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(Glenwood, Iowa) – Officials in Mills County report a county-wide Burn Ban will be effect from 8-a.m. Thursday (April 14th) until further notice. Mills County EMA Director Gabe Barney says the ban, which prohibits open burning in Mills County, and includes all the cities within the county, is being implemented due to the abnormally dry air conditions, temperatures and high winds. A majority of the local fire departments were in agreement, and the ban was approved today (Wednesday), by the State Fire Marshal in Des Moines.
An application to your local fire chief can be obtained to allow a permit for an open burn IF your local fire official believes it is safe to do so. After approval of a permit, several county entities are informed, to lessen the danger of false alarms and the unnecessary expenditure of crews and equipment. Barney says “This is a dangerous situation, and we relay on the public to assist us in this ban.” The conditions are such that a fast moving wild land fire and quickly destroy property, and become life threatening if left uncontrolled.
Citizens are reminded to:
Small recreational camp fires are permitted ONLY if they are conducted in a fireplace made of brick, metal or heavy, one-inch wire mesh. Any camp fire not in an outdoor fireplace is prohibited. Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to a citation or arrest for reckless use of fire, or disobeying a burn ban. For more information on burn bans and the law, contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 515-725-6125, or go to www.dps.state.ia.us. You may also call the Mills County EMA Office at 712-527-3643.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Trees Forever spokesperson Dolly Bergmann says spring tree vouchers are now available. Bergmann says “Because of the past year there are many people needing trees this spring. We ask that you limit one voucher per homeowner so more people can get a start replacing trees that were destroyed.” Tree vouchers are a great way to help with the cost of a tree to plant. The vouchers are worth $30 off the cost of a tree, and can be obtained at Pymosa Farms, north of Atlantic.
Dolly Bergmann said there are a limited number of vouchers available. Those at Pymosa Farms can help you determine what kind of tree would work best in the location you would like to plant a tree. It is important to water the trees this spring and during the summer. 
Pymosa Farms is located at 50979 Buck Creek Road, Atlantic, but Bergmann suggests calling owner Tim Reavis, at 402-659-1213 before driving out to the farm to ensure someone is available to help you.
Photo 1. A species of pinion moth found in a true armyworm trap. Photo by Ryan McClintock.
(Lewis, Iowa) – Although it has been uncharacteristically cold recently, it is officially springtime in Iowa and many insects are coming to life. One of the first things the field crop entomologists do each year is coordinate the Iowa Moth Trapping Network. Aaron Saeugling, ISUEO Field Agronomist out of Lewis, reports usually, these traps catch the specific species we are interested in, but there can also be a lot of bycatch. It seems the past few years a particular look-alike continues to show up in the true armyworm (Mythimna unipuncta) traps placed around the state, and others not in the trapping network have noticed and contacted me for clarification as well.
True armyworm is a moth in the family Noctuidae, which is a family that contains a lot of “little brown moths” that may or may not be economically important for field crops in Iowa. I did not run these moths through an identification key, but I suspect the look-alikes are either Bethune’s pinion (Lithophane bethunei) or Nameless pinion (Lithophane innominata) moths (Photo 1). Neither are considered agricultural pests in Iowa and instead feed on broadleaf trees as larvae (caterpillars). You can learn more about their biology by clicking their scientific names.
True armyworm is an agricultural pest in Iowa (consumes leaf tissue), and we monitor true armyworm moths each spring to provide scouting information. True armyworm can be identified by the light brown forewings that each have a white spot in the center, plus there is a fading black line from the wing tip to the interior (Photo 2). As these moths migrate to Iowa from southern states this spring, we will provide weekly scouting updates on the ICM Blog.
Photo 2. Left: The features used to identify a true armyworm moth. The circles show the location of the white spots on the forewings, and the arrows point to the black lines that start at the wing tips and fade going into the center. Photo by Province of Manitoba. Right) A true armyworm moth. Photo by Ashley Dean. Note the range of color variation, with the identification features being prominent on both moths.
(Radio Iowa) – President Biden visited an Iowa ethanol plant this (Tuesday) afternoon to highlight his administration’s move to allow nationwide sales of E-15 during the summer months. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says it’s the single most important step Biden could have taken to keep fuel costs down this summer.
“It’s keeps a cheaper fuel that’s more ‘Made in America’ in the market when we’re dealing with these overseas oil embargoes of Russia and all this stuff that’s driving up prices,” Shaw says. In parts of rural Iowa, E-15 is about 30 cents per gallon cheaper than gasoline with 10 percent ethanol and it’s a cheaper option near Shaw’s office in suburban Des Moines.
“Down the street from me there’s one store on one side of the street that’s selling E15 10 cents under and the store on the other side of the street is selling it for 20 cents under E10,” Shaw says, “so you know which one I go to.” Some stations in Minnesota and other parts of the country have E-15 priced 50 cents a gallon cheaper than E-10.
