(Radio Iowa) – State and local officials joined executives from one of the world’s largest meat processing companies at the groundbreaking for a new sausage plant in Perry. J-B-S expects the plant will start production by the end of next year and eventually employ 500. Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham notes Perry has been through a rollercoaster after a tragic school shooting in early 2024 and the closure of the Tyson pork plant in mid-2024.

“This community embodies the idea that you are more than your circumstances,” Durham said. “With every unforeseen challenge, unthinkable tragedy or business setback, you show us what you are made of – hard work, heart and optimism.” Nearly 13-hundred people were laid off when Tyson closed its Perry plant on June 28th of last year. Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh says the new plant will help his community recover from last year’s set backs.

Groundbreaking for new sausage plant in Perry on Oct. 14, 2025. (Photo courtesy of JBS USA)

“It will bring good jobs back to Perry so our residents don’t have to commute to work. It will attract new businesses and residents to our community. It will also give a boost to our existing businesses.” J-B-S operates plants in Council Bluffs, Marshalltown and Ottumwa and the new plant in Perry will be the company’s first sausage production site in the United States.

J-B-S recently purchased a shuttered Hy-Vee facility in Ankeny, where it plans to produce ready-to-eat bacon and sausage — and some of the raw ingredients for that sausage will come from the Perry plant.

CARROLL – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a hog manure release into a tributary of Elk Run Creek in Carroll County.

On October 14, the DNR Field Office in Atlantic was notified by Eric Baumhover, manager of B&B Custom Pumping, a certified manure applicator business, of a manure spill which occurred in the evening hours on October 13.

Staff from the DNR Field Office in Atlantic responded to the incident. Further investigation revealed that approximately 5,000 gallons of manure was spilled when a hose blew while land-applying manure from the Brady Boell hog confinement site located at 25510 120th St in Carroll.

Field staff reported the applicator took immediate action after the incident by placing dams in several locations to contain the manure while continuing to pump it out of the creek, which prevented it from flowing to Elk Run. Corn stalks were also used to soak up the manure on the ground.

Cleanup efforts continue while on-site crews pump the manure-laden water out of the creek. Soil will be excavated as needed. No dead fish have been observed. Samples have been collected and will be submitted to the State Hygienic Laboratory for testing.

The incident remains under investigation. The department will determine if further enforcement action is warranted.

To report a release after hours, please call the DNR’s emergency spill line at (515) 725-8694. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of an incident. The DNR website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

(Radio Iowa) – Deer hunting is underway in Iowa with the first two seasons requiring hunters to use a couple of the older methods of hunting. D-N-R state deer biologist Jace Elliott says the bow and early muzzleloader seasons have started slowly. “So far, we’ve had pretty average, perhaps a bit below average harvest in the early part of this year, but that’s easy to attribute to the warm weather,” Elliott says. Elliott says unseasonably warm weather limits deer movement.

“Cold weather, especially cold fronts, get deer up on their feet in the daylight hours better. They are going to be traveling more during daylight hours in the early season when weather is a little colder. We just haven’t had much of that yet,” he says. He says hunters understand the impact of weather on deer movement, and that impacts their decision on when to sit in their stands. “It’s also hunters that are choosing to maybe wait until it gets a little bit colder,” Elliott says, “as you know, handling venison and things like that can be an improved experience once that that weather gets colder as well.”

(Iowa DNR photo)

The bow hunting season is the longest one, so there is plenty of time for those hunters to get a deer. “So far we have several thousand deer that have been registered across the state, which shows that you know, we’re off to a good start. But for an average year, we have another hundred thousand deer harvests to go,” he says. The early muzzleloader season runs through this coming weekend. There have been around five-thousand deer taken already. The most deer are taken during the regular gun seasons that don’t start until December.

(Radio Iowa) – The Manchester City Council has approved the site plan for a proposed custom meat processing facility in the city’s industrial park. Todd Summers owns and operates a meat locker in Earlville, but Manchester City Manager Tim Vick says that facility needs some upgrades. “He’s looking at maybe just doing a much larger facility here in Manchester,” Vick says, “and so there are multiple phases that we are looking at.”

Site plan for proposed Manchester Locker (provided by City of Manchester)

Vick says phase one of the plan would be to develop 15 acres and build a 26-thousand square foot facility.  “Animals would come in. They’ll be slaughtered, processed and out of the door,” Vick said. Vick says the business — which would be called The Manchester Locker — would also have retail space to sell meat directly to customers. Summers — who’s planning to operate a meat locker in Manchester — bought Dan’s Meat Locker in Earlville last year. It offers custom meat processing of beef, pork, lamb and deer and makes retail sales of everything from steaks to homemade sausage.

