While the flooding on the Missouri River has caused a lot of headaches for the people living there, an expert with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it looks like its going to be a good thing for the animals that live in the river. Southwest Iowa fisheries supervisor, Chris Larson, says the flooding is having a major impact on the habitat.

“It’s kind of a biological payday for us in fisheries because the fish have been restricted to the channel for almost 57 years, and now they have this huge expanse of area to live and reproduce and grow and things like that,” Larson explains. Larson says there was an effort to improve the habitat before the flooding, and this is an extra benefit.

He says they obviously did not want to see the river flood to such extent that it damaged human property and lives, but he says there will be a small benefit from shallow habitat areas created that weren’t here before. He says the floodwaters are teaming with life.

Larson says crews have been doing some sampling and they are seeing “young of year” fish species all over the flood plain that they have not seen in the past, especially above Omaha where the river has rarely been out of its banks. He says they are seeing “paddlefish and saugers and blue suckers and all different kinds of species that’re taking advantage of the smorgasbord of food that’s left out there for ’em.”

Larson says there should be a wealth of good new fishing in the area after the floodwaters finally recede Larson says he can’t think of any fish species that have not been found in the floodplain in their limited sampling. The floodwaters are expecting to continue recede through the month of August.

(Radio Iowa)

For the third year in a row, an Adams County man has captured a State Fair title for a prize winning bull. Jim Stalcup‘s 2,768 pound bull “Bubba“ won the Super Bull category at the fair. For Stalcup, of Prescott, it was not only his third win in a row, but his sixth overall. Stalcup will celebrate 60-years in the cattle business, in 2012.

“Bubba” the bull was about 1,000 pounds heavier than the average bull, and more than double the size of market-weight cows that go to slaughter. The six-year old beast eats about a bushel of corn each day, but during the recent heat wave, he ate less than half of that, and lost about 300-pounds.

Bubba has sired about 300 calves since he came of age, five-years ago. His reign as a bull among bulls will come to an end after the fair, when he is sent to his demise, and future as hamburger.

An Audubon County teen was named the second runner-up during the selection of the State Fair Queen title, Saturday night. Chelsea Nelson, the daughter of Dave and Trudy Nelson, of Exira, was a finalist in the contest. The second runner-up wins $700 in scholarship money and a $250 Jordan Creek Mall gift card.

The title of Fair Queen went to Paris Schnepf, of Granville, in O’Brien County, who won a $2,800 scholarship and $600 gift card to the Jordan Creek shopping mall. Her name will also be placed on a brick at the Riley Stage, on the State Fairgrounds.

Cassie Galm, of Spencer, in Clay County was named 1^st runner-up, and Kelsey Orr, of Sioux City, in Woodbury County, was the third runner-up for the title.

The winners were chosen from 101 county queens, and had spent several days with judges at the fair. Last year’s Iowa State Fair Queen, was Lacy Stevenson.