The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) is urging U-S and Chinese officials to “get back to the table” and try to resolve issues that have led to the developing trade war between the two countries. I-S-A president Bill Shipley of Nodaway.  “It’s not good for us, it’s not good for them– nobody wins — especially when China is using food as a weapon in a trade war,” Shipley says. “That’s not a good thing in my opinion. China is taking feed away from their own people.”

Shipley says they’re disappointed the trade dispute has reached this point. But he says I-S-A is still supportive of President Donald Trump’s efforts to rectify trade issues with China. He says the Chinese had dropped the U-S from being their primary supplier of soybeans since 2009 from 51 percent to 37 percent and he says it would help the trade deficit if they moved the U-S back to being their top soybean supplier.

Iowa State University ag economist Chad Hart estimates Iowa soybean farmers stand to lose up to 624 million dollars because of higher tariffs implemented by China.

(Radio Iowa)

Many families working the land in rural Iowa, for decades, have been fiercely loyal to certain brands of farm equipment. But, as farm operations grow and the next generation of farmers takes over, that intense brand loyalty is changing, according to Curt Blades with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

“We’ve known this for the last number of years – as farms get bigger and bigger and they become more and more sophisticated, they do become a little bit more business-minded,” Blades says. “And when you become more business-minded, you make decisions that are not based only on emotion. That certainly comes into it, but it also has to economically play out.” In other words, Blades says, “the bottom line” will likely trump brand loyalty as time goes on.

“That says, ‘Hey, if I’m going to continue to bleed a certain color of tractor, that certain color better live up to my expectations. And it still has to pencil out. I’m not going to buy it just because that’s what my grandfather bought or my great grandfather bought. I’m going to do it because that’s what makes sense for my business.'”

A new A-E-M research report lists diminished brand loyalty as one of the realities equipment manufacturers will have to contend with over the next 25 years. Other key trends are the accelerating adoption of precision ag technologies and the need for equipment suppliers to become “trusted advisors…providing complete solutions to agricultural operations.”

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is warning you to remain careful if you plan on being out on the state’s rain swollen rivers this weekend. D-N-R Outreach Coordinator for River Programs, Todd Robertson, says high water brought on by heavy rains is sweeping a significant amount of extra material into the fast moving current of the rivers. “When you get a lot of rain, if you went and stood by the river and looked upstream you would see all this debris coming downstream: trees, tree limbs, things that have washed in off the bank, those things can be very hazardous for people,” Robertson explains.

Robertson says you must have enough life jackets on your boat. “An adult doesn’t have to have a life jacket on, but it has to be onboard, which when you think about it, when you need it, if you don’t have it on, it’s not gonna do you any good, so you might as well just have it on,” Robertson says. And for kids under 12 if they don’t have a life jacket — it could cost you. “If you take the kids out, the family and they don’t have their life jackets on you can face a citation for sure,” Robertson says.

Robertson suggests instead of rivers, family outings may be safer on so-called flat water venues like lakes and large ponds.

(Radio Iowa)

Adair County ISU Extension and Adair County 4-H will be hosting the 4-H County Fair Kick-Off event, combined with the Summer Social event on Thursday, July 12th at the 4-H/FFA Center on the fairgrounds in Greenfield. Join Extension staff, council members, and Youth Action Committee members for a fun family event! Dinner will be served from 5:00 – 7:00 pm (or until food is gone) featuring hamburgers and pork burgers grilled by the Adair County Cattlemen and Adair County Pork Producers, along with baked beans, potato salad, cake, and drinks. Free will donations will be accepted to support the Adair County 4-H program. The 4-H program reaches over 400 Adair County youth annually through 4-H community clubs, Clover Kids, and out-of-school enrichment programs, including summer youth camps.

The audience will get a glimpse of some of the talent that will be appearing as part of the county fair ‘Share the Fun’ program. There will be live entertainment, good food and fellowship as we celebrate the kick off to the Adair County Fair which is set for July 18-22. Adair County Fair Queen candidates will be introduced and conduct on-stage interviews to cap off a night of pre-fair fun, food, and activities. The actual crowning of the Adair County Fair Queen will be the opening night of the fair, Wednesday, July 18th, at 8:00pm at the fairgrounds courtyard gazebo in Greenfield.

Several items will be available at the 4-H/FFA Center during the July 12^th Kick-Off and Summer Social Event. 4-H families who pre-ordered county fair 4-H t-shirts may pick them up. 4-Hers wishing to enter the Cookie/Cupcake Decorating challenge may register and pick up their containers and challenge information. County Fair gate passes can also be purchased in advance during this event. 4-H exhibitor fair passes (wristbands) must be picked up at the Extension office by Monday, July 16^th. 4-H’ers will need their wristband for admission to the fairgrounds beginning Wednesday, July 18^th. To help with this process, Extension staff will have wristbands available for pick-up during the County Fair Kick-Off event. The general public may also purchase fair passes (packet of 5 one-day tickets) that evening.

This event is for everyone! Join Extension as we celebrate summer and the kick off to the Adair County Fair!

(Press Release)

w/Max Dirks.

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is asking turkey hunters and others to help them get an accurate count on the number of birds roaming the woods in Iowa. Wildlife biologist Jim Coffey says they have made it easy for you to report what you see. He says they have an area on their website where you can go in and report turkey sightings in the months of July and August. The D-N-R has mailed survey cards to select turkey hunters who are asked to provide the date and county in which the turkey was seen, if it was an adult female or adult male, and whether there are young poults (baby turkeys). “That helps us gauge what we are going to predict for next year’s supply of turkeys,” Coffey says.