The Trump Administration moved to allow year-round sales of E-15 in 2019, but a recent court ruling in a lawsuit filed by the oil industry would have blocked sales in much of the country this summer. “We really appreciate what President Biden is doing not just to help Iowans and Americans save money this year, but E15 won’t leave the marketplace,” Shaw says.
“There won’t be a disruption and we’ll continue to work with them on a permanent fix.” There are 22-hundred gas stations in Iowa and about 275 of them offer E-15. “Consumers who have access to E15 are going to continue to save money,” Shaw says. Shaw was among the crowd at the POET plant near Menlo for today’s (Tuesday’s) event.
(Radio Iowa) – President Biden has taken a temporary step to ensure E-15 can be sold year-round.
Biden spoke about the decision to a crowd of invited guests inside an ethanol plant near Menlo Tuesday afternoon.
Biden says energy prices are the major driver of inflation right now.
Emily Skor is executive director of Growth Energy, a trade association for ethanol producers. Skor says the president has made a commitment to find a permanent fix.
In 2019, the Trump Administration moved to allow nationwide E-15 sales from June to mid-September.
Twitter photo of Pres. Biden at POET Biorefining, via Christian Datoc, White House Correspondent, Washington Examiner.
A federal judge ruled in favor of the oil industry’s challenge of that move and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. That means the litigation path for addressing this issue is closed and Skor says the industry is pursuing two options: E-P-A action or passage of a bill in congress.
Iowa Farm Bureau president Brent Johnson says ethanol is a major market for one of Iowa’s main crops and Biden’s announcement helps stabilize the ethanol industry.
Biden made the announcement in a storage barn for dried distillers grain — by by-product of ethanol production and hosts left a 300 ton pile of it inside for the event.. Michael Walz is a V-P for POET, the company that owns the facility Biden visited.
POET operates 33 ethanol plants in eight states.
(Radio Iowa) – The bird flu outbreak throughout the state is helping to drive up egg prices. Economist Brian Earnest with CoBank, which is part of the Farm Credit System, says the nation already saw a significant decrease in egg layers due to the pandemic. The virus will only exacerbate the shortage. “If we continue to see these flock depopulations, especially at the rates we’ve been seeing, that continues to put pressure on availability even into this fall,” Earnest says.
The outbreak has already led to the culling of 24 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks across the nation. Earnest says the price of wholesale eggs rose to three dollars a dozen last month. He says prices are likely to fall in the summer but tight supply will continue to plague the industry. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says he’s concerned about seeing a repeat of the 2015 outbreak which took a one-point-two BILLION dollar toll on the state. “We’re all interested in looking at the cost of food right now. There’s food price inflation for a lot of reasons. But we don’t want to add on top of that shortages because of high path,” Niag says. 
Rembrandt Enterprises laid off more than 200 workers after the northwest Iowa egg producer lost its flock of more than five million chickens to the virus.
(By Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)
(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, voted to adopt a 2022 Cass County Trail Plan in an effort to support trail development within the County. SWIPCO Planner Danielle Briggs addressed the Board, prior to the vote. She said the old trail plan was out-of-date, so they began fresh in 2020 efforts to update the plan that was delayed due to COVID and other matters. She said main reason for updating the plan is to use it as a tool for grant funding necessary to move the trails program forward.
Dave Chase, President of Nishna Valley Trails, thanked those who put in a considerable amount of time to develop the plan. Those persons included Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh, Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning, Conservation Director Micah Lee, and Danielle Briggs.
SWIPCO’s Danielle Briggs talks about the Cass Co. Trail Plan
Chase said “high on the list of trail projects was the connection of the T-Bone Trail to Atlantic.” As it is now, that trail terminates about three-miles northeast of town.
He said through donations and grant funding, “we’re funding new funding is coming on-line,” and they’re working with Golden Hills RC&D in Oakland, to connect the trail to the rest of western Iowa. Chase said there is no tax asking connected with a request for the plan to be adopted. In other business, the Board passed a Resolution to approve a bridge repair project on West 6th Street (The Airport Road). Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken says the joint County-City project is on west 6th Street over the Nishnabotna River. The project’s cost is $392,414.00 to repair the abutments, replace the steel beams, and bring the bridge back up to its’ legal load rating of 80,000 pounds. Currently, the bridge is carrying a three-ton load limit. The project wouldn’t start until 2023.
And, the Board approved a Resolution for the use of ARPA funds to purchase an enclosed trailer for the Cass County EMA.
DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation relating to the weight limits and hours of service requirements for the transportation of crop inputs for planting season.
“Unprecedented economic and foreign policy challenges have disrupted the food supply chain and worsened the inflation we are seeing across the country,” said Gov. Reynolds. “But Iowa farmers stand ready to answer the call, as they have always done. This Proclamation is intended to help our farmers meet this global challenge by providing regulatory relief for the transportation of crop inputs necessary for a timely and successful planting season.”
The proclamation is effective immediately and continues through May 11, 2022. The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, other agricultural seed, water, herbicide, pesticide, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), manure (dry and liquid), gasoline, diesel #1, diesel #2, ethanol, and biodiesel to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.
This 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.
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