(Radio Iowa) – With millions of acres of Iowa cropland flattened by last month’s derecho, a webinar is planned for tomorrow (Wednesday) targeting Iowa farmers who need to address the challenges of managing those destroyed crops. While officials initially estimated 14-million acres were impacted, field agronomist Meaghan Anderson, at the Iowa State University Extension, says at least three-and-a-half million acres of corn are shot. “There are a lot of acres that we would consider to be not salvageable at this point,” Anderson says, “and a number of them have already been tilled under or the residue has been managed in one way or another because they’ve been deemed to be not mechanically harvestable.”

The August 10th storm, with peak straight-line winds of 140 miles an hour, hit at a point when most of Iowa’s corn crop was at maximum height and all of the roots were fully developed. Anderson says there’s no hope for the corn that was knocked down being able to right itself — and the majority of the ears are worthless. “The corn is very light so it’s very poor quality,” Anderson says. “It’s going to be very hard to dry down and that’s even if we could pick it up off the ground. Some of it is just so flat that there’s not a way that we could physically get it into a combine.”

The derecho left a significant amount of acreage where the corn can’t be harvested, which creates a challenge in fields across the state. “Most people are going to need to attempt to do some kind of residue management with it, at the very least to size the corn stalks,” Anderson says. “Instead of being six-plus-foot long corn stalks, we really need them to be smaller pieces of corn stalk, especially when we think about planting next spring.” Some farmers might be able to allow livestock to graze on the fallen corn, but there are practical difficulties with that option, too. She says some growers are struggling as they look to the 2021 growing season. “Nobody wants to talk about all the corn that’s on the ground,” Anderson says, “but talking about how we can best manage these fields looking toward next year and what we need to be thinking about for next year, those are all important discussion points that we’ll have on Wednesday.”

The webinar will run from 1 to 2 P-M. It’s free but registration is required at www.aep.iastate.edu/corn

(Lewis) – The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a “Movie in the Park” Campground Program, Friday, Sept. 4th, with a showing of “Captain Marvel.” The public program will be held at the Campground Shelter at Cold Springs Park in Lewis, beginning at 9-p.m! There is NO CHARGE. Officials encourage social distancing, with marked spaces for each family, during the movie.

Watch as Captain Marvel becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Come out for a great movie under the stars! Bring a blanket or chair, snacks, Dress for the weather. The event may be rescheduled to a later date if it rains, and You DO NOT have to be a registered camper to attend the program!

Data chart provided by Aaron Saeugling, ISU Field Agronomist, based in Lewis.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University study shows how plants’ genetic factors are impacting crop stress as it relates to climate change. Stephen Howell, a distinguished professor of genetics, development and cell biology at I-S-U, says they’re making critical advances. “There are two very different systems within plants that recognize heat stress and help to protect plants from heat stress,” Howell says. “They’ve been thought to work very independently, and what we’ve been able to show is that the systems actually are coordinated and they work together.”

He notes it’s completely coincidental the study is being released at a time when Iowa is seeing crops impacted by drought — and by the derecho. “All of these issues about climate change have had an influence on the kind of work that we’re doing,” Howell says. “We’re very concerned about how well our crops in Iowa are able to tolerate heat stress and so this has motivated quite a bit of our studies.”

Howell says the study is being done through the use of a state-of-the-art facility called the Envirotron at the I-S-U Ag Engineering/Agronomy Research Farm. “We can simulate different climate conditions and ask then how plants perform under those conditions,” Howell says. “We have this fantastic robot that’s able to travel from one incubator chamber to another to be able to monitor plants and how they’re doing.”

The complete study is appearing in the academic journal, The Plant Cell.

The Adair County Extension Office, in partnership with Showstockplanet.com, are holding an online premium auction for Adair County 4-H/FFA members that exhibited market livestock at the 2020 Adair County Fair. For directions accessing the auction or making a bid, please contact the Adair County Extension at 641-743-8412 or eaide@iastate.edu

Auction Start Date: Monday, August 31st at 8:00 am
Auction Close Date: Tuesday, September 1st at 8:00 pm
Auction Link: https://ssponlinesales.com/auction/9679

ALL checks from winning bidders should be made out to Adair County Extension and mailed or dropped off to:

Adair County Extension
154 Public Square, Suite C
Greenfield, IA 50849

Bulbs bring spring color!  The Cass County Master Gardeners have taken on a new project this fall, with a bulb sale featuring tulip and narcissus bulb mixtures.  This sale is now open to the public for pre-order, with delivery by the end of October, in plenty of time for fall planting.  Order forms are available at the Cass County Extension office, or online at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.