U-S-D-A records show there are nearly 150 licensed processing plants for meat and poultry in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The corn and soybean harvest in Iowa is well underway — but since there’s a federal government shutdown, the U-S-D-A’s weekly report on Iowa crops wasn’t issued Monday. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says just driving through the countryside gives you a pretty good impression at the pace of the harvest. “Boy, if it’s fit, folks are really hitting it hard,” Naig said, “and I think we’re really taking a big chunk out of that soybean and corn harvest both.”

Naig says there appears to be variability in yields, as southern rust has appeared in parts of the state. “You’re hearing about some pretty dramatic yield reductions,” Naig said. “There are some areas of the state that were too wet. I’m hearing about some yield impact because of that as well and then I talk to folks that say it’s the best crop they’ve ever had.” Naig is hearing soybean yields are strong.

“Maybe the crop isn’t quite as good as we all thought it was going to be maybe in that mid-July time-frame, but we have a solid crop,” Naig said, “and, in fact, you have a lot of folks talking about: ‘Where are we going to store this crop?'” Iowa farmers typically have about two-thirds of soybeans and one-third of corn harvested by mid-October. Farmers worry the prices for corn and soybeans are being affected because buyers don’t have the weekly U-S-D-A information about harvest progress and conditions.

Naig says it also means the October payments farmers get for enrolling land in the Conservation Reserve Program aren’t going out. “In this tight economy if you’re waiting for a payment of some kind and you just can’t flat out access it because of a government shut down that’s wrong,” Naig said, “and it’s bringing instability…where we need certainty this time of year.”

With Farm Service Agency offices closed, farmers cannot submit the paperwork for operating loans that some might need to buy livestock, farm equipment, fuel or fertilizer. The loans may also be used to cover family living expenses.

ATLANTIC, IA (October 13, 2025) – Produce in the Park is hosting BOO-tique Market on Saturday, October 18, at the Nishna Valley YMCA from 10 AM to noon. BOO-tique Market is a new Halloween-themed farmers market. In addition to lots of fresh, local fall produce and other local foods and handmade crafts, the event will include lots of spooky, fall fun. Kids will be delighted to find hand-led horse rides, face painting, balloon animals, free bounce houses made possible by the YMCA, and a free spider plant craft activity hosted by Imagine at Zellmer Century Farm.There is no cost to enter the YMCA for the BOO-tique Market, and Halloween costumes are welcome. Trick-or-treating will be available throughout the market.

The BOO-tique Market will offer two food trucks: Tikka Talk Indian Food, and Liza’s Sushi and More. Tikka Talk Food Truck will be serving both vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian food including butter chicken, lamb tikka masala, samosas, naan, rice pudding, mango lassis, hot Indian Chai tea, and more. Fresh, local produce at BOO-tique Market is expected to include peppers, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, and carrots. Other local foods will include local meat (beef, pork and chicken), farm-fresh eggs, local honey, and freeze-dried snacks (fruits, vegetables, and candy), along with baked goods and desserts including breads, muffins, cookies, and pastries.

Shoppers can expect to find craft products such as candles and wax melts, soaps, sugar scrubs, beard oils, greeting cards, potted plants, garden gifts, holiday decorations, and crocheted items such as stuffed animals, rugs, sweaters, hats, and gloves.

BOO-tique Market is the first of five markets in Produce in the Park’s Holiday Market Series. Additional farmers markets in the 2025-2026 series include Harvest Market (November 24), Christmas Market (December 20), Sweetheart Market (February 14, 2026), and Spring Celebration Market (April 4, 2026). All are welcome at Produce in the Park farmers markets, and admission is free. The market accepts SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks for all qualifying food items.

Produce in the Park continues to accept applications for vendors and sponsors for their 2025-2026 Holiday Market Series. For details and applications, see www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.
Produce in the Park farmers markets are made possible by support from the City of Atlantic, First Whitney Bank & Trust, Gregg Young Chevrolet of Atlantic, Cass Health, Cass County Tourism, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, and Nishna Valley Family YMCA.

For the latest market updates, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark or Instagram at www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/, or sign up for the Produce in the Park email newsletter at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa has ended a nine-week run where the U-S Drought map showed no color for dryness of any kind. The D-N-R’s Jessica Reese McIntyre says the northwest, southern and eastern areas of the state are back to abnormally dry, with a slice of moderate drought.  “It did have a small area, the equivalent of about one percent of the state, but still significant, along the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa,” she says. McIntyre says the rainfall slowed after what was the second wettest July on record. “It just progressively got worse through September because both August and September were drier than normal after having that really wet July,” she says.

