(Des Moines, Iowa) – A federal appeals court has upheld two state laws that established new penalties for trespassing on farmland or in livestock confinements. The laws makes it a crime to lie on a job application in order to gain access to an agricultural facility. The laws also forbid the use of a camera while trespassing on agricultural properties. Critics say it’s a violation of the free speech rights of those who seek to expose environmental hazards or the abuse of livestock. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the laws safeguard Iowa’s ag community and protect our food security.

(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowans are itching to forget about winter and instead think ahead to springtime and planning out their gardens. The Iowa State University Extension is offering a series of free home gardening webinars starting next week. Alicia Herzog, I-S-U’s Master Gardener Program coordinator, says the course is designed to educate and inspire. “We have ten of these webinar sessions. They’re about an hour each,” Herzog says. “We planned for them to go from 6 to 7 PM Central Time. If they wanted to go through the whole series, it would start January 9th and it goes through March 12th, so ten weeks, every single Tuesday from 6 to 7 PM.” People can sign up for the webinars as late as the day of the event, and they can take any one — or all — of the online classes.

“This is just an educational webinar series that we offer as continuing education for our master gardeners,” Herzog says, “and also just as a free resource to the public, to anyone who’s interested in gardening and wanting to become a better gardener this year.” Attendees can register to join through Zoom or Facebook Live. The ten courses will offer a wide range of gardening topics, with the January classes focused primarily on edibles.

“We’ll talk about tomatoes and dealing with disorders and diseases of those, grape pruning and canopy management, which is one that has been requested many times,” Herzog says. “Also a common one for any gardener is identifying and managing fruit and vegetable insect pests in your garden, and then seed saving for the home gardener.” Other topics will include soil health, cover crops, climate extremes and composting, as well as tips on designing your home garden. The first of the ten classes will be held next Tuesday night.

Register here: https://go.iastate.edu/UOOQEJ

(Radio Iowa) – The final tallies are in, and state climatologist Justin Glisan says 2023 is going down as one of Iowa’s warmest and driest years in more than 150 years of record keeping. Glisan says when you average out the temperatures over 365 days, it’s rare for Iowa’s year-long average temperature to vary by even one-degree above or below the previous year, but that changed during 2023. “We were over two degrees above average,” Glisan says, “so that was looking at the rankings that we have, it’ll be in the top 20 warmest years on record, again going back to 1872.”

As 2023 concluded, he says it ended 182 consecutive weeks of at least D-1 moderate drought in some part of the state. That’s more than three-and-a-half years of continuous drought and some sections of the state have very dry conditions. “We have widespread drought, a large D-3, which is on that scale of D-0 to D-4 for extreme drought, a large swath in eastern Iowa,” Glisan says. “Precipitation deficits within that D-3 region, anywhere from 12 to 18 inches below average just for the year.”

Justin Glisan (Photo courtesy Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship)

The only corner of the state that recorded above-average precipitation during 2023 was northwest Iowa, which saw between one and three inches more than the norm. However, he says the rest of the state was exceptionally dry. “Overall, if you look at the statewide average, about 27 inches, with the average just a little over 35-and-a-half inches,” Glisan says, “so about nine inches below average, and looking at the rankings, it’ll be in the top 25 driest years on record.”

After three consecutive La Nina winters, we’re now in an El Nino pattern, which Glisan says tends to bring the Midwest warmer temperatures in addition to wetter conditions. Glisan says Iowa had a bit of a snow drought last month. “Climatologically December is the snowiest month for Iowa,” Glisan says. “The preliminary statewide average is 1.4 inches. That’s 6.5 inches below average.” Despite the lack of snow, December was one of four months out of 2023 that wound up with ABOVE average precipitation. “A majority of our precipitation was rainfall and that rainfall was gradual over several days and it was able to soak in,” Glisan says. That’s because December temperatures were above average, keeping the ground from freezing solid.