The bulbs will be freshly dug from the gardens of Van Engelen, Inc., in Connecticut, and shipped in bulk to the Cass County Master Gardeners.  The Master Gardeners have ordered 500 bulbs, which they hope to pre-sell by the end of September.  The bulbs are expected to arrive by the end of October, for packaging five bulbs to a bag, and each bag of tulip mixture or narcissus mixture will sell for only $ 5. Pre-payment is requested at the time of order to guarantee your bulbs.

The colorful Giant Darwin Hybrid Tulip Mixture includes:  Apricot Impression, Banja Luka (red and yellow), Big Love (pink), Cream Jewel (white), Daydream (apricot to yellow), Golden Parade, Pink Impression, Red Impression, Salmon Impression, White Cloud, and World’s Favorite (red), with plant heights from 20 to 24 inches. The Fragrant Narcissus Mixture features daffodils in colors from white to golden yellow, including:  Double Narcissi Bridal Crown, Cheerfulness and Yellow Cheerfulness; Tazetta Narcissi Geranium and Golden Dawn; Triandrus Narcissi Starlight Sensation, Sunlight Sensation and Thalia; Poeticus Narcissus Pheasant’s Eye; and Jonquilla Narcissi Pipit and Pueblo, ranging in height from 14 to 20 inches. Each bag of 5 will feature a random selection from the colors listed above.

Cass County Master Gardeners will also be holding their second annual Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, October 10, from 8 to 10 am or until sold out.  Bulb orders will be taken, if they are not already sold out, at this event.  Master Gardeners will bring bulbs and plants from their own gardens for this sale.  Donations of divided plants are welcome if you would like to donate perennials or bulbs from your garden. Please call in advance and make arrangements to drop off donated plants before the date of the plant sale!

For more information about these events and about Master Gardener activities in Cass County, please call the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132, or email Cass County Extension Director and Master Gardener Coordinator Kate Olson at keolson@iastate.edu.  In addition, you are invited to follow the Cass County Master Gardeners at their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CassCoMG to keep up with local events and tips for gardening!

w/Kate Olson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she is allocating $100 million in federal funds to help livestock producers, the biofuels industry, beginning farmers and small-scale meat processors recover from the coronavirus pandemic. As many Iowa farmers deal with the impact of a massive storm and continue to suffer from lower demand for corn and soybeans and extremely low prices, Reynolds says she will use money from the federal CARES Act to programs to help agriculture related businesses and farmers.

Included is $60 million to provide grants to eligible producers of pork, beef, chicken, turkeys, dairy, fish or sheep to serve as working capital to stabilize livestock producers.

WOODWARD, Iowa (AP) — Before an unusual wind storm this month, Iowa corn farmers were expecting a near-record crop. About a month before corn would be fully mature and ready for harvest, a derecho blew in from the west with hurricane-force winds that cut a swath through the middle of Iowa. The Aug. 10 storm flattened corn fields and damaged grain bins, farm buildings and homes.

Millions of acres of Iowa corn are damaged to some degree. Crop insurance and other federal programs will help. And those outside the damaged area could benefit from higher prices that may result.

JOHNSTON, IOWA – When COVID-19 hit the United States and most Americans were opting to stay home as much as possible, Iowa biofuel producers were badly hurt by the decline in fuel demand. Today Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced the state is dedicating over $15 million of relief funding for Iowa renewable fuels producers, making Iowa the first state in the nation to provide direct aid to the biofuels sector.

“Governor Reynolds has provided a much-needed lifeline for Iowa’s renewable fuels producers,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw. “At its peak, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the idling of roughly 50 percent of Iowa’s biofuels production capacity. Even today fuel use has not returned to normal and biofuels producers are struggling to simply breakeven. IRFA members from across the state are deeply grateful for Governor Reynold’s leadership as they work to recover from the financial blow wrought by the pandemic.”

The relief funding will be awarded based on the number of qualifying gallons produced in the first quarter of 2020. IRFA continues to work with members of Congress on possible federal relief.

“We appreciate the work done by our federal legislative champions on language for the next COVID relief package,” Shaw said. “Ethanol and biodiesel producers across the country are suffering from suppressed fuel demand and still need comprehensive, in-depth relief from the federal government. Today’s action by Governor Reynolds will help Iowa’s biofuels producers keep going until Congress and the Trump Administration act.”