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!
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) — Aside from the common sparrows, bluejays and cardinals, the experts say there are 429 species of birds in Iowa. If you’d like to attract a few more to your back yard during the wintertime, biologist Ryan Brady suggests making your feeder more attractive to your feathered friends. Brady says the best bird seed you can put out is black sunflower seeds. “It’s fairly inexpensive, it works for a lot of different species and it has a high fat content,” Brady says, “so it’s good for the birds.” Brady says you should also be sure to find some cover for the birds that’s close enough to the feeder for them to hide from predators. “Shrubbery that’s going to have a lot of thick branches, provide some cover from the elements,” Brady says. “Evergreens or conifers are excellent, so maybe plant a spruce or a fir.”
If it’s impractical to place a shrub near your bird feeder, consider creating other cover like a brush pile. “Maybe branches or other clippings that you have cut around your yard to spruce things up, instead of discarding them, make a pile of them off in the corner of your yard or property, maybe near the feeding station,” Brady says. If you have a live Christmas tree that you’ll soon be taking down, place that next to your feeder to provide songbirds protection from birds of prey and from the elements.
(Radio Iowa) — Concern is growing among farmers and ag groups that the U.S. and China won’t agree to a long-term trade deal ahead of a self-imposed deadline. President Trump announced at the end of the G20 Summit he and Chinese President Xi would halt the trade war for 90 days in hopes of reaching an agreement. The Summit was a month ago, meaning that window is now a third of the way closed. The trade war has hit soybean growers especially hard. Bill Gordon is vice-president of the American Soybean Association. “The worst thing that can happen is we roll product and have product in the ocean on the way over (to China), 90 days comes (and) we don’t have a deal or anything in the works and all of the sudden our boats are being diverted to other markets,” Gordon said. ” That would renege all the good that we’ve done in these markets now.”
China just recently resumed buying U.S. soybeans for the first time in six months, but the purchases are well behind the pace of previous years. Most soybean growers in Iowa have placed this year’s crop in storage, while waiting for better prices. Gordon suggests farmers shouldn’t hold out too long. “I also do accounting on the side and I tell my guys, ‘we’re not trying to hit grand slams here, we’re trying to get base hits,'” Gordon said. “You need to look at your profitability on your farm and everybody’s price is different. If we get to those levels where you’re profitable or at least break even at your yields, make some sales, don’t wait.”
Gordon grows corn and soybeans in Worthington, Minnesota – just 10 miles north of the Iowa border.
(Thanks to Mark Dorenkamp, Brownfield Ag News)
The Iowa DNR says the unseasonably warm weather is causing ice conditions to deteriorate across much of the state. Lakes with the best ice are north of Hwy. 3. Use caution and test the ice thickness frequently if heading out and trust your instincts – if it doesn’t look right, don’t go. Also, hunting seasons will begin closing soon, starting with pheasant, archery turkey and deer seasons, and late muzzleloader deer season on Jan. 10, then goose seasons starting in the north zone on Jan. 12, followed by the south zone on Jan. 19, and the Missouri River zone on Jan. 26.
The season for quail, partridge, ruffed grouse, and squirrels closes Jan. 31. Rabbit season closes Feb. 28. The furbearer hunting and trapping seasons also close on Jan. 31. Furharvesters can continue trapping beavers until April 15. The January antlerless deer season will open Jan. 11 and close Jan. 27, 2019. The season is open in Allamakee, Clayton, Appanoose and Wayne counties. Currently, only Allamakee and Wayne counties have licenses available, Clayton and Appanoose have sold out.
Iowa hunters have reported harvesting 96,000 deer so far during the 2018 season. 2018 hunting, fishing and trapping licenses expire on Jan. 10, 2019.
Hunter Education Classroom courses are offered by knowledgeable and certified volunteer instructors and Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers. Classroom courses are typically 12-15 hours in length and are held over 2 to 3 sessions (days). In order to receive certification, a student must attend all sessions and pass the final exam. Iowa law requires that anyone born after January 1, 1972 must be certified in hunter education before they are eligible to purchase an Iowa hunting license.
Locally, a Hunter Education Class is set for: Feb. 18th in Glenwood, at the Southwest Iowa Sportsmans Club.
