(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s not giving up on her plan to boost the sale of corn-based ethanol and biodiesel, which is made with soybeans.  “We’re going to continue to do everything we can to drive renewable fuels,” Reynolds says. “We lead the country in renewable fuel energy. We’re the leading producer of corn, one or two in soybeans and so it’s a really important industry to the state.”

A bill requiring gas stations and convenience stores to offer fuel with a 15 percent ethanol blend by 2026 has been discussed in the legislature and there’s a senate subcommittee hearing on the concept today (Thursday). However, time is running out for a plan to clear all hurdles in the legislature and reach the governor’s desk this year.”Unfortunately, I don’t get everything I want. I try my hardest, but it’s just a reality of the legislative process,” Reynolds said, “so we won’t give up on it, but if I can’t get it through, we’ll continue to look for ways that we can continue to build the industry.”

If the bill falters, Reynolds says this summer and fall she will convene meetings of the stakeholders in the debate. That would include the Corn Growers and biofuel producers that back the bill and representatives of gas stations and convenience stores that have lobbied against it.  “We should be partners in this…I’ve already talked to different stakeholders and have indicated this is my intent,” Reynolds says, “and let’s see what we can do and maybe come back next year and come back in a unified position.”

Retailers say they’d have to spend as much as a billion dollars to meet the state ethanol mandate and those costs would be passed along to consumers. Corn growers say expanding access to E-15 would increase demand for corn by 23 million bushels and provide a 140-million dollar boost to the economy.

(Radio Iowa) – The state’s biofuel industry is urging Iowa lawmakers to take action on an ethanol bill that has stalled in the legislature. Earlier this year, Governor Kim Reynolds proposed requiring gas stations and convenience stores to offer E-15, the fuel with a 15 percent blend of ethanol. Supporters of the concept in the legislature have crafted a bill that requires E-15 access at every fueling station in Iowa by 2028. The bill hasn’t passed the full House or the Senate.

The Iowa Corn Growers and Iowa Ethanol Producers Associations along with ethanol plant operators Growth Energy and POET have issued a joint statement, saying every Iowa driver should have the freedom to choose E-15. According to the group’s calculations, increased availability and use of E-15 would save Iowa drivers 72 million dollars a year on fuel costs.

FuelIowa, a group representing the state’s fuel industry, says the mandate will eliminate choice and the cost of installing new gas pumps will raise prices for consumers.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – There’s some concern about the slow seed development for corn that’s already planted due to the recent cooler conditions. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Crops Specialist, Joel DeJong, covers northwest Iowa. He says some fields have been planted for three weeks. “We had a really nice spell the first five or six days of April where it was nice and warm every day, and everybody got jumpy and itchy about getting some fieldwork done,” DeJong says. “Not many people planted, but a few people did and we haven’t had enough growing degree days since then to actually get any of those seeds out of the ground. Right now they are still below the surface.”

He says the worry is the seeds will never come up. “The longer it is in the ground before emerging does create higher risk, and sometimes it is a negative thing,” according to DeJong. “We might’ve been dry enough that perhaps it didn’t cause a big risk for us. It’s a watch and see thing,” he says. Dejong recently got into a field and check the seed in the ground. “It was about a quarter-inch shoot on it. So it has not moved very much. It’s still got almost two inches before it hits the surface. We’ve got a long way to go before we are going to see those crops — unless it stays really warm every day — then we might see it go quicker,” DeJong says.

He says there weren’t any other problems he noticed other than the lack of growth. “The few seeds that I dug out of the thousands that are out there — they all looked good – so hopefully the rest are looking good and hanging in there,” DeJong says. DeJong says farmers are still within the window of opportunity for ideal crop development with maximum yields, but he says we do need some warmer weather.

The weekly crop condition report out Monday showed farmers statewide have planted 20 percent of their intended corn crop.

(Radio Iowa) – Snow and cold didn’t keep all farmers from pulling out the planter last week. The weekly U-S-D-A crop report shows despite the weather delays 20 percent of Iowa’s corn crop has been planted — that’s one day behind the five-year average. Last week’s report showed just four percent of the corn in the ground.

Some farmers did plant soybeans this past week and six percent of that crop is now planted — that’s three days ahead of normal. There were only scattered reports of beans planted in the previous report.

(Radio Iowa) – Temperatures are predicted to warm up this week after a couple of hard frost nights last week. Iowa State University horticulture specialist, Cindy Haynes, says most plants will probably recover from the cold snaps. “Some things that were hit by a really hard freeze — like temperatures in the 20s — you might see a little bit of damage on the new tip growth or the flowers. That might impact things that are supposed to fruit, like fruit trees. But most things, it’s not going to impact,” Haynes says.

The plant damage depends on where you live. She says northern Iowa was a little colder and there may be more damage there than in central and southern Iowa as temperatures there only dropped into the 30s. If you’re itching to get out and plant your garden — Haynes says don’t let the warm temperatures fool you. “Most of the warm season crops like tomatoes and peppers should not really be planted outside until early to mid May. Early may maybe in southern Iowa and more mid-May for northern Iowa,” according to Haynes.

She says one date usually signals things are safe from a late frost. “After Mother’s Day it’s usually pretty safe to plant those outside,” she says. Haynes says everyone has been anxious to get outside — but the recent up and down weather patterns should be a good reminder that temperatures can change a lot this time of year. “It’s actually been a pretty nice spring for most flowering things — because we’ve had the daffodils longer than normal. So, enjoy what’ here now, because it could change tomorrow,” Haynes says.

