(Radio Iowa) – With the temperatures rising in Iowa, the weekly ice fishing report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources includes some warnings about ice fishing in areas of the state. The agency warns ice conditions are changing rapidly in north central Iowa and, in northeast Iowa, ice fishing on the Upper Iowa River is not recommended. However, opportunities in northwest Iowa the Iowa Great Lakes should be available for a few more weeks according to Andrew Carlson of the D-N-R’s Fisheries Bureau. He says it’s been a good season for ice fishing in the Okoboji region.

“Out on Spirit Lake, in particular, the yellow perch fishing has been really good this year, lots of reports of good sized perch and some small congregations of people out there enjoying the bite. We’ve also seen a lot of people fishing in recent weeks fishing West Okoboji and Smith’s Bay as well as parts of East Okoboji.”

he D-N-R says no ice is 100 percent safe and no one should go ice fishing alone. In February of 2024, a man cutting a new fishing hole on the ice of a Jackson County lake feel into the water when the ice buckled. A friend nearby grabbed the auger and helped the man stay afloat until another person arrived with a sled and helped pull the man out of the water.

Go to https://www.iowadnr.gov/things-do/fishing/fishing-tips-safety/ice-fishing for the DNR’s ice fishing report.

(Radio Iowa) – A new map from the U-S Drought Monitor shows almost half of Iowa is considered abnormally dry, while parts of three counties are now in moderate drought. Earlier this week, the state climatologist said Iowa’s in a snow drought, as January snowfall was about six inches below normal.

While months of dry weather triggered a drought resurgence in October, conditions in January improved slightly by comparison, as drought watches and moderate drought designations in eastern Iowa were removed. Still, there’s declining soil moisture, and January is typically Iowa’s driest month of the year.

The new drought map shows some 45-percent of the state’s abnormally dry, including much of eastern and southern Iowa along with a small patch in the northwest. That’s also where parts of Lyon, Sioux and Plymouth counties have fallen into moderate drought.

(Atlantic, IA) – The Cass County Extension office will be offering two opportunities for private pesticide applicators to attend their annual Private Pesticide Applicator Continuing Instruction Course (P-CIC), led by Extension Field Agronomist, Aaron Saeugling. The first session is scheduled for Thursday, February 12 at 1:30 PM. The course will be offered again on Thursday, March 19 at 6:30 PM. Preregistration is not required. Walk-ins are welcome on the day of the program.

The course will run for approximately 2 ½ hours, including check-in and breaks. The registration fee is $30. With questions or for additional information, contact the Cass County extension office at 712-243-1132 or email xcass@iastate.edu. The course will fulfill 2025-2026 recertification requirements for private pesticide applicators. Topics to be covered include:

• Personal protective equipment and safe handling
• Professionalism, Storage of pesticides, including chemical security
• Pests, pest management, and pesticides

To renew their certification, applicators must pass an exam every three years or attend an approved Private Continuing Instruction Course (P-CIC) between December 1 and April 15 each training period their certification card covers, including the year they passed the exam (if the certification is issued prior to October 1).

Applicators unable to attend in Cass County may take the training online or find another training location in a neighboring county. For more information on the Private Pesticide Applicator program or other upcoming CIC classes, please visit www.extension.iastate.edu/psep/.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would tax the liquid carbon dioxide flowing through a proposed pipeline has cleared an Iowa Senate committee, although lawmakers who advanced the bill say they’ll work on the mechanics of how the state tax would be assessed. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says he’s interested in having the state collect taxes from the project.  “The State of Iowa has invested substantially in the ethanol industry,” Dawson said. “…We’ve can’t just exempt things up front, let a bunch of revenue generate and then all the monies that we spent on these things, nothing is ever returned back to the taxpayer.” Jake Ketzner, a lobbyist for Summit Carbon Solutions — the pipeline developer, says the company opposes the bill.

“Just like any other tax, it increases the cost of doing business and it increases the cost of the service we would provide our customers, which in our case is the ethanol plant producers,” Ketzner said. “We’re rather see ethanol producers paying farmers more for their corn instead of paying for a new tax to the government.” Dawson, the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, questions why Summit should get a special “carve out” after telling the Iowa Utilities Commission its project is a benefit to the public. “You can’t just say it’s a public benefit and then have a declaration made by the IUC for eminent domain and then the public doesn’t benefit,” Dawson said. Pipeline critics urged legislators to focus instead on a different bill focused on eminent domain, to protect the property rights of landowners who don’t want the pipeline on their farms.

Kathy Carter owns land in Floyd County that’s along the proposed pipeline route. “It’s a pat ’em on the head, make ’em feel good gesture,” Carter said. “Throw Iowans a bone and they’ll shut up.” Julie Glade, a Wright County landowner, also testified during the Senate subcommittee hearing. “I guess unless you in the senate know something we don’t, there is no pipeline yet. Why are you looking at a revenue stream from a pipeline project to nowhere right now? It seems like Senate leadership and the governor for some reason want this project to happen so badly, they have to manufacture reasons to push ahead.”

The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh. It would set two tax rates, one for carbon that’s eventually used to extract oil from underground reserves and a higher rate for liquid carbon directed to other uses.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s in the midst of a what’s called a snow drought, according to the state climatologist. While we had three weekends in a row of heavy snows starting right after Thanksgiving, Justin Glisan says there’s been very little statewide snowfall since then. While some Iowans may rejoice at having to do less shoveling, Glisan says it may become a problem once spring arrives — especially for farmers — if there’s little snowmelt and runoff in our rivers. “We’re in a snow drought across the upper Midwest,” Glisan says. “We’ve been running, after a fast start at the end of November and into December, we’re about 2.3 inches statewide average, and that’s about 6 inches below average.”