Glisan says there is a storm system in the Pacific Ocean that’s headed east and the long-term forecast indicates it may bring rain and snow to Iowa as early as this weekend. Glisan cautions, though, that the storm system could weaken as it makes landfall on the west coast and moves across the Rockies.

(Shelby, Iowa) – The Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at the Shelby Community Hall in Shelby at 7:00 pm.  Carstens’ Board President Charlie Leaders, of Minden, says “Everyone is invited to come to the meeting and hear about what’s happening at the farm.”

Members of Carstens Farm will be voting for three positions on the board of directors. The following board members’ terms are ending as of the date of the meeting:  David Dittmer of Minden, Doug Martin of Shelby and Dale Schroder of Avoca will be up for re-election for another term.  All are running for another term.  Continuing board members are Ben Ausdemore, Charlie Leaders and Gerald McCool of Minden, Bill Johnson and Stan Kern of Shelby, Harvey Ferris of Missouri Valley, Rick Newland of Persia and Terry Torneten of Harlan.  Results of the election will be announced following the meeting. Leaders says “We will take ideas for projects in 2024. We’ve got several projects planned that we’ll talk about. Building upkeep and repair are always projects we work on. Reports will be given on the 2023 Carstens Farm Days show. I hope to see many members as well as the general public at the meeting because we want to continue to grow our membership.”

Via carstensfarm.com

Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. members as well as members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend.  Those attending will have the opportunity to renew their memberships or to purchase new memberships. Memberships from the public are important for sustaining the farm’s operations. New or renewing members should note that membership rates remain the same as last year: $25 for family; $15 for an individual. Visit the farm’s website for membership information.

Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteers, oversees the working farmstead museum exhibit located south of Shelby, Iowa.  The farmstead hosts several thousand people annually during Carstens Farm Days which is held the first weekend after Labor Day.  For more information visit www.carstensfarm.com

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – An eastern Iowa program works to connect immigrant farmers with plots of land to farm. Emmaly Renshaw is executive director of Feed Iowa First, which was launched in Linn County. The three-year community farming program aims to remove barriers to farmers who are growing what are considered culturally-relevant foods.  “They’re individuals who want to produce for food access for both their families and their communities,” Renshaw says, “but they’re not necessarily looking at making their farming like a main income again.” Renshaw says in Iowa, crops like yuka, casava and hot peppers can be in low supply, or priced as luxury foods.

By sourcing immigrants from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with land, Feed Iowa First aims to make these crops more readily available. Renshaw says the program’s farmers are barely meeting demand.  “We were able to move about a thousand pounds of habanero in about three days,” she says, “and so for us that just helps us begin to understand how big these food gaps are.”

Even if immigrants come to Iowa with agricultural skills and experience, with farmland prices are a premium, she says it’s very difficult for them to get back into the field.

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa engineering professor says extreme drought poses concerns about water quality as well as the water supply. David Cwiertny is a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Lots of communities are looking at how they can augment their existing supply or have alternative supplies,” he says, “which is why we really need to take good care of the resources that we have or have impaired supplies that can’t work.” Cwiertny is director of the University of Iowa’s Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination. The center was established in 1987 by the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act.

Des Moines Water Works CEO Ted Corrogan, left, and UI civil and environmental engineering professor David Cwiertny on the Iowa Press set. (Photo courtesy of Iowa PBS.)

“When we have a drought…we still have the same types/amounts of chemicals that we’re putting into that water, but less water there leads to higher concentrations and sometimes greater need for treatment,” Cwiertny says, “which also stresses how water systems need to provide for their communities.” Cwiertny says beyond regional water systems that serve communities and rural residents, 300-thousand Iowans rely solely on a private well for their water.

“Many of those are shallow inside, say, the alluvial plains near rivers and creeks. As those start to dry up, then you have homeowners on their own because those fall outside of most state and federal oversight –needing secure water supplies,” Cwiertny says. “We hear anecdotal tales of residents in northwest Iowa who’ve had their wells run dry and we’re just beginning to think about what that means for the quality and the reliability of well water for private well consumers.”

