(Radio Iowa) – A disease that quickly kills domestic and wild rabbits is confirmed in two states that border Iowa and state DNR officials are asking Iowans to be vigilant for signs it’s arrived here. State wildlife veterinarian Dr. Rachel Ruden says rabbit hemorrhagic disease is killing the animals in several states, including Minnesota and South Dakota. “What we’re asking for is unusual reports of dead rabbits,” Ruden says, “so, rabbits that might seemingly look in good condition but are dead and in someone’s yard or at someone’s farm.” If you spot one or several dead rabbits, don’t touch them — but instead reach out to Ruden’s office through email or the phone number below.

“Domestic rabbits are also very susceptible to this disease, so contact us and we’ll take care of getting that carcus, limiting exposure beyond that area and taking the precautions necessary,” Ruden says, “and then we’ll screen those animals and figure out if there’s something that elevates the concern of testing for rabbit hemorrhagic disease.” Hunters are out in Iowa’s forests and fields now, looking for rabbits, as the cottontail season runs September through February.

(Photo by Karl Schilling)

This disease shouldn’t be a worry for hunters as it proves fatal to rabbits swiftly. “Following infection, there’s a rapid deterioration and we’d expect death within maybe 24 or 36 hours,” Ruden says. “It’s unlikely that a hunter would encounter an animal that was in the process of dying and happen to harvest that animal, but even if they did, this is not a disease of concern that people could actually get, it’s just the rabbits.”

The initial outbreak was in New Mexico in March of 2020 and the virus has since moved across the Southwest, Mountain and Great Plains states. Ruden says it can be spread from rabbit to rabbit, by predators, insects, and even by vehicle traffic. She says keeping the virus on Iowans’ radar is key to minimizing its impact should it show up here.

Contact Ruden at rachel.ruden@dnr.iowa.gov or 515-294-8205.

ATLANTIC, IA (October 21, 2021) – Produce in the Park’s holiday farmers markets have been scheduled for the 2021-2022 season, and Produce in the Park is now accepting vendor applications for all holiday markets. This year, four holiday markets will be held at the Cass County Community Center: Harvest Market (Nov. 22, the Monday before Thanksgiving), Christmas Market (Dec. 23), Sweetheart Market (Feb. 12), and Spring Celebration Market (April 16, the day before Easter).

These markets are scheduled just before holidays, so customers can pick up local produce, baked goods, and meats to enjoy at their holiday meals. The markets also offer seasonal decorations, candles, soaps, and gifts by local crafters and artisans. Vendor spaces are now available for all holiday markets, and local farmers, bakers, artisans or crafters are invited to apply. Vendors interested in participating in holiday markets can find details and registration forms online at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com, or at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. Vendors who register for all four holiday markets by November 1, 2021 will receive a discount.

While Harvest Market has been a long-standing tradition, Christmas Market, Sweetheart Market, and Spring Celebration Market were just introduced last year. Strong sales and positive customer feedback about the markets and the opportunity to pre-order products led Produce in the Park to seek sponsorships for the additional holiday markets, and the online ordering system. Produce in the Park is committed to offering online pre-ordering at all four holiday markets this season.

Holiday farmers markets are sponsored by the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission, First Whitney Bank and Trust, Camblin Mechanical, Cass County Tourism, and Cass County Farm
Bureau. Harvest Market is also being sponsored by Lindeman Tractor, and Christmas Market is being sponsored by Meyer & Gross. Christmas Market online shopping is being sponsored by
Smith Land Service. Produce in the Park is seeking additional sponsors for Sweetheart and Spring Celebration Markets, as well as online shopping sponsors for all markets except
Christmas. Businesses and organizations interested in sponsorship should contact Market Manager Brigham Hoegh at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com or 712-249-5870.
A full list of holiday market event details, vendors, and information on pre-ordering will be available online at the Produce in the Park website www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com
closer to the market dates. Follow Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/) for the latest information.

(Radio Iowa) – Two pro-ethanol groups are asking the Biden Administration to take immediate steps to expand market opportunities for E-15. Officials from the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association are leading the effort to promote the blend. Grant Menke, with the Corn Growers, says they met with cabinet members last week over high gas prices and forwarded a letter to President Biden. “It would be appropriate to showcase some of the benefits that biofuels could play in combating those high fuel prices,” Menke says. “We urged the administration to finalize the E-15 labeling rule and also allowing E-15 to be sold through E-10-approved underground storage tanks and dispensers.”

Menke says another important step the president must take involves restrictions on when the fuel is made available to the public. Menke says, “EPA should propose and finalize a rule to limit the volatility of gasoline blend stocks which would allow E-15 to be sold year-round.” A recent court ruling pushed E-15 sales back three years to where it can only be sold eight-and-a-half months out of the year. Menke says the climate solution the Biden administration is searching for is available through corn-based ethanol. “It reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50% compared to gasoline,” Menke says. “If we are serious about climate change, carbon reduction, cleaner air, now is the time to unleash the power of high-octane, low-cost E-15.”

He says there are more than three-billion gallons of ethanol production capacity that could be used to fight inflationary pressures.

w/Brandon Schuering.

