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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!
ORIENT – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says Iowans interested in the results of a DNR study to improve water quality in Orient Lake in Adair County can view a presentation on the Iowa DNR’s YouTube channel. Orient Lake is on the state’s list of impaired waters for high levels of algae, turbidity, and pH. The current study, or DNR water quality improvement plan, shows how these problems are caused by too much phosphorus in the lake. The problems impact recreation on the lake and aquatic life.
The plan explores the amounts and sources of phosphorus entering the lake and offers potential solutions to reduce those levels and work toward fixing the problem. The document is designed as a guide for local resource agencies, partners, stakeholders and residents to improve the lake. The presentation is available now at youtube.com/iowadnr through Aug. 31. The full document can be downloaded on the Iowa DNR’s website at the following: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/WaterQuality/WatershedImprovement/WatershedResearchData/WaterImprovementPlans/PublicMeetingsPlans.aspx.
Public comments on the plan must be submitted by Aug. 31 to the following:
E-mail: jeff.berckes@dnr.iowa.gov or Mail: Jeff Berckes, care of Iowa DNR, Wallace State Office Building, 502 E. Ninth St., Des Moines, Iowa 50319.
After gathering Iowans’ comments, the DNR will forward the final plan, also called by its technical name of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.
(Radio Iowa) – The new report from the U-S Drought Monitor shows more counties now showing dry conditions. The Iowa D-N-R’s Tim Hall says the negative outweighs the positive in the report. “We had a little bit of improvement in one part of the state — but mostly we had degradation or increasing drought in other parts of the state,” Hall says. He says the driest area continues to be in western Iowa. “It’s centered around Carroll, Greene, Guthrie and Audubon County and then in the partial counties around there,” Hall says. “Kind of that part of the state, there’s a little bit of D-two drought in Plymouth County up in northwest Iowa. So, those two areas together are the worst parts.”
Hall says the dry conditions have started to spread to the east. “Now there’s exceptional dryness as far east as Linn County, and then also along the river,” according to Hall. “So we’ve got about half the state, a little over half the state is shown in some form of dryness and drought.” Hall says the impact of the dry areas can also be seen in satellite images of the crops. “There’s a tool out there called VegDRI — which also comes from the drought monitor folks — and they’re actually looking at visual indications of stress in vegetation. And that VegDRI map lines up pretty closely with where we’ve seen the precipitation deficits,” Hall says.
He says the good news for the western areas that are dry is the impact right now isn’t hitting water supplies.”I think because of the exceptionally wet couple of years we had coming into this year we’re still doing okay on the groundwater side. Right now it’s primarily an agricultural surface water phenomenon,” he says. Hall says the precipitation deficit is a concern because we are soon going to be heading out of the wettest months of the year, and could be behind in groundwater going into the winter.
The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports Marcy Jo Dorsey has filed her candidacy papers for the Cass County Ag Extension Council. There are four positions available. Currently Marcy Jo Dorsey and Darrin Petty are the only persons that have filed for the Council. Candidates have until August 26th to file for the position on the General Election Ballot.
Tyson Foods says it plans to administer thousands of coronavirus tests per week at its U.S. facilities under an expanded effort to protect its workers. The Arkansas-based company will randomly test employees who have no symptoms, as well as those with symptoms. The tests are on top of daily screenings when workers arrive at Tyson’s 140 U.S. production facilities. Meatpacking plants have been particularly susceptible to the coronavirus because of their often crowded conditions.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents many of Tyson’s 120,000 U.S. workers, says other meat processing companies should follow Tyson’s lead.
FFA Awards:
4-H Awards
All results from the Swine Program can be found HERE
Other results from the 2020 Cass County Fair can be found HERE.
DES MOINES, Iowa (July 28, 2020) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig confirmed today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is aware that individuals in Iowa have received unsolicited seed shipments from China and other countries.
The Department is asking anyone who receives unlabeled seed from an unknown origin to retain the original packaging and report it immediately at 515-281-5321. Recipients should not open the seed packet, plant the seed or attempt to destroy it. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship or United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will collect, analyze and properly destroy the seeds.
“The Iowa Department of Agriculture is working closely with the USDA to trace, collect and properly destroy these unknown seeds to protect our agriculture community from plant and seed-borne diseases,” said Secretary Naig.
Unlabeled seeds and seeds from unknown origins should never be planted. They pose the risk of introducing an invasive plant species or seed-borne diseases that do not currently exist in the United States. APHIS is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection and State departments of agriculture to prevent the unlawful entry of prohibited seeds and protect U.S. agriculture from invasive pests and noxious weeds.
The USDA APHIS issued a news release stating this may be a “brushing scam,” where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost online sales.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Unions representing workers at 10 chicken processing plants in six states are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to challenge a policy that allows companies to increase production speeds that the unions say puts workers at risk. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and local unions representing plants in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri joined with nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen to file the lawsuit in federal court in Washington.
The lawsuit alleges that the waivers first allowed in 2018 violate the Administrative Procedure Act, endanger worker health and put them at risk during the coronavirus pandemic by making adequate distancing nearly impossible.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Iowa – Iowa DNR officials report that at around 7:30-p.m. Sunday (July 26), DNR Conservation Officer Dakota Drish responded to a personal injury accident involving a water craft (PWC) on Lake Delhi. Authorities say Gavin Cooper, of Monticello, was operating the PWC, when he hit a wave. The impact caused Cooper’s face to hit the handlebars causing facial injuries. The impact also knocked him off of the PWC, landing face down and unconscious in the water. He was rescued by nearby witnesses and pulled from the water.
Cooper was wearing a life jacket. He was transported to a Manchester hospital for treatment of his injuries. The Iowa DNR continues to investigate and was assisted by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in response.
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