Cwiertney made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – Pottawattamie County officials have hired a private firm to inspect areas where the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline would pass through eastern parts of the county. The contract calls for the county-hired inspectors to make sure land is restored to its prior condition and drainage tile systems are repaired and maintained. Supervisor Susan Miller of Carson voted to approve the contract, but suggests it may not go far enough.

Pottawattamie County’s planning and development director says there’s nothing the county can do after recent court decisions blocked other counties’ pipeline ordinances. County Engineer John Rasmussen says he can’t make an estimate on how much wear and tear county roads may sustain during pipeline construction.

Summit has applied for a state permit to build and operate the pipeline, but the Iowa Utilities Board has not indicated when it may decide on the application. The board hosted a public hearing about the project this summer. The hearing started in August and ended in November.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa state parks and forests invite you to enjoy the outdoors and take a hike on January 1, 2024! Visit state parks on your own, or join a guided hike at several parks and forests.  Hikers can expect to be surrounded by the quiet beauty of nature in winter, and experience spectacular views, beautiful settings and the cultural treasures offered by Iowa’s state parks.  Find a First Day Hike near you!

Get 20% off your stay with Promo Code Cabin2024 when you book now for the months of January or February 2024. Enjoy the pristine beauty and outdoor fun of winter in an Iowa state park.

This promo applies to the year-round cabins at:

• Backbone State Park (16 cabins, max occupancy from 4 to 9)
• Black Hawk State Park (1 cabin, max occupancy 11)
• Lake Darling State Park (6 cabins, max occupancy 6)
• Lake Wapello State Park (2 cabins, max occupancy from 6 to 10)
• Pine Lake State Park (4 cabins, max occupancy from 4 to 6)
• Springbrook State Park (1 cabin, max occupancy 14)
• Union Grove State Park (2 cabins, max occupancy 4 )
• Waubonsie State Park (2 cabins, max occupancy from 6 to 12)

Promo code only can be applied for online reservations for January 1 through February 29, 2024. Note that January 1, 2024 is not an allowed arrival date; reservations may have an arrival date before or after that day. Promo code is good only for the state parks listed. Two-night minimum. Last day to make a reservations is February 21, 2024. Rules and fees apply.

(Radio Iowa) – Senate G-O-P Leader Jack Whitver says there’s no consensus among Senate Republicans when it comes to regulating carbon pipelines. “We have some people that believe they need to happen. We have some people that really want to get a bill done to restrict them,” Whitver says. “It’s just really split.”

This past March, the Iowa House passed a bill that would have forced developers to get voluntary access to 90 percent of a carbon pipeline route before the Iowa Utilities Board could trigger eminent domain authority to acquire the rest. That proposal was never considered in the Senate. House Speaker Pat Grassley says prospects in 2024 haven’t changed much.

“I know we are having members that are having conversations with one another, but until we see a shift within this building it’s going to be really hard to move anything forward,” Grassley says. The pipelines have become an issue in the Republican presidential campaign and some state lawmakers have become outspoken critics of the use of eminent domain for the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.

Representative Ken Carlson, a Republican from Onawa, is a retired farmer. “I am one who benefited from ethanol plants, there’s no two ways about it, but I can’t handle the eminent domain thing,” Carlson says. “I just can’t handle that.”

This fall the Iowa Utilities Board held a public hearing on the proposed Summit pipeline that would transport liquefied carbon dioxide through 29 Iowa counties. The board has not indicated when it may decide on Summit’s construction permit. Developers of a pipeline that would take carbon from ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton to storage in Illinois have said they intend to get voluntary easements for the proposed Wolf pipeline. Navigator cited regulatory hurdles when it announced cancellation of its proposed carbon pipeline.