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(DES MOINES) – This week, Representative Tom Moore (a Republican from Griswold) welcomed students involved in Creston and Southwest Valley FFA programs, to the Iowa House of Representatives. The students were visiting the Capitol for the Legislative Symposium, which is designed to build character and promote citizenship, volunteerism and patriotism.
Pictured here is Rep. Tom Moore (Griswold) and students with the Creston FFA.
Pictured here is Rep. Tom Moore (Griswold) and students with the Southwest Valley FFA.
(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa D-N-R is asking you to take make a donation to help the state’s wildlife when you file your state taxes. D-N-R wildlife biologist, Stephanie Shepherd, says the number of people who donate through the “Chickadee Check-off” has been dropping. “In 2003 we had almost 13-thousand people donating. In this last year — in 2018 — roughly 73-hundred folks donated to the checkoff,” Shepherd says.
She says the amount of money has fortunately not dropped as much as the amount of donors. Shepherd says the donations go to species that don’t get funds from dedicated sources like hunting and fishing licenses. “We have a thousand plus other species in the state that also require habitat, and require research and conservation,” according to Shepherd. She says there are probably several reasons the Chickadee Checkoff gets missed at tax time. “We don’t spend a lot of money on marketing — we want most of the money that comes in for the checkoff to go towards wildlife conservation,” according to Shepherd “We don’t do a ton of market besides word of mouth or putting out a press release or two. So, maybe that’s just not bringing in a lot of new folks who aren’t aware of the Fish and Wildlife on the state tax form.”
The check-offs are one of the last things you have to do in filling out your return, and Shepherd says that may work against them. “A lot of times folks can be in tax return preparation fatigue by the time you get to the bottom of the state tax form where the checkoff line is — so a lot of times it just gets overlooked,” Shepherd says. Shepherd says you don’t have to donate thousands of dollars to help out the cause. “I always like to point out that we have about one-and-half million taxpayers in the state of Iowa and so if every one of them just donated one dollar on the checkoff that would be one-point-five millions for wildlife conservation in the state,” Shepherd says. “So even a little bit can make a huge difference — especially if we can get more people donating.”
The Fish and Wildlife Check-Off, line 57 on Form 1040. Or tell your tax preparer you’d like to donate to the fund.
Atlantic School District Agriculture Instructor/FFA Advisor Eric Miller reports five members of the Atlantic FFA and other FFA members from across Iowa, converged this past Tuesday on the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, to build character and promote citizenship, volunteerism, and patriotism. Atlantic FFA members Alyssa Derby, Tate Den Beste, Corri Pelzer, Taylor McCreedy, and Craig Alan Becker attended the event. Approximately 560 high school students wearing blue corduroy from 87 schools flooded the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines. The students visited with legislators, exhibited skills learned in the agriculture classroom, and learned the importance of citizenship.
Left to right Craig Alan Becker, Taylor McCreedy, Alyssa Derby, Senator Tom Shipley, Tate Den Beste, Corri Pelzer
Sitting in chair Tyler Comes; middle row Taylor McCreedy,Corri Pelzer, Alyssa Derby, Craig Alan Becker and Tate Den Beste; Back row Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller and Representative Tom Moore. (Photos courtesy Eric Miller)
The event was all part of the 35th Annual Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium and FFA Day at the Capitol. During the morning, FFA members heard from Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President, Craig Hill, about the important roles young agriculturalists can play in the agriculture industry. Then, Julie Kenny, Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, addressed students about the importance of agriculture in Iowa and abroad. Kelsey Tyrrell of the World Food Prize addressed students about the future of Iowa agriculture and the importance of being involved with statewide issues.
Governor Kim Reynolds presented and signed the FFA Week Proclamation, declaring February 22-29 FFA week in Iowa. The proclamation signing took place in the State Capitol Tuesday afternoon with the Iowa FFA state officer team. After the event, Taylor McCreedy said she was glad that she took part in the event. McCreedy said “I thought it was a lot of fun, and it was a good opportunity for kids to meet with state representatives.”
The 35th Annual Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium and FFA Day at the Capitol was made possible with support from Iowa Farm Bureau Federation through the Iowa FFA Foundation.
(Radio Iowa) — For the third straight year, Iowa ranks among the very worst states in the nation for its animal welfare laws. The Animal Legal Defense Fund places Iowa 49th in its latest report, ahead of only Mississippi. Colin Grace, director of legal initiatives for the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says a bill pending before Iowa lawmakers would bring about significant and much-needed changes, especially when dealing with animal hoarding cases. “It does a lot of excellent things to improve the definitions of animal cruelty crimes towards companion animals,” Grace says. “It enhances penalties and it requires mental health evaluation and treatment. That’s important because there is a proven link between cruelty and violence towards animals and cruelty and violence towards humans.”
