w/ Denny Heflin

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The latest crop report released Tuesday by the USDA shows the recent wet weather hasn’t allowed many farmers in Iowa to get into their fields. Iowa State University Agronomist Joel DeJong, who monitors a nine county region in northwest Iowa, says he’s not seeing a lot of combines moving around. “We’re hoping we get a little more activity as we get into this week, but it’s been a pretty quiet week as far as harvest goes,” DeJong said.

The USDA reports just eight-percent of Iowa’s corn and 26-percent of soybeans have been harvested. The corn harvest is more than two weeks behind the five-year average, while beans are nearly a week behind. Last year, Iowa produced a record soybean harvest of 572 million bushels, with a yield of 60.5 bushels per acre. DeJong is hearing a few early reports of this year’s bean harvest. “I think the lowest I heard was 54 (bushels per acre) and the highest was 74…a lot of them in that 60 to 65 range,” DeJong said.

The crop report indicates across Iowa, on average, there were fewer than three days suitable for fieldwork last week. While there’s been plenty of rain, there haven’t been high winds. DeJong says he’s NOT seeing a lot of problems with corn stalks tipping over, but it appears many fields could be vulnerable.

“I’ve been in a couple fields where I’m doing the push test, where you’re trying to tip them at about a 30-degree angle. A very high percentage are pretty easily pushed over and you can see they’re going to kink and lodge if we get one of those big winds,” DeJong said. “So, check your hybrids and know which fields have that risk and which ones can maybe tolerate it better and prioritize the corn harvest accordingly.”

link to crop report: www.nass.usda.gov/ia

w/ Extension Program Coordinator Kate Olson

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A new report suggests the leaders of Iowa’s drainage districts, the target of a lawsuit dismissed earlier this year, should do more to improve the state’s water quality. David Osterberg, who co-authored the report for the Iowa Policy Project, believes drainage districts are authorized to reduce nitrate pollution even though they are not required to do so by law.

“They are perfectly set up to do this,” Osterberg said. “And we think that, when you look at what it says in the code, they ought to be doing this.” The report comes on the heels of an Iowa Supreme Court ruling against the Des Moines Water Works’ attempt to sue three drainage districts in northwest Iowa for nitrate pollution cleanup costs. Sarah Garvin, who helped write the report, suggests drainage districts are still vulnerable to another legal point of attack.

“Just because this last case failed, it still leaves the door open for another group or entity to come in and approach it from a different direction,” Garvin said. “Because there are pipes just flowing into ditches, that’s a point source, and public health is an issue because of what is coming out of those pipes and into those ditches.” According to Garvin, this is not just a water quality issue. She believes farmers would benefit financially if drainage districts improved conservation measures – which would cut down on soil and nutrient loss.

“Finding conservation measures and management measures within a drainage district has the potential to alleviate that economic cost for producers,” Garvin said. “So, the water quality is the public health issue, but the soil loss is an economic issue for farmers.” The researchers note that nitrate pollution from Iowa has contributed to the so-called “dead zone” at the mouth of the Mississippi River. It reached its largest size this year at 8,776 square miles.

(Radio Iowa – more info. at http://iowapolicyproject.org )

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A new study says appearances can be deceptive — clear lakes can be among the most polluted. Scientists have long known fertilizer runoff from farm fields can fuel excessive algae growth, turning lakes the color of pea soup.

But a study of 139 Iowa lakes by the University of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota Sea Grant finds that when lakes reach extremely high concentrations of nutrients, the water can be surprisingly clear. They found high levels of phosphorous and even higher levels of nitrogen in some.

They concluded that extreme nutrient levels killed the algae in the lakes, similar to how too much fertilizer applied on land can kill plants. Lead author Chris Filstrup tells Minnesota Public Radio it shows the need to measure nitrogen and phosphorous, not just water clarity.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Animal rights and free speech organizations have sued the state of Iowa, challenging a 2012 law that made it illegal to get a job at a livestock farm through misrepresentation to conduct an animal cruelty undercover investigation. Filing the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines are the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Center for Food Safety and Public Justice. The groups claim Iowa’s law violates their constitutional free speech and equal protection rights.

The lawsuit names the governor, whose spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message, and the attorney general, whose spokesman said they haven’t seen the lawsuit. Federal courts have struck down similar laws in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

FORT MADISON, Iowa – Oct. 10, 2017 – The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday) approved more than $1.2-million in funding for five State Recreational Trails Program projects.Among them: $400,082 was awarded for Phase II of the Pottawattamie County Trail – Railroad Highway Trail (Sponsors: Pottawattamie
County Conservation Board and Pottawattamie County Trail Association), and $366,000 was awarded for Phase I construction of the the Raccoon River Valley Trail to High Trestle Trail (Dallas County Conservation Board sponsor).

The State Recreational Trails Program was created in 1988 with the purpose of developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both motorized and non-motorized trail users. The funding is available to cities, counties, state agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations through an annual application-based program.

The leader of the U.S. Dairy Export Council says he’s making changes to the organization’s marketing strategy. CEO Tom Vilsack says he’d like to increase export sales by five-percent, bringing the total to 20-percent of U.S. dairy production.

“To do that requires us to have more presence in some of these emerging markets, more people on the ground figuring out what the market needs, what the market wants, figuring out ways in which we can innovate appropriately to meet that market demand,” Vilsack said. Although the boost in manpower in developing markets will cost money, Vilsack is promising producers they won’t see changes in the dairy checkoff program.

“This is not about increasing the checkoff. This is about using the resources that are available from the checkoff in the most efficient and effective way possible,” Vilsack said. “And, certainly within our own USDEC budget, we are re-prioritizing to be able to put more resources, for example, into that Mexican market which is so important.”

USDEC CEO Tom Vilsack (L) and Dairy Management Inc CEO Tom Gallagher address media at 2017 World Dairy Expo

The 66-year-old Vilsack added along with cutting ineffective marketing programs, the council will examine revenue streams.

“We also have dues-paying members, 120 members or so of our organization. There hasn’t been a dues increase for at least 10 years, so there’s a possibility that we would look at our dues structure. That’s a small percentage of our budget, but an important part of it,” Vilsack said. “And, we obviously want to make a case to the U.S. Government to continue to fund and maybe even increase the MAP (Market Access Program) funding, the foreign market development funding (and) the market assistance programs.”

Vilsack served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for eight years before starting his new job with the U.S. Dairy Export Council in February. Vilsack was Iowa’s governor from 1999 to 2007. He made his comments in an interview with Brownfield Ag News at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Iowa typically ranks among the top 15 states in terms of annual dairy production.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Larry Lee, Brownfield Ag News)

Bob Beebensee and DNR Conservation Officer Grant Gelle talk about all things outdoors as we get into the fall hunting and fishing season.

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• KJAN, Atlantic  .71″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .43″
• Massena  .67″
• Elk Horn  .57″
• Avoca  .8″
• Neola  .2″
• Villisca  3.6″
• Manning  .16″
• Missouri Valley  .31″
• Logan  .26″
• Woodbine  .22″
• Carroll  .13″
• Council Bluffs  .76″
• Creston  .85″
• Corning  2.67″
• Red Oak  3.39″
• Clarinda  3.9″
• Shenandoah  3.98″