(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University researchers say an earlier planting date for soybeans in the spring takes better advantage of nitrogen left behind from corn production. I-S-U agronomy professor Michael Castellano says it would help reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

“Forty percent of the emissions from a two-year sequence — or rotation we might call it — of corn and soybeans comes during the soybean part of the crop rotation that doesn’t receive nitrogen fertilizer,” Castellano says. “…This was a big surprise and really required rethinking of approaches to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from crop production.” Crop rotation – planting corn in a field one year and soybeans the following year — already reduces emissions by 50 percent.

Castellano says most research has focused on reducing the amount of nitrogen applied to help corn grow, which also reduces farm chemical costs. Castellano says this new research finds that once nitrogen for corn production is reduced to the optimum level, the main way to cut nitrous oxide emissions is to move up the planting date of soybeans.

“It takes better advantage of the nitrogen being produced by the microbes in the soil, so the plants use it and less of it is lost to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide,” Castellano says. “Simple, practical, scalable solutions to help reduce nitrous oxide emissions from crop production that we may not often hear about.” Nitrous oxide is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions from crop production. Nitrous oxide is the byproduct of microbial activity in soil that is essential for growing grain.

Castellano says farmers tend to focus on getting corn in the ground early because it’s a more expensive crop to grow, but moving up the soybean planting date is likely to result in higher soybean yields because the plants have a longer growing season. “Springs are getting warmer in Iowa and another real challenge, though, is that the spring are getting wetter, too,” Castellano says, “and so it’s going to require farmers to think about opportunities to manage their soil and their cropping systems.” Castello and another I-S-U researcher worked on this project, which dramatically increased the amount of time plants are growing on farmland.

Cover crops were planted after the beans were harvested. “And also got reductions in nitrous oxide as well as nitrate leaching,” he says, “so water quality benefits as well.”

The study was published in the November issue of a scientific journal called “Nature Sustainability.”

(Ames, Iowa) – Researchers say increasing the police presence in schools isn’t the best way to address classroom violence. One expert in Iowa says educators would do better to treat the underlying causes. Fifty years ago, just 1% of the nation’s public schools had police officers on campus. That number has jumped to more than 40% now.

The 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado prompted officials to harden schools with more police presence, thinking it would keep students safer. Iowa State University Associate Dean for the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Monic Behnken said academic research shows that hasn’t worked. “What the literature is clear about for the past 20 years is actually the thing that you want to do is, you want to soften your schools,” said Behnken. “You want to increase access to therapists, counselors, social workers, community liaisons.”

Behnken said these professionals can address the emotional and social stressors among kids before they’d commit crimes. She added that although school shootings have increased and get huge media attention when they happen, they are still statistically rare. Behnken said data show that School Resource Officers (SROs), have next to no impact on stopping violence, bullying, or even schoolyard fights – but they do have a big impact in other areas.

Female police office standing in classroom showing transmitter device to group of kids on career day at school

“The research shows that SROs are good at policing,” said Behnken. “So, they are fantastic in a school that has a drug problem. They are fantastic at a school that has a gang problem.”

Behnken said otherwise, more officers on school campuses can do more harm than good – because school staff may learn to rely on SROs to solve discipline problems that administrators could handle without having to involve the police.

(Iowa News Service)

(Creston, Iowa) – An accident Friday night in the Creston City limits caused $2,000 damage to a 2020 Ford Explorer SUV, but no one was injured. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says the SUV, driven by 31-year-old Mark Donald Cooley, of Mount Ayr, was heading south on Highway 25, when a deer came out of the west ditch and struck a vehicle heading north, causing the animal to go back into the southbound lane, where it was struck by the SUV. The vehicle sustained damage to its fender and radiator, but it was able to be driven away, while leaking fluid.

The accident happened at around 6:53-p.m., Friday.

ATLANTIC, IA (November 23, 2024) – Produce in the Park’s Harvest Market is this Monday, November 25 from 3-6 PM at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W. 10th Street in Atlantic. Local shoppers are invited to pick up food and  decorations for their thanksgiving celebrations and get a head start on holiday gift shopping when they browse the wide variety of locally grown and home-made items.