The new year started out warmer than normal in Iowa, which meant winter storms were dropping more rain than snow. “The interesting thing on the precipitation side is the rainfall event we had early in January,” Glisan says. “We had a wide swath of rainfall — in January — that amounted to, through the state, over nine-tenths of an inch for the monthly average, and that’s about 4/100ths below average.” January was something of a roller-coaster month for temperatures, Glisan says, but we ended up with an average statewide temp of 19-point-3 degrees, just two-tenths of a degree below average. “If you look at the first half of the month, we were running six degrees warmer than average, and then the cold snap through the end of the month dropped that average by about six degrees,” Glisan says, “so here we are, just right around average in terms of temperature.”

Long-range forecasts point to that groundhog being correct, he says, with six more weeks of winter ahead. “If you look at the short-term outlooks for the first half of the month, though, they tell a different story on the temperature side,” Glisan says, “higher probabilities of warmer-than-average temperatures, and we’ll see the temperatures rise through this week and into next week.”

Forecasts call for parts of Iowa to see temps climb into the 50s next week. While the calendar shows winter will last through March 19th, meteorological winter ends February 28th.

(Atlantic, IA) – The Board of Supervisors in Cass County, Tuesday morning, discussed the issue of farmland transition within farm families. The discussion was spearheaded by Jim Steffen, President of the Massena Corporation, who Board Chair Steve Baier acknowledged has worked over the years to help shape rural development projects and the future of rural counties. Steffen said his family owns two farms in the area.

Steffen, who is 83-years-old, said those properties will be sold unless they can do something different with them. The solution, he hopes is for he and his business partners with the Massena Corporation, to work with what are called “production units.”

He says the idea is not to “aggregate a whole lot of land and a whole lot of legal and operating responsibility.”

Massena Corp. President Jim Steffen speaks w/the Cass County BOS, 2-3-26

Steffen didn’t ask the Board for any contribution from the County or County services, but he is looking for local investors to help build-out the production units.

He said the only thing he would ask from the Supervisors, is to think about what the Massena Corporation is trying to accomplish, and perhaps help to sponsor or facilitate land owner meetings on the topic.

Board Chair Steve Baier said, “If there’s something we can do from an economic development standpoint,” he’s interested, especially if it gets younger people interested in production agriculture and cattle, including the possibility of working with local lockers, to form some sort of consortium for livestock producers.

Additional information on the Massena Corporation production unit concept is expected to be forthcoming.

Cass County: Corn $4.09 Beans $10.19
Adair County: Corn $4.06 Beans $10.22
Adams County: Corn $4.06 Beans $10.18
Audubon County: Corn $4.08 Beans $10.21
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.12 Beans $10.19
Guthrie County: Corn $4.11 Beans $10.23
Montgomery County: Corn $4.11 Beans $10.21
Shelby County: Corn $4.12 Beans $10.19

Oats: $2.76 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)

(Atlantic, IA [this story & photos submitted by an Atlantic FFA reporter, via FFA Advisor/Ag Instructor Eric Miller]) -The Atlantic FFA Chapter welcomed Iowa FFA State Officer Laura Steinkamp and District Officer Tucker Olsen to a chapter visit on January 29th, 2026. While at the high school, they discussed opportunities in FFA and the students participated in leadership-building activities.

During a year of service to the organization, Iowa FFA officers serve as ambassadors for agriculture and the FFA. They travel to FFA chapters throughout the state to connect with members and talk about the many opportunities available to students enrolled in agricultural education. Atlantic FFA member Tenley Cappel said, “I had a lot of fun. It was neat to see how our class could cooperate to solve a problem.”

Each Ag Class has a lesson tailored to meet the needs of the individuals in the class. Some workshops are based on Leadership Skills, others on Team Building and finally FFA Chapter Recruitment. Each class begins with an introduction of an ice breaker activity used to get the State Officers and the students in the class introduced to each other. This is followed by a game or activity designed to highlight a specific leadership skill or team building activity. Atlantic FFA member Caden Noelck said “It was a lot of fun playing games and learning about leadership activities in class”.

Agricultural education incorporates three aspects of learning. The classroom provides basic knowledge. FFA develops leadership and personal skills. A Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) provides hands-on learning while working or in an agricultural business.

The Iowa FFA Association comprises 270 local chapters preparing over 20,000 students for future career opportunities. FFA activities and award programs complement instruction in agricultural education by giving students practical experience in applying agricultural skills and knowledge gained in classes. Through agricultural education, FFA makes a positive difference in students’ lives by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.

Cass County: Corn $4.09 Beans $10.20
Adair County: Corn $4.06 Beans $10.23
Adams County: Corn $4.06 Beans $10.19
Audubon County: Corn $4.08 Beans $10.22
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.12 Beans $10.20
Guthrie County: Corn $4.11 Beans $10.24
Montgomery County: Corn $4.11 Beans $10.22
Shelby County: Corn $4.12 Beans $10.20

Oats: $2.76 (same in all counties)

(Prices are per bushel; information is from the area Farm Service Agency [FSA] offices)