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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) — While the bald eagle is making a comeback in Iowa and across the country, an expert says there are still some challenges facing the national symbol The executive director Saving Our Avian Resources (SOAR) Kay Newman from Carroll, operates a rehabilitation program for eagles. “Half of all the eagles who come to rehabilitators in Iowa have ingested lead, and are impaired or lead poisoned,” Newman says, “and that’s a huge percentage.”
She says the huge number of lead issues is a concern. “We expect to see sort of a random assortment of injuries coming in. A poke in the eye, a broken wing, a broken leg, hit by car, just a random assortment of accidental injuries,” Newman says. “Poisoning is in sort of a different category — where it concerns us.” Newman spoke in Le Mars this past weekend and says eagles will prey on other animals that may have been shot by lead-based ammunition, and that is how they get the lead poisoning. “This type of poisoning is completely preventable. So, anyone who hunts — it doesn’t matter what they hunt — there’s a non-lead version of the ammunition out there,” according toe Newman.
Newman says the same thing happens with fishing, when anglers use lead sinkers, or lead based lures.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Rainy weather is delaying Iowa farmers from planting crops this spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Monday that 36% of Iowa’s expected corn crop had been planted as of Sunday. That’s five days behind the five-year average.
About 8% of the expected soybean crop has been planted. That’s two days behind the five-year average. Last week, rain allowed for only 2.8 days of fieldwork. Chilly temperatures also slowed the emergence of crops that have been planted.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa outdoor enthusiasts will soon have an option to place an organ donor sticker on their hunting and fishing licenses under a new law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. It’s called Logan’s Law after Logan Luft, of Charles City, who died at age 15 in 2017 after an all-terrain vehicle crash. Luft, who enjoyed hunting and fishing, had decided to be an organ donor and his family says that decision saved the lives of five people who received his organs. His father Leonard Luft and other relatives sought the bill in his memory after seeing organ donor stickers on hunting and fishing licenses in Minnesota.
The bill passed unanimously. It requires the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to include organ donor information in hunting safety courses and to provide the designation of organ donor on hunting and fishing license applications. Anyone at least age 14 may check an organ donor box with a parent’s signature. Reynolds signed the bill Monday at Charles City Middle School.
(Radio Iowa) — A wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is encouraging landowners to plant some food plots this spring to help out pheasants and other bird. Todd Bogenschutz says the severe winter weather this year showed a need for more food plots. “A lot of people were seeing birds — they were obviously out trying to find food with the ice layer kept them from digging through to get what was on the ground. And so they were just traveling far and wide to try and find food that was above the ice,” Bogenschutz says.
He says the size of the food plot you plant depends on what you want to accomplish. “You kind of have to think about your objectives, if you’ve got good cover around for the birds in a bad winter — then your plot can be a small one,” Bogenschutz says. “If you are trying to make the food plot the cover itself — then you kind of have to make them bigger. Generally you can get by without about an acre or two plot if there is good cover nearby.” He says the goal is to make it so the birds can move right out of cover and eat and then go back without exposing themselves to long. He says if the habitat is marginal that gets filled in with snow pretty easily in winter, you might want to plant a larger food plot of five to ten acres that can include a mixture of sorgham and corn that provides good cover and food at the same time.
Bogenschutz says the pheasant population had bounced back after some mild winters — but with a statewide average of around 39 inches of snow this year — he expects that to impact bird numbers. “I don’t think our pheasant counts have ever increased when we’ve had 31 or more. So I am expecting our counts for both pheasants and quail to be down for this coming year,” according to Bogenschutz. There are parts of the state that may not be hit as hard as others. “Southeast Iowa seemed to get off maybe the best as far as the winter, I think everybody had snow and ice, but I think north-central and north-west had a pretty severe winter ,” Bogenschutz says.
The D-N-R will conduct its annual roadside survey of pheasants in August.
(Radio Iowa) — Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says there’s a “major crisis” in rural America and the federal government must break up monopolies in the ag sector that treat farmers like “modern-day indentured servants.” “Farmers know this,” Sanders said. “I want the people in urban America to understand this as well.” Sanders, in his second bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, used a Sunday speech in Osage to outline his prescriptions for economic revival in rural areas. “What the American people, what you want and what I want are more family farms in America, not more factory farms,” Sanders said, to applause and cheers.
Sanders says it’s time for federal oversight of the environmental impact of large-scale poultry and livestock confinements, just as other industries are regulated. “More and more of the state’s agriculture is being dominated by just a handful of large corporations who is seems to me from a distance own the Iowa state legislature,” Sanders said. In addition, Sanders would get rid of federal subsidies for crop insurance and, again, link federal payments to targeted prices for commodities.
Sanders says American farmers should be guaranteed federal support to cover production costs, “plus living expenses.” “Farmers deserve a fair price for the very, very hard work that they do,” Sanders said. Sanders would cap federal farm payments, too, to limit payments to large farm operations. Sanders made stops in Spencer and Sioux City on Sunday as well.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa egg farm that killed millions of chickens because of a 2015 bird flu outbreak is suing companies hired by the federal government to disinfect barns. Sunrise Farms says the chlorine dioxide gas and heat treatments used to kill the virus destroyed barn equipment, electrical wiring, production equipment and water lines. The company also says the structural integrity of its barns was diminished.
