DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It turned unusually cold last week but at least it was dry, allowing farmers in Iowa and Nebraska to make progress harvesting corn and soybeans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its weekly crop update Monday that Iowa producers report they have 85 percent of the corn crop harvested, about a week behind the average and Nebraska is at 86 percent, lagging behind the five-year average of 90 percent at this point in the season.

The Iowa soybean crop is 97 percent complete about five days behind average and Nebraska farmers report they’re all but finished with soybeans at 99 percent harvested.

Shelby County Emergency Management officials report the Fire Danger level in the County will remain MODERATE this week, at least through Thursday morning, when the next report comes out. Persons planning a controlled burn of brush, fields or other field/ditch type material, should notify their local Fire Chief.

Bill Northey — the farmer from Spirit Lake who remains in the elected position of state ag secretary — has not directly addressed a senator’s “hold” on his nomination for a job in the U.S.D.A. But on Wednesday night, Northey INDIRECTLY mentioned it during a speech at an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser. “It’s great to be here with you tonight. I can honestly say I didn’t know if I was going to be here or not. I thought I might be off into Washington, but one of the great blessings of kind of a slow process for me to get through my confirmation is to be able to be here with all of you and to get a chance to be able to say ‘Thank you’ as well.”

Northey was first elected as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture in 2006 and he won reelection in 2010 and 2014. Northey thanked his fellow Republicans for supporting his first leap into politics nearly 12 years ago. “As much as we try and forget it, we lost most of our races in 2006 and many of you were a huge part in helping me squeak by into the start of a Republican movement in the state of Iowa,” Northey said. “And you all have been very, very supportive and I appreciate it so much.”

Northey finished less than three percent ahead of his Republican opponent in 2006. He was the only Republican to win statewide elected office that year. On September 1st of this year, President Trump nominated Northey to be the U-S-D-A Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is blocking a vote on Northey’s nomination. The move is tied to the senator’s request that President Trump meet with oil-state senators who oppose federal production mandates for ethanol and biodiesel.

(Radio Iowa)

The U.S.D.A. has increased its corn production outlook for Iowa and the nation. The National Agricultural Statistics Service – Crop Production report released Thursday shows Iowa corn production is now forecast at 2.54 billion bushels. Yields are expected to average 197 bushels per acre, up 6 bushels per acre from the October forecast. If the predictions hold, this would be Iowa’s second highest yield and production on record behind last year. Nationally, the average corn yield is forecast at just over 175 bushels per acre, which would be a new all-time high.

Iowa’s soybean production is forecast at 557 million bushels, with a yield of 56 bushels per acre. Both of those predictions are unchanged from last month’s forecast.

(Radio Iowa)

U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue is suggesting he’ll ask the G-O-P leader in the U.S. Senate to intervene if an Iowan nominated for a top job in the U.S.D.A. isn’t confirmed soon. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is blocking a Senate vote on Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey’s nomination to be U.S.D.A. Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation. Cruz wants President Trump to meet with oil-state senators who object to the federal production mandate for biofuels. “I know that there’s a lot of tradition in the Senate,” Perdue said, “but this ‘blue slipping’ people for issues that don’t have anything to do with them I don’t agree with.”

Perdue spoke with farm broadcasters in Kansas City yesterday (Thursday). Perdue joked that he was wearing a “Free Bill Northey” t-shirt under his suit. “God help us if he’s not on board by January, for heaven’s sakes,” Northey says. “We hope to get that done. I will probably go and make direct appeals to the leadership of the Senate if it goes on that long.”

Ted Cruz isn’t the only Republican senator blocking confirmation of one of Perdue’s top aides. Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, is blocking a vote on the man President Trump picked to be the U.S.D.A.’s chief agricultural negotiator. Perdue is due in Iowa this (Friday) morning for events with Republican Congressman David Young and Governor Kim Reynolds.

(Reporting by Meghan Grebner of Brownfield Ag News)

A western Iowa businessman and farmer has been nominated to serve on the three-member federal board that oversees the Farm Credit Administration. Glen Smith of Atlantic testified before the U.S. Senate Ag Committee Thursday. “I’m truly humbled by the honor of this nomination, but also quite sobered by the huge responsibility, if confirmed, of having a role of ensuring that American agriculture continues to have a source for reliable, secure credit,” Smith said, “which happens to the be mission of Farm Credit.”

Smith founded Smith Land Service Company in 1982. The firm manages farms and is a farm brokerage. He and his family also raise corn and soybeans on about two-thousand acres.  “As an active farmer, ag businessman and even dating back to my ag finance days at Iowa State University, I’ve understood the important role of the Farm Credit Administration in setting policy, examining and regulating our nation’s largest long-term agricultural lender, the Farm Credit System,” Smith says. “…The health of American agriculture is critically dependent upon a healthy, viable Farm Credit System. Credit is truly the lifeblood of agriculture.”

Glen R. Smith

Smith told senators he has a “keen sense” of “boom and bust” cycles since he lived through the soaring ag economy of the 1970s, followed by the Farm Crisis of the 1980s. “We can’t afford to lose a generation of agriculturalists like we did in the ’80s,” Smith said. “…I’ve always considered myself to be an optimist. As a farmer you take on the weather, you take on pests, you take on the markets and you have to be an optimist to survive. However, I do have to confess that I am very concerned about the current agricultural outlook.”

Smith says the Farm Credit System can play a key role in supporting young farmers who are most vulnerable to financial fluctuations. “Land is typically the dominant asset on a farmer’s balance sheet,” Smith says. “In the Midwest alone, we’ve seen a 15-20 percent erosion in land values over the last several years…I believe we’re a long ways away from crisis management as experienced in the ’80s, however, out of love for this wonderful industry, I would be a strong advocate for caution in the Farm Credit System.”

