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DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig recognized Century and Heritage Farm families during a ceremony at the State Fair. To qualify, a family must have owned at least 40 acres for 100 years or more in the case of Century Farms and 150 years or more for a Heritage Farm. This year 359 Century Farms and 148 Heritage Farms were recognized.
Naig said “To keep a farm in the same family for 100 or 150 years is a testament to the passion and perseverance of these families and a true picture of sustainability. These families inspire all of us to roll up our sleeves, identify innovative conservation solutions and forge new public-private partnerships to ensure our agriculture industry remains strong for generations to come.”
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has partnered with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation since 1976 to recognize families that have owned and worked a farm for 100 years or more. Including this year’s recipients, more than 19,000 farms from across the state have been recognized.
The Heritage Farm program was started in 2006, on the 30th anniversary of the Century Farm program and more than 1,000 farms have been recognized. The 2018 Century and Heritage Farms Program ceremony was held at the Iowa State Fair in the Pioneer Livestock Pavilion on Thursday, August 16. Craig Hill, President of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, or Joe Heinrich, Vice President of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation joined Naig to recognize all award recipients.
Find links to the pdf documents listing the Century Farm and Heritage Farms here:
DES MOINES, Iowa–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 8, 2018–Niman Ranch, a leader in sustainable agriculture and humane livestock practices, Friday, celebrated the 20th Annual Hog Farmer Appreciation Dinner in Des Moines by pledging to double their network and add more than 750 independent family farmers and ranchers in the next ten years. The company committed to supporting 1500 sustainable family farms in the next decade.
As part of the announcement, Niman Ranch officials said they will begin a recruitment effort and unveiled a first of a kind Gilt and Boar Gift program for young farmers, recent college graduates and those that have served in the military. More than $300,000 in sows have already been made available to qualifying individuals who are looking to get started in farming, grow their herds, improve their genetics and ultimately make more money.
Niman Ranch began hog production in 1995 with one farmer, Paul Willis, from Thornton, IA. Since that time the company has expanded to 629 hog farmers in 12 states. Part of the ongoing partnership between Niman Ranch and the farmer is a yearly scholarship for farm families and their children to go to college without significant debt so they can return to the farm.
This year the Next Generation Scholarship Fund became a formal 501C3 and raised more than $150,000 from more than 60 donors – giving out scholarship awards to more than 32 students. Two of the students received $10,000 as part of a special Phyllis Willis Pioneer Award and the original Dave Serfling Scholarship.
(View the multi-media presentation from the meeting, here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180907005544/en/
Bison are helping to sustain a diverse native prairie in northwestern Iowa. More than 200 bison roam the Nature Conservancy’s Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve in the Loess Hills. James Baker, a land steward with the conservancy, says the grazing bison give birds different options for habitat. Some birds prefer short grass, others would rather nest in tall grass.
“Different animals like different things,” Baker says, “and by having the bison here, we provide hopefully as many species as possible what they like.” Since the conservancy in Plymouth County introduced bison to the preserve in 2008, grazing has helped milkweeds thrive, attracting monarch butterflies. Baker says when bison graze, it opens up ground and provides space and sunlight for plants to grow.
“Without the bison or some grazer here, you’d have basically a nice level vegetation which would support some species but there’s a lot of species that would be left out,” Baker says. The conservancy hopes to open up more of the three-thousand-acre prairie to the bison in the future so they can graze on untouched areas, allowing more land to reap the benefits of year-round grazing. On one day each year in October, scientists catch the bison to get them up to date on vaccinations.
(By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio via Radio Iowa)
(Radio Iowa) — Officials with the U-S-D-A say cattle producers in Iowa should not be concerned about the recent discovery of a cow in the southeastern U-S with B-S-E or mad cow disease. The agency’s chief veterinarian Dr. Jack Shere says there’s -no- risk of a spread. Dr. Shere says, “The Veterinary Services Laboratory diagnosed an atypical H-type BSE in a six-year-old mixed-breed beef cow that was located in Florida.”
B-S-E, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was first found in the U-S in December of 2003. This latest case wasn’t in its usual form and was considered atypical. “There’s basically two types of BSE that we look for,” Shere says. “One is the classical and that’s the type that we saw in England during their huge outbreak. That was linked to Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans. This is not that type. This is a spontaneously-generated type of BSE that occurs in all cattle all over the world.”