Max Barnett, the CEO of Sunrise Farms’ parent company, South Dakota-based Sonstegard Foods, said he couldn’t comment on a pending court case. The farm is near the northwest Iowa town of Harris, about 225 miles northwest of Des Moines. It includes a feed mill, 25 layer barns, two manure barns and a processing plant. The barns housed 4 million egg-laying hens, and two other buildings had 500,000 young hens being raised to become layers.
The farm confirmed on April 19, 2015, that its birds had the deadly strain of H5N2 bird flu. Officials from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service division arrived within days and took over the cleanup and disinfection process, hiring several companies to complete euthanizing birds and disinfecting barns to prevent the spread of the virus.
In the 2015 U.S. bird flu outbreak, more than 50 million chickens and turkeys died or were destroyed. That comprises about 12 percent of hens that produce eggs people eat and 8 percent of the inventory of turkeys grown for meat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
About 87 percent of bird losses occurred in Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producer, and Minnesota, the top turkey grower. Other cases were reported in Nebraska, Wisconsin and South Dakota. The heat treatment used at some of Sunrise Farms barns was designed to raise the temperature to 120 degrees for a period of seven days. In other barns the government officials ordered the use of chlorine dioxide, a chemical known to kill the flu virus.
The barns were declared free of virus and eligible for restocking on Sept. 16, 2015, but court documents say the treatments destroyed equipment, electrical wiring and water lines, and left the barns’ structural integrity diminished. Sunrise Farms claims its property damage required extensive repairs.
The company filed the lawsuit in March 2018 in federal court in Iowa, seeking to be repaid for the cost of repairs, interest, late charges and the cost of the lawsuit. It claims negligence for causing significant property damage and breach of contract, saying the contracted companies “failed to adequately perform the contract obligations.”
The lawsuit names Clean Harbors Environmental Services of Norwell, Massachusetts, and other companies based in Georgia and New York. In court documents, Clean Harbors, which applied the chlorine dioxide gas treatment, denied responsibility for the damage and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. The company said Sunrise Farms “failed to adequately and properly mitigate its damages.”
Clean Harbors is suing six other companies that were contracted to assist in the operation. One of those companies is suing seven other companies with which it had contracted. The lawsuit is set for trial on Jan. 27, 2020, in Sioux City.
Another major egg producer with barns in Iowa and other states also used the heat treatment for disinfection after the bird flu and said he saw some damage but determined the equipment was older and needed to be replaced anyway.
Marcus Rust, CEO of Rose Acre Farms, the nation’s second-largest egg producer, said his company was satisfied with its outcome.
Rust said he’d heard about the problems at Sunrise Farms and was uneasy but determined that the effectiveness of the gas treatment was better than any other alternative. “Did we have zero problems? No. But has it been acceptable? Yes. We were apprehensive and maybe we watched it a lot closer because of all the warnings,” he said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected an effort by local landowners to block a proposed wind farm in northwest Iowa after it won approval from government regulators. The court’s rulings on Friday remove a major obstacle for the 170-turbine wind energy project in Palo Alto County. It also provides more certainty that similar projects will be able to proceed in the future.
Residents filed two lawsuits challenging the plan by Palo Alto Wind Energy and MidAmerican Energy, one against the Iowa Utilities Board and another against the Palo Alto County Board of Supervisors. The utilities board lawsuit contended board members should have required developers to get a special certificate that requires extensive study of the project’s impact. The county lawsuit challenged the supervisors’ process for approving the project.
This summer, the University of Iowa is partnering with 14 Iowa state parks to host Wildlife Camps for kids across the state. Jay Gorsh, program coordinator, says “Wildlife Camps have been a popular educational and recreational experience in the Iowa City area for more than 25 years and we are excited to share this program with kids across the state. “Campers will spend a week exploring, learning and playing – in the wild.”
The University of Iowa hosted Wildlife Camps in nine state parks last summer. The camps have been so successful, the university is expanding to 14 state parks in 2019. Wildlife Camps are day camps for students entering 3rd-7th grade and offer fun, exploratory activities focusing on the wildlife, natural habitats and unique features of each state park. In southwest/western Iowa, dates and locations of each camp are as follows:
Springbrook (Guthrie Center) ｜June 17 — 21
Stone (Sioux City) ｜June 24 — 28
Waubonsie (Hamburg) ｜July 15 — 19
Prairie Rose (Harlan) ｜July 22 — 26
Lake Manawa (Council Bluffs) ｜July 22 — 26
Registration is open and enrollment will be limited to 40 students per camp. Cost ranges from $100-$150 per week depending on the park. To register and learn more about individual camp activities visit: https://recserv.uiowa.edu/WildlifeCampsStateParks
The University of Iowa is hosting wildlife day camps in several state parks this summer, and there’s still time to sign up! Summer day camps are for 3rd – 7th graders and taught by teachers, naturalist staff and college students.
Kids will learn about animals, ecology and the outdoors in a fun, safe environment. Day camps are Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day. Check out the list below to find a wildlife day camp near you! (click on a site below for more information and registration)
Nearby 2019 Camps:
Springbrook (Guthrie Center) June 17 – 21
Stone (Sioux City) June 24 – 28
Waubonsie (Hamburg) July 15 – 19
Prairie Rose (Harlan) July 22 – 26
Lake Manawa (Council Bluffs) July 22 – 26
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