A campaign is underway by tree stand manufacturers, retailers, media, natural resource agencies and deer hunters to reduce and eliminate tree stand accidents by raising awareness of this issue and providing education about safe tree stand hunting best practices. Falls from tree stands are annually the number one cause of death and serious injury to deer hunters and involve all types of stands. Nearly all of these incidents are preventable by implementing three simple measures: First, inspect your equipment. Second, wear a full-body harness and third, stay connected from the time your feet leave the ground. It really is that simple.

Tree stand accidents can happen to deer hunters of all skill levels and result in serious injury or death. In Iowa last year, there were three tree stand incidents- two resulted in injury and one in death. Since September is traditionally a busy time for deer hunters who are preparing for the upcoming hunting season; it has been chosen as Tree Stand Safety Awareness Month. “Hunters are encouraged to take treestand safety seriously, every time you hunt from, hang, or move a tree stand,” said Megan Wisecup, hunter education administrator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

To help prevent injuries, the Iowa DNR is offering the following safety tips:

• Always wear a safety harness, also known as a fall arrest system (FAS), when you are in a tree stand, as well as when climbing into or out of a tree stand.

• A safety strap should be attached to the tree to prevent you from falling more than 12 inches.

• Always inspect the safety harness for signs of wear or damage before each use.

• Follow all manufactures’ instructions for use of a safety harness and stand.

• Follow the three point rule of tree stand safety. Always have three points of contact to the steps or ladder before moving. This could be two arms and one leg holding and stepping on the ladder or one arm and two legs in contact with the ladder before moving. Be cautious that rain, frost, ice, or snow can cause steps to become extremely slippery. Check the security of the step before placing your weight on it.

• Always hunt with a plan and if possible a buddy. Before you leave home, let others know your exact hunting location, when you plan to return and who is with you.

• Always carry emergency signal devices such as a cell phone, walkie-talkie, whistle, signal flare, personal locator device and flashlight on your person at all times and within reach even while you are suspended in your FAS. Watch for changing weather conditions. In the event of an accident, remain calm and seek help immediately.

• Always select the proper tree for use with your tree stand. Select a live straight tree that fits within the size limits recommended in your tree stand’s instructions. Do not climb or place a tree stand against a leaning tree.

• Never leave a tree stand installed for more than two weeks since damage could result from changing weather conditions and/or from other factors not obvious with a visual inspection.

• Always use a haul line to pull up your gear and unloaded firearm or bow to your tree stand once you have reached your desired hunting height. Never climb with anything in your hands or on your back. Prior to descending, lower your equipment on the opposite side of the tree.

• Always know your physical limitations. Don’t take chances. Do not climb when using drugs, alcohol or if you’re sick or un-rested. If you start thinking about how high you are, don’t go any higher.

(Iowa DNR)

The Iowa deer hunting tradition will be passed on to about 10,000 youths who are participating in the youth deer hunting season, which opens on Sept. 17. This season provides an opportunity to teach deer hunting, wildlife behavior, and safe hunting practices to resident youths while they are under the watchful eye of a licensed adult.

For many young hunters, this will be their first experience hunting deer, and mentors are encouraged to take the needs of the new hunter into account when planning the hunt. The goal of the hunt should be a positive, enjoyable, and ethical experience, and harvesting a deer should be considered a bonus, not define the success of the hunt.

The youth season coincides with the disabled hunter deer season for hunters who meet certain criteria. Each season runs September 17 through October 2. Each youth must be under direct supervision of an adult mentor, with a valid license and habitat fee (if required). The youth license is valid statewide.

An unfilled youth season tag may be used during the early or late muzzleloader season or one of the two shotgun seasons only. That youth must follow all other rules specified for each season. However party hunting with a youth tag is not allowed. A deer must be harvested by the youth with the tag. However, that tag holder may obtain deer tags for other season, just as any other hunter can do.

The youth deer season usually has mild temperatures and biting insects. Hunters should be prepared in case they youth harvests a deer by bringing bags of ice to cool the deer cavity and by having a locker that can accept the deer for processing. All deer taken must be reported using the harvest reporting system by midnight the day after the deer is recovered. Harvest reporting is a very important part of the deer management program in Iowa, playing a vital role in managing deer populations and hunting opportunities.

Hunters can report their deer on the DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov, by calling the toll free reporting number 1-800-771-4692, or at any license vendor.

(Iowa DNR)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a progress report three years into its five-year work plan agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the state’s waters. Jess Mazour, with the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, says many confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOses), still don’t have a Clean Water Act permit.

