DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State officials say two more probable cases of bird flu have been found at farms in Iowa. The state agriculture department announced Friday that the avian influenza has been detected at a Wright County farm where about 400,000 chickens are being raised and at a Sac County turkey farm with about 42,000 birds.

Initial testing was positive for the bird flu and samples have been sent to a federal lab in Ames for confirmation. If confirmed, the birds will be euthanized. The two cases Friday followed the Thursday announcement that a turkey farm with 17,000 birds in Hamilton County had tested positive for the disease.

The agriculture department says the virus has infected poultry at farms with more than 26 million birds.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa leaders are criticizing a proposal from the Obama administration that would reduce the amount of ethanol blended in U.S. gasoline. Iowa leads the nation in producing ethanol, a fuel additive made mostly from corn. Under the proposal released Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of ethanol blended in to gasoline will increase, but not by as much as originally required by law.

Still, the agency didn’t decrease the standards as much as it had proposed in 2013. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad — who has lobbied aggressively for maintaining a strong standard — says in a statement that he was disappointed, but noted that the EPA made slight increases from a previous proposal. Sen. Joni Ernst says in a statement that “we can and must do better.”

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad today (Friday) announced that he is extending the State of Disaster Emergency in response to the avian flu outbreak until July 1st, 2015. The governor’s original disaster declaration was set to expire Sunday, May 31, 2015.

As of Thursday, May 28th, Iowa had 68 cases of the disease in the state. The disease is affecting birds in 18 counties. The counties affected at this time are: Buena Vista, Sac, Osceola, Sioux, O’Brien, Kossuth, Clay, Pocahontas, Cherokee, Madison, Wright, Palo Alto, Lyon, Plymouth, Calhoun, Adair, Webster and Hamilton.

The proclamation of disaster emergency sets into motion and involves:

1. Activation of the disaster response and recovery aspect of the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department’s (HSEMD) Iowa Emergency Response Plan.

2. Authorizing the use and deployment of all available state resources, supplies, equipment, and materials as are deemed reasonably necessary by the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and Iowa HSEMD in order to do the following:

A. Tracking and monitoring instances of confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza throughout the state of Iowa and the country,

B. Establishing importation restrictions and prohibitions in respect to animals suspected of suffering from this disease,

C. Rapidly detecting any presumptive or confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza within Iowa’s borders,

D. Containing the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza within our state through depopulation, disinfections, and disposal of livestock carcasses,

E. Engaging in detection activities, contact tracking, and other investigatory work to stop the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza within our state, and

F. Elimination of the disease in those disaster counties where it has been found and lessen the risk of this disease spreading to our state as a whole.

3. Temporarily authorizes the Iowa HSEMD, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), other state agencies, and local law enforcement agencies and private contractors employed by the same to remove and/or dispose of live animals and animal carcasses on publicly or privately owned land when those live animals and/or carcasses threaten public health or safety.

4. Authorizes the Iowa HSEMD, the Iowa DOT, the Iowa DPS, the Iowa DNR, IDPH, other state agencies, and local law enforcement agencies to implement stop movement and stop loading restrictions and other control zone measures as are reasonably deemed necessary, including establishing buffer zones, checkpoints, and cleaning and disinfecting operations at checkpoints and borders surrounding any quarantine areas established by the IDALS or at any other location in the state of Iowa, in order to stop the spread of this contagious disease.

5. Authorizes state agencies to assist the IDALS in disinfection, depopulation, and livestock carcass disposal efforts.

6. Temporarily waives restrictions to allow for the timely and efficient disposal of poultry carcasses.

7. Temporarily suspends the regulatory provisions pertaining to hours of service for commercial vehicle drivers hauling poultry carcasses infected with or exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza or while hauling loads otherwise related to the response to this disaster during its duration, subject to certain conditions outlined in the disaster proclamation.

Officials say the virus strains can travel in wild birds without those birds appearing sick. People should avoid contact with sick/dead poultry or wildlife. If contact occurs, wash your hands with soap and water and change clothing before having any contact with healthy domestic poultry and birds.