That’s why, he says, the F-B-I now tracks all such animal-related crimes. Iowa’s existing rules on animal neglect are too vague, Grace argues, while the proposed legislation — known as House File 737 — would lay out specifics. “What HF-737 does is require that the living space be sanitary and free of excessive waste,” Grace says. “It requires that the animals are getting a nutritionally-appropriate quality and quantity of food, as well as potable water.” The bill passed in the Iowa House last year by a 96-to-zero vote but stalled in the Senate. Grace says his organization is working to educate legislators about the bill’s contents.
“We’ve heard that there are some senators who are worried that this bill might unduly affect agricultural interests,” Grace says. “This is a misplaced fear because our bill does not concern livestock animals and only affects the companion animals — dogs and cats — that share our homes.” Iowa had a record number of animal rescues cases in 2019, which A-R-L officials say proves Iowa’s animals cannot wait another year for better protections.
(Radio Iowa) — Both of Iowa’s U.S. Senators, Iowa’s secretary of agriculture and the first woman to serve as speaker of the Iowa House attended today’s (Wednesday’s) ceremonial signing of the U-S-Mexico-Canada Agreement. State Representative Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, says it was important to modernize and re-balance the North American Free Trade Agreement. “There were things in there that just didn’t work the way, perhaps, they did when it was originally written,” Upmeyer says. “Certainly things have changed in the world.” The U-S-M-C-A’s impact in Iowa exporters will be significant, according to Upmeyer. “Certainly it’s not only ag products, although we do about $6.6 billion worth of trade with Mexico and Canada and they’re out biggest trading partners, but it’s ag products, it’s machinery, it’s ethanol, it’s processed foods,” Upmeyer says. “They buy a lot of transportation equipment from us.”
Upmeyer stepped down as House Speaker earlier this month and, since there were no votes in the House this week, she made the trip. Upmeyer was at the White House yesterday (Tuesday), too, for President Trump’s meeting with Israel’s prime minister and the unveiling of a Middle East peace plan. “Any time you can see two of the world leaders talking about peace in the East Room of the White House, that’s kind of a special event,” Upmeyer says.
Upmeyer says she’s no foreign policy expert, but she says the Trump Administration worked hard on a laudable goal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Upmeyer says she hopes for more opportunities to represent the people of Iowa at significant events outside of the state in her last year in the legislature. “These are just moments in history, in my opinion,” Upmeyer says. “…I absolutely enjoy representing Iowa anywhere I have that opportunity.” Upmeyer, who is a Certified Nurse Practitioner, was first elected to the Iowa House in 2002.
Four officers were elected during the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Guthrie County extension council organizational meeting on January 22, 2020. The nine-member county extension council annually elects officers to comply with Iowa law. Chad Sheley, of Casey, is the newly-elected chairperson. Sheley will preside at all meetings of the county extension council, have authority to call special meetings and perform duties as performed and exercised by a chairperson of a board of directors of a corporation. Dustin Clark, of Guthrie Center, was elected vice chairperson.
Anna Kastner, of Yale, was elected secretary and has the responsibility of keeping the minutes of all county extension council meetings and signing required papers for the council. The council elected Jim Calvert, of Guthrie Center, to the treasurer position. The treasurer has charge of all of the funds of the county extension council; receives, deposits, pays and disburses. The treasurer insures an accurate record of receipts and disbursements and submits reports to the county extension council.
As elected officials, the county extension council is the governing body of ISU Extension and Outreach. The county extension council hires county staff, manages the county extension budget and helps determine programming. The county extension office is located at 212 State Street in Guthrie Center. To learn more about ISU Extension and Outreach in Guthrie County, visit www.extension.iastate.edu/guthrie.
On a separate note, the Guthrie County Extension wants to extend a big thank you to everyone who has donated or assisted with fundraising efforts for a new 4-H Static Exhibit building! Officials report “At this time, we have raised $44,041.80! This total is the profit raised at the November Harvest Lunch, January Prime Rib Dinner, Yale Community Club Scholarship Supper Auction, Scratch Cupcake sales, Linda Leo Memorial and various donations.” If you would like to donate, your donation can be dropped off or mailed to:
Guthrie County 4-H Foundation, 212 State Street, Guthrie Center, IA 50115. If you would like to make a 501C3 donation, please make your donation to the Guthrie County Foundation at Iowa 4-H Foundation. Visit iowa4hfoundation.org and click “Ways to Give” to donate online.
And, don’t forget to mark your calendars for the February 7th Crop Update, and March 6th, to discuss Farm Property Theft! All meetings will be held at the Guthrie County Extension office from 9:30 am-11:00 pm! If you have questions, contact Krista at the Extension office at 641-747-2276.
MINEOLA, Iowa (AP) – Neighboring residents and other people opposed to the construction of a chicken confinement facility in western Iowa filled a meeting at a church and roundly criticized the plan as better suited to an industrial park. Eight barns would be built on a property that sits about a mile north of Mineola, and plans are to raise 200,000 or more chickens there every eight weeks. Last week the Pottawattamie County supervisors voted to recommend that the state deny approval. The opponents’ concerns aired at Monday’s meeting in Mineola included the potential smell, the impact on the water table and extra road traffic.
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