03     Beans $10.78
Guthrie County: Corn $4.02   Beans $10.82
Montgomery County: Corn $4.02    Beans $10.80
Shelby County: Corn $4.03      Beans $10.78

Oats: $2.62 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Just 3% of corn acres and 1% of soybean acres across the state of Iowa remain unharvested, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop progress and condition report. The according to the report, the corn harvest is just slightly ahead of the five-year average and on target with 2024 harvest figures. Soybean harvest was 100% completed this time last year, but this year’s pace is in line with the five-year average.

The weekly harvest-season reports from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service were paused during the 43-day government shutdown. The report for the Nov. 10 through Nov. 16 period shows the tail end of Iowa’s harvest.

According to the report, soil moisture conditions were slightly dry across the state. On average, 62% of topsoil and 63% of subsoil across the state had adequate moisture. Twenty-seven percent of both top and subsoils averages across the state were short in terms of moisture. Eastern parts of the state had the driest soils, with between 39% and 57% of topsoil and subsoil in the regions listed as short.

According to State Climatologist Justin Glisan, precipitation across Iowa was low for the reporting period, with most stations reporting no precipitation. The normal statewide average for the period is four-tenths of an inch, but Glisan said the statewide average was below a measurable amount.

Temperatures at the beginning of the week were 18 degrees Fahrenheit below the climatological normal, but on Friday, average temperatures across the state were 15 to 30 degrees above normal. The statewide average temperature for the week was about 42 degrees, which is nearly 4 degrees above normal.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the dry weather and warm temperatures allowed farmers to make a “final push” on harvest and move on to other field work. According to the crop report, farmers had 6.4 days suitable for field work during the period. “With dry conditions and drought creeping back in, many will welcome the forecasted moisture that could help recharge our soils as we head toward Thanksgiving,” Naig said in a statement.