CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
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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!
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The Farm Rescue farm aid nonprofit in the Plains has reached another milestone. The organization this week is delivering donated hay to south central North Dakota rancher Doug Bichler. He lost his right arm in a hay baling machine accident this past summer, while also dealing with devastating drought. It’s the 500th case for Farm Rescue since it was started in 2005.
Farm Rescue provides free physical labor for farmers and ranchers in need in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana and Nebraska. Founder Bill Gross says he considers it an honor to have been able to help 500 farm families who have experienced crises. Bichler is still recovering from his ordeal and says the assistance from Farm Rescue will help him keep his herd of cattle through the winter.
Some renewable fuels advocates are questioning the Trump Administration’s commitment to biofuels in light of recent proposals from the EPA. Those proposals include reducing the RFS blend requirement for biodiesel and having U.S. biofuel export volumes count towards compliance with the RFS. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he expressed his concerns to President Trump in a phone conversation last Friday.
“I don’t want to say what the President said, but I was very satisfied with the position the President took in our discussion,” Grassley said. As a result of that conversation, Grassley and several of his Senate colleagues will be meeting with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt on October 17. “I will tell administrator Pruitt that the proposal is counter to what the President has pledged,” Grassley said.
The EPA, Grassley added, appear to be undercutting the President’s support of biofuels. Grassley said while he has no direct evidence that the oil industry is pressuring the EPA on biofuels, he isn’t ruling out the possibility. “Big Oil may be accomplishing something in EPA it couldn’t get through Congress,” Grassley said. “And like a duck, if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.”
Grassley will be holding town meetings in Iowa next week during the Congressional recess.
(Radio Iowa)
The Cass County Conservation Board invites you to enjoy the 24th biannual Halloween Hike, on Saturday, October 28th, as you follow a trail where your “Unhuggables” will greet you! Starting at 7:00 p.m. small groups will depart from the Camblin Addition of Sunnyside Park every ten minutes. Kids twelve and under are encouraged to arrive early to get their faces painted. The last group will depart at 8:10 p.m. and all hikers are welcome to enjoy free tasty treats and warm drinks after their hike. It is not our intent to scare or frighten anyone, but to educate and entertain people of all ages.
Pre-registration is required for this FREE event, please call 712-769-2372 or email lkanning@casscoia.us to make your reservations. If you leave a message please leave name, phone number, how many is in your group and what time you wish to depart on the hike! We are looking for volunteers for this event as well. This hike is sponsored by the Cass County Conservation Board.
(Press Release)
Iowa farmers are moving into their fields to harvest crops. Despite some wet conditions across sections of the state last week, a new report shows Iowa farmers made progress in harvesting corn and soybeans.
The USDA’s survey indicates six-percent of the Iowa corn crop and 16-percent of the soybean crop had been harvested through October 1. The corn harvest is nearly two weeks behind average, while the collection of soybeans is just three days behind average. The USDA rates 60-percent of corn crop in good to excellent condition, while 61-percent of the state’s soybean crop is rated good to excellent.
(Radio Iowa)
A delegation of grain buyers, scientists and government officials from South Korea recently visited several farming operations in Iowa, including the row crop and hog farm of Denny Friest, in Radcliffe. Friest is a fourth generation farmer and says the international visitors got a good look into Iowa agriculture at his family farm near Garden City.
“We were just sharing how our farms work and what our farm is like,” Friest says. “I gave them a general farm tour to show how we grind feed on our farm, utilize corn, soybean meal and dried distilled grains into our rations. We showed them how we do things to encourage them to be buyers of our corn, buyers of our ethanol, buyers of our distilled grains, buyers of our soybeans.”
Friest is a director on the Iowa Corn Growers Association and says the organization focuses on finding global markets for unused commodities. “Twenty-five percent of the corn, 25% of the soybeans, roughly 25% of the hogs, and 25% of the beef that we grow in this country, we have to find another home for because we cannot consume that,” he says. “We work real hard as corn growers to develop markets overseas.” Friest says the delegation of South Koreans was taken aback by Iowa’s agricultural capabilities. “They were suprised at how much independence we have as producers on how we did things,” he says. “We touched on all kinds of things we do to be conservationists and economists. They were surprised about the investment in the machinery and the value of some of the machinery we had to be able to be a farmer, too.”
Other stops included at the Iowa Corn Office in Johnston, a cow and crop farm, the Quad County Processors ethanol plant in Galva and the Golden Grain Energy ethanol plant in Mason City. South Korea is the third largest importer of U.S. corn and distillers dried grains, and also purchased more than 42-million gallons of ethanol in the past year.
(Radio Iowa)
October brings a month-long series of assemblies across Iowa for REAP, or Resource Enhancement and Protection. Tammie Krausman, the REAP coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says they focus on issues like habitat, water quality and preservation of cultural heritage. “REAP is one of the most popular conservation, natural resources and historic development programs in the state,” Krausman says. “One of the reasons it stays so relevant is because every few years, we get out and hold 18 meetings across the state to talk to Iowans about what they really want from those types of programs.”
The assemblies cover a wide range of topics centered on outdoor recreation, soil and water enhancement, historical resources, land management and more. “We get together in a room, we give a brief history of REAP so everyone is on the same page, and then we open it up for questions,” Krausman says. “We talk about all of the local things that have happened with REAP in that area. We ask people what they really want to see with these programs in the future.”
Also at the meetings, delegates are elected to attend the REAP Congress. It will be held on January 6th in the House chambers of the Iowa State Capitol. “All of the delegates who were elected at the individual REAP assemblies come together and we really hard-core debate REAP policy, natural resources policy, conservation, outdoor recreation,” Krausman says. “Then, we make those recommendations to the governor, to the general assembly and to the Natural Resources Commission.”
The assembly meetings run about 90 minutes. The first of the 18 assemblies is planned for Wednesday in Spencer, with another on Thursday in Lehigh. Other meetings will be held this month in: Ventura, Chariton, Maquoketa, Shenandoah, Iowa City, Burlington, Oskaloosa, Marshalltown, Calmar, Carroll, Afton, Neola, Waterloo, Correctionville, West Des Moines and Muscatine. See the complete schedule at: www.iowareap.com
(Radio Iowa)
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