This year, everyone 18 and older who attends Harvest Market can enter a free drawing for a $100 gift card to spend at the upcoming Christmas Market in December. Produce in the Park Board President Bailey Smith explained the drawing is designed to encourage people to visit Harvest Market and bring awareness to Christmas Market. “We’re hoping that the chance for a $100 gift card encourages more people to check out our amazing Harvest Market. Additionally, folks love Christmas in Atlantic, and we want everyone to remember that the Christmas Market is part of that.” Produce in the Park’s Christmas Market will be held on Saturday, December 21 from noon to 3:00 PM at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA in Atlantic.

Harvest Market is always held the Monday before Thanksgiving so shoppers celebrate with local foods, gifts, and decorations. This year’s Harvest Market is expected to offer a plethora of local vegetables including greens, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and squash, along with local meats, desserts, pastries, baked goods, honey, eggs, jams, jellies, syrups, popcorn, and more.

In addition to local foods, Harvest Market offers an opportunity to purchase local and handmade holiday decor and gifts. Shoppers can expect to find evergreen decorations, candles, soaps, crocheted toys, earrings, artwork, lavender products, wood crafts, seasonal hand towels, and more.

This year’s Harvest Market also includes a soup supper for those wanting a warm bite to eat before or after shopping. Imagine Gifts and Greenhouse will be selling Chicken Noodle, Vegetable Beef, and Loaded Baked Potato soups by the cup or bowl for dine-in or carry-out. Lastly, as is common for Produce in the Park farmers markets, local organizations will be in
attendance providing information and resources to the public. Visitors to Harvest Market can expect to find information on Cass County Tourism, Healthy Cass County, and the Cass County Grow Another Row program.

Harvest Market 2024 is sponsored by Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Cass County Tourism, Cass Health, City of Atlantic, First Whitney Bank & Trust and Nishna Valley Family YMCA. For the latest information on Harvest Market, and all Produce in the Park markets, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/).

Produce in the Park continues to accept vendor applications for Christmas Market, and additional holiday markets planned for winter 2024-2025. Vendor applications can be found online at www.ProduceInTheParkAtlanticIowa.com; printed copies of the application are available at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce (102 Chestnut St., Atlantic, IA 50022). Produce in the Park seeks vendors selling handmade or homegrown products, including local foods, as well as beauty products, candles, crafts, art, and decorations.

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The Exira-Elk Horn/Kimballton School District’s Board of Education will hold their regular, monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 25th (2024), beginning at 6:30-p.m. Their session takes place in the Exira-EHK Conference Room inside the High School. The meeting agenda can be see below:

Re-Shows must be scheduled by December 18 in Cass County

The Cass County Extension office is again hosting continuing instructional courses (CICs) for local commercial pesticide applicators, but wants to remind anyone who has yet to attend the training that all CIC training must be completed by the end of December to keep a license current. To avoid conflicts with year-end scheduling, Cass County Extension is requiring that all training dates be scheduled by Wednesday, December 18^th.

‘Year end is a busy time for all, but we don’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to attend their annual required training, as time to meet those annual requirements is getting short,” according to Kate Olson, Cass County Extension Director. “We do offer trainings on a first-come, first-serve basis, and our hours will be slightly different during the holidays, so we’d like to remind folks to call and get their classes scheduled before our year-end calendar fills up.”

According to Olson, reshow dates can occur after December 18^th, as scheduling allows, but they must be on the calendar before then to be honored. To ensure a spot on the training schedule, applicators needing to complete CIC for the year are asked to call as soon as possible if they have a preferred training date, but no later than Wednesday, December 18^th at 4:30 PM. Applicators calling after this date will NOT be placed on the training schedule. Training dates can be scheduled locally by calling the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or by emailing Office Manager Lori Anderson at lander@iastate.edu. For more information on the Commercial Pesticide Applicator program or the CIC classes, please visit www.extension.iastate.edu/psep/.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Compared to this time last year, traffic deaths in Iowa are now on the decline, and the Iowa State Patrol wants that trend to continue.

