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!
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!
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - An invasive weed that can grow up to 7 feet tall has been found in nearly half of Iowa’s counties, and experts say farmers need to act quickly if the plant is found in their fields.
Bob Hartzler is a professor of weed science at Iowa State University. He tells the Telegraph Herald that the species known as Palmer amaranth shouldn’t be ignored and has the potential to drive farmers out of business. The weed prominently appeared in the region’s cotton fields in the 2000s. It was categorized as a “super weed” because of its ability to quickly grow and its resistance to many herbicides.
In 2013, the weed was spotted in five Iowa counties. As of October, it had been seen in nearly half of Iowa’s 99 counties.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is looking for eligible farm owners to apply for this year’s Century and Heritage Farm Program. The Iowa Department of Agriculture’s program coordinator, Becky Lorenz, says there are a couple of requirements to gain the designation. “They honor folks who have kept their farm — of at least 40 acres — in the same generational families for at least 100 years or more,” Lorenz says.
A ceremony is held at the Iowa State Fair to recognize those who’ve had the farm for 100 years as Century Farms, and those who hit 150 years are named Heritage Farms. Lorenz said the programs were started in 1976. “Over 19-thousand Century Farm awards have been issued and we are up to 940 heritage farms,” Lorenz says.
There were 320 Century Farms and 103 Heritage Farms were recognized last year. Lorenz has been involved in the program the last six years. “It always amazes me, we always have over 300 Century Farms each year, and now our Heritage Farms are starting to increase in numbers too. The last two years we’ve been over 100.” Lorenz says.
She says it’s a fun day to share the recognition with the farm owners. Lorenz says applying for the Century and Heritage Farm program is easy. She says you can go to the Iowa Department of Agriculture’s website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov to apply online on call Lorenz at 515-281-3645.
The recognition ceremony this year will be Thursday, August 17th at the Iowa State Fair in the Pioneer Livestock Pavilion.
(Radio Iowa)
Bob Beebensee and DNR Conservation Officer Grant Gelle talk about all things outdoors including coyote hunting this week.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.5MB)
Subscribe: RSS
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a legal doctrine going back 100 years in Iowa that allows agriculture drainage districts to maintain immunity from lawsuits seeking monetary damages. The ruling today (Friday) presents an obstacle for the Des Moines Water Works, which is pursuing a lawsuit in federal court in Sioux City filed in March 2015.
The water utility for 500,000 Iowans alleges the three counties (Sac, Calhoun and Buena Vista) that oversee 10 agricultural drainage districts, should be required to obtain federal water pollution discharge permits and pay the utility more than $1.4 million it has spent for increased filtration methods to remove the nitrates from water.
Iowa farmers who are looking ahead to the spring planting season are carefully watching the demise of the La Nina weather pattern to see what may come next. Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub — based in Ames, says it’s almost over. “The La Nina right now is on life support,” Todey says. “We’ll have to see if we can call this a full-fledged La Nina or not. It did reach La Nina category but maybe not for a long enough period of time to be called a full-fledged La Nina.”
Surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are fluctuating and may have an impact across North America. Cooling temperatures the last few months created a La Nina effect, but now that may be vanishing. Todey says the climate experts don’t agree yet on what may happen next. “There’s a small chance we’ll get back to El Nino by summertime, but it seems unlikely at this point,” Todey says. “Now, we’re looking at shorter-term types of things. What’s our soil moisture looking like? Do we see any kind of big ridges that would set in for any kind of reason.”
While some parts of the region haven’t seen as much snow as usual this winter, he predicts most of the Northern Plains should see an early thaw. “It looks like most of the big-time cold is going to stay away for a while, it’s going to stay well up into Canada and that’s a good thing,” Todey says. “We actually may start to see some melting of snow in some of the areas. It should be warm enough to do that. The heavier snowpack areas, we probably won’t do too much eating into that for a while.”
He says his office should have a better idea about potential spring weather in the next month or so.
(Radio Iowa)
Three lawmakers with a unique combination of names led an effort in the Iowa House to recognize the “economic importance” of Iowa’s pork industry. The Iowa House passed the resolution to coincide with the annual Iowa Pork Congress, which wrapped up Thursday. Representatives Joel Fry of Osceola, Tom Moore of Griswold and Rob Bacon of Slater read the resolution aloud, then the house speaker summed things up: “House Resolution 3: Fry, Moore, Bacon. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say no.”
There were no naysayers, but a few pun-lovers took note. Perhaps house members named “Best” and “Salmon” and “Fisher” who could collaborate on a statement in the future.
(O.Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)
Iowa is losing about one-thousand of its historic barns every year and a new film aims to inspire people to preserve some of the barns that still stand. Quad Cities-based filmmakers Kelly Rundle and his wife, Tammy, have created “The Barn Raisers,” which will premiere this weekend in Davenport. “We’re taking a look at vintage Midwestern barns through the lens of architecture,” Rundle says. “What does the way the barn was built tell us about when it was built and who built it, what its purpose was and we’re also trying to get at who those builders were and they’re a little bit of a mystery in most cases.”
Besides being very practical and useful for the farmer, Rundle says barns are “magnificent and important structures” that hold the stories of America’s past. “I think part of what led us to this particular story is my own experience growing up exploring my grandfather’s dairy barn in Wisconsin,” Rundle says. “As we traveled over the last three or four years to make the film, I was able to revisit a lot of those things I remembered as a child.”
The 57-minute movie will debut on Saturday at the Putnam Museum. “In addition to the premiere on the Putnam giant screen in Davenport, we expect there will be other showings in the region and the film will also air on PBS stations throughout the Midwest,” Rundle says, “so, we’re looking forward to sharing this film with everybody.”
Rundle says he hopes this movie will be used by barn preservation organizations around the country to further their efforts. “‘The Barn Raisers’ is a companion to our Emmy-nominated film, ‘Country School: One Room, One Nation,’ and in that film we focused on country schools in Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas,” Rundle says. “We turned to those states for this particular project and then added also Michigan and Ohio.”
The Rundles run Fourth Wall Films. Dates for the movie’s airing on Iowa Public T-V have not yet been announced.
(Radio Iowa)
The president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) says he’s “very disappointed” with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of talks on the Trans Pacific Partnership. John Weber of Dysart says the pork industry worked hard to make sure T-P-P would be good for pork producers. However, “All is not lost,” according to Weber. “We haven’t lost anything we currently have. We lost opportunity,” Weber says. “We are optimistic that we can work with this new administration in developing…perhaps bilateral agreements or some other combination of those Asia Pacific countries and regions. Believe me, we’re going to be involved in that and hopefully gain market access for pork.”
The bigger concern right now, Weber says, is the renegotiation of NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement. “That is going to have to be a smooth and gentle process, if they’re going to massage the trade with both Canada and Mexico, or agriculture could be in big trouble in a hurry,” Weber says.
While the trade issues are concerning, Weber says, NPPC is looking forward to the regulatory relief promised by the new administration.
(Reporting by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News via Radio Iowa)
Elsewhere across Iowa…
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS