(Submitted by an Atlantic FFA Reporter) — On Saturday, March 7th, 2020, 10 members of the Atlantic FFA chapter competed in the District Career Development Events with one advancing to the State FFA Convention in Ames. Southwest State Vice President Tyler Comes lead the District Business session.

Corri and Tyler

Atlantic FFA member Corri Pelzer retired as the District Sentinel position. Aspen Niklasen and Malena Woodward were the chapter delegates for Atlantic FFA at Convention.

Carli H.

FFA member Carli Henderson competed in the Extemporaneous Speaking category placing 1st earning a Gold and advancing to State. Craig Alan Becker competed in Ag Sales earning a Gold placing 3rd and will be the alternate to State. Andrew Engler completed in Ag Broadcasting placing 4th earning a Silver. Gunner Kirchhoff competed in Ag Welding placing 4th earning a Silver. Finally Tate DenBetse, Dylan Comes and Wyatt Redinbaugh competed in the Chapter Website CDE placing 4th earning a Gold rating.

In the Farm Business Management Test Atlantic FFA had 4 members compete this year. Drey Newell earned a Gold and placed 2nd, Hannah Carlson earned a Gold and placed 17th, Caroline Pellett earned a Gold and placed 23rd and Garrett Reyonds earned a Silver and placed 34th out of 87 individuals.

Craig Becker

District Group

In the FFA Freshman Greenhand Quiz, Atlantic FFA had 4 members participate all earning Silver ratings. Sofia Mendez placed 55th, Dylan Comes placed 59th, Dan Freund placed 81st and Jackson McLaren placed 84th.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is again lobbying President Trump and his Administration on ethanol policy. The E-P-A signals it will appeal a court ruling that sided with the ethanol industry and against some of the E-P-A’s waivers that let small oil refineries skip blending ethanol into gasoline. “We don’t think they should appeal it,” Reynolds says. “We think they should let it stand and that should be something that they implement nationwide.” Reynolds and other ethanol advocates have argued many of the hardship waivers for oil refineries were not warranted and a federal court. “We’re going to continue to reach out to the White House and say: ‘Let it go,'” Reynolds says.

A federal court ruled in January that any oil refinery waivers granted after 2010 should be extensions. The policy would significantly limit the number of waivers the E-P-A could grant. The Trump Administration has until March 24th to make a decision on whether to appeal. Groups representing farmers and the biofuels industry have been voicing their objections to an appeal. Dave Walton raises corn, soybeans and livestock on a farm near Wilton in east central Iowa. “Families in my state are looking at each other across the kitchen table this morning and wondering why the president through this appeal would try to prolong this fight between farmers, the EPA and oil interests,” he says. “It’s kind of baffling to us.”

Walton, who is active in the Soybean Association at the state and national level, says the waivers impact the biodiesel industry, too, and it would be — in his words “a kick in the teeth” — if the Trump Administration sides with the oil industry and appeals the ruling. “This issue could destroy President Trump’s relationship with leaders and voters across the heartland,” Walton says.  National Corn Growers Association president Kevin Ross farms near Minden in southwest Iowa. He says the potential appeal has injected more unneeded uncertainty into the marketplace. “This is a united front from agriculture, our biofuels groups and other supporters of the decision,” he says.

If the court ruling stands, the number of oil industry waivers from biofuel blending requirements would be drastically reduced in the future. The oil industry argues forcing small refineries to blend ethanol into gasoline puts a financial strain on small refineries. Farmers and biofuels groups say the waivers have depressed demand for ethanol and biodiesel.

w/Kate Olson.

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Local producers have had several opportunities to discuss and learn more about marketing grain, thanks to a series of workshops hosted locally this winter by Patrick Hatting, Farm Management Specialist for Southwest Iowa with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. These meetings have been held monthly throughout the winter, beginning in December. The final meeting is set for this Thursday, March 12 and will feature Justin Newman and Brandon Barron of Gavilon, utilizing their market simulator for hands-on experience with contracts and options.

Doors will open at 6 PM and the program will begin at 6:30 PM. There is no cost to attend thanks to local sponsorship from First Whitney Bank and Trust in Atlantic, Cass County Extension and Cass County Farm Bureau. Pre-registration is not required, but will help plan for materials. Walk-in registrations are welcome on the night of the event.

For more information or to pre-register, or call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email Lori Anderson at lander@iastate.edu. You can also visit the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass for information and a flier on the program.

(Atlantic FFA reporter submission) – To many students, the ride to school usually involves the requirement of driving themselves by car, or having their parents drop them off. But last Friday, on March 6th, the Atlantic FFA members were given the opportunity to ride to school in a different style. This “style” was a part of the annual Tractor Ride to School Day that the Atlantic FFA Chapter conducts every year during the spring. Members who participated met together at the Walmart located approximately 1 mile away from the High School. From there, they drove to the High School all together in a large line.

