w/ Extension Program Coordinator Kate Olson

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The head of the Iowa DNR’s State Forest section is predicting an “average” year for fall colors. Jeff Goerndt is hoping he’s wrong, but says recent wet and cool conditions may not result in the best and brightest show for leaf watchers. “We’re really keeping an eye on northeast Iowa, where we typically have our best fall color. We’ve had some really heavy rain, storm events and flooding in that area. There’s more cooler and wet weather forecast for that area and that’s not necessarily the best recipe for good fall color,” Goerndt says.

Northeast Iowa has an abundance of hard maple trees, which supply bright red and orange colors. Goerndt suggests the Loess Hills in western Iowa offer a completely different, yet equally stunning, fall look.

“There are a lot of cedar trees, which give you sort of green colors, mixed in with a lot of yellow colors from some of the ash and cottonwood trees,” Goerndt says. “It’s sort of a different fall color look than what you’re going to see around the rest of the state.”

Leaves typically change first across northern Iowa between the last week of September to the second week of October. Central and southern Iowa generally change color between mid to late October. The annual fall color show is a big tourist attraction for many cities and towns around the state. “Folks like to visit our state parks and state forest areas, especially the areas around the larger reservoirs with a lot of trees. Also, if you get out there and drive those scenic byways around the state, those are great places to view fall color,” Goerndt says.

Weekly updates on fall color information can be found at iowadnr.gov/fallcolor.

(Radio Iowa)

Fall arrives Thursday and the Iowa Department of Transportation is already looking ahead to winter by signing farmers up for the Standing Corn Program. Scott Suhr,  the D-O-T’s district transportation planner, based in Atlantic, explains how it works: “We actually have this program where we pay farmers to leave corn in their field. The corn that’s left in the field in drifting areas holds the snow back from the roadway and has a benefit to the DOT and to the motorist by keeping the snow off the road.”

The program has been around some 15 years. The agency also pays farmers five-dollars for each bushel of corn left in the field. Once spring arrives, farmers are free to harvest the corn. There is a second installment of the program that involves installing snow fences. Suhr says, “If we have drifting areas along certain highways, you can put up snow fence and we’ll pay the farmers to put that fence up, I think it’s a dollar a foot that we pay out for that.”

The program makes the D-O-T’s work more efficient. “Some of the winters we have in Iowa, you can get a lot of blowing snow and if you have this eight or ten rows of corn that’s holding that snow that’s drifting back from the roadway, then, motorists don’t have to deal with it or our maintenance crews,” Suhr says. “It also helps us clean up these winter storms a lot quicker.”

To qualify, the unpicked corn rows must be nearest to the road and the D-O-T will only compensate farmers for up to 16 rows. There’s no official deadline date for farmers to join, but he says they like to have all the information ready by the time harvest starts — by the first or second week of October.

(Radio Iowa)

To help haul in this year’s harvest, Governor Terry Branstad, Monday, signed a proclamation granting a temporary 60-day weight limit exemption for trucks on Iowa roads, effective today (Tuesday). The proclamation specifically increases the weight allowable for shipment of corn, soybeans, hay, straw and stover, by 12.5 percent per axle (up to a maximum of 90,000 pounds) without the need for an oversize/overweight permit.

The 2016 proclamation again applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa, excluding the interstate system. Trucks cannot exceed the truck’s regular maximum by more than 12.5 percent per axle and must obey the posted limits on all roads and bridges.The proclamation directs the Iowa Department of Transportation to monitor the operation of the proclamation, assure the public’s safety and facilitate the movement of the trucks involved. Farmers who are transporting grain are also required to follow their vehicle safety standards on axle weights.

Cass County: Corn $2.83, Beans $9.23
Adair County: Corn $2.80, Beans $9.26
Adams County: Corn $2.80, Beans $9.22
Audubon County: Corn $2.82, Beans $9.25
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $2.86, Beans $9.23
Guthrie County: Corn $2.85, Beans $9.27
Montgomery County: Corn $2.85, Beans $9.25
Shelby County: Corn $2.86, Beans $9.23

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors received some good news Monday evening. Director Seth Staashelm said Howrey Construction began work Monday on the Lake #2 Trail project. It starts with grading this week, with paving on Oct. 3rd. The project will be complete that same week.