McIntyre says there’s not a clear signal right now if the dry conditions will continue. “We don’t have the potential to see above normal precipitation for the next three months according to the National Weather Service forecast seasonal forecast,” she says. There’s just no real indication if we’ll go one way or the other and just kind of stay above average. So we will have to just kind of wait and see how that all pans out, how that forecast pans out, but it doesn’t look favorable to get above normal.” She says October could be warmer than normal, which could indicate we’ll stay dry. “One thing to kind of remember is that warm air tends to hold moisture, so it kind of kind of grabs it, right? So it can make these conditions worse, these dry conditions worse with warmer temperatures,” she says.

She says the drier conditions have helped farmers move quickly with the harvest, but also caused problems with dust and the potential for field fires.

(This article written by the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Read the entire version HERE) – Attorneys for Summit Carbon Solutions argued Friday in Polk County District Court that the company’s proposed amendment to its permit for a carbon sequestration pipeline through Iowa should be decided on before a legal case against the permit can move forward. The Iowa Utilities Commission approved a permit in June 2024 for Summit Carbon Solutions to build more than 600 miles of a carbon sequestration pipeline in Iowa, with the condition that the company gain permits in the Dakotas before beginning construction.

The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, along with several counties and individual landowners, then filed a lawsuit in fall 2024, seeking to overturn the IUC’s permit approval. The lawsuit alleged the proceedings were unfair and that Summit did not meet the definition of a common carrier. Summit filed a petition with the IUC on Sept. 15 to amend its approved permit. The amendment would remove the condition that required approval in the Dakotas and add several route and pipe-size modifications to the permit. This action followed Summit’s second permit denial in South Dakota and the enactment of a law barring the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines in the state.

Summit also requested the court remand the Sierra Club and landowners’ case to the IUC and stay any future actions on the case until the IUC decided on the filed amendment petition. This was the issue before Polk County District Court Judge Scott Beattie Friday morning. Summit’s attorney, Bret Dublinske of Fredrickson & Byron in Des Moines, argued the IUC needed to rule on the amendment petition before the case against the permit could proceed. He argued the facts in the case would be outdated once the IUC ruled on the amendment and the courts would be presented with either duplicative litigation or a scenario in which the ruling did not match the most recent version of the permit.

Wally Taylor, on behalf of the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, argued Summit did not supply sufficient information as to how the amendment would change the nature of the lawsuit against the IUC’s decision. Taylor asked the court to deny the motion to remand the case to the IUC.  Michelle Rabe, on behalf of the Iowa Utilities Commission, said while the IUC believes Summit’s request for remand is, “slightly outside” of how a remand is typically used, she believes there are three options forward, “none of which are ideal.”

Rabe said Beattie could deny the remand and allow the case to continue, in which case it would advance through the courts until eventually the Supreme Court issues what she said could be a “moot order” at that point because the permit might have changed via the IUC proceedings. The second option she presented was for the court to grant the remand and allow the IUC to rule on the amendment, in which case she predicted the parties would appeal the IUC’s decision and then the courts would be presented with potentially “parallel” cases.  The third option, she said, would be for the court to stay the decision and allow the IUC proceedings to play out, so that when that decision is appealed, the two cases can be consolidated.

Summit’s amendment petition with the IUC, per Dublinske and the filing, does not seek to do away with the IUC’s protections against a “pipeline to nowhere.” Instead of listing North Dakota as the ending point, Summit asks the permit be changed to instead condition pipeline construction to the company’s securement of “access to one or more sequestration sites and permits or agreements to allow it to reach such storage.”

Opponents suggested the amendment means that Summit plans to change its original route, which would have ended in North Dakota where the CO2 could be pumped into an underground rock formation.  A spokesperson for Summit said Friday the amendment “keeps open the option to transport CO2 west through Nebraska or north through South Dakota.”

Judge Beattie said he will work to issue an order as soon as possible, though he suspected it would be a “couple of weeks” before he able to issue a written order.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Thursday, said the DNR ordered Vision Atlantic, Inc., to pay an $8,000 administrative penalty associated with illegal discharges into state waters. The Consent Order required Vision Atlantic to cease all illegal discharges and to comply with all conditions of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The penalty was paid on Sept. 24th.  (Read details about the Administrative Consent Order here: 2025WW19

A consent order is issued as an alternative to issuing an administrative order. A consent order indicates that the DNR has voluntarily entered into a legally enforceable agreement with the other party.

The DNR says its staff work with individuals, businesses and communities to help them protect our natural resources by complying with state and federal laws. The approach is very effective, they noted. In the few cases where compliance cannot be achieved, the DNR issues enforcement actions.

Find the entire, original orders on DNR’s website at www.iowadnr.gov/EnforcementActions