CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is reporting spectacular first-quarter earnings. Quad Cities-based Deere and Company says net income for the quarter more than doubled from a year ago to more than one-point-two billion dollars, including a 23-percent gain in net sales. Deere officials credit the “successful execution of a new operating strategy.”
In a news release, chairman and CEO John May says the results were aided by improving conditions in the farm and construction sectors. The full-year earnings for fiscal 2021 were also increased to a range of four-point-six to five-billion dollars.
(Radio Iowa) — Changes members of Congress made to the Paycheck Protection Program could mean bigger payments to Iowa farmers who’ve seen their operations hurt by the pandemic. Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Lehman says those tweaks to the program were much-needed.
Lehman says, “Our folks out in the field have really struggled just to tighten their belts and make ends meet and the pandemic caused all sorts of trouble, up and down the line, for farmers and for people involved in all aspects of our food system.” Under recent P-P-P provisions, Lehman says that money won’t be taxed as income and won’t affect any deductions farmers may take.
Lehman says federal aid is critical for agriculture, especially since farmers and ranchers have a long road to economic recovery following the pandemic.
Farmers and small businesses can apply for P-P-P loans through their traditional lenders such as banks and farm credit institutions.
Cass County Master Gardener, Todd Turner, was honored by the Iowa Master Gardener Program as an Outstanding Master Gardener for the 2020 Year. Todd was one of 15 honorees statewide this year. The award is given to Master Gardeners who have invested more than 400 hours of volunteer time in a year.
Todd Turner and his wife pose in their garden in summer of 2020 (Photo submitted)
The Cass County Master Gardener group has members in many surrounding counties and Todd spent the majority of his volunteer hours working on food donation gardening and local food distribution events. He helped expand the LiveWell Montgomery County Giving Garden, and facilitated donations to 4 food pantries in Red Oak and 1 food pantry in Elliott. In addition to his home garden which is 7500 sq. ft., and the Giving Garden, he also helps with a produce garden at the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital. Excess produce from Todd’s garden was also donated to the Grow Another Row project and other pantries in Cass County. These donations amounted to 2500 lbs. of fresh produce in 2020. In addition to growing many varieties of vegetables, Todd also enjoys growing unusual varieties, often bringing them to meetings to quiz the members on what he has brought.
Todd is not the only Cass County Master Gardener to be honored by the state program in recent years. In 2016 LaVon Eblen was also recognized as an Outstanding Master Gardener for investing over 400 volunteer hours in the Master Gardener program for the year. In 2019 LaVon was also recognized for over 1000 total hours volunteered as a Master Gardener in Cass County with the Lifetime Service Award.
LaVon Eblen is awarded the Lifetime Master Gardener Award by Extension Director Kate Olson
In total, during the 2020 growing year, Cass County Master Gardeners volunteered over 1,000 hours of service. The Master Gardener Program, offered statewide by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, trains volunteers to develop their knowledge and skills in horticulture. These volunteers then give back to their communities through gardening service and education. The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service. Local Master Gardeners provide many hours of volunteer service and gardening education within their local communities, including demonstration gardens, horticultural education, community grants and scholarship programs, and resources for problem solving in the garden. Education courses are available throughout Iowa on a regular basis. Applications for the Fall 2021 Program will open on March 1. For more information on the program, contact Cass County Extension Director Kate Olson, at 712-243-1132 or keolson@iastate.edu.
(Radio Iowa) Governor Kim Reynolds says it’s time for an ethanol mandate in Iowa, to boost an industry battered by the E-P-A’s resistance to the federal ethanol production mandate.
Bills introduced in the House and Senate would require Iowa gas pumps to offer at least a 10 percent ethanol blend by 2024. There’s also a requirement that all diesel fuel sold in the state include a percentage of soybean-based biodiesel. The plan has the support of the biofuels industry and farm groups. Iowa Farm Bureau lobbyist Matt Steinfeldt testified during an online hearing.
Gas stations, truck stops and convenience stores oppose the bill. Matt McKinney, a lobbyist for Kum N Go, says expenses for retailers to comply with the mandate will be passed along to motorists.
Dave Scott, a lobbyist for the Iowa Motor Truck Association, says semis can travel hundreds of miles before refueling and the person who pays the bills rather than the state should decide what kind of fuel to buy.
Companies that operate the pipelines and terminals oppose the bill, too, and warn facilities have to spend millions to be able to handle higher blends of biodiesel. Drew Klein, state director of Americans for Prosperity, says the bill uses regulation to manipulate the market.
Brad Wilson, general manager of Western Iowa Energy in Wall Lake, suggests the governor’s plan corrects a market imbalance.
Nick Bowdish, C-E-O of Elite Octane — an ethanol plant in Atlantic, says many petroleum marketers prevent retailers from selling ethanol and biodiesel.
The bill has cleared initial review in House AND Senate subcommittees. One senator used the phrase “fast and furious” to describe the debate between supporters and opponents of the plan.