All bird owners, whether commercial producers or backyard flock owners, should continue to practice good biosecurity, prevent contact between their birds and wild birds, and report sick birds or unusual bird deaths to state/federal officials, either through their state veterinarian at 515-281-5321 or through USDA’s toll-free number at 1-866-536-7593.

Officials with ISU Extension in Montgomery County have announced Casey Wenstrand will be working as a Summer Assistant at the office. Casey was a 9 year 4-Her in the Grant Spitfires.

Casey Wenstrand

He just graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelors of Liberal Studies degree. In addition to fair preparation, Casey will also be a big help with the extension’s summer day camps. You can meet Casey at the 2015 Montgomery County Fair.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today (Friday), has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI) in four additional flocks in Minnesota and Iowa. No human infections with the virus have been detected at this time. CDC considers the risk to people from these HPAI H5 infections in wild birds, backyard flocks and commercial poultry, to be low.

USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed HPAI H5N2 in two Minnesota Counties, and two in Iowa, including Adair County, where 974,500 chickens are affected at the Rose Acre Farms facility near Stuart.

The affected premises have been quarantined and birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flock will not enter the food system.

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2014, the U.S. poultry industry produced 8.54 billion broiler chickens, 99.8 billion eggs, and 238 million turkeys. Officials say the United States has the strongest AI surveillance program in the world. As part of the existing USDA avian influenza response plans, Federal and State partners as well as industry are responding quickly and decisively to these outbreaks by following these five basic steps:

1) Quarantine – restricting movement of poultry and poultry-moving equipment into and out of the control area;

2) Eradicate – humanely euthanizing the affected flock(s);

3) Monitor region – testing wild and domestic birds in a broad area around the quarantine area;

4) Disinfect – kills the virus in the affected flock locations; and

5) Test – confirming that the poultry farm is AI virus-free. USDA also is working with its partners to actively look and test for the disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.

A report recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows there are plenty of jobs in ag-related fields, but not enough college graduates to fill them. Krysta Harden is Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. “Folks don’t really realize the variety of jobs and the availability of the jobs in science and technology, in education, in communication, food production, all the way through the entire chain, frankly,” Harden says.

The report from the USDA and Purdue University states there are nearly 60,000 ag related job openings expected annually in the U.S., but only a little over 35,000 graduates available to fill them. Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, says that means there are some great opportunities for recent college graduates.  “For some majors like agribusiness, animal science, crop science, the young people are being offered two to three job offers and signing bonuses,” Ramaswamy says.

The report projects almost half of the ag job opportunities in the next five years will be in management and business. Another 27 percent will be in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. According to the report, more than half the grads in agriculture and ag-related fields are women.

(Radio Iowa)

Gardeners have the opportunity this summer to learn about theme gardens, planting trough gardens, water features and conservation, attracting butterflies and bees, and growing herbs. The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach “Growing Season” webinar series will be offered at multiple locations across Iowa during June, July and August. The Cass County Extension Office is one of the locations hosting these webinars.

This is the sixth year for the Iowa Master Gardener program annual summer series. It is open to all interested gardeners; participants are not required to have completed master gardener training to attend. Each of the three webinars feature an Iowa Master Gardener and ISU Extension and Outreach faculty or staff member presenting the two-hour course at an ISU Extension and Outreach county office. Course topics and speakers include:

JUNE: Design from Yard to Trough, with Iowa State University Department of Horticulture lecturer Lisa Orgler and Fayette County Master Gardener Gary Whittenbaugh. Participants will learn how to add spark to landscape designs and trough planters filled with conifers and their companions.

The Des Moines Botanical Garden and Polk County Master Gardeners Enabling Garden are two of many highlights on the 2015 Cass County Master Gardener bus tour. The trip is scheduled for June 18th, departing from the Cass County Fairgrounds in Atlantic at 8-AM and returning around 6-PM. Other stops include nurseries, gardens and greenhouses in the Greater Des Moines Area. Lunch, catered by Hickory Park, will be served at the Polk County Extension Office.

