(Radio Iowa) — A group of state and federal officials will be in southwest Iowa this (Thursday) afternoon and Friday to meet with farmers and discuss flood recovery. State Representative David Sieck, a farmer from Glenwood, has lived along the Missouri River his whole life. “I was born in ’57, but my grandpa showed me a fence line marker along the railroad that said the water got to the top of that in ’52, so basically I’ve experienced a lot of flooding in my life,” he says. “Nothing to the extent that we have had in the last 10 days.”

Sieck rushed back to his farm from Des Moines after his son warned the water was going to swamp their fields.  “It was like wham, this thing started happening so fast that nobody could keep up,” Sieck says. “…My brother and I lost a little over 6000 bushels of corn…with the breaches that were occurring out on the river and the over-topping, the water just came in really, really fast.”

Sieck warns farmers in the area may have THREE lost growing seasons, but there is a sliver of good news. Some grain stored in bins on farms in the areas is being scooped out. “So that will happen quick because there’s more rain coming,” Sieck says, “especially if the bins are burst open.”  Sieck says the problems on his farm are “insignificant” compared to the devastation he’s seen elsewhere. Former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey — now a top U-S-D-A official — and Iowa Ag Secretary will be at a Farm Service Agency office in Sidney this (Thursday) afternoon.

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, March 22nd, 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.

FFA Tractor Day
Left to right Lower Katie York and Steele McLaren
Left to right Noah Vandevanter, Connor Pellett, Nathan Behrends, Craig Alan Becker, Dillon Shepperd,; Left to right Top Zade Niklasen, Cooper Jipsen, Wyatt Redinbaugh, Tyler Comes

This year, 11 members took place in the event. Nathan Behrends, former vice president of the FFA chapter, felt that, “It was a great day, I’ve enjoyed doing tractor day all four years of high school.” The following is the list of members who participated in tractor day: Tyler Comes, Nathan Behrends, Zade Niklasen, Connor Pellett, Katie York, who drove a tractor supplied by Nathan Behrends; Dillon Shepherd, Steele McLaren, who drove a tractor supplied by John Becker; Noah Vandevanter, Craig Alan Becker, Wyatt Redinbaugh, and Cooper Jipsen.

(Story by Atlantic FFA Reporter Craig Alan Becker)

(Radio Iowa) — Closed interstate highways and submerged train tracks are creating challenges for moving grain and livestock. But Mike Steenhoek of the Soy Transportation Coalition says washed-out county bridges and impassable gravel roads are equally important because local infrastructure connects farms to global markets. “And it’s also the system that is largely the responsibility of local and county government and these are entities that are not flush with money,” Steenhoek says.

Iowa State University livestock economist Lee Schulz says some livestock trucks early on had to take longer routes or go to different meatpacking plants. But Schulz says businesses worked together to keep up with meat processing and it may never be clear whether the flooding affected consumer prices. “It likely won’t be one that we can really isolate here is the impact — and it was a rather large impact,” Schulz says. “I think it’s something that over time we may realize a little bit but overall I don’t think it’s going to be too much of an impact on prices.”

He says prices for meat are volatile thanks to ongoing tariffs and animal diseases, so it may never be possible to tease out whether flooding affected consumer prices. Schulz says prices, especially for pork, are pretty good and demand for meat is high, despite the considerable impact on individual farms.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa-based community activist organization and a Washington-based environmental group have filed a lawsuit against the state of Iowa and several state agencies alleging they have deprived residents of their right to clean water by failing to adequately regulate pollution from hog operations and crop farms.
Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement and Food and Water Watch filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Polk County District Court in Des Moines.

It claims the state has violated the rights of citizens who have a constitutionally protected property interest in clean water in the Raccoon River for recreational and drinking water uses. The river is a primary source of drinking water for about 500,000 central Iowa customers of Des Moines Water Works.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the state to implement nitrogen and phosphorous limits. It also seeks a moratorium on the construction of new and expanding hog farms in the Raccoon River watershed until a mandatory remedial plan and contaminant monitoring is in place.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) — With spring flood damage approaching three-billion dollars in Iowa and Nebraska combined, concerns are growing that waterways will again rise beyond their banks with even moderate rainshowers. Iowa State University Extension agronomist Joel DeJong says the soil remains saturated across much of the state and spring planting will certainly be delayed for many growers.
“We’ve got areas where the water seems to just not drain very well,” DeJong says. “Our soil moisture profile is just full right now so any rain we get this spring, a high percentage of it is going to run off, so we have that continued threat as we move forward. And as we get runoff from snowmelt up north, if the reports are accurate, I think we have continued threats.”

Not only is the soil too water-logged to plant, but DeJong says there are many areas where the rich topsoil has been carried away by flooding.  “The issue I have concerns about is soil erosion in areas where we had runoff, and secondly, the areas that had flooding. How long before we get dry enough to get back there?” DeJong says. “All acres are probably at risk of being a little late for planting this year but if you’re near a river where you got really saturated, it’s going to be a really long waiting game before we get a good shot at it.”

Even if the waters have receded and the soil might soon be suitable for planting, DeJong says farmers are facing other obstacles, like all the trash, sand, rocks and trees deposited by the high water. “We’ve all seen the pictures of all the flooding and how wide those rivers have been and how long they’ve been there and it’s just amazing the power that comes with it and what it takes with it,” DeJong says. “Of course, the residue is all gone from those acres and then you’ve got stuff that’s deposited on top of it. I’m sure they’re going to have sand deposits and everything else you’ve got to clean up and level out.”

