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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!
(Radio Iowa) — Black Hawk County officials say more than a thousand employees at the Tyson plant in Waterloo have tested positive for the coronavirus. That’s more than double the number released by state officials earlier this week. Joshua Pikora with the county public health department says the state-related total of 444 employees only included testing that was done onsite at the plant.
“The 1031 reported cases includes those positive results from the onsite testing, positive test results from local healthcare providers here in Black Hawk County, as well as the positive serology tests that give us the complete picture of scope of illness in our county,” he says. Pikora says those cases do not include family members or roommates who may also have tested positive.
As of Thursday, the county had 1703 confirmed cases. Tyson’s pork plant in Waterloo resumed limited operations at the plant yesterday (Thursday). More than 28-hundred usually work in the facility.
DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — Tyson Foods plans to reopen its Dakota City, Nebraska, beef plant after closing the facility following a surge of coronavirus cases among workers. Tyson closed the plant Friday and initially planned to reopen in four days but pushed that back to Thursday after awaiting coronavirus test results. The plant employs 4,300 people and is among the largest employers for neighboring Sioux City, Iowa.
The Dakota City plant is one of numerous meat processing facilities that have closed due to coronavirus outbreaks. A Tyson pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa, and a Smithfield pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, both reopened this week.
Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh says this should be a big month for planting. In her weekly “Grow Another Row” update, Hoegh says now is a good time to start planting carrots. Carrots are great to donate due to familiarity and shelf life. You can start planting now and plant additional rows of carrots every two weeks to harvest all summer long! Keep seeds continuously moist for best germination. A quick note on tomatoes: although the temptation is strong, it is best to hold off setting those tomato plants out for another couple of weeks. Tomatoes do best when temps are consistently above 50°F.
“Grow Another Row, Cass County!” is a campaign to encourage residents to grow more food to share in 2020. The campaign was launched to address food challenges created by COVID-19, as more people are finding themselves needing a little extra help keeping food on the table. If you are looking to buy starter plants, check out Rolling Acres Farm. Denise sells many vegetables that are great for donations, including cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, and cabbage, and offers either deliver or farm pick-up. For more information visit: https://www.rollingacres76.com/.
Ready to donate now? Cass County food pantries love receiving fresh produce! Make sure the pantries are able to use your donations.
1. Contact the pantry ahead of time to let them know you are planning to bring produce and set up a time to drop off your donation (pantries don’t always have extra refrigeration space, so they may ask you to bring your donation on the day they distribute food). For more information, please contact: Brigham Hoegh, Wellness Coordinator Cass County ISU Extension 712-249-5870
2. Bring clean produce to the pantry (very little dirt). If you wash the produce before bringing it to the pantry, be sure you can dry it. If you can’t fully dry it, don’t wash it. This keeps produce safe.
3. If possible, bring the produce pre-sacked in quantities that could be sent home with a small family. (Example: please sack green beans, carrots, etc. in 1-pound bags).
For more information, please contact: Brigham Hoegh, Wellness Coordinator Cass County ISU Extension 712-249-5870; For Produce donation contact: Brigham Hoegh (712) 249-5870
Watch for newsletters for more gardening news throughout the season. For more gardening tips and to sign up to participate in Grow Another Row visit
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/content/grow-another-row-cass-county.
(Radio Iowa) — The mayor of a western Iowa city that’s home to two packing plants is asking state officials to establish a “Test Iowa” site in her community. Pam Soseman, the mayor of Denison, says “I remain very concerned and I have been concerned for weeks, knowing that plants are hot spots and have been historically hot spots in the past month.”
State officials confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks Tuesday at packing plants in Perry, Waterloo, Tama and Columbus Junction. Smithfield operates a pork plant in Denison, with about 12-hundred-50 hourly workers. A few hundred others work at the Quality Meats plant in Denison. Denison is in Crawford County and the latest state report shows there are now 103 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Crawford County.
“I am very concerned about those numbers,” Soseman says. “We keep communicating with our state representatives and our governor.” National data indicates meat packing has more foreign-born workers than any other industry in the country. Soseman is worried the Test Iowa app that screens people for testing may not be understandable to all the packing plant workers in Denison.
“With 26 languages spoken in our high school, that is a deep concern of mine,” she says. “I also have a concern with those who may not have access to a computer to be able to sign up online, so I’m asking for those who can help to communicate this to people who may be in danger or at risk, to communicate with those people and assist them with that website.”
Last month state officials sent test kits to Columbus Junction and Waterloo after concerns that dozens of workers had contracted COVID-19 and the virus was spreading in the community. The state has also sent what Reynolds calls “strike teams” to test nursing home employees in areas where outbreaks have been identified in long term care facilities.
