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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!
The Cass County Conservation Board (CCCB) is sponsoring a “Breakfast with the Birds” Program. The program will be held at Sunnyside Park, Kiddie Korral Shelter in Atlantic, Saturday, August 13th, beginning at 9-a.m. Free will donations are being accepted. 
During the event, Terrie Hoefer, rehabilitator and Educator at S.O.A.R., Saving Our Avian Resources, will show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and will hopefully have one that is fully recovered and ready to release back into the wild.
Breakfast with the birds is made possible by the Dick McCauley Memorial Fund. The CCCB asks you to help them support raptors and education, by attending “Breakfast with the Birds,” on Aug. 13th.
Local farmland owners, producers and other interested parties are invited to join Cass County Extension for the 2016 Farm Leasing Arrangements meeting, set for August 8 in Atlantic from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Cass County Community Center at 805 West 10th Street.
Besides the standard topics of land value and cash rental rate trends, this year’s special topic is costs of production. Landlords and tenants are more interested in costs when farming is not as profitable. They have to figure out how much money is available and decide where cuts can be made.
In January 2016, participants from last year’s Farm Leasing Arrangements meetings across Iowa completed a follow-up evaluation. According to the results, people attended to get an update on the rental market. One participant wrote, “The meeting helps me have informed discussions with the farmer, hopefully arriving at a fair price on the rent and being good custodians of the land.” Participants’ most requested topic for 2016 was costs of production.
Tim Eggers, Iowa State University Extension Field Agricultural Economist, said, “With last year’s participants requesting more information on the tenant’s costs of production, I wanted a hands-on activity instead of more slides.” He continued, “We’re going to play a game so participants experience decisions tenants make every year.”
The Farm Leasing Arrangements meeting will give landowners, tenants, and agri-business professionals information and materials they need to make decisions regarding farmland ownership, management, and leasing practices.
The Farm Leasing Arrangements meeting costs $15 per person, which includes the 100-page Farm Leasing Arrangements booklet and a copy of the presentation. Pre-registration is required and limited to 30 people. To register, call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email xcass@iastate.edu.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has proposed new daily catch limits and a harvest season for commercial turtle trapping. Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a bill requiring the DNR to set a harvest season and daily catch limits for turtles to more closely regulate the practice.
The Des Moines Register reports that the proposal limits the daily catch to 14 snapping turtles, one softshell turtle and three painted turtles. Trappers have been allowed to catch an unlimited amount of certain turtles year-round. The DNR also proposed a commercial trapping season that begins July 1 and runs through Dec. 31 to protect turtles during their nesting season.
The latest data from the DNR shows that more than 17,500 turtles were caught statewide in 2014 worth a wholesale value of nearly $273,000.
The fall Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshop is Sept. 16-18, at the Springbrook Conservation Education Center, adjacent to Springbrook State Park, north of Guthrie Center. While the focus of BOW is primarily for women, the workshop is an opportunity for anyone 18 years or older to learn outdoor skills. Workshop courses include basic fishing, Dutch oven cooking, birdwatching, kayaking, deer hunting, wild edibles, basic camping, intro to archery, intro to firearms, canoeing and more.
“This workshop is an excellent opportunity to try activities under the guidance of our top-notch instructors,” said Rachel Ladd, with the Iowa Departments of Natural Resources. “Our workshop is popular because we keep our class sizes small and the setting at Springbrook is beautiful, particularly in the fall.”
The cost for the workshop is $150 before Sept. 4, and $180 beginning Sept. 5. The fee includes program materials, equipment, lodging and meals. Enrollment is limited to 100 participants. A limited number of scholarships are available that can reduce the fee by $75.
Go to www.iowadnr.gov/bow to download a registration form, select classes and for more information on applying for a scholarship. Lodging is in dormitories with eight people per room.
DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Monday) commented on the Iowa Crops and Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Northey said “In general, crops remain in very good condition with both 83 percent of corn and soybeans rated in good or excellent condition. Fortunately, most areas of the state have adequate moisture as we head into August, which is a critical time, especially for soybean development.”
The weekly report is also available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov or on USDA’s site at www.nass.usda.gov/ia. In summary…Relatively dry conditions throughout the week were ideal for crop development and allowed Iowa farmers 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending July 31, 2016, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Activities for the week included cutting hay and aerial spraying of corn with fungicide and insecticide.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 2 percent very short, 10 percent short, 82 percent adequate and 6 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 2 percent very short, 12 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus.
Ninety-five percent of the corn crop reached the silking stage, five days ahead of last year and almost two weeks ahead of the five-year average. Thirty-five percent of the corn crop reached the dough stage. Isolated reports of corn starting to dent were received from across the State. Corn condition rated 83 percent good to excellent. Soybeans blooming reached 90 percent, 6 days ahead of the previous year. Sixty-four percent of soybeans were setting pods, 5 days ahead of last year. Soybean condition rated 83 percent good to excellent. Seventy-eight percent of the oat crop for grain or seed was harvested, 2 days ahead of both last year and the average.
The second cutting of alfalfa hay reached 93 percent, more than 2 weeks ahead of last year and 10 days ahead of normal. The third cutting of alfalfa hay was 28 percent complete, 6 days ahead of average. Hay condition was rated 73 percent good to excellent, while pasture condition was rated 61 percent good to excellent. Reduced temperatures improved livestock conditions which were reported to be good.
The statewide average precipitation last week was .18″ (of an inch), while normal for the week is .94″ (of an inch). It was the driest week in eleven weeks (since mid-May).
n annual Iowa pheasant population survey starts today (Monday) and it’ll be done by people in all 99 counties, driving up and down rural roads, looking for the birds and counting them. Todd Bogenschutz, a wildlife research biologist at the Iowa D-N-R, says indications show the popular game bird’s population is at least stable and is likely growing. “We’ve got a real good correlation between what we count on the roadside routes and what pheasant hunters ultimately harvest,” Bogenschutz says. “The weather conditions this past winter and spring were favorable for pheasants. There’s optimism about what we’re going to see next week when we start running the routes.”
The roadside survey is done every year during the first two weeks of August, or sometimes a little longer, depending on the weather. “We’ve got about two routes in every county and they’re three miles long,” he says. “We’ve been doing these same routes since the 1960s, usually the same staff run them every year and it gives as a real good index of the population. We have no way of counting all the pheasants out there but if we do it the same way every year, it gives us a real good trend indicator.”
Bogenschutz said the survey records the numbers of other animals the spotters see, including: quail, Hungarian partridges, cottontails and jackrabbits. The results of the survey will be released in early September. Iowa’s pheasant hunting season begins October 29th.
(Radio Iowa)
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will hold a 2016 land leasing and valuation workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 2nd. The workshop is a key source of information to landowners and tenants on land value and rental rate trends. There will also be discussion of different ways to determine a cash rent, how to establish a flexible cash rent, and considerations to have a successful land rental rate negotiation.
Lower cash prices for crops has tightened margins on producers and put downward pressure on land values and rents. The workshop will also discuss the cost of crop production for 2017, so that tenants can plan accordingly and landowners are aware of the costs tenants face outside of just paying the rent.
Officials say if there will be any change to a land lease agreement for 2017, notice that the 2016 lease will terminate must be given in writing before Sept 1st. ISU Extension is offering this unbiased workshop to help both landowners and tenants make informed and mutually advantageous land leasing agreements.
The cost is $20 per person with pre-registration, and includes the updated land leasing handbook. Shelby County Extension will be holding this workshop starting at 9:30 am Tuesday (August 2nd) at the Shelby County Extension Office located at 906 Sixth Street in Harlan. Call (712) 755-3104 to pre-register, or for questions. United Bank of Iowa will sponsor a light lunch following the session.
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