Howrey Construction was the company that did the Lake #1 trail. The Lake #2 trail is the next major step for the Connector Trail. The project was made possible through a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant from the State, along with $26,800 from the City of Atlantic. It was initially thought to cost about $134,000, but last month, the bids came in well below that. Howrey’s bid was $109,000.

In other business, Staashelm said the Cass County Forest Health Walk and Emerald Ash Borer Informational meeting will be held October 3rd. He says he and DNR District Forester Lindsey Barney will tour Sunnyside Park and check out the nearly 1,000 trees and evaluate them. They’ll also talk about Emerald Ash Borer. Staashelm says the devastating disease that kills Ash trees has not made it’s way to Atlantic, but there were two suspect trees in the area of the City Park and 7th and Locust that turned out not to be infected.)

The meeting takes place at the Cass County Community Center on Oct. 3rd, from 3-until 7-p.m. For more information call 243-1132. (On the web at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/cass/Cass%20County%20Forest%20Health%20Walk%20and%20Emerald%20Ash%20D2.pdf )

A survey from the Iowa Realtors Land Institute shows farmland values dropped almost nine-percent from a year ago. Iowa’s average farmland value is now just under 65-hundred dollars an acre. In September of 2013, the average acre was worth 87-hundred-50 dollars. Kyle Hansen, at Hertz Real Estate Services in Nevada, says the decrease is tied to lower commodity prices.

“We were down 8.7% on a state average for average quality tillable ground,” Hansen says. “A lot of that is just a continuation of what we’ve seen with the downward pressure due to the extended lower commodity prices. It’s really a continuation of what we’ve seen in the last 12 to 18 months.”

He says their projections indicate farmland values will continue on the down-swing for perhaps another year. “With the commodity prices staying low and it appears like we’re going to have a great crop this year, that would continue to keep prices low,” Hansen says. “We would anticipate an additional softening over the next six to 12 months just because of the lower revenue that is being generated by the farmers.”

Hansen says the strongest farmland values in Iowa are still in the northwest, where there was a three-percent decrease. “Northwest Iowa is still the highest-priced farm ground in the state of Iowa,” Hansen says. “They have a lot of strength in the ethanol industry as well as in the years past, the higher revenue generated from livestock, primarily the beef cattle that are there.”

He says the largest drop in farmland values was in southwest Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa remains among the nation’s top states for making and selling organic foods. A report from the USDA shows Iowa consumers spent over $120 million on organic items last year. Organic sales in the state doubled from the previous national survey conducted in 2011.

In 2015, Iowa ranked fifth in the nation for the total number of certified organic farms with 674 farms covering 93,707 acres. That’s up from 81,634 acres of certified organic farmland six years ago. California is far and away the national leader in both organic production and sales.

Wisconsin, New York, and Pennsylvania are also ahead of Iowa for the number of organic farms.

(Radio Iowa)

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) today (Monday) announced she will hold a roundtable in Atlantic to speak with cattle producers about the issues affecting cattle feeders, and the agriculture industry as a whole. The roundtable, which takes place 12:30-p.m. Wed., Oct. 5th, will be held at the Rock Island Depot (102 Chesnut Street), and is open to the public.

Sen. Ernst says “Our Iowa cattle producers play a vital role in our state economy and help to feed the world. This roundtable provides a great opportunity to discuss the many issues facing our cattle producers, and the ways in which we can ensure continued growth, stable markets and expanded trade opportunities for the industry.”

Cass County: Corn $2.81, Beans $9.16
Adair County: Corn $2.78, Beans $9.19
Adams County: Corn $2.78, Beans $9.15
Audubon County: Corn $2.80, Beans $9.18
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $2.84, Beans $9.16
Guthrie County: Corn $2.83, Beans $9.20
Montgomery County: Corn $2.83, Beans $9.18
Shelby County: Corn $2.84, Beans $9.16