Healthy Cass County has been encouraging farmers and gardeners to grow a little more food this year to share with others. “Grow Another Row, Cass County!” is a campaign to encourage residents to grow and share more food in 2020. This week the group is releasing produce drop-off and pick-up schedules. “We worked to get sites across the county,” comments
Master Gardener LaVon Eblen.

Produce Drop-off Schedule (where you can share produce with others):
Through September 2020

Anita: 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month: Anita Food Pantry 208 Chestnut St. (pre-bagged produce requested) contact: Tracey Lett (712)249-4996

Atlantic:

• Monday: Cass County Community Center, 805 W 10th St. 10:30 AM-12:30 PM back
  entrance. Contact: Brigham Hoegh (712)249-5870
• Tuesday: New Life Church, 600 Pine St. 8-10 AM
• Thursday: Atlantic Food Pantry 19 W. 4th St. (pre-bagged produce requested) Contact:
  (712)243-1820
• Saturday: American Legion Memorial Building, 201 Poplar St. 3-5 PM

Cumberland: Monday-Thursday: Cumberland City Hall, 216 Main St., 8AM-4PM

Griswold: contact: Donna Reimers (712)789-0236

• 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month The Lord’s Cupboard (Methodist Church) 100 Cass St. (pre-bagged produce requested). 10-11 AM
• 1st, 3rd, 5th Tuesdays Faith Lutheran Church, 707 Adair St. 8AM-Noon

Lewis: Thursday: 3HO, 201 1st Lewis St. 10 AM- 3PM

Marne: Every day Barb Fisher’s house (401 Washington St., Marne), 8AM-8PM

Wiota: Wednesday: Bonnie William’s house (309 Allen St.), 8AM-Noon

Produce Pick-up Schedule (where you can find free produce, depending on availability):
Please only take what you need, and be sure to wash produce before eating.

Atlantic:

• Tuesday: New Life Church, 600 Pine St. 10:30 AM- 12:30 PM
• Saturday: American Legion Memorial Building, 201 Poplar St. 5-7 PM

Cumberland: Monday-Thursday: Cumberland City Hall, 216 Main St., 8AM-4PM

Griswold: contact: Donna Reimers (712)789-0236

• 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month: Methodist Church, 100 Cass St. 2 PM- 5:30 PM
• 1st, 3rd, 5th Tuesdays: Faith Lutheran Church, 707 Adair St. Noon- 5:30 PM

Lewis: Thursday: 3HO, 201 1st Lewis St. 10 AM- 3 PM

Marne: Every day Barb Fisher’s house (401 Washington St., Marne), 8 AM -8 PM

Wiota: Wednesday: Bonnie William’s house (309 Allen St.), Noon- 8 PM

For more information on the program and to register for the newsletter, visit
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/content/grow-another-row-cass-county.

Healthy Cass County is a community-focused volunteer network formed to promote the
health and well-being of Cass County residents. Follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook
@HealthyCassCounty (https://www.facebook.com/HealthyCassCounty/). Reach out to Cass
County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or call 712-249-5870
more information.

The Iowa Department of Public Health announced today that it has received the first reported case of neuroinvasive West Nile Virus this season. The case was confirmed by the State Hygienic Laboratory and is an adult (18 to 40 years old) from Polk County.

About 20 percent of people infected with West Nile virus will have mild to moderate symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches and vomiting. Less than one percent of people infected become seriously ill and rarely, someone dies.

In addition, IDPH has received its first ever report of Heartland virus. The individual is an older adult (61 to 80 years old) in Appanoose County. Heartland virus is a Phlebovirus that is thought to be transmitted by the Lone Star tick and was first discovered in 2009 in Missouri. Since then, cases have expanded across the Midwestern and southern United States. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, anorexia, nausea and diarrhea and treatment is supportive care.

“These reports are an important reminder that as Iowans take advantage of outdoor activities, they should take precautions to prevent tick and mosquito bites,” said IDPH Deputy State Epidemiologist and Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Ann Garvey.

The best way to prevent tick and mosquito-borne illnesses like West Nile and Heartland viruses is to:

• Use insect repellent with DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Always read the repellent label and consult with a health care provider if you have questions when using these types of products for children. For example, DEET should not be used on infants less than 2 months old and oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under 3 years old.
• Avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, shoes, and socks whenever possible outdoors.
• Eliminate standing water around the home because that’s where mosquitoes lay eggs. Empty water from buckets, cans, pool covers and pet water dishes. Change water in bird baths every three to four days.
• Stay on trails when walking or hiking and avoid high grass.
• After each day spent in tick-infested areas, check yourself, your children, and your pets for ticks. Promptly remove any attached tick.

For more information about West Nile virus, visit https://www.idph.iowa.gov/cade/vectorborne-illness.

For more information about Heartland virus, visit https://www.cdc.gov/heartland-virus/index.html

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2020 – USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is now accepting nominations for county committee members. Elections will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for these members who make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2020 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2020.

“I encourage America’s farmers, ranchers and forest stewards to nominate candidates to lead, serve and represent their community on their county committee,” FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce said. “There’s an increasing need for diverse representation, including underserved producers, which includes beginning, women and minority farmers and ranchers.”

Agricultural producers who participate or cooperate in an FSA program, and reside in the LAA that is up for election this year, may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee. Individuals may nominate themselves or others, and organizations, including those representing beginning, women and minority producers, also may nominate candidates.

Committee members are vital to how FSA carries out disaster programs, as well as conservation, commodity and price support programs, county office employment and other agricultural issues.

Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agricultural community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are made of three to 11 members and typically meet once a month. Members serve three-year terms. Producers serving on FSA county committees play a critical role in the day-to-day operations of the agency.

Producers should contact their local FSA office today to find out how to get involved in their county’s election. Check with your local USDA service center to see if your LAA is up for election this year.  To be considered, a producer must sign an FSA-669A nomination form. The form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.

Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 2, 2020. Read more to learn about important election dates.

w/Kate Olson.

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The DNR and Council Bluffs Fire Department were notified of a personal watercraft that had overturned on Lake Manawa, Sunday, June 14.

Multiple individuals, including a six-year-old boy, had tipped over a personal watercraft and were unable to get it turned upright and get back on board.

All of the individuals were wearing life jackets at the time of the incident, but the strong winds and boat wakes created large waves and made it difficult for the child to stay above water.

A DNR Conservation Officer, two DNR Water Patrol Officers and a DNR Park Ranger were able to rescue two individuals including the six-year-old boy.  The boy was assessed by first responders and released at the scene. He gave the DNR Conservation Officer a big hug and told him that police officers were his favorite.

(Radio Iowa) — Health care workers at dozens of Veterans Affairs facilities nationwide are being provided with protective face shields made at a John Deere plant in the Quad Cities. In April, the seeding factory in Moline, Illinois, switched from making farm equipment to P-P-E. Project leader David Ottavianelli says more than 400-thousand shields were produced and a quarter of them were sent to those who care for veterans.

Ottavianelli says, “That led to us eventually delivering over a 135,000 shields to approximately 40 different VA facilities in about 26 states.” Although production on the face shields has wrapped up, Ottavianelli says they can easily switch back if COVID-19 begins to surge again. “We’ve learned a lot in this conversion so we actually have the facilities that if needed could be converted back over to produce this plus we also understand those supplies chains so we’ll be able to get that material quickly,” he says.

Ottavianelli says the additional shields that were not distributed to V-A facilities have been sent to Homeland Security facilities in Iowa and Illinois to be part of their inventory.

(Radio Iowa) — With virtually all of the state’s corn and soybean crops planted, most of them well ahead of schedule, farmers across the region are reporting the plants look to be emerging in very good shape. Kelvin Leibold is a farm management specialist with the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in north-central Iowa.

“We started off this spring with a very favorable planting season, for the most part, and that helped us out,” Leibold says. “We ended up with a bit more rain than we wanted and we saw the corn plants struggle a bit to go from the primary root system to the main root system, but now we’ve got enough heat and we seemed to pop through that.” Some areas of the state have water standing in the fields, though Leibold says he’s crossing his fingers that the weather will cooperate.

“We do have some areas around that have standing water in the potholes because we’ve had some pretty significant rainfall events,” Leibold says. “But we’re going to go into the hotter, warmer, drier part of the year with a good soil profile and that should help us sustain yields as we move forward.” Leibold says many growers are looking forward to the opportunity for record yields this fall.

“Hopefully, we can avoid serious events like hail storms, although we’ve had a couple of issues with that already this year,” Leibold says. “That’s always a concern as we get through the season, but none the less, there is optimism for some outstanding yields as we go forward here the rest of the summer.” While some fields are wet, it’s a far cry from 2019 when prolonged flooding forced a number of Iowa producers to abandon their acres for the entire growing season.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Board of Directors will hold one more electronic meeting, Monday. The session takes place by Zoom (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89345157289?pwd=ZE1xY2RnbHpwVVVqckc4b2plclZEZz09), beginning at 5:15-p.m.  On their agenda is an update on COVID-19 and related matters; And, Update/Discussion with regard to: Community Gardens; The Schildberg Campground;Pool Painting and Fireworks. The Board will also discuss a request for proposal (RFP) for a new mower.

In his report, Parks Director Bryant Rasmussen will talk about:

• Nest Boxes/Eagle Scout Project
• Mulch in the City Park and Schildberg flowerbeds
• Thinned-out Willows around Schildberg lakes
• Wild Parsnip
• July: “Parks and Recreation Month”
• and the Parks and Rec Bikes are tuned-up and ready to use.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Meat production has rebounded from its low point during the coronavirus pandemic when dozens of plants were closed, but experts say consumer prices are likely to remain high. They also say it will take months to work through the backlog of millions of pigs and cattle that was created this spring, creating headaches for producers.

Mike Drinnin reaches out to a cow at a feedlot in Columbus, Neb., Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Drinnin, who owns feedlots in Nebraska, said everyone involved in raising and feeding cattle felt the squeeze this spring when beef and pork processing plants were operating at roughly 60 percent of capacity amid the coronavirus pandemic. It’s welcome news that production is now above 95 percent of last year’s level, but a backlog of millions of pigs and cattle remains. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

The U.S. Agriculture Department says beef, pork and poultry plants were operating at more than 95% of last year’s levels earlier this week. That was up from about 60% in April at the height of plant closures and slowdowns at the height of the plant closures and slowdowns.