Photo: On top the tractor left to right: Derek Dreager, Chase Vogl, Tate DenBeste, Wyatt Redinbaugh, Dylan Comes, Dillion Shepperd, Dan Freund, Cooper Jipsen; On the Ground left to right: Ryan Klever and DJ Shepperd. (photo submitted)

This year, 10 members took place in the event. Dillion Shepperd said, “Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy a tractor and have you ever seen a sad person driving a tractor?” Tate DenBeste said, “It was fun to be able to drive a tractor to school my senior year.

The following is the list of members who participated in tractor day: Derek Dreager, Chase Vogl, Dylan Comes, Dillon Shepperd, DJ Shepperd, Wyatt Redinbaugh, Dan Freund, Cooper Jipsen. Tate Den Beste, and Brett Dreager

• KJAN, Atlantic  .23″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .27″
• Massena  .24″
• Anita  .45″
• Carroll  .22″
• Creston  .21″
• Denison  .18″
• Red Oak  .07″
• Clarinda  .25″

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum announced on March 5, 2020, Aaron M. Volkmar, age 46, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger for a felony Lacey Act Violation. The Court imposed a sentence of two years probation and a $5,000 fine. Volkmar was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and a $100 Special Assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

Volkmar is the owner and operator of Tails of the Hunt LLC., which provided guided hunts in southwest Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Volkmar provided a guided deer hunt to undercover agents in December 2013. While providing these guided hunt services, Volkmar violated Iowa state law by illegally tagging a deer and assisting with transportation of the deer across state lines.

This matter was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Services and Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Cass County, Iowa Master Gardeners (CCMG) are again offering a $1,000 scholarship to local students, with applications due April 1, 2020.  This scholarship is available to students who are graduating seniors or graduates of any of the following Iowa school districts, in which currently reside members of CCMG:  Atlantic, Clarinda, CAM, Exira-EHK, Griswold, or Red Oak.

The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service.  CCMG members provide many hours of volunteer service and gardening education within their local communities.  Accordingly, this scholarship is intended to provide post-secondary funds to individuals who are studying, or intend to pursue a career in, a horticulture-related field.  The scholarship winner will be selected based upon academic success, history of community service, and career goals related to horticulture. Demonstration of past interest and experience in horticulture will be very helpful.

The scholarship is for those pursuing post-secondary education during the 2020-2021 school year. The recipient will be notified of their award on or before May 20, 2020 for planning purposes. A scholarship check will be issued in January 2021, in the student’s name directly to the academic institution, upon receipt of an official grade transcript for the completed Fall 2020 semester. A previous scholarship recipient may re-apply, but an individual may only receive a total of two scholarships from this program.

The application form is available through the high school guidance departments, or on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/.  Applications should be submitted to the Cass County Extension Office, 805 W 10th St, Atlantic, Iowa 50022, or emailed to keolson@iastate.edu on or before the April 1 deadline for consideration. Questions can be directed to the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132.

The Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield will host a Forum on Agriculture and the Economy, this Thursday, March 12th, beginning at 7-p.m.. Grant Gerlock, a reporter for Iowa Public Radio who grew up on a farm near Cumberland, will moderate a panel of three local agriculturalists, farmers Rhonda Boehm and Dan Dreher, and ag lender Paul Nelson about their challenges in this rural economy.  Dr. Alejandro Plastina, professor of economics at Iowa State University, will then offer the keynote and will share his views of the impact of agriculture on the economy at the local, state, and national levels. After Dr. Plastina speaks, he and the agriculturists will answer questions from the audience related to ag and the economy, again moderated by Mr. Gerlock.

Whether you are a farmer, live in a rural area, or in the city, you are invited to learn more about how farmers are faring in this economy and what that means for our local communities, for Iowa, and for the U.S. There is no charge, but a free-will offering is appreciated. Soulshine Food Truck will be parked at the Warren Cultural Center, opening at 5:00 pm. The public is encouraged to purchase supper from Soulshine and go upstairs to the auditorium where tables are set and conversation is invited.

(Radio Iowa) — A ten-year study documents the conservation benefits of cover crops on farm fields and shows they’re a long-term tool for soil health. Growers were asked to plant strips of cereal rye as a cover crop on their corn and soybean fields, leaving neighboring areas without it. Liz Ripley, with Iowa Learning Farms, says after working out some kinks the first year or two, the results were so positive it was hard to keep farmers in the study. “In the strips that had the cover crops, they didn’t see the level of erosion, right next door to fields that did,” Ripley says, “and compared to those other fields that weren’t participating in the trial, they could see how the soil moisture even was changing over time.”

Many participants bowed out after just five years to plant the cereal rye across their entire fields. Ripley says cover crops are an investment in a farm’s future productivity. The study sites were all in Iowa but she says the findings should hold up throughout the Corn Belt. “They’re going to see very similar results in terms of the impacts on crop yields,” Ripley says. “When it comes to some of the other variables, here in Iowa, we have some really great soil. But a little further south, they start with a little bit lower organic matter, and so they can have the opportunity for faster increases in soil organic matter.”

Ripley says where small yield losses occurred, farmers made adjustments to how they plant their cash crop and were able to get back their expected yields. Iowa Learning Farms and Practical Farmers of Iowa partnered on the study.