(Atlantic FFA News/Eric Miller) – Atlantic FFA Adviser Eric Miller reports on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021, 35 members of the Atlantic FFA chapter competed in the Sub District Career Development Events with six advancing to District FFA Convention. FFA member Bryan York competed in Ag Sales earning a Gold placing 1st and advancing to Districts. Taylor McCreedy competed in the Ag Broadcasting CDE placing 2nd earning a Gold and advancing to Districts. Claire Pellett competed in FFA Creed placing 2nd earning a Gold and advancing to Districts. Dylan Comes competed in the Extemporaneous Speaking category placing 2nd earning a Silver and advancing to Districts. Cooper Jipsen competed in the Ag Welding contest placing 1st earning a gold and advancing to Districts. Wyatt Rednibaugh competed in the Torch Welding contest placing 1st earning a gold and advancing to Districts.
Bryan Y
Claire P
Dylan C
Taylor M
The Conduct of meetings team of Callee Pellett, Colton Becker, Thomas Leonard, Chris Keegan, Tate Niklsen, Colton Rudy, and Makalya Atkinson placed 4th earning a Silver and will be the alternate to Districts. The Chapter Program team of Garrett Reynolds, Jackson McLaren and Roth Den Beste placed 4th earning a Silver and will be the alternate to Districts. Daniel Freund competed in the Job interview earning Silver placing 5th.
In the Farm Business Management Test Atlantic FFA had 9 members compete, Logan Eilts, Malena Woodward, Bryan York, Wyatt Redinbaugh, Aspen Niklasen, Garrett Reynolds, Gunner Kirchhoff, Hannah Carlson and Caroline Pellett. Carlson placed 1st, Woodward was 2nd and EIlts was 5th, York was 7th, Redinbaugh was 9th, Niklasen was 11th, Reynolds was 13th, Pellett was 14th, and Kirchhoff was 19th.
In the FFA Freshman Greenhand Quiz, Atlantic FFA had 9 members participate. Claire Pellett, Colton Rudy, Colton Becker, Tate Niklase, Makayla Atkinson, Callee Pellett, Charles Klemmensen, Thomas Leonard, Roth Den Beste
Eric Miller said “I was proud of all the hard work members put into preparing for their event.”
The Cass County, Iowa Master Gardeners (CCMG) are once again offering a $1,000 scholarship to local students, with applications due April 1, 2021. This scholarship is available to students who are graduating seniors or graduates of any of the following Iowa school districts, in which currently reside members of CCMG: Atlantic, Clarinda, CAM, Exira-EHK, Griswold, or Red Oak.
The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service. CCMG members provide many hours of volunteer service and gardening education within their local communities. Accordingly, this scholarship is intended to provide post-secondary funds to individuals who are studying, or intend to pursue a career in, a horticulture-related field. The scholarship winner will be selected based upon academic success, history of community service, and career goals related to horticulture. Demonstration of past interest and experience in horticulture will be very helpful.
The scholarship is for those pursuing post-secondary education during the 2021-2022 school year. The recipient will be notified of their award on or before May 20, 2021 for planning purposes. A scholarship check will be issued in January 2022, in the student’s name directly to the academic institution, upon receipt of an official grade transcript for the completed Fall 2021 semester. A previous scholarship recipient may re-apply, but an individual may only receive a total of two scholarships from this program.
The application form is available through the high school guidance departments, or on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/. Applications should be submitted to the Cass County Extension Office, 805 W 10th St, Atlantic, Iowa 50022, or emailed to keolson@iastate.edu on or before the April 1 deadline for consideration. Questions can be directed to the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132.
AMES, Iowa (Iowa News Svc.) — An arctic blast has left all of Iowa frozen in recent days, but the spring planting season is inching closer. A new report suggests those who work on farms still face obstacles when it comes to workplace protections, and some of the Iowa data isn’t pretty. The nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute examined 15 years of federal enforcement of labor standards within agriculture. Seventy percent of investigations by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division uncovered violations in this area among employers.
Illegal immigrant while working in the fields in the summer
Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Institute, said not only are farmworkers in an industry that comes with safety risks, the numbers showed many are exploited financially as well. “They’ve also been doing work without being adequately paid for it,” Costa contended. “By any objective measure, farmworkers are some of the lowest paid workers in the entire labor market.” He noted because so many of the individuals lack immigration status, it’s difficult for them to speak up.
The report showed the issue is more widespread in states such as California and Florida. While Iowa isn’t in the top five for percentage of overall incidents, it did have the second highest average number of violations detected for each investigation. According to the Institute, the violations are largely being driven by farm labor contractors, which recruit and hire seasonal agricultural workers. The findings showed Iowa had the most violations per investigation of these hiring firms at 167. Costa believes the analysis presents an opportunity for the Biden administration to take significant action.
“I think there’s no question farmworkers deserve better,” Costa asserted. “And there’s really no better time than now to figure out how to deliver for them.” He added the findings come as farmworkers are hailed as heroes during the crisis. The report recommended ways to enhance compliance, including increasing penalties for employers that are repeat offenders. The authors say it could be done with larger fines and more significant sanctions. The researchers also suggested advocates and unions try to better educate farmworkers about their rights.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS