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(Iowa DNR News) – Iowa state parks and forests are gearing up for a busy Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the outdoor summer recreation season. “Park visitors are excited to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather after a long winter inside,” said Sherry Arntzen, chief of the DNR’s State Parks, Forests and Preserves Bureau. “Our parks offer a variety of activities for all enthusiasts from hiking the trails to picnicking, fishing and swimming. There’s something for everyone while enjoying the outdoors.”
Campers are urged to plan ahead when visiting Iowa state parks and forests for Memorial Day weekend. Most electrical and full hookup sites in busy parks are already reserved, so campers may want to consider non-electric sites or at “hidden gem” parks a little further away from home. Additionally, Iowa state parks and forests offer around 1,200 non-reservable sites available on a first-come, first-served basis, with most people choosing to stay today (Thursday) through the weekend.
To find site availability and make a reservation, go to https://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/ For an up-to-date list of park and trail closures due to renovations or weather-related alerts, visit: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures
Park visitors can help take care of the parks by cleaning up trash after themselves, and carrying out what they brought in. Please park vehicles in designated parking lots and not along roadways. If visiting beaches, be aware that most swimming areas do not have a lifeguard on duty, and pets must be kept off beaches and be on a leash. “We hope that campers enjoy their time and make memories while staying in our parks and recreational areas, and do so safely and return again,” Arntzen said.
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Audubon, Iowa (May 25, 2022) – Trees Forever, Audubon County Conservation Board, Audubon County Roadsides, Audubon County Economic Development and partners are offering the Stewards of the Beautiful Land Series to individuals in Audubon and surrounding counties. Stewards of the Beautiful Land is a four-session course, meeting monthly, geared for the outdoor enthusiast who wants to learn more about prairie plants, trees and forests, and the environments they thrive in, and how to advocate for native landscapes.
“We have been offering this innovative series to other counties throughout Iowa the last three years and now it is being offered in Audubon. We have identified several great locations for field days which will be the perfect outdoor classroom to learn about prairie plant identification, establishment, and management as well as tree care and more,” says Trees Forever Program Manager Brad Riphagen. 
The course is structured with monthly webinars featuring guest presenters which lay the groundwork and knowledge base for where to find native plants on the landscape, the various landforms of Iowa, invasive species identification and management, pollinator habitat enhancement and protection and more. Each month will also feature an in-person meeting to learn from one another, walk through the woods or prairie identifying native plants and trees, and hands-on skills like how to properly plant and care for natives. In-person meetings are from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at various locations throughout the county.
According to Sara Slater with Audubon County Economic Development, “we are excited to host this series of field days around Audubon and learning about the natural landscape with Brad and other participants. We even have a pollinator planting planned for this fall near Albert the Bull so the course has something for everyone.”
For more information contact Brad Riphagen at briphagen@treesforever.org or via phone at 515-370-1291. Registration is live on the Trees Forever events calendar found at this link https://treesforever.org/event/stewards-of-the-beautiful-land-session-1/
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Due to the abnormally low temperatures over the last week, Sunnyside Pool in Atlantic will not be opening for the Memorial Day Weekend. Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen said “We have been painting benches, sealing the pool, putting up umbrellas, etc. in anticipation for this upcoming season. But due to mother nature we will have to push back the opening. Please follow our Sunnyside Pool Facebook page as we will monitor the pool and be working hard to get it open as soon as possible.”
Rasmussen says “Thank you for your understanding and we hope to have a great summer!”
Sunnyside Pool in Atlantic, Iowa.
(Radio Iowa) – A temporary moratorium on the use of eminent domain to seize property along carbon pipeline routes passed the House in March, but it was never considered in the Iowa Senate. The plan would have prevented pipeline developers from filing an application with the Iowa Utilities Board before February 1st, in order to acquire land where property owners are refusing to grant access. Representative Bruce Hunter, a Democrat from Des Moines, says lawmakers have played a shell game with Iowans who wanted some assurances their land won’t be seized against their wishes.
“We didn’t do anything for the farmers on this pipeline issue,” Hunter says. “Look what we’ve done: beat our chest and then con ’em.” Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton says the threat of a moratorium got pipeline developers to assure him they won’t seek eminent domain authority until next March.
“We sent a message that we’re willing to act if property rights are attempted to be infringed on,” Kaufmann says. Kaufmann says state utility regulators have also told him their review of any eminent domain requests for carbon pipelines won’t start until after the 2023 legislature convenes.
(Radio Iowa) – The legislature has sent the governor a bill that would set up a new January hunting season for deer in counties where some of the state licenses for harvesting antlerless deer were not sold. Senator Ken Rozenboom says the bill would let deer hunters use semi-automatic rifles during that period. “The purpose of this season is not to hunt for sport, but rather to manage the size of the herd,” Rozenboom says, “which is why more efficient and effective firearms are being authorized.”
