(Radio Iowa) – A majority of Iowa remains in dry or drought conditions — but things have improved quite a bit in the last month. The D-N-R’s Tim Hall tracks the water summary. “You compare the drought monitor map from early March to late March — we saw significant improvement. At the beginning of March, about 90 percent of the state was rated in some form of dryness and drought — now we are down to 60 percent,” according to Hall. He says turning things around is not a quick process.  “You have to remember that the drought that we came through last year that we are still kind of working out way of, was so deeply entrenched in that state that it’s just going to take awhile to slowly dig ourselves out of those precipitation deficits we’ve been at,” according to Hall. He says the driest areas start in central Iowa and move east and north.

“Up toward Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, up toward northeast Iowa, sort of that east-central part of the state they’ve had some pretty good rainfall over the last month. Northeast Iowa has been pretty wet, in fact we saw some reductions in the Drought Monitor just in that east-central, northeast Iowa location just in the last week or two,” he says. “So, they’re getting what they need in that part of the state.” There are still some areas to the west that could use more rain as they have D-2 or severe drought. “In Monona and Pottawattamie County in western Iowa, just about two percent of the state. That’s a little bit troubling to see that creep in, because that’s a part of the state where we’ve had some drought challenges in the past,” he says. Hall says the increased rainfall hasn’t caused any problems. 

“We have not seen any substantial flooding this spring, which is a great thing for us not to have. And it kind of indicates that the rain we’ve gotten in addition to getting the right total inches of rain, it’s also come over very slow, long periods of time, and it’s had a chance to soak into the ground. So that part of the precipitation in March has also been really, really helpful,” Hall says. He says everything worked well with the snowmelt as well. “The snowpack was not significant, the snowmelt came very gradually — so really, the timing of the rain and snowfall has been almost ideal,” Hall says.

You can see Iowa’s water resource trends at: www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate

DES MOINES, Iowa (April 6, 2022) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have confirmed a positive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Hardin County, Iowa. The virus was found in a commercial turkey flock. This brings the total number of cases of HPAI in Iowa, to 16.

Flock owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds and report sick birds or unusual deaths to state/federal officials. Biosecurity resources and best practices are available at iowaagriculture.gov/biosecurity. If producers suspect signs of HPAI in their flocks, they should contact their veterinarian immediately.

Possible cases should also be reported to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at (515) 281-5305.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – According to local conservation officials, Cass County has one of the best views in Southwest Iowa, to observe spring woodland wildflowers right here outside Atlantic. The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Wildflower Walk as a way to encourage you to get back to nature. The FREE program will be held at the Pellett Memorial Woods a little north of Atlantic, beginning at 9-a.m. on April 30th.

Oak Strollers Nature Club for Families are welcome to join at this event! The CCCB invites you to walk through the early spring wildflowers with our naturalist. Learn the names, uses and history of these Wildflowers. Those in attendance will meet at Pellett Memorial Woods- located one-half mile north and three-quarters of a mile east of the KJAN radio station.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is now taking Pre-orders for their Native Plant Sale (see the PDF form link below). The order form and payment will be DUE April 29th 2022 at 4PM. Forms can be found online https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/conservation-office/.

Native Local Eco-type live Plants will be sold. Live plants from nursery will come as small plugs; cells are 5” deep x 2” wide at top or 4.5”deep x 2” Cone. 1 Specie of Native grass, and 9 Native Forbs including many that benefit Pollinators! All orders must be picked up during designated times at our offices in Lewis unless prior arrangements made. Designated pick up times will be: Thursday May 26th 8 AM-6 PM OR Friday May 27th 8AM-7PM. Plants not picked up will be donated with NO REFUND.

plantorderformCCCB2022[116187]

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge is going to use a donate vacant store from Casey’s for the future home of its Biofuel Testing lab. Iowa Central president, Jesse Ulrich, says  He says they started the biofuel lab ten years ago and it was one of the first back then and now they are looking to expand it to better serve Iowa and the rest of the country as well. Ulrich says they are in the planning stages after Casey’s agreed to give them the building. He says they hope to get bids this summer and it will take one year to 18 months to build it.

Ulrich says it will allow them to get students more involved in the biofuels testing lab. “What we’re really looking at is being able to expand that into having more and more students take part through apprenticeships and learning from that lab,” according to Ulrich. “And by vacating chemistry labs or some type of classroom space for the general academic side as well.”