“They have done a ton of inspections, they’ve gone after a bunch of manure spills, but nothing has resulted in a Clean Water Act permit,” Mazour says. “There’s still not a single hog confinement in Iowa with a Clean Water Act permit, so that’s a problem. One of the things they were supposed to do as part of this work plan was to identify factory farms around the state that they didn’t have in their database already.”

She says there are more than 5,000 CAFOs that are still not accounted for in the D-N-R work plan. Mazour also says the E-P-A needs to take over from the Iowa D-N-R in order to enforce the Clean Water Act and bring those CAFOS in line. “We, in Iowa, cannot wait longer, our water can’t wait,” she says. “DNR has proven for now three years that they don’t take this seriously and they’re not willing to do their job to enforce the Clean Water Act. Yeah, it’s absolutely fine if the EPA steps in and cracks down.”

Mazour says all CAFOS should have to have a Clean Water Act permit before they’re allowed to operate. “We want every hog confinement in Iowa to have a Clean Water Act permit because, one, they’re five-year permits, so they have to be renewed which means we can shut down bad actors, and two, it increases the amount of fines we can give for manure spills. Right now, DNR has a max of $10,000 and that’s just not enough. It’s become a cost of doing business.”

She says permitted operations can faces fines of $37,500 per day when they’re in violation. Mazour says Iowa is going through a water crisis with a record number of waterways polluted.

(Radio Iowa)

Some crop experts are questioning the very high corn yield numbers put out by the USDA in August. The agency estimates Iowa’s average corn yield at 197 bushels per acre, five bushels better than last year’s record yield.  Todd Claussen, director of agronomy with Landus Cooperative in Ames, says he’s seeing a lot of variability from field to field. “I get that every day — ‘Boy, the crop looks great’ — and yes, it does look good at 60 miles per hour,” Claussen said. “But when you get out in it, don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, there’s no catastrophe here — but we’re quite variable,” Claussen said.

Reduced stands are an issue in some fields, according to Claussen. “If you dropped 33,000 or 34,000 (seeds), you’ve got a lot of 27,000 to 28,000 (plants today) — so we’re short of ears,” Claussen said. Jordan Carstens, who farms near Bagley in west-central Iowa, says tip-back on corn ears will shave the high-end off his yield potential. “We got into some heat there in July, when things were really going there, pollinating,” Carstens says. “Some of the tip-back I’m seeing, it’s on ears that probably would have been 45 kernels long and they went back to 34 or 35.”

The term “tip-back” means the kernels don’t fill all the way out to the end of the ear. Still, Carstens expects “a really good” corn crop. “You never really know until you get the combine in the field and start weighing stuff up, but I think we’ll have a decent fall,” Carstens said.

The USDA crop report issued on August 12 estimated the 2016 total U.S. corn production at an all-time record level of 15.15 billion bushels. The projection, if accurate, would best the previous record U.S. corn production of 14.2 billion bushels in 2014.

(Radio Iowa/Brownfield Ag News)

Insects that pollinate crops are vital for Iowa’s agriculture industry, but many species have been dying in large numbers in recent years. The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to change that. The agency’s Gary Van Vreede says they’re trying to help various groups improve the habitat for pollinators like bees and butterflies. Van Vreede says, “If we can just get the nectar species and the flowering species out there that they need, we can help them provide the habitat and the nectar and the food source that they need to thrive.”

Van Vreede says insecticides and other chemicals are taking a toll on honey bees and monarchs. “It’s been a huge problem and the decline in the number of pollinator species has been astronomical,” he says. “We’re doing whatever we can to help them out.” When Iowans put new plants in the ground, he’s asking them to keep the bugs that pollinate crops in mind as it doesn’t take a lot of nectar-producing plants to make a big difference. “Having these little stop-over areas is very important,” Van Vreede says. “They don’t need a big area like a lot of grassland birds. As they’re moving along and traveling along, these little spots can provide a lot of benefit.”

Iowa has some 4,500 beekeepers who manage more than 45,000 colonies of honey bees. Those bees produce about 4-million pounds of honey annually, valued at over $8-million. Honey bees are also responsible for the pollination of many Iowa crops, as well as home gardens and plants eaten by wildlife. The economic value of honey bees as crop pollinators in Iowa is estimated at $92 million a year.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa ranks among the top 12 states for milk and cheese production, but the state’s dairy industry often misses out on the spotlight due to Iowa’s role as a national leader in corn, soybean, beef, and pork production. Sue Ann Claudon, executive director of the Iowa Dairy Association, says there are currently around 1,260 dairy farms in Iowa — with each farm having anywhere between 50 and 5,000 cows. She’d like to see those numbers grow.