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as expected, Smith will move to Washington because the position is a full-time job. The Farm Credit System currently is managing more than a quarter of a TRILLION dollars in loans. Fewer than one percent of those loans are 90 days past due or in default.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Deputy Secretary Mike Naig have announced that they will be making stops in Fremont, Page, Adams, Montgomery, Mills and Audubon Counties on Monday, November 13th.

Northey and Naig will attend a Veterans Day assembly at Sidney High School, visit the Freedom Rock in Clarinda to visit with veterans, speak at a cover crop and risk management field day in Corning, visit with farmers in Red Oak, tour the new community center and extension office in Malvern and speak at the Audubon County Soil and Water Conservation District 75th Anniversary Dinner in Exira.

Details of their tour are as follows:

Monday, November 13, 2017

Fremont County – 10:00 a.m., attend a Veterans Day Assembly, Sidney High School, 2754 Knox Rd., Sidney

Page County – 11:20 a.m., visit the Page County Freedom Rock and visit with Veterans, 1600 S. 16th St., Clarinda

Adams County – 1:15 p.m., speak at a cover crops and risk management field day, 2507 Quince Ave., Corning

Montgomery County – 3:00 p.m., meet with farmers, Montgomery County Farm Bureau office, 950 Senate Ave., Red Oak

Mills County – 4:45 p.m., tour the new Community Center and Extension Office, 61317 315th St., Malvern

Audubon County – 7:15 p.m., speak at the Audubon County Soil and Water Conservation District 75th Anniversary Dinner, Exira Lions Club, 104 E. Washington St., Exira.

Northey, a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his third term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are promoting the use of science and new technologies to better care for our air, soil and water, and reaching out to tell the story of Iowa agriculture.

The Cass County Extension office is again hosting continuing instructional courses (CICs) for local commercial pesticide applicators, but wants to remind anyone who has yet to attend the training that all CIC training must be completed by the end of December. To avoid conflicts with year-end scheduling, Cass County Extension is requiring that all training dates be scheduled by Friday, December 15th.

“We know year end is a busy time for all, and we don’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to attend their annual required training, as time to meet those annual requirements is getting short,” shared Kate Olson, Extension Program Coordinator in Cass County. “We do offer trainings on a first-come, first-served basis, and our hours will be slightly different during the holidays, so we’d like to remind folks to call and get their classes scheduled before our year-end calendar fills up!”

According to Olson, reshow dates can occur after December 15th, but they must be on the calendar before then to be honored. To ensure a spot on the training schedule, applicators needing to complete CIC for the year are asked to call prior to December 15th. Applicators calling after this date will NOT be placed on the training schedule. Training dates can be scheduled locally by calling the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or by emailing Office Assistant Lori Anderson at lander@iastate.edu. For more information on the Commercial Pesticide Applicator program or the CIC classes, please visit www.extension.iastate.edu/psep/ComAp.html.

Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer, after a five decade absence, could soon be doing business again in Cuba. Deere and Company has announced an agreement to sell tractors to the Cuban government. Deere spokesman Ken Golden says shipments should begin later this month. “This equipment has to be tested and appraised by the Cuban Agricultural Ministry to ensure that it will work for their needs and their conditions,” Golden said. “If they agree that it’s equipment that would be appropriate for Cuba, then there will be shipments over the next four years.”

Most of the tractors will be from Deere’s 5,000 series, now made at a plant in Augusta, Georgia. But, there’ll also be a small number of the 7,000 series tractors, made in Waterloo, Iowa.  “It will mainly be smaller tractors and the implements that are used for farming pulled behind these tractors,” Golden said.  The cost of the contract between Deere and the Cuban government has not been disclosed. “Today, Cuba imports about 60-to-80-percent of its food and improvements in the agricultural sector there will help improve the availability and affordability of food for the Cuban population,” Golden said. John Deere is returning to Cuba after an absence of more than half a century. “Deere first entered the Cuban market in the 1800s and we were there until the early 1960s,” Golden said.

The machinery sent to Cuba will be mainly used in the dairy, row-crop and fruit and vegetable sectors. Deere’s announcement follows news that a Caterpillar dealer will open a distribution center in Cuba, becoming the first U.S. company to have a physical presence in the high-profile Mariel Special Development Zone. According to the Cuba Standard report, both companies seem to be racing to establish a foothold in Cuba before the Trump administration slams the door. In July, President Donald Trump announced he would prohibit sales to armed forces-controlled entities.

(Radio Iowa)

A man from Adair County died in a grain wagon accident Tuesday morning. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office received a cellular 9-1-1 call at around 8:20-a.m., with regard to a wagon full of corn had rolled over and came to rest on top of a man in the 2400 block of 270th Street or approximately 4.5 miles southeast of Greenfield, in Adair County. The Adair County Ambulance, Greenfield Fire Department, Adair County Sheriff, Iowa State Patrol, and the assistant Adair County Medical Examiner were dispatched to the scene.

Upon their arrival, the victim, 57 year old Edward Charles Carl of Greenfield, was found underneath the wagon. Carl was removed from underneath the wagon and was declared deceased by the assistant Adair County Medical Examiner. It was determined that Carl and two others were off-loading a wagon of corn onto a grain cart via a grain vacuum. The process was taking place on a hillside. It is believed that the weight transfer of the grain during the off-loading process coupled with the unstable ground contributed to the wagon rolling onto its side.

Carl was transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny where an autopsy will be performed.