(Radio Iowa) – Licenses for a chance to snag one of the state’s most unique fish are now on sale. The D-N-R’s Missouri River fisheries supervisor, Chris Larson, says paddlefishing licenses are on sale through January 7th.”It’s one fish per license that you can purchase two licenses of there’s some available after January one,” he says. The season starts February 1st and runs through April 30th on the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers. The paddlefish season returned in 2015 and Larson says there are still many who like to participate. “It’s kind of remained pretty steady the last few years, it’s been around 300 to 400 licenses sold per year. Most of the non residents only sell out — there are 50 non-resident licenses — but we have plenty of resident licenses available,” he says.

Paddlefishing stopped in 1986 to protect fish numbers, and Larson says they have done okay since things restarted. “They’ve remained stable over our sampling. We did some sampling back in the middle 2000s and Nebraska and Missouri also look at their populations,” Larson says. “They’re all pretty steady as far as the numbers go, and paddlefish move all up and down the river. They go from Gavin’s Point Dam up north of Sioux City, all the way down to Tennessee and back.”

Paddlefish are snagged on the bottom of the river with heavy duty rods and 50 to 100 pound test line. Larson says you need to physically be ready because snagging involves more work than simply dropping a line in the water and waiting — but he says it’s also not that difficult to do. The drought has left water levels lower in the Missouri — which Larson says may be a good thing for those seeking the paddlefish.

Paddlefish catch(DNR-photo)

“It should probably help concentrate the fish into the deeper pools. So yes, it could be an advantage advantageous season depending on what Mother Nature does with snowfall and snow melt and stuff,” he says. I know in the past I’ve heard from different paddlefish anglers that they do better earlier in the season before the fish start moving up river. And sometimes they do better later in the season because it’s been too cold and the fish aren’t moving yet. So it kind of varies from year to year.”

A resident paddlefish license costs 25-50 and a nonresident license is 49 dollars. You must also have a valid Iowa fishing license. For more information about Iowa’s special paddlefish season, visit www.iowadnr.gov/paddlefish.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa hunters will get a second chance to bring home a deer with a new season. The D-N-R’s, Tyler Harms, says they’re calling it the excess tag January season. “That season will be implemented in counties that have unsold county antlerless licenses available on January 10th,” Harms says. He says the season will help them achieve the goal of the antlerless season. “Every county in the state has a county antlerless license quota, and it’s those licenses that that we allocate primarily for population management of deer in those counties,” he says. Harms says it can be a good extra chance for hunters to get a deer.

“I encourage hunters to take advantage of that opportunity if they were interested,” Harms says. “It is a limited method of take season — so only centerfire rifles, calibers to 223 to 500 are allowed for use during that season. So that is something to consider.” Harms says you can easily find out online where you can hunt. “We do have information on our website as well on as on the go outdoors Iowa app where hunters can monitor the remaining licenses available on January 10th. So, come that day, they should be able to go online and see which counties have licenses remaining and whether or not they want to try to obtain any of those licenses,” according to Harms.

The second regular shotgun deer season wrapped up on December 18th.

(Radio Iowa) – The annual Iowa State University survey has found the average price of an acre of farmland set a record again at 11-thousand-411 dollars. I-S-U’s Wendong Zhang oversees the survey. “This represents a 17 percent growth over the past year, and this is really phenomenal because that when you’re thinking about over the past few years — last year 2021 Iowa will farmland values rose 29 percent — and so this is a ramp up that is that we haven’t seen since the 1980s, essentially,” Zhang says.

Zhang says the inflation adjusted farmland value was a nearly nine percent increase — which is also a record. He says it is the first time since they since they started collecting information in the 1940s that both the regular and inflation adjust values have set records. He says overall medium quality ground rose the most at 17-point-seven percent, the high quality ground rose about 17 percent, and the low quality ground rose 15 percent. Each county saw an increase. “All 99 counties rose 10 percent or more — so it all rose between 10 percent to about 22 percent,” he says.

Zhang says landowners are happy to see an increase in their land value — but do wonder how long it will last. “There are more growing concerns about the sustainability of the land market growth, and also the elevated entry barriers for beginning farmers and less resource to farmers to enter the market because of the higher prices,” he says. Zhang says commodity prices are the number one reason those in the survey say prices have increased — as everyone was thinking four-dollar a bushel corn would be good — and nobody was expecting corn to get to six and seven dollars. He says there are several reasons for that rise — including the conflict in Ukraine.

“The Russia Ukraine war, the geopolitical uncertainty essentially further pushed up the commodity prices,” he says. “And the strengths and the stability in the U-S market, and the consistency and the quantity of the U-S agricultural markets sort of benefited from that.” He says corn and beans aren’t the only commodities seeing the impact. “This is happening for soybeans and for hay as well. But also this time, we are also seeing tremendous growth in terms of the livestock prices as well. And when you are thinking about especially cattle prices,” Zhang says.

