Farmers often mention that their crop marketing is challenging and needs improvement. Now a workshop is available with a full 18-month marketing plan to help producers understand the big picture of effectively marketing their crop. Titled “How to Get $4 Corn: Learn Crop Marketing from Start to Finish”, this two-hour workshop is coming to Atlantic on Tuesday evening December 10th. Seven other locations will also be offered across Iowa throughout the winter.

Developed by the Center for Farm Financial Management and Iowa Farm Bureau, the workshop teaches the long view in crop marketing. The workshop, including crop marketing simulation, will be facilitated by Ed Kordick of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, and hosted locally by Patrick Hatting, Farm Management Specialist for Southwest Iowa with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

The workshop will be offered on Tuesday, December 10 at 6:30 PM, in the back meeting room at The Whitney, 222 Chestnut Street in downtown Atlantic. There is no cost to attend the meeting. Pre-registration is encouraged to help plan for materials. Walk-in registrations are also welcome. Local sponsors of this program include First Whitney Bank, Cass County Farm Bureau and Cass County Extension.

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 https://www.iowafarmbureau.com/Article/How-to-get-4-Corn-workshop for information on other locations around the state, or to register online.

(Radio Iowa) Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, is calling on House Democrats to “be reasonable” and “act quickly” to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement before the week is out. “The agreement would create hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Grassley says. “The agreement would help raise wages for Americans. The agreement would be particularly beneficial for Iowa farmers and the state’s overall economy.” It’s been more than a year since the leaders of the three nations signed the agreement, but it still needs Congressional approval. Grassley says a compromise is close. “But I am worried that if a deal cannot be reached by the end of this week, the USMCA will not be ratified this year,” he says.

Grassley says the scope of the trade deal is far-reaching, and for example would pump a 30-billion dollar investment into the auto industry, while also bringing a significant boost to farmers. “It gets our agricultural dairy products into Canada, a place they’ve been practically banished under NAFTA,” Grassley says. “It’s been very difficult to get our quality wheat into Canada. That will be helped.”

Grassley met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi four months ago and he says she was very much in favor of ratifying the U-S-M-C-A. Some critics say the Democrat-led House is dragging its feet on the agreement in order to keep the Trump Administration from claiming it as a victory. “There’s a lot of things you could put in the category of the Democrats not wanting the president to have a win, but I don’t think this would be one of them,” Grassley says. “On the other hand, I think voters would hold the Democrats accountable if they don’t act.”

Grassley says passage of the trade deal would be much larger than any one political party, saying it needs to be delivered for the benefit of the American people.

Skyscan Forecast for Saturday, November 30, 2019  from Dan Hicks:

Saturday:  Partly cloudy to cloudy with light rain and drizzle in the morning, SSE winds switching to the north at 10-20 mph, high 50.

Saturday night:  Partly cloudy to cloudy with light rain changing to light snow, north wind 10-20 mph, low 32.

Sunday:  Partly cloudy to cloudy and windy with light flurries, winds from the north at 20-35 mph, high 34.

Monday:  Partly cloudy with a high of 42.

Tuesday:  Partly cloudy with a high of 48.

Friday’s high was 38 while this morning’s low was 32.  In the 24 hour period ending Saturday at 7:00 am we had received .13″ of rain.

EXIRA, Iowa — Iowa DNR field office staff responded Tuesday to a report of an overturned combine in a creek northeast of Exira. Authorities say it appears the combine released approximately 30-50 gallons of diesel fuel and an unknown amount of hydraulic fluid into an unnamed tributary, which flows northwest into David’s Creek.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, the accident happened at around 8:36-p.m. Monday on 240^th Street, near Pheasant Avenue. Thirty-year-old Brent Chambers of Hamlin told authorities he was westbound on 240^th in a 2019 John Deere S780 combine with the corn head attached to the front and he was pulling the corn head trailer behind. He came upon a one-lane bridge without railings or markers and was beginning to cross when Chambers says he felt the floor begin to give way. As he attempted to lower the corn head, the south side of the structure collapsed and the combine overturned into the creek bed below, coming to rest on the driver’s side. The combine was empty and there were no load limit signs posted for the bridge. There was no report of injuries or estimate of damages to the combine or bridge. The combine is owned and was operated by Chambers Farms.