The cow in the Florida case was destroyed and Shere says it did not put the food supply at risk. “We do want to be as transparent as we can be when we find these,” Shere says, “a to let the world know as soon as possible.”
The Florida case marks the sixth time B-S-E has been found in the country. The first case, in 2003 in Washington state, was a case of the “classical” B-S-E in a cow that was brought in from Canada. The others have all been in the atypical category. According to the Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa is home to almost 28-thousand cattle operations and nearly four-million cattle. The beef industry supports more than 32-thousand jobs and is worth more than six-BILLION dollars a year to the state.
This Saturday and Sunday, the air near Shelby will be filled with smoke, steam and excitement, as part of the 36th Annual1880 Carstens Farmstead Days Show. One of the organizers, Terry Torneton, who’s been involved in the event as a volunteer for more than 25-years, says Farm Days is an event that aims to preserve and celebrate Iowa’s Farm History through live demonstrations of antique farm equipment and a blend of unique exhibits and crafts.
It’s a tractor and threshing show and so much more. The two-day show is held on the historic Carstens 1880 Farmstead just south of I-80 Exit 34, Shelby, Iowa. The hours are 6:30 am – 7:00 pm both days. Torneton says there are over 250 Vintage tractors and implements on display. Oliver tractors and implements, along with dozens of gas “hit and miss” engines will be featured at this year’s show. Nearly 100 carefully restored Oliver tractors will be on display. Anyone who would like to add his or her Oliver or hit and miss engine to the exhibit is welcome. Register at the registration building near the front gate when you arrive.
Hit & Miss Engine
A parade of classic cars, implements, tractors and trucks also will take place both days beginning at 2-p.m. Joining the power equipment will be many antique/classic cars and trucks. Traditional demonstrations will be on-going throughout the weekend. Visitors can expect to see threshing machines in action, antique tractor plowing, corn picking, straw baling, blacksmithing, corn binding, and a working sawmill. Admission to Farm Days also allows visitors to wander through the four-acre corn maze which contains nearly two miles of pathways. There will be a number of musical acts under the shade trees. On the main stage near the Carstens’s family home, colorful and talented cloggers will kick up their heels to entertain the crowd.
Nearly 100 vendors are expected to be selling a wide range of crafts, tools, toys and novelty items. Raffle tickets for a beautiful hand-stitched quilt, which will be raffled during Farm Days will be available during the quilt show. This (Friday) evening pulled pork sandwich dinner will be hosted by the Friends of the Shelby Stone Arch Trail Committee. Proceeds from the dinner will go to the trail committee. The dinner will be served from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.
All good days begin with a good breakfast and to start Farm Days off right, a pancake breakfast is planned at 6:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Snacks and lunch options will also be available. Various non-profit local groups will be offering refreshments and delicious desserts all weekend. On Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. enjoy Staley’s Chicken for a delicious dinner at the farm.Proceeds from the dinner will go toward on-going maintenance at Carstens 1880 Farmstead.Admission to Farm Days remains one of the best values for any show of its kind. Admission is $5 per day for everyone nine years and older.
ONAWA, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host a public meeting at 6:00 p.m., Sept. 11, at the Lewis & Clark State Park Visitor Center, to discuss plans for the Missouri River Fish Management Office. Any person attending the public meeting and has special requirements such as those related to mobility or hearing impairments should contact the DNR or ADA Coordinator at 515-725-8200, Relay Iowa TTY Service 800-735-7942, or Webmaster@dnr.iowa.gov, and advise of specific needs.
PELLA, Iowa (AP) — An industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturer plans to expand an Iowa plant less than two months after a tornado tore through the facility. The Des Moines Register reports that the July tornado reached speeds of 144 mph, ripping apart buildings and idling production lines at Vermeer Corp’s campus near Pella. CEO Jason Andringa says the company worked hard to get production back in order. All employees were back to work by Aug. 20.
Andringa says the company is meeting production demands even as work continues to fix the storm’s damage. He says two of the company’s plants will be demolished and rebuilt. Andringa says the company also plans to add a new engineering facility to the Pella campus. Vermeer is Pella’s largest single employer with about 2,800 employees.
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