The bill cleared the Senate unanimously in April and the House approved it today (Tuesday) on a 56 to 34 vote. Representative Todd Prichard, a Democrat from Charles City, says it’s a dangerous idea to use A-R 15’s to hunt for deer. “The range that I’m familiar with this type of weapon and round is 3400-3600 meters,” Prichard says. “It’s about two and a half miles…five miles in diameter.” Prichard, who is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, says an experienced person using an A-R-15 can hit a target that’s about six football fields away, but the bullets can fly a lot farther.
“I think I had something like 200 hours of basic rifle marksmanship to learn how to handle a similar weapon to qualify and to be combat certified,” Prichard says. “Are we going to require that for deer hunters now? I doubt it.” Senator Rozenboom’s bill also calls on the Iowa Insurance Division, the Iowa D-O-T, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University to complete a study of the state’s deer herd by the fall of 2023.
“To get a thorough look at the overall deer population and it’s impact on crops, on trees (and) property loss, medical costs and fatalities due vehicle accidents with deer,” Rosenboom says. Rozenboom, who is from Oskaloosa, says this won’t be the last bill he sponsors on the subject. “I have become convinced that the deer population in parts of the state, including in my senate district, that those populations are sometimes out of control,” Rozenboom said, “or out of balance anyway.”
The bill also reduces the civil fine for hunters caught illegally shooting an antlerless deer. The Iowa Farm Bureau supports the legislation, arguing deer are damaging and eating crops. Pheasants Forever, the Iowa Bow Hunters Association, the Iowa Conservation Alliance and the State Police Officers Council are opposed to the bill.
(Radio Iowa) – The planting season is pushing closer to the finish line after another good weather week. Corn planting moved to 86 percent complete by the end of last week — compared to 57 percent the week before. That’s 13 days behind last week — but only three days behind the five-year average.
The U-S-D-A report says 47 percent of the corn crop has emerged. Soybean planting moved from 34 to 69 percent planted in the last week. That’s 12 days behind last year but now one day ahead of the five-year average. Eighteen percent of soybeans have emerged.
AMES, Iowa – Stronger commodity prices and farmland values are leading to higher cash rents across most of the state. Officials with ISU Extension and Outreach say the most recent annual survey of cash rental rates for Iowa farmland showed that rates increased an average of 10.3% in 2022, to $256 per acre.
This is the third consecutive and largest uptick in cash rents since 2013, when rents peaked at $270 per acre – a level 5.5% higher in nominal terms than in 2022. In comparison, nominal corn and soybean prices received by farmers in Iowa declined by 16 and 11%, respectively, since mid-2013.
“Higher cash rents means lower margins on rented land, but current corn and soybean prices should support positive margins for most tenants in 2022,” said Alejandro Plastina, associate professor in economics and extension economist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “Somewhat more concerning is the picture for 2023, with expected higher input costs across the board and stagnant to declining crop prices.” 
The survey was based on 1,401 responses from farmers, landowners, professional farm managers and realtors, agricultural lenders and others with knowledge of cash rents for farmland.
They supplied information based on their best judgments about typical cash rental rates for high, medium and low quality cropland in their counties, as well as for land devoted to production of hay, oat and pasture. Information about rents for individual farms was not collected.
There was considerable variability across counties in year-to-year changes, as is typical of survey data, but most Iowa counties experienced increases in average rents for land planted to corn and soybeans.
All land qualities have seen their average cash rents increase by similar percentages. High quality land experienced an 11.2% increase, from $267 per acre in 2021 to $297 in 2022.
Medium quality land experienced a 9.4% increase, from $233 per acre in 2021 to $255 in 2022. Low quality land experienced a 10.2% increase, from $197 per acre in 2021 to $217 in 2022.
Due to reporting deadlines, survey data typically lags the current year. The typical cash rents reported in the survey reflect the economic conditions during the months of July and August of the previous year through February of the current year. The survey has historically been implemented at the same time each year to avoid interfering with cash rent negotiations or re-negotiations.
Survey information can serve as a reference point for negotiating an appropriate rental rate for next year, said Plastina. However, rents for individual farms should be based on productivity, ease of farming, fertility, drainage, local price patterns, longevity of the lease, conservation practices, and possible services performed by the tenant.
“The cash rent survey results are based on opinions and should not be used to set prices without proper discussion of the relevant circumstances around an individual farm,” said Plastina.
Other resources available for estimating cash rents include the AgDM Information Files C2-20, Computing a Cropland Cash Rental Rate; C2-23, Computing a Pasture Rental Rate; and C2-21, Flexible Farm Lease Agreements. All of these fact sheets, and more, are on the Ag Decision Maker Leasing page and include decision tools (electronic spreadsheets) to help analyze individual leasing situations.
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