All photos courtesy Greg Richter, with Richter & Son Towing, in Atlantic.

The DNR said Wednesday an environmental contractor was handling clean-up efforts in the unnamed tributary and no sheen or fish kill was observed in David’s Creek.

MONONA COUNTY, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources report DNR Conservation Officer Gary Sisco and DNR Park Ranger Katie Hoeppner responded Tuesday evening to a stranded boat with duck hunters on West Blue Lake, a marsh off of Blue Lake in Monona County.

Three duck hunters were stranded in their boat after they sheared the cotter pin on the prop shaft and were without any propulsion. The officer and ranger towed the boat and hunters to safety at the boat ramp during the snowstorm. The snowstorm made the nighttime rescue difficult due to the heavy snowfall, high winds, blowing snow, cold temperatures and blustery wind chills.

(Radio Iowa) — John Deere is reporting a five percent increase in worldwide SALES — but the company’s INCOME in the last quarter dropped by 63 million dollars. John Deere’s fourth quarter ended October 28th. John May, the company’s C-E-O, says lingering trade tensions and a challenging growing season are causing uncertainty in the ag economy — and many farmers have become cautious about making major investments in new equipment.

Outside of the ag sector, general economic conditions are favorable, according to John Deere’s chief executive. Demand for smaller John Deere equipment, especially for construction and the forestry business, led to a record year for sales.

DES MOINES – Today (Tuesday), Gov. Kim Reynolds extended two proclamations relating to the transportation of grain and the hours of service for the delivery of propane. The governor signed a proclamation extending her Sept. 30, 2019, proclamation that allowed vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage and stover to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit, for the duration of this proclamation.

The proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code, by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.

The proclamation extends the suspension of provisions relating to the transport of grain to 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2019. The governor also signed a proclamation extending her Oct. 31, 2019, proclamation that temporarily suspended certain regulatory provisions pertaining to hours of service for the delivery of propane. Early winter weather conditions, late harvest, and high demand for petroleum products throughout the Midwest have resulted in low supplies of propane. The proclamation temporarily suspends provisions of Iowa Code § 321.449 pertaining to hours of service for crews and drivers delivering propane.

The proclamation extends the suspension of provisions relating to hours of service for propane delivery to 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2019.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farmers are set to receive the most government payments to offset damage from the U.S.’s ongoing trade war with China. The Des Moines Register reports Iowa farmers will receive $767 million in payments from President Donald Trump’s $16 billion trade assistance program this year. The Agriculture Department announced a second round of payments under the program earlier this month.

The USDA shows that the other states getting the most federal assistance in this year’s program are Illinois, at $707 million; Minnesota, at $519 million; Texas, at $497 million; and Kansas, at $474 million. Iowa Soybean Association board president Tim Bardole says the additional payments will be helpful, but they won’t cure all the problems farmers are having this year.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is partnering with the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) to conduct Farm Bill: ARC/PLC & Farm Financial Decisions meetings statewide this fall. Oakland is one of the meeting sites where producers and landlords can learn about the program election/enrollment process regarding the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and/or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) commodity crop programs.

The meeting will take place in Oakland on Wednesday, December 4th beginning at 1 p.m. at The Community Building, 614 Dr Van Zee Road.Doors open 30 minutes prior to the meeting and is open to the public. Topics and presenters include:

• ARC/PLC Programs Rules & Regulations: USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Director
• ARC/PLC Decisions, Using the ISU Payment Analyzer & Farm Financial Issues: Patrick Hatting, ISU Extension Farm Management Specialist
• Farm Stress Management and Related Resources: ISU Extension Family Life Specialist

The meeting will last approximately two and one-half hours. No pre-registration or registration fee is required. More than 50 similar meetings will be held statewide in November and December. For more information, please contact the E. PottawattamieCounty Extension office at (712) 482-6449.