DeJong advises producers not to get too concerned over the wet weather as conditions can change quickly. He says it’s a good idea to get everything ready to go for planting, so it can get done quickly when things do dry out.

(IA DNR, Des Moines) — Iowa’s youth only turkey hunting season begins April 5 for residents age 15 and younger at the time when they purchased their youth turkey license. This season is set aside to allow youths to hunt under direct guidance of an adult mentor, age 18 and older. Over the past four years, an average of 5,500 youth participated in the season. The focus of the youth season is to provide opportunities to teach skills necessary to become a confident turkey hunter.

Ideally, the experience would begin before the season where the mentor and the youth will scout the area they plan to hunt, identify roosting trees or which fields the birds are using, together, secure permission if hunting private land, and pattern the gun so the youth understands the limits of the gun and shot. It’s also a good idea for the youth and mentor to start practicing calling so when the season begins their confidence won’t be shaken.

The one-on-one relationship with the mentor has produced a higher rate of harvest than during the other spring turkey seasons 27 vs 23 percent. An unfilled youth season tag continues to be valid until filled during any of the remaining spring turkey seasons. This allows for a potential 38 day season that other hunters do not have. The key is for the youth tag to be purchased before the youth season closes because once the season is over this option is no longer available. The season ends April 7.

Mentors must have a valid turkey hunting license for one of the spring turkey seasons and may not carry a bow or firearm while participating as a mentor. Successful hunters are required to report their harvest by midnight of the day after it is tagged and be prepared to answer a few simple questions (county of harvest and spur length.) The easiest way to report is to log on to www.iowadnr.gov. Other ways to report are by calling the phone number listed on the tag or by going through a license vendor. Be sure to write the harvest registration number on the harvest report tag.  This allows the Iowa DNR to monitor annual harvest across the state.

Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources say campers anxious to reserve spots for the Fourth of July weekend should mark  April 4 on their calendars, when reservations for that day open. Campers can make reservations for sites three months ahead of their first night’s stay. For those planning in advance, 75 percent of electric and nonelectric sites are reservable, with the remaining sites open for walk-up camping that week.

Information on Iowa’s state parks is available online at www.iowadnr.gov/stateparks including the link to reservations. Campers can also log on directly to http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com and enter their preferred dates and/or parks to make a reservation.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is warning that flood concerns are rising in northwest and north central Iowa. “This is not just a southwest Iowa situation,” Naig said. “It’s bad there, but folks need to be preparing and try to take precautions.” Until the waters recede, it’s hard to assess the condition of cropland. It’s likely sand will be left behind in many places, along with other debris. “That can really impact folks for longer than one growing season,” Naig said.

Another hurdle for the looming 2019 spring planting season is large farm equipment cannot travel on rural gravel roads that are in such soggy shape. “Be hopeful that drier conditions will prevail and we’ll end up with a largely normal spring planting season over most of the state,” Naig says, “but hard to imagine that those folks impacted by flooding today are going to have anything close to a normal growing season.”

Naig is advising farmers in the current flood zone to contact their local U-S-D-A service center to talk through what federal assistance or loans may be available. “Everybody’s situation is just a little bit different,” Naig said. “How you’ve marketed your grain, what your insurance coverage is and so it’s hard to say with a broad brush just how every individual producer would be impacted.”

Crop insurance does not cover the grain once it’s been harvested. Some farmers who have an “umbrella” policy to cover all sorts of losses might be able to make a claim for spoiled grain in storage. Grain bins have been damaged by the flooding, plus corn or soybeans inside a bin that’s been swamped may be swelling and cause more damage to the structure.

(Radio Iowa) — Farmers with flood damage to their land will want to report to their local U-S-D-A’s Farm Service Agency office in order to qualify for some flood relief funds. Iowa F-S-A Chief Ag Specialist for Conservation and Compliance, Curt Goettsch says there is financial assistance available to farmers with flood damage under the Emergency Conservation Program. He says the plan is designed to take land that has been affected by flooding and return it to its pre-disaster condition.

Goettsch they have sections to handle shaping and grading of ground where waters may have cut a gully or ravine. There is also a cost-share program used to help repair fencing, and another to get rid of debris. “A lot of times when we have floodwaters that inundate crop land, what we end up with is a lot of debris that’s left behind. And producers have to get that off of that crop ground in order to return it back to productive land,” according to Goettsch. “And so, –we might have sand, trash, rocks, trees — all of that on that crop ground that needs to be removed.”

Goettsch estimates the total damage from this year’s spring flood may actually are as bad or worse than 2011. “I do know in 2011 we requested eleven-point-one million dollars for the counties there along the Missouri for that flood event in 2011,” he says. “It would appear that in some cases this event could exceed that request.” He says they won’t know exactly until all the information is in. He says some counties might not need as much money as they did in 2011 — but some may need a lot more.

No deadline has yet been set as to when farmers need to report flood damage, but Goettsch says you should visit with your local F-S-A office as soon as possible. Goettsch suggests you bring along photographs, or other documentation showing the extent of damage on your land caused by the floods.