Coffey says the weather, available nesting areas and other things can all impact the number of turkeys who are born and survive each year. He says by seeing the number of young birds they can get an idea of what hunters can expect. There is a link to an online survey and survey card on the D-N-R’s website at www.iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

The largest pork producer in Iowa is announcing a new commitment to odor reduction and farm beautification. John Stinn, the environment project manager for Iowa Falls-based Iowa Select Farms, says to cut down on the smell, they’ll be putting up what’s called an electrostatic precipitator fence on all new company-owned farms. “Basically how that works is, we string a couple of high-voltage wires right after the fans on the end of the barn so as the dust particles leave the barn, they’ll be charged by that fence and they’ll impact our green screen fence that will grab onto those charged particles and prevent them from leaving the farm,” Stinn says. “By reducing the dust that leaves the farm, we also reduce the odor.”

On the beautification side of the effort, the company plans to plant tree wind breaks. Stinn says the dual effort will involve all of the new Iowa Select Farm facilities that are under construction. “All the farms that we are building this summer, we are committed to putting both tree wind breaks and also this electrostatic fence on them as well,” he says. The first of the new facilities was recently dedicated near Williams in Hamilton County at the Hale Finisher site. Iowa Select Farms has 800 farms in 50 counties, marketing more than four-million hogs a year.

(Radio Iowa)

A recent survey of Midwest bankers shows a “significant increase” in farm loan rejections. Creighton University professor Ernie Goss surveys the presidents and C-E-Os of rural banks in Iowa and nine other Midwest states. He found nearly 43 percent of initial farm loan applications had been rejected as bankers react to weak farm income. The financial pinch will be compounded this fall, according to Goss, who expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

“We’re likely to see short-term interest rates, from our survey, maybe growing by as much as three-quarters of a percent by the end of the year,” Goss says. Goss says the overall Midwest economy is growing, but concerns about trade “skirmishes” are slowing that growth. Goss predicts farm equipment sales may soon take a hit.

“For Iowa, you’ve got agricultural equipment manufacturers that are certainly big users of aluminum and steel. They are seeing some price increases and that’s going to really have a negative impact on that industry,” Goss says. “While the industry was doing well for June, I expect that to slow down somewhat because of these tariffs, because of these price increases and also the trade tensions as well.”

Prices remain below “break-even” for a large share of grain farmers and Goss’s survey indicates there’s been a slight “slump” in checking account deposits in rural banks. Two-thirds of the bankers he surveyed indicated their bank has increased collateral requirements on farm loans. The professor’s job index in rural areas of Iowa was in negative territory for June.

(Radio Iowa)

The survey on farmland ownership released last week by Iowa State University Extension shows those who own the land here are getting older and also have more education. I-S-U extension economist Alejandro Plastina says farmland ownership has increased among those age 65 to 74 and those 75 and above. “That has increased substantially through time when we consider those two categories together in 2017,” Plastina says.  Those who are 75 and older owned 35 percent of the land while those 65 to 74 owned 25 percent. He says the older landowners run bigger operations. Plastina says those owners 75 and older only represent 26 percent of the total number of owners — so there are fewer of them — but they own more land.

He says when dig deeper into the numbers you can see more of the the impact of age on ownership. “Owners 55 years old and younger — they own 16 percent of the farmland — but they account for 25 percent of all owners,” Plastina explains, ” so the scale of these farms is much smaller for the younger farmers.” This survey is done every five years and Plastina says it continues to show the owners of the land stay close to it. “Fifty-five percent of the farmland in Iowa is owned by farmers who live on the owned farmland. Either on the farmland surveyed or other owned farmland in Iowa,” Plastina says.

Plastina says the survey gives an indication of how the methods and science of farming has changed. More and more farmland owners now have a college or graduate degree.”They account for almost 40 percent of all farmland (owners) as of 2017, and that portion was 17 percent in 1982,” according to Plastina.  The survey finds 57 percent of all farmland is owned by someone who does not actively farm the land. Twenty-three percent of those owners who do not farm are retired farmers — while the rest is owned by those with no farming experience.

(Radio Iowa)

An El Nino Watch is being issued by the Climate Prediction Center, as conditions become favorable for the development of another round of Pacific Ocean warming. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub, based in Ames, says we’ll likely feel the impact in a few months. “We could see an El Nino occur probably into the fall, is what I would guess we’re looking at,” Todey says. “There is a fairly decent pool of warm water in the subsurface in the equatorial Pacific. When you start seeing that and the computer models all line up I’d say, yeah, we’re probably headed that way.”

Farmers across Iowa will need to take particular note as the weather pattern often shifts the region’s climate. Todey says the impacts of the developing El Nino will be felt late this year into next. “We have an increased chance of being warmer during the wintertime with El Nino,” he says. “The storm track moves up a little bit further north, you may have more mixed-precipitation-types of storms with the warmer temperatures than overall snowfalls.”  Todey says they are also watching the current warming trend across the Northern Plains. “Even if you’ve got decent soil moisture, warmer temperatures start to extract more water from the soil because of higher atmospheric demand,” Todey says. “We’re getting to that time of year where corn is starting to use more water anyway. That’s a more immediate concern and then it becomes how much more precipitation are we really going to get, and that’s been a tough call so far this year.”

Todey says a La Nina — or cooling of the ocean — ended last year and we’ve been in a neutral phase since then.

(Radio Iowa)