(Radio Iowa) – All six members of Iowa’s congressional delegation are sponsoring legislation to give independent cattle producers more information about cattle prices, but they have just 10 days to convince colleagues it should be included in a must-do bill. The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act must be reauthorized by December 3rd and Senator Chuck Grassley is lead sponsor of a plan to also force disclosure of the prices paid in PRIVATE sales of cattle being raised and sold under contracts with a meatpacker.

“So when a person gets on the phone or the Internet to negotiate a price with a packer, they’ve got some database, knowing that today, I ought to be able to get within this range of price for my cattle,” Grassley says. Grassley met with cattle producers in Ames yesterday (Monday). Brad Kooima — a cattle feeder and commodity broker from Sioux County — says he may go weeks before one of the country’s four big meatpackers makes an offer to buy his cattle.

“They get bigger every day. They have to get fed every day. They get sick,” he says. “And not being able to get a bid for four or five, six weeks at a time, while someone else just because they’ve got a relationship, they’re fine. You know, they’re getting along fine but the independent guy isn’t getting along fine.”

The plan Senators Grassley and Joni Ernst along with the one Iowans Cindy Axne, Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks are co-sponsoring in the U.S. House would force meatpackers to disclose how many cattle they plan to slaughter each day for at least the next two weeks.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes)

(Radio Iowa) – Shipping containers are in high demand and short supply as continued supply chain shortages pose a unique challenge for Iowa’s dairy industry. Chad Hart, an agricultural economist for Iowa State University, says exporting dairy products overseas was already tricky, and it’s worse right now. “They often tend to have a fairly short shelf life, meaning, we can’t wait for months to get a shipping container in order to ship a container full of yogurt,” Hart says. “You need to move that in days.”

Farmers on the local level have their own headaches. Doug Stensland, a dairy farmer in northwest Iowa, says he’s in the habit of ordering inventory way ahead of time. That’s because he can’t be certain the semi-trucks full of empty milk jugs will arrive at his Lyon County farm on time. That, combined with the rising cost of feed additives and labor, makes business hard right now.  “It’s cut into profits there’s no doubt about it, it’s just a matter of how far we can be able to grab that back,” Stensland says. “Our sales are tough anyway. Right now, it’s kind of a hard balancing act.”

For many Iowa dairy farmers, supplies like dry tubes, ear tags and milk jugs have been harder to purchase. They say the uncertainty of finding both affordable labor and packaging has put a dent in profits.

(Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – A group of Woodbury County residents appeared at the county supervisors’ meeting this week with concerns about the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions carbon dioxide pipeline. Gale Palmquist of rural Lawton says the pipeline would cross her property. “I am objecting to this proposal. Northern Natural gas already has a pipeline on our property — it has not been a congenial relationship. We have spent thousands of dollars repairing the damage they created on some of our more productive farmland,” Palmquist says,” I do not want to go through this again with another pipeline.”

Palmquist’s family has farmed the land since the 1800s. Woodbury County engineer Mark Nahra (NARE-uh) told the residents that eminent domain has not been approved for any pending pipeline. “People with objections should send letters to the Iowa Utilities Board while they’re within their comment period prior to having a hearing on the pipeline,” Nahra says.

Supervisors chair Rocky De Witt told the residents he is sympathetic to their concerns. “Not to mention the right of way that is a concern to these folks that they can’t do anything — develop their ground or dig too deeply,” De Witt says. “Several of the landowners out there have done some tile work, some underground drainage. And once that gets violated it’s impossible to fix correctly, and then again because the right of way then belongs to the pipeline company and they will never get that back. So yes, there are some legitimate concerns going forward with what this pipeline can do.”

De Witt says the project is still in its preliminary stages as Summit is looking for the best route.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden has appointed the leader of a climate action group and the Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Senator Joni Ernst a year ago to the top two U-S-D-A posts in Iowa. Matt Russell will be executive director of the Iowa Farm Service Agency which oversees U-S-D-A credit and loan programs as well as conservation and disaster programs. Russell raises cattle and produce on a 110-acre farm near Lacona. His Coyote Run Farm sells grass-fed beef, uses cover crops and grasses to sequester carbon in the soil and was a frequent stop for presidential candidates, including Biden, before the 2020 Iowa Caucuses.