For more information on these and other hunter education opportunities, go to www.iowadnr.gov/huntered
(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports unseasonably warm weather is causing ice conditions to deteriorate across much of the state. Lakes with the best ice are north of Highway. 3. D-N-R Fisheries Bureau Chief, Joe Larscheid says you should use caution and test the ice thickness frequently if heading out and trust your instincts — if it doesn’t look right — don’t go out on the ice. He recommends you go with someone else and take some basic safety equipment. Larscheid says bring a floatable rope and ice picks. If you do fall through the ice, you can use the ice picks to climb out of the water.
He also recommends some kind of inflatable cushion that you sit on when you’re fishing on a bucket, and he says wearing a flotation coat or any kind of personal flotation device is always good. Larscheid says when the ice is thick and good for fishing it becomes the equalizer for those who don’t have a boat to use on the water to get to the best fishing holes. “When it’s ice covered, everybody can get to those sites,” Larscheid says. “On our website we have all the habitat features in lakes that are downloadable. So you can use your g-p-s unit, your can use your phone and actually go to those sites. And you are right on top of those those critical habitat areas that hold fish.”
Larscheid says ice fishing is a pretty inexpensive thing to do. “You just need something to punch a whole through the ice — a simple ice auger — and very simple fishing equipment, and if you go to our website you can find tips on how to be successful,” according to Larscheid. “And most people who go fishing love it — because you can catch a lot of fish in a very short time period — and it is a lot of fun.”
The state fishing license works for ice fishing on regular fishing and the limits are the same. Fishing licenses expire January 10th and you should check your license before heading out to be sure it isn’t expiring.
(Radio Iowa) — A federal researcher says farm runoff from the Mississippi River is a factor in damaging algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico. This year Florida saw one of its worst algae blooms on record, called a red tide. The massive event killed dolphins, sea turtles and thousands of fish, sending their carcasses onshore. Oceanographer Rick Stumpf, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says Midwestern farm runoff contributes to red tides, flowing into the Mississippi and on to the Gulf. “Somewhat higher levels of nitrogen are found in the lower salinity water which follows with the Mississippi,” Stumpf says.
Added nitrogen in the Mississippi River can spark the blooms, but Stumpf says there are many other factors at play. “So that is another potential source,” he says. “It’s not the only source of nitrogen, I should emphasize that, but it is one.” The microscopic organisms thrive on nitrogen and Stumpf says nutrient runoff from farm fields in the Midwest is certainly contributing to the deadly blooms. “From one year to another, it might be a little more of factor if there’s a little stronger eastward transport,” he says. “So a huge part of this is going to be, what are the prevailing winds doing.”
Stumpf says other major factors in the algae blooms include runoff from Florida farms and wastewater facilities, as well as some naturally-occurring sources.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say thousands of individuals and businesses were victims of a large-scale scheme in which ordinary corn and soybeans were fraudulently marketed nationwide as “certified organic.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said in a filing Wednesday that potentially “tens of thousands” were defrauded by Randy Constant and his associates into paying a premium for products that they didn’t want.
Constant, of Chillicothe, Missouri, and three others have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Constant, who owned an Iowa grain brokerage, acknowledged that he sold $142 million worth of corn, soybeans and wheat over a 7 ½ year period that wasn’t organic despite his representations.
Constant was aware that most of his product was grown using non-organic methods. The buyers included companies who processed the grain into other products that were marketed as organic.
(Brownfield Ag News via Radio Iowa) — Many Iowa farmers and agri-businesses continue to suffer the effects of steel and aluminum tariffs. Steve Sukup (SOO-kup), CFO of Sheffield-based Sukup Manufacturing, says trade retaliation this year from China, Canada and Mexico has resulted in a 30-percent increase in steel prices. “Our farmers and end-customers that are having to pay the price, and obviously when prices rise everyone takes a little bit of hesitation (asking) if they really want to pay that higher price. But storage is so needed out there. So, it’s a headwind,” Sukup said.
Sukup told Brownfield Ag News he’s surprised U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico remain in place despite leaders from all three countries signing a new trade agreement. “You know, lead times are the same and the only reason prices went up was because the U.S. steel mills could do it,” Sukup said. “And we’ve always bought all U.S. steel, so it feels like we’re getting a double-whammy there.” Sukup is a leading manufacturer of grain storage and grain handling equipment.
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