The trip is sponsored by the Cass County Master Gardeners but is open to everyone. Registrations are due by June 10th, so register soon so you can be sure to save your spot on the bus! The cost is $55. 00 which includes transportation, entrance fees and a meal and snack. Registration forms are available at the Cass County Extension office, and can also be found on the Cass County Extension website at www.exension.iastate.edu/cass.

A full itinerary is on each registration form. Be sure to bring plant labels and boxes to mark the goodies you pick up along the way!

(Press Release)

The Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management Agencies have assemble a list of Website and printable information about the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). EMA Coordinator Robert Kempf says “This information provides general information, facts, biosecurity guidelines and other information the general public and caretakers of backyard flock may find useful.

These are printable resources from the USDA:
HPAI General Resources and Information
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/HPAIgeneralresourcesinfo.pdf
Emergency Response Procedures – Depopulation and Disposal
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/ER-DepopDisposal.pdf
Emergency Response Procedures – Cleaning and Disinfection
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/ER-CleaningDisinfection.pdf
Emergency Response Procedures – Appraisal and Indemnity
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/ER-Appraisal-Indemnity.pdf
USDA Avian Influenza Response: Mass Depopulation and Carcass Disposal
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/QA-MassDepopCarcassDisposal.pdf
HPAI Biosecurity Checklist
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/HPAIchecklist.pdf

The Center for Food Security & Public Health at Iowa State University has provided this printable sheet of Fast Facts.
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/FastFacts/pdfs/avian_influenza_F.pdf

This is a link to the USDA APHIS Website that contains guidance about bio-security for backyard flocks.
http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov/

This is a link to a printable Avian Influenza informational brochure.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/2011/ProtectYourBirdFromAI_Eng.pdf

This is a link to the Iowa Department of Agriculture Web Page that contains a list of probable and confirmed Avian Influenza cases in the State of Iowa. The green dates behind the county name are the printable press releases announcing the cases.
http://www.iowaagriculture.gov/AvianInfluenza.asp

The leaders of several Iowa farm groups say they’re worried the E-P-A’s final draft of rules to curb pollution in small waterways and wetlands will subject farm ditches and farm ponds to federal oversight. Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says this final rule failed to address many of the concerns farmers raised after the E-P-A released a first draft of new Clean Water Act regulations last spring. “The penalties are so severe if you are found to be in breach of the Clean Water Act,” Hill says. “Those penalties can range up to $37,500 per instance. Jail is one of the penalty provisions.” Hill says it appears farmers will have to get federal permits for “normal farming practices.”

“The permitting process is very cumbersome, awkward and expensive,” Hill says. “And, according to what we read in this new rule, farmers will be required to get permits for things they’ve never been required to get permits for before.” E-P-A officials say the new rule covers about three percent more waterways in the United States that have a “direct and significant” connection to lakes and rivers that are already covered by the Clean Water Act. Hill says farmers still aren’t sure whether they’ll have to get permits for the ponds on their property.

“Every pond has an overflow. Well, the overflow is not exempt,” Hill says. “So when they say ponds are exempt it has no meaning because the water that comes out of a pond is, by definition, a water of the U.S.” The new rule failed to answer key questions farmers raised last spring, according to Hill, like what is a lawful grass waterway.

“We know what a grass waterway is in Iowa and farmers are installing those on their own accord. Every spring and fall we’re reshaping and trying to perform conservation, but we turn to NRCS — the Natural Resources Conservation Service — for an outline of what is proper and best management practice and so on,” Hill says. “Well, according to EPA, they will only consider a waterway lawful by their definition.”

The president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says the E-P-A seems to be “restricting” farmers efforts to “voluntarily improve our environment,” rather than partnering with farmers to advance conservation measures. The chair of the Sierra Club’s Iowa chapter praised the E-P-A’s rule, arguing it is “a critical step toward protecting streams and wetlands that feed our drinking water supplies.” Experts offer conflicting opinions about the rule’s potential impact on the lawsuit the Des Moines Water Works has filed against three northwest Iowa counties.

(Radio Iowa)