The new center will be located on the west side of Fort Dodge near the Iowa Central campus and not far from a Bio Ag center where Cargill, Valero Energy, and CJ BIO have production and processing facilities.

(Radio Iowa) – A key House member says now is the time to pass a moratorium to prevent developers from seeking government condemnation of land along proposed carbon pipeline routes before February 1st. Republican SENATOR Dennis Guth, of Klemme, recently said the plan does absolutely nothing, because the Iowa Utilities Board process for eminent domain wouldn’t start before next February anyway. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, disagrees.

“You can say that the eminent domain legislation didn’t go far enough. You can say that eminent domain legislation is not needed,” Kaufmann says, “but to state that the language that the House passed is useless is ignorant.” According to Guth, he’s been assured by the chair of the Iowa Utilities Board that the rules for seeking eminent domain would stretch the process out well into next year. Kaufmann says the point of the House proposal is to address the fears of property owners who do not want the pipelines to pass through their land or feel pressured to sign leases with the developers.

“Landowners who don’t believe what Senator Guth says about the IUB timeline. They don’t believe what I say about the IUB timeline. They don’t believe what the pipeline companies say about the IUB timeline,” Kaufmann says. “They believe that once we leave, the playing field changes, so putting a moratorium on eminent domain until we’re back is a very impactful thing.” Kaufmann says the moratorium — which would be in effect while the legislature is NOT in session — is designed to send a message to the pipeline developers, too.

“To pass pipeline legislation regarding eminent domain is a message to the pipeline companies that we have an expectation as a legislature for you to negotiate fairly,” Kaufmann says. “…Heads up, we’re willing to act. You can say, again, that you’d like it go further and you can say we don’t need it at all, but it is not useless, but it definitely does things.”

Senator Guth says he’s working with Senate leaders and others to develop a long-term fix to present in the 2023 legislative session, to limit the broad use of eminent domain for private sector projects. The Senate has not yet taken a vote on the bill that includes the temporary moratorium on the subject that HOUSE members have approved.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture reports another confirmed case of the bird flu. This case is in Hamilton County in a flock of young turkeys known as poults. There are 16-thousand-200 birds in the flock. This is the second case confirmed in Hamilton County, the first was on March 28th, and this is the 13th case now confirmed statewide.

More than 13 million birds have now been destroyed in Iowa to prevent the spread of the virus.

Council Bluffs, Iowa – The Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency says a ban on open burning will be in place for Pottawattamie County beginning Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at 8:00 a.m.

The ban prohibits all open and controlled burning in Pottawattamie County, including all incorporated city limits within the county. The current weather forecast and environmental conditions indicate a very high fire danger with winds gusting to over 40 mph over the next couple days. The current dry conditions and dead vegetative fuels creates the perfect conditions for fires to spread rapidly.

Fire departments within the county have been responding to increased controlled burns that have gotten out of control, endangering property. During these dry conditions, citizens are reminded to not throw out cigarettes from moving vehicles and to discontinue burning yard waste, piled tree debris, grass/agricultural ground and set-asides or other items during the ban. At this time, the ban is anticipated to remain in effect until after planting season or if the county receives substantial increases in precipitation.

Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to citation or arrest for reckless use of fire or disobeying a burn ban. You may also be liable for any damages, losses, or injuries resulting from the fire.

For updated information on burn bans and the law you can find further information on our facebook, twitter, and web page. All citizens are urged to sign up for Alert Iowa at pcema-ia.org to receive alerts for fire danger, severe weather, and emergency notifications for your community.

(Radio Iowa) – Morningside university’s agricultural program continues to grow, with a new greenhouse on the Sioux City campus to give students some hands-on growing experience. Department head Tom Paulsen says the greenhouse has space for many different projects and modern technology to water the plants. “The flood benches — we’re hooked into a system where we can set how ofter they are watered based on the transpiration of the plant — it’s called vapor pressure deficit. All of our benches now are automatically watered. And they are watered from the bottom up,” he says.

Senior Gage Dewsbury says another project involves using fish to help grow a crop. He says they use the fish waste to get nitrates to fertilize the plants and then the water is recycled back to the beginning. Dewsbury says that system is used to grow lettuce and other leafy greens that are used on campus. “We will send a lot of the lettuce and stuff to the school cafeteria. And then the amaranth and the other stuff actually goes to an ethnic food market in town,” Dewsbury says.

The Rosen Ag Center and Lags Greenhouse are located on the former site of the old Longfellow elementary school building.