Haynes says some people may have already gotten their tomatoes and pepper plants and are just itching to get them in the ground.

(Radio Iowa) – More than 50 agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau, are backing a measure now before the U-S Senate called the Growing Climate Solutions Act. Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman says it’s solid legislation that will help farmers to address climate change.  “It is designed to lead us to real changes on the ground so that farmers can use climate-smart practices,” Lehman says, “and have some assurances that they’re going to be rewarded for those practices.”

Lehman says the bill calls for a U-S-D-A-led certification program to assist farmers and ranchers in identifying reliable carbon credit programs. “It’s extremely important to know we have reliable partners in this,” he says. “If we have uncertainty about who farmers can work with reliably, that will set us back years in trying to develop this process.” At least 17 Republicans have joined 17 Democrats in signing onto the legislation. Lehman says having bipartisan backing is essential in getting anything accomplished. “Congress is fairly evenly divided and really, to pass good legislation regarding climate change, you have to have broad support both in agriculture as a whole, and when your talking about individual representatives and senators.”

A companion measure is being introduced in the House.

(Radio Iowa) – You may know the song that includes the line, “Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch,” but most Iowans have never tasted or even seen the fruit from trees that once thrived in our state. An effort is underway to educate Iowans about pawpaws and bring the trees back from obscurity. Jason Taylor, executive director of the Bur Oak Land Trust in eastern Iowa, says pawpaws have a long history in Iowa and across much of the country. “This is the largest fruit that is native to North America and they’re similar in shape to a potato,” Taylor says. “They taste between a mango and a banana, so they have a very tropical flavor to them. These are trees that used to be very prevalent in Iowa and unfortunately, today, there’s very few of them left.”

In recent years, monarch butterflies have become the subject of much concern as their numbers are dwindling, and milkweed plants are key to the survival of the monarch, an important pollinator. There’s a similar story about pawpaws and a threatened insect. “What we want to do is bring the pawpaw back to Iowa and the reason for that is not just because it’s an awesome tree that is no longer around, but there’s also a specific butterfly species, called the zebra swallowtail. The caterpillar of that butterfly actually eats the leaves of the pawpaws and nothing else,” Taylor says. “So, if the pawpaw goes away, this butterfly goes away.”

Pawpaw Tree (Via Arborday.org.)

The pawpaw is known by a variety of names, including the Appalachian banana, the custard apple and the banango. Taylor says many people who’ve had pawpaws love the flavor and use the fruit in a variety of recipes, from ice cream to cocktails and specialty beer brews.  “If you like mangoes, you’d probably like a pawpaw,” Taylor says. “The problem with pawpaws is that the fruit goes from fresh off the tree, where it’s the best and most ripe, to pretty much rotten within about three days, so it’s a fairly difficult fruit to actually sell to market.”

The trust is launching the “Foster a Pawpaw” project, where participants can register to care for pawpaw seedlings from May 1st through early October. Hundreds of the seedlings will be planted this weekend as part of an Eagle Scout project. “We’re going to have community members take those seedlings and grow them over the summer for us, just to be a part of the action,” Taylor says. “Then we’re going to take them back for the wintertime, and then next spring, we’ll work with volunteers to plant those seedlings on our properties.”

The cost is $25 for a crate of nine potted pawpaw seeds. The nonprofit Bur Oak Land Trust, based in Iowa City, was created in 1978 to protect and conserve natural areas for future generations. It owns or manages nearly 900 acres of land in Johnson, Poweshiek and Washington counties — where pawpaw patches will be planted in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture is signing up those interested in getting a license for the second year of industrial hemp growing. Robin Pruisner oversees the program and says this year they have an online system that potential growers can use.  “We are able to license and send them their license right to their email. No mailing things back and forth. We are continuing to build out that software program where people will do their planting reports online, those pre-harvest notifications,” Pruisner says, “and we are just trying to make this very sleek and very efficient, instead of a lot of emails that might get lost.”

Pruisner says they now have the final federal rules and that will bring some changes.She says last year once the crop was tested, growers had just 15 days to harvest everything. Now under the U-S-D-A, they have 30 days. The hemp has to have a T-H-C level of point-three or lower to be acceptable. Pruisner says there are some more options available beyond just destroying the hemp if the crop fails to pass the test. She wasn’t sure what to expect in the first year. “In 2020 we issued 86 temp licenses in total over the course of the year. I would estimate that somewhere between 70 and 75 actually grew hemp,” Pruisner says.

Pruisner says there are a lot of reasons why someone may get a license and then not grow a crop. “I think some of it has to do with getting their hands on the seed or the transplants. I also know that there is an enormous amount of manual labor involved in hemp production,” according to Pruisner. “I think some realize earlier than others the amount of labor and maybe they weren’t prepared for that and maybe they don’t get it all done in time to get their crop in the ground.” Pruisner says finding a way to process and sell the hemp is an issue too. “I know of at least one hemp processor who has gone through the licensing process through the Department of Inspections and Appeals. But finding those buyers and processors is very difficult for people raising hemp,” she says.

Pruisner says many of the license applications she’s getting this year are from new growers who didn’t apply in the first year. She says that is not unusual based on what she has heard from other states. The application process is open through May 1st.

w/Kate Olson.

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