Chris Parks and Cass/Adair County Conservation Officer Grant Gelly talk about all things outdoors in the first show of the new year.

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ANKENY, Iowa (KCCI)— Another big cat has been seen in Iowa. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirmed a photo taken in Ankeny by Randy Johnson, was a mountain lion. The picture was taken where Johnson lives, just west of the John Deere plant. The last time a confirmed mountain lion was seen, was in a video taken in Des Moines, by a home security system last October.

At that time, the Iowa DNR said mountain lions are occasional visitors to the state, but there are no breeding populations in Iowa. South Dakota and Nebraska are home to small breeding populations of the big cats. They said on occasion, young males will get chased from their home territories by older males and make long treks searching for new territory.

(Radio Iowa) – A district court judge says he’ll rule soon on a lawsuit challenging a state permit for a feedlot with 11-thousand-six-hundred cattle near a prized trout stream in northeast Iowa. The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club sued last September after Supreme Beef won permission to put the open feedlot near the headwaters of a stream that’s in the environmentally sensitive Driftless region. During a virtual hearing Thursday, Assistant Iowa Attorney General David Steward represented the D-N-R and asked the judge to dismiss the suit.

“In the present action Sierra Club’s petition points to no evidence that a harm has ever occurred, that there is any perceptible present or eminent harm,” he said. “Furthermore, allegations of increased risks of environmental harm are by Sierra Club’s own admission based on speculation.” Attorney Wally Taylor, who represents the Iowa Sierra Club, says the lawsuit seeks to prevent a major pollution event. “When is the appropriate time? Do we have to wait until manure is applied?” he asked during yesterday’s hearing. “We don’t even know when it’s going to be applied because we don’t have access to the application records or anything like that.”

The lawsuit claims the D-N-R approved Supreme Beef’s application despite receiving calculations that the feedlot’s manure management plan was flawed.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Grant Gerlock)

DES MOINES — Gov. Kim Reynolds, Thursday, signed a proclamation that temporarily suspends regulatory provisions of Iowa law pertaining to hours of service for crews and drivers hauling propane.

The proclamation is effective immediately and expires on February 5, 2022, at 11:59 p.m.

The proclamation can be found here.

(Iowa DNR News) –  The recent blast of arctic air is growing ice on lakes and ponds over much of Iowa. Anglers are ready to get out for the popular early ice fishing season. “Many of us can’t wait to get out on the ice each winter,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of fisheries for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “Ice fishing is a fun, inexpensive activity for anglers of all ages to get outdoors and avoid cabin fever.” The DNR recommends a minimum of four inches of clear ice for fishing and at least five inches for snowmobiles and ATVs.

“Check ice thickness as you make your way to your favorite fishing spot,” Larscheid said. “Ice conditions change constantly and its thickness can vary across the lake. Trust your instincts – if the ice does not look right, don’t go out.”

A blanket of snow on top of an ice-covered lake insulates the ice, slowing the growth of ice and hiding potential hazards or weak spots. River ice is 15 percent weaker than lake ice.  Ice with a bluish color is safer than clear ice.  Avoid slushy or honey-combed ice and stay away from dark spots on the ice.  Don’t walk into areas where the snow cover looks discolored.

Safety Tips on the Ice

• No ice is 100 percent safe.
• New ice is usually stronger than old ice.
• Don’t go out alone – if the worst should happen, someone will be there to call for help or to help rescue.
• Let someone know where you are going and when you will return.
• Check ice thickness as you go out – there could be pockets of thin ice or places where ice recently formed.
• Avoid off-colored snow or ice. It is usually a sign of weakness.
• The insulating effect of snow slows down the freezing process.
• Bring along these basic items to help keep you safe: hand warmers, ice cleats to help prevent falls, ice picks (wear around your neck) to help you crawl out of the water if you fall in, a life jacket, a floating safety rope, a whistle to call for help, a basic first aid kit and extra dry clothes including a pair of gloves.

(Radio Iowa) – While many of the state’s leaders are crowing over income tax reforms they’ll propose in the legislative session that will open next week, Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says lower taxes would certainly benefit farmers, but that’s far from his only priority. Naig says, “We’re also looking at how can we continue to advance and strengthen renewable fuels, particularly around ethanol and biodiesel but really, all forms of renewable energy in Iowa.”

The state ag department is also working on efforts to expand agricultural markets and to protect the mainstay markets that are driving the state’s economy. “Whether that be expanding small and mid-sized meat processing or doing more to connect local and regional foods to consumers,” Naig says. “Those are positives. Those are things we get to look at to expand our marketplace.”

Naig says much of the heavy lifting has been done on water quality and the state’s initiative, but they will continue to build on water and soil conservation efforts and rewarding producers for climate-smart practices. “We’re always going to be focused as we go into the session on looking at how do we further strengthen our efforts around foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness,” Naig says. “That includes things like making sure we have a world-class vet diagnostic lab at Iowa State University.”

The 2022 Iowa legislative session opens Monday.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is using this year’s Consumer Electronics Show to introduce its first autonomous tractor. Quad Cities-based John Deere put on an hour-long, multi-media presentation Tuesday, showing off the tractor that’ll be available later this year. Deere’s Deanna Kovar says autonomous tractors will help farmers do their difficult, time-consuming jobs.

“I like to think of this autonomous 8R tractor as one giant robot,” Kovar says. “It goes through the field autonomously, within an inch of accuracy, and it’s able to perform its job without human intervention.” Farmers can operate and monitor the tractor from their smartphone, tablet or computer, and she thinks it’ll give them more time — to run their farms and to spend with their families.

Deere photo of autonomous tractor.

Deere’s presentation featured Doug Nimz, a corn and soybean farmer from Minnesota, who’s shown in the video operating a tractor with his phone. “The thing that excites me the most about autonomy is not being locked in the tractor cab all day. It will just allow me to run my business better because I can just pay closer attention to other tasks,” Nimz says. “Now I’ll be doing the jobs we always wanted to get done but never had time to because we were in the cab all the time.” Nimz says farmers are traditional as a rule, but he believes they’ll soon accept autonomous tractors, adding, “It will be a life changer for me.”

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – With the approach of the one-year anniversary of the January 6th attack on the U-S Capitol, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s satisfied with his safety in the building and he has no fears there will be any sort of repeat attempt to storm the capitol on Thursday. “I feel very secure,” Grassley says, “and I don’t expect anything to happen because of the increased security and particularly bills that have been passed where very quickly, National Guard can be called out.”

A U-S Attorney’s Office report says that over the past year, more than 725 people were charged with participating in the riot, several of them from Iowa. The incident left four rioters dead and more than 150 law enforcement officers hurt. One officer died of a stroke shortly after the riot while several more took their own lives in the following weeks.

Senator Grassley is applauding Biden Administration efforts to combat anti-competitive practices in the meatpacking industry. Up to 800-million dollars in loans and grants will aid small-scale beef, pork and poultry plants while setting up a new hotline for whistleblowers. Grassley, a Republican, says his response to the move is “Hallelujah.” “The big four packers control 85% of the daily slaughter,” Grassley says. “They can and, in fact, do abuse the market power while the retail price of meat has gone up, independent producers are getting less and less.”

Grassley says he fully supports administration efforts to bring fair prices to both producers and consumers, though he recognizes it will also take legislation. Grassley says he has a bi-partisan bill in the works. “It’s called the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act,” Grassley says. “It’ll create fair market conditions for independent producers and reign in some of the bad behavior of the big packers.”

If the administration wants a solution for small producers and for consumers, Grassley says the president should endorse the bill and lobby for its swift passage.