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(Radio Iowa) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has visited the picket line outside the John Deere plant in Ankeny. Vilsack told the U-A-W members he’s there for them because they were there for him 23 years ago. The union endorsed Vilsack’s successful 1998 campaign for governor when he was trailing in the polls and Vilsack says that’s something he won’t forget. Vilsack later told reporters he hopes the strike is resolved quickly and fairly. Current Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s confident the union and the company will come to some resolution.  “John Deere is a great company with a phenomenal workforce,” Reynolds says, “and this is part of the collective bargaining process.”

More than 10-thousand John Deere workers went on strike last Thursday after rejecting the company’s first contract offer. Negotiations resumed Monday. “I’m just hopeful that we can find resolution sooner rather than later,” Reynolds says. Reynolds, who grew up in the St. Charles area, has family members who worked at John Deere during previous strikes.

“My dad worked for John Deere for 40 years. My dad’s dad — my grandpa — worked for John Deere for many years. My dad’s brothers, my grandpa’s brothers all worked for John Deere. It was a stressful time when they would go on strike,” Reynolds says. “I had family members on both sides of the issue, but eventually at every point they were able to reach a resolution that really benefits both sides.”

Reynolds made her comments inside a manufacturing facility in Adel. Deere and Company operates plants in Ankeny, Davenport, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo. The union is seeking better pay and health care benefits as well as an end to a two-tiered system that pays workers hired in the past 24 years less than those hired BEFORE October, 1997.

(Iowa DNR News) – Drivers are advised to stay alert as they travel Iowa’s roadsides over the coming weeks. Autumn deer behavior, crop harvest and peak travel times for motorists combine to hike the risk of vehicle-deer collisions in Iowa. From the middle of October until the third week of November, Iowa bucks become more active in the pursuit of does during the breeding season. Motorist may be distracted by the first deer that crosses not seeing the pursuing buck. This adds to multiple scenarios of fast moving, unpredictable deer crossing highways.

The crop harvest is also in full swing, concentrating deer into remaining cover that is often brushy creeks, trees or fence lines which often intersect with roads. A third factor will be the change away from daylight savings time on November 7, placing more Iowans behind the wheel during the deer-heavy dawn and dusk periods.

A few ways to give drivers an edge during this period are to reduce speed, increase following distance from other cars, and to sweep eye movements from ditch to ditch, especially during those low light periods and when approaching those brushy or tree lined ‘funnels’ near roads. Drivers are also encouraged not to ‘veer for deer,’ leaving the lane of traffic could cause a collision with another vehicle or a roadside obstacle, such as a utility pole or culvert.

Iowa’s deer herd is managed to provide a harvest of between 100,000 and 120,000 annually, that is achieved by providing additional opportunities for hunters to harvest does. Last year, Iowa hunters reported harvesting nearly 110,000 deer.

(Iowa DNR News) – Fun abounds statewide for those in search of color and good times outdoors. Enjoy a fall drive and take in all the beautiful colors this weekend. Plenty of fall color is lingering in northeast Iowa. Fall color will be at its peak in central Iowa this week.  Urban maple is showing a few brighter reds and oranges in southeast Iowa. Hard maple is at peak color in the urban landscapes in south-central Iowa.

Warm nights have slowed color changes in west-central and southwest Iowa. Yellows are just starting to appear on the bottomlands in the Missouri River Corridor.

Go to the Weekly Fall Colors Report

(Radio Iowa) – One of the sure signs of fall, Iowans are seeing huge congregations of birds filling the morning and evening skies, giant clouds of feathered creatures that often take several minutes to pass. Steve Dinsmore, a central Iowa ornithologist and bird watcher, says it’s typical during this time of the year to spot birds migrating in tremendously large numbers over Iowa. “Those could represent a number of different species of birds,” Dinsmore says. “One of them is European starlings, so we call those a murmuration of starlings. We also, right now, have very, very large numbers of blackbirds, primarily redwing blackbirds and common grackles, and also other species that are also migrating. Those birds, just like starlings, form these large, wavy, meandering flocks.”

Dinsmore is a professor of Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Iowa State University. He says birds of a feather do flock together for several reasons. “One of them certainly deals with predator avoidance, a sort of safety-in-numbers component,” Dinsmore says. “These birds also feed en mass so one of the other advantages of them associating in flocks is the transfer of information about foraging sites or feeding sites. They do that through these large flocks as they’ve moving to and from roosting and feeding areas.”

Migrating birds. (ISU photo)

The miles-long undulating flocks are fascinating to watch and may contain tens of thousands of birds, perhaps more. “One of the real fun questions to try and answer is, ‘How many are there?’ and certainly, those flocks are very, very large, to the point where you can’t count individuals,” Dinsmore says. “Sometimes, we use estimation techniques or approximation techniques. Pushing 100,000 is pretty unusual but there are records in the hundreds of thousands and some estimates even up to a million individuals.”

Some Iowans who live in larger cities may even be surprised to spot wild turkeys in their back yards, though they’re typically thought of as more of a “country” bird.

w/Kate Olson.

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