Theresa Greenfield will be the U-S-D-A’s director for rural development in Iowa. Greenfield, who grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, has worked as a community planner and was the president of a central Iowa property development firm before running for the U.S. Senate in 2020. The White House issued a written statement, saying Greenfield’s life experiences fit the mission of strengthening the rural Iowa economy.

The White House also noted Russell, the new Farm Service Agency director in Iowa, has been the leader of a climate action group called Iowa Interfaith Power and Light since 2018.

DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has signed an extension to the proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain.   The proclamation is effective immediately (11/18) and continues through November 30, 2021.  The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage and stover 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.

See the proclamation here.

(Radio Iowa) – Union workers at John Deere have accepted the company’s latest offer and their 35-day strike has ended.
Sixty-one percent of workers who cast ballots yesterday voted “yes” on Deere and Company’s third contract offer. It was very similar to the second. Both promised immediate 10 percent raises along with 5 percent raises in the third and fifth years of the six-year-long contract. The third agreement made modifications to production incentives.

In a written statement, U-A-W International president Ray Curry said the strike at John Deere seemed to unite the nation behind the struggle for fairness in the workplace. Deere and Company C-E-O John May also issued a statement, calling the wage and benefit package groundbreaking in many ways.

The U-A-W said its members assigned to the third shift could voluntarily work overnight. All others will be expected at their job sites today. This was the first strike at Deere and Company since 1986.

Here are vote margins:
UAW Locals in Iowa:
Ankeny — 64% yes
Davenport — 77% yes
Dubuque — 86% yes
Ottumwa — 75% yes
Waterloo — 44% yes

(Radio Iowa) – An amendment by Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra to use biomass collected through fire mitigation efforts to produce energy has passed as part of the National Wildland Fire Risk Program.

Feenstra, a Republican from Hull says the plan would also bolster biofuels production.

The proposal passed the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology with unanimous support.

Guthrie Center, Iowa – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Guthrie County office will be offering multiple opportunities to attend the Private Pesticide Applicator Continuing Instruction Course (P-CIC), led by Extension Field Agronomist, Mike Witt. The first two sessions are scheduled for Thursday, January 13 at 1:30 pm and 6:30 pm at the Guthrie Activity Center. The course will be offered again in person with a virtual presenter on Thursday, February 24 at 6:30 pm and Thursday, March 17 at 1:30 pm at the Guthrie County ISU Extension Office. Due to social distancing requirements, preregistration is requested. Walk-ins on the day of the program will only be admitted if room allows. Please preregister online at https://iastate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dndeV9uHZo7dOaq or call 641.747.2276 to register.

The course will run for approximately 2 ½ hours including check-in and breaks. The registration fee is $20.00 and checks are payable to Guthrie County Extension. To register or to obtain additional information about the P-CIC, contact your county extension office.

The course will fulfill 2021-2022 recertification requirements for private pesticide applicators. Topics to be covered include:

• Review of pesticide labels, especially recent changes in pesticides
• Review of pesticide labels as restricted entry intervals and preharvest intervals impacted pesticide use decisions this year
• Review of pesticide use and the environment
• Updates on pests and pest management in your area, including insects, weeds and diseases.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – It’s time again for the Guthrie County Farm Bureau, and Farm Bureau Financial Services Office of David Finneseth’s Holiday Food Basket project. This year nominations for the project will be accepted through the use of an online form. Nomination are open to anyone, including someone who has had a rough year, a friend or neighbor who could use some extra holiday cheer, or someone that has helped you out this last year and you would like to thank them.

To nominate someone just use the link: https://forms.office.com/r/zQQPBDPWub and answer the questions to submit the nomination. Nominations are due December 1, 2021 with delivery of the baskets December 15-17. The baskets will include Meat Certificate, Instant Potatoes, Jarred Gravy, Green Beans, Cream of Mushroom Soup, French Fried Onions, Canned Corn, Shell Mac and Cheese, Boxed Jell-O, Canned Mixed Fruit, Mini Marshmallows and Dinner Rolls

If you would like to donate any of these items, you can drop them off at the Guthrie County Farm Bureau Office. All nominations will be kept confidential. Please feel free to contact Megan Kelly at megan.kelly@ifbf.org or 641-747-3014.

w/Kate Olson.

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