After a successful egg giveaway in Atlantic in April, more donors have stepped up to provide free eggs to people in Cass County this Saturday, May 9. Cumberland, Massena, and Atlantic will be the egg giveaway sites on Saturday, May 9th. The eggs, purchased from Southwest Iowa Egg in Massena, are being paid for by anonymous donors. Eggs will be handed out by members of the Cass County Local Food Policy Council and Ag 4 All.
Photo from the Atlantic Egg Giveaway on April 25th (Courtesy Brigham Hoegh)
Only one person from each household is asked to collect the eggs and masks are appreciated. Eggs will be handed out in flats (30 eggs). The eggs are clean and chilled, but ungraded and unwashed. Eggs are available to anyone who needs them. There is no requirement to prove need. People who may not need eggs themselves are encouraged to consider getting them for a neighbor or friend.
Free Egg Giveaway Saturday May 9:
Cumberland: Cumberland Care & Share (Cumberland United Methodist Church, 317 Monroe St. Cumberland, IA 50843) – When: 10:00-10:30 AM (or as supplies last)
Massena: Southwest Iowa Egg Coop in Massena (74877 Clarke Ave, Massena, IA 50853)
When: 11:00-11:30 AM (or as supplies last)
Atlantic: Iowa Western Parking Lot (705 Walnut Street, Atlantic, IA 50022)
When: 1:00-2:00 PM (or as supplies last)
Interested in purchasing eggs from Southwest Iowa Egg? Southwest Iowa Egg is selling eggs from their Massena office located at 74877 Clarke Ave. on Tuesdays and Friday from 9:00-1:00 PM. A flat (30 eggs) is sold for $3.00; a dozen for $1.25. Customers must bring their own cartons or containers if buying anything other than a flat. Exact change is required, and customers are asked to wear masks to keep customers and staff safe. Home delivery is available within the city limits of Massena and Bridgewater by calling (712)779-0704.
For more information on local food, farmers markets, and food access, follow the Cass County Local Food Policy Council’s Facebook page @CassCountyLocalFood.
Questions can be directed to Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at (712)249-5870 or bhoegh@iastate.edu.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Today, Governor Reynolds issued a new proclamation opening campgrounds in the state of Iowa, effective Friday, May 8, 2020. The Iowa DNR will open state campgrounds at 8:00am on Friday, May 8 to campers with self-contained restrooms only. Self-contained is defined as a tent or pop-up camper with a portable toilet or an RV with a functioning, self-contained bathroom. Walk-in campers may begin registering at 8 am.
All other reservations will continue as reserved beginning May 15, unless otherwise notified directly by the DNR. The DNR extends an apology to those that had reservations scheduled during the May 8 – May 14 time period. Those reservations will not be honored because refunds have already been issued and the transactions are complete.
While state parks have seen a great influx of visitors at our parks, it is expected to see the same at the campgrounds. Parks staff will be closely monitoring these areas to avoid gatherings of groups larger than 10. Staff presence throughout the parks and campgrounds will remind and educate visitors to continue physical distancing while enjoying some of Iowa’s most beautiful public places. Campers should also abide by the following guidelines:
For the latest closure information for state parks, campgrounds and trails, visit: www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures
The DNR highly recommends practicing physical distancing so that the parks and campgrounds remain open as a viable option for recreational opportunity. Campers should assume personal responsibility and abide by the guidelines set forth.
(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds and U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue say the nation’s meat supply should be stabilized within 10 days. Reynolds was in the Oval Office earlier this afternoon for a meeting with President Trump. She indicated Iowa packing plants are reopening and be operating at excess capacity soon.
President Trump said he’s asked the Justice Department to investigate whether meat packers are engaging in price gouging in the midst of the pandemic.
(Radio Iowa) — One of the state’s leading advocates for open government says citizens in places like Perry have a right to know when there’s a public health concern at large local employers. Iowa Freedom of Information Council executive director Randy Evans says “The fundamental concern I have is the public ought to be informed so that they now what is going on in their community.”
On Tuesday, state officials announced 730 employees at Tyson Fresh Meats in Perry had tested positive for COVID-19. That’s 58 percent of all the workers who were tested. The company had been refusing to reveal how many workers had COVID-19, citing privacy concerns. Evans applauds the Iowa Department of Public Health Department’s decision to start announcing outbreaks at facilities like meat packing plants. “The public needs to know more rather than knowing less,” Evans says.
But Evans questions the department’s standard for what constitutes an outbreak. State officials will announce there’s a COVID-19 outbreak when at least 10 percent of the employees at a food production plant or other large manufacturing facility are absent or test positive for the virus. “A business that employs 2000 people, 10 percent who are infected, is a large number of people circulating in the community, potentially,” Evans says.
State Auditor Rob Sand says no corporation or public official should ever claim the federal law on individual health care records justifies withholding the big picture from the public. In late April, Sand had called for packing plant outbreak numbers to be made public.
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