So far, there have been 308 traffic fatalities in the state of Iowa. Last year during the week of Thanksgiving, 34 people were either seriously injured or killed in a car crash, and 40 percent of those were not wearing seat belts. The Iowa State Patrol has now come up with a theme to try and help minimize potential accidents from occurring: “S.I.D.E.”

“S, Seat belt; I, Impaired driving; D, Distracted driving; E, Excessive speed,” trooper Jay Kirkpatrick said. “If we can wear our seat belt, if we can slow down, if we can give ourselves more time, if we can take away distractions, whether that be a phone or dogs in the car or animals or kids or whatever. Whatever the distraction is, if we can remove that, we’re gonna save lives.”

Trooper Kirkpatrick also added to avoid using cruise control when it’s snowing or icy to keep your car from spinning out of control. A reminder also, the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) is partnering with law enforcement across Iowa to promote road safety during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Now through December 1, drivers can expect to see increased law enforcement on our roads. The State Patrol advises motorists to “Please buckle up, slow down, and drive sober!”

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports road construction is not expected to cause any delays for those heading to Grandma’s house. Brian Worrel, of the Iowa DOT Workzone Operations says construction weather was good this past summer, but was slowed a little by rains this fall. While he expects an uptick in the amount of traffic  volume over the holiday travel period, those construction  zones shouldn’t have any more of an impact than it did over the summer, and they’re hoping to get motorists through those zones as safely as possible.

The DOT provides road information on its Iowa 511 website.

NEW YORK — With the holidays comes festive feasts, and those often feature turkey. However, cooking a whole turkey isn’t the easiest thing in the world, as proven by the popularity of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line.

Since 1981, turkey company Butterball has offered a hotline for home chefs to call and ask experts for advice as they prepare their turkeys. Over the years, they’ve answered millions of questions and have expanded beyond just a phone line to accepting queries over text, email and social media as well.

According to Butterball, the most common question they receive is when and how to thaw a turkey. This year, the hotline will be open from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 and staffed by more than 50 experts, reachable via call at 1-800-BUTTERBALL or text at 844-877-3456.

They’re even open on Thanksgiving Day, fielding questions from across the country. Butterball shared that last Thanksgiving, the state they received the most calls from was California, and the top city was New York City, followed by Chicago and Nassau, New York.

Check out the maps below to see the 10 cities and states that made the most calls last year.

Millions of Americans will cook and eat turkeys, and many will opt to get frozen turkeys so they can finish their grocery shopping ahead of time. Here are the safest ways to thaw your frozen birds, according to experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Butterball.

Norman Rockwell, Freedom From Want (1943). Norman Rockwell Museum Collections.

(Des Moines, Iowqa)  – A new committee established by Iowa House Republicans will a conduct “comprehensive review” of Iowa’s higher education system, curriculum and administrative costs, the new chairman says, but the panel is sparking some concerns among students and faculty members. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Representative Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis, will lead the new committee announced this week by House Speaker Pat Grassley. Leaders from organizations at state universities said their institutions already have a tremendous impact, and shared concerns that certain changes could hurt students, the universities themselves and the workforce.

Collins said he is grateful to be able to lead the committee in its “holistic review” of Iowa’s higher education system, looking at how colleges and universities handle state dollars and what they’re doing for Iowa’s workforce needs.

Rep. Taylor Collins (left) will chair a new committee on higher education in the Iowa House of Representatives. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

“I think that a review, a comprehensive review, of our higher education system is long overdue,” Collins said. “And it’s important that … these institutions that spend billions of dollars each year, not only Iowa taxpayer dollars but also tuition revenue that is given to them by Iowa students and taxpayers, that they are operating as efficiently as possible, and that they are preparing Iowa’s workforce.”

The committee will also work to ensure that Iowa’s universities are “mission-focused” and that they aren’t using tax dollars without oversight, Collins said.

Iowa’s state universities are overseen by the Board of Regents, with nine members appointed by the governor.