“We have a lot of dairy farmers in other states who would love to come to Iowa because we are a dairy friendly state,” Claudon says. “We have the feed stuff available and we have the resources — we have the businesses who serve the dairy (producers) already here.” California and Wisconsin are the top two milk producing states. Claudon says Iowa needs to expand its processing capacity before the state can significantly boost its production.

“We are working with the state and looking at how we can expand that processing capacity and compete against the other states, especially Wisconsin and South Dakota,” Claudon said. “One of the challenges with that, though, is those two states give incentives to businesses to come into their state.” The dairy industry is struggling in Iowa and across the country as dairy prices have gone down about 35 percent in the last two years.

The USDA announced in late August it would help out farmers by buying 11 million pounds of cheese out of private inventories. The cheese will be donated to food banks and pantries.

(Radio Iowa)

A wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources expects another good year for quail hunters after a dramatic increase in the number of birds taken last year. The D-N-R’s Todd Bogenschutz says the estimated 28-thousand-400 quail taken were a 165 percent increase compared to 2014. This year’s roadside indicates the trend could continue.

He says there was a slight upward trend in numbers and he says the statewide count of quail is the highest it has been in 27 years. Bogenschutz says quail numbers had suffered from the weather just like pheasants.  “I think we do have a small suite of folks who just go out to find quail. Of course those numbers have declined with our lower numbers over the last 20 or 30 years — but I think we still have a small group of dedication quail hunters that when they go out the door that’s basically what they’ve focused on,” he says.

Bogenschutz says there are also hunters who will take what they see. He says in southern Iowa, which is the best quail range, hunters will take pheasants or quails, depending on what they run into. Bogenschutz says the recent mild winters have helped all upland game improve their numbers.

(Radio Iowa)

COLLINS – A fish kill south of Collins near the Jasper-Polk County line is being investigated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  Officials say the fish kill was reported late Saturday morning along Wolf Creek. Approximately six miles of stream was affected and the kill consisted of smaller fish species.

Field testing did detect high amounts of ammonia along portions of the stream. Wolf Creek is a tributary of Indian Creek which did not appear to be affected.

More than 80 percent of the state’s corn and soybean fields were rated in “good” or “excellent” condition at the start of this week and one weather experts says the 2016 growing season “has turned out pretty well” for Iowa farmers. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says crop development is about a week to a week-and-a-half ahead of normal. “Things for the most part got planted on a timely basis, with exceptions in far western Iowa that had a pretty mid-April and early May, but otherwise in much of the state things got planted on time. It’s been a relatively warm growing season, so things that did get planted on time have been progressing along very well.”

Yield prospects are “looking quite good” for most of the state, according to Hillaker. “A few places still a bit on the dry side, but nothing really super dry at this point,” Hillaker says. “Certainly northwest Iowa could use some rain, although it’s getting late enough in the growing season that it may still, perhaps, help out the soybean, but probably too late to have any benefit for the corn crop in that part of the state.”

A small area stretching from Onawa to just northwest of Sac City got NO rainfall at all last week, while nearly nine inches fell near Decorah. About nine-tenths of an inch is the normal amount of rainfall in Iowa for the final week of August.

(Radio Iowa)

Conservation groups are forming a partnership with food and agriculture businesses to push for more sustainable farming and cleaner water in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. The Midwest Row Crop Collaborative includes diverse members like The Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund as well as Pepsi and Walmart. Jill Kolling, director of sustainability at Cargill, says they plan to raise four-million dollars over the next five years to fund on-farm conservation programs.

Kolling says, “In these states, we’ll be working to optimize soil health practices and outcomes, reduce nutrient runoff into the rivers and streams of the Mississippi River Basin, maximize water conservation to reduce pressure on the Ogallala aquifer and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Other members of the group include the World Wildlife Fund, Monsanto, Kellogg and General Mills. Kolling says in addition to fundraising, the collaborative will collate conservation research so farmers can easily review results. Larry Clemens, with The Nature Conservancy, says aligning with agriculture across a vast landscape is a way to ensure food production goals are met while maintaining a commitment to land, water and wildlife resources.

Clemens says, “The Nature Conservancy is eager to help the collaborative leverage our expertise to accelerate solutions that match the scale of the challenges we face in this region, such as improving water quality across the Midwest and addressing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.”

The collaboratives’ initial efforts will support the Soil Health Partnership, a farmer-led conservation program of the National Corn Growers Association.

(Radio Iowa)