He says this has shown up in the increased growth in land values in the northwest part of the state as there’s a significant presence of cattle producers, and to a lesser extent hogs. He says producers need to have land to spread manure on for nutrient management purposes, so they are more aggressive in bidding nearby grounds.

• KJAN, Atlantic  .8″
• Massena  3″
• Corning  2.5″
• Red Oak  1.5″
• Logan  .5″
• Carroll  2″

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The acquisition of land in Minnesota could help boost the water quality in northwest Iowa’s Spirit Lake. The Spirit Lake Protective Association’s, John Smeltzer, says he’s been worried for a decade about the amount of sediment being pumped from the cropland north of the lake — and that’s why they’ve partnered with a Minnesota conservation organization to buy the 195 acres to restore it to wetland and prairie.

“Cause Iowans drink this water. Iowans come to this area to birdwatch to enjoy the wildlife. And also to know that the wildlife is being cared for,” Smeltzer says. The watershed protection project is expected to decrease phosphorus and nitrogen deposits by 85 percent. Smeltzer says it also will restore habitat for diverse types of waterfowl, like trumpeter swans and Sandhill cranes. Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation communications director Joe Jayjack says the hope is to significantly reduce the amount of runoff that makes its way from the often flooded parcel of land.

“It’s a place for this water to go into to slow down, have the plants that are naturally occurring in these wetland areas pull out a lot of those nutrients and clean the water before it can go into these bigger lake systems,” he says. Jayjack estimates it will take two to three years until the natural habitat is restored. The land will then become a Waterfowl Production Area and be managed by the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service.

(reporting By Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

ATLANTIC, IA (December 19, 2022) – Due to a winter storm predicted for Thursday, the in-person Christmas Market has been cancelled for 2022. All pre-orders for Christmas Market can be picked up from the Cass County Community Center on Wednesday, December 21, from 3-7 PM. Christmas Market continues to accept pre-orders through December 20 at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com, however some vendors will stop taking new orders Monday night, December 19, in order to have time to prepare for Wednesday’s pickup.

Any shopper who has placed a pre-order for Christmas Market who cannot pickup on Wednesday, December 21, should email or call Produce in the Park Market Manager Brigham Hoegh at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com or 712-249-5870.

There was much excitement for the free kids’ activities, including a bounce house and crafts, that were planned for Christmas Market at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA. Sweetheart Market will be held at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA on Saturday, February 11 from noon to 3:00 PM. The YMCA will offer a free bounce house and craft fun for kids at that market.

The Atlantic Archery program hosted a large tournament with 29 teams competing in elementary, middle school, and high school levels this past Saturday, December 10th. In the traditional bullseye tournament Atlantic tied with Spencer at the top of the High School Division with 3299 points. Mariah Hadley was the top ranked high school girl with 290 points. Conner Johnson took the top spot for high school boys with 289 points and Carter Smith was 3rd with 284 points.

In the 3D Tournament Spencer came away with the title in the High School Division, with Atlantic 2nd. Conner Johnson was 2nd amongst high school boys with 286pts and Halle Copeland was 3rd amongst high school girls with 277 points.

Find the full results from all levels of the competition HERE

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans make grand plans for New Year’s Eve, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is urging those who love the outdoors to commit to an event on New Year’s Day. Sherry Arntzen, chief of the Iowa D-N-R’s Parks, Forests and Preserves Bureau, says this will be the 10th year for the state’s First Day Hike Challenge. “First Day Hikes are a great way to get out and start the new year out in nature,” Arntzen says. “Our parks are open all year, I don’t know how many people take advantage of that. It’s just a great way to get out there and not only to enjoy the sights and the sounds that you can see in the wintertime, but creating those memories with your family and friends.”

While the immediate forecast is for very cold weather to move in, the picture could be much different by the time January 1st arrives. Arntzen says the events will go on, no matter what the forecast. “It varies, obviously,” Arntzen says. “The winter may play into people’s decisions but we’ve had people who have braved some of the coldest weather that we’ve had, and we’ve had years where it’s been mild and just absolutely an enjoyable way to spend the morning or an afternoon.”

When the First Day Hike Challenge started, hikers were led on guided hikes through the parks by park rangers and caretakers. During COVID, hikers were instead encouraged to check in using their Park Passports.  “For this year, we’re offering both,” Arntzen says. “Your hikes that you can do on your own at your own leisure and check in and be eligible to win a two-night stay at Pine Lake State Park cabins, or we do have 17 of our parks that are continuing to offer a designated time with a guided hike.”

More than 50 state parks and forests are doing the Park Passport check-ins this time, from December 30th through January 1st. In addition to the guided hikes, several parks will host get-togethers, providing hot chocolate and snacks.

On the web at www.iowadnr.gov/firstdayhikes