(Radio Iowa) – The number of exhibitors in dairy cattle shows at this year’s Iowa State Fair is nearly identical to last year — despite new bird flu testing requirements for milking cows entered in the contests. Mike Eilers is the superintendent for dairy cattle at the Iowa State Fair. “There was definitely an increased number of heifers. At some of the farms, their heifers happened to be on a different location didn’t have to be tested if they didn’t have cows in that location,” Eilers say, “but there still was roughly 120 to 130 cows here at the show which is pretty good given all they had to go through with the testing and stuff.”

Eilers grew up on a dairy farm and showed Guernsey cattle, but has what he describes as an office job now. Eilers says for the past decade he’s been managing the State Fair dairy shows to stay connected to the industry and make sure kids, in particular, have a place to showcase their work. “Just to be able to come here and compete to see the quality of the animals they have and compare it to everybody else in the state and the other animals, and just to meet and hang out,” Eilers says. “There’s a lot of families and kids from all over the state that get to become friends just because they come to the fair.”

2024 Iowa State Fair Youth Dairy Show (RI photo)

Mike and Rhonda Guy of Newton were in the State Fair Livestock Pavilion this weekend, watching their granddaughter show her Brown Swiss heifer in the youth dairy show. “The value of this is tremendous. It teaches them a work ethic,” Guy said. “It’s nice to see them do things that we did as well — carry on a tradition, to some extent.” Rhonda Guy grew up on a dairy farm and showed Brown Swiss cattle as a kid. Watching her granddaughter in the show ring was a thrill. “It’s fun to be at the top of the class,” she says, “but just to be in the class at the Iowa State Fair is a big deal.” Mike Guy and his brother shut down their milking operation about 20 years after deciding they either had to expand or get out of the dairy business.

According to the latest data from the U-S-D-A, there were about a thousand dairy farms in Iowa in 2022.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is sponsoring a “Breakfast with the Birds” Program. The program will be held at Sunnyside Park, Camblin’s Addition Shelter in Atlantic, IA on August 17th 2024 at 9 am. Free will donations accepted.

Kay Neuman, Executive Director at S.O.A.R., Saving Our Avian Resources, will show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and will hopefully have one that is fully recovered and ready to release back into the wild.

Please help the Cass County Conservation Board support raptors and education, by attending this event.

Shelby, IA – An old- fashioned ice cream social is planned for Sunday, August 18, 2024 at Carstens 1880 Farmstead near Shelby.  This will be a family friendly event for all ages.  The ice cream social will begin at 5 p.m. and conclude at 7 p.m. Carstens Board member Terry Torneten says “Our annual ice cream social gets us in gear for the Farm Days show which happens in about three weeks. It is a great time to come out and enjoy being on the farm.”

Torneten adds, “The homemade ice cream will be made by Benny’s Ice Cream, Minden, Iowa. Benny’s Ice Cream is our board member Ben Ausdemore and his wife Katie. I hope we see a good crowd come out for ice cream again this year.”

The annual meeting of Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. to plan for the upcoming 42nd Annual Carstens Farm Days will take place during the ice cream social starting at 6 p.m. Reports will be given by various committees which have been organized for the show.

Members of Carstens Farm will be voting for three positions on the board of directors. The following board members’ terms are ending as of the date of the meeting: Charlie Leaders of Minden, Stan Kern of Shelby and Rick Newland of Persia will be up for re-election for another term. Additional nominations from the meeting attendees will be added to the ballot.

Continuing board members are David Dittmer and Gerald McCool of Minden, Bill Johnson of Shelby, Harvey Ferris of Missouri Valley and Terry Torneten of Harlan.  Results of the election will be announced following the meeting.

Carstens 1880 Farmstead is located at 32409 380th St, Shelby, just south of I-80 exit 34. Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteer members, maintains the farm as a working museum exhibit. It is located between Minden and Shelby, Iowa in Pottawattamie County. The farmstead is the home of Carstens Farm Days, which is held the first weekend after Labor Day each September.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information visit the web site: www.carstensfarm.com

(Radio Iowa) – A few hundred-thousand people are expected to pass through the Iowa State Fair gates this weekend, and they’re all being reminded about the importance of hydration, even if high temperatures are only forecast in the 70s. Des Moines District Fire Chief Ed Haase says they’re encouraging fairgoers to bring in something extra this year. “They can bring in a sealed water bottle, or they can bring in a reusable water bottle, water glass, whatever, as long as it’s empty when, if it’s a reusable one, as long as it’s empty when they come in,” Haase says. “The fair is allowing them, pretty similar to what TSA does at the airports.”

The fair has placed scores of water bottle refill stations throughout the fairgrounds, which Haase says makes it easier for visitors to stay hydrated. “If you go to the Iowa State Fair’s website, they actually have a link to water stations,” he says, “and it’ll give them…actually pinpointed on the map.”

A portion of the Iowa State Fair map showing all water refill stations.

Last year’s state fair was a scorcher, and dozens of people had to be rushed to nearby hospitals. Haase says most of them simply hadn’t been drinking enough water. “They present with a little bit of confusion, just general fatigue type of thing,” Haase says. “So that’s why we encourage people to stay hydrated. I would say probably 75% of what we did last year with transports to the hospital had something to do with dehydration.”

At last year’s fair, the Des Moines Fire Department responded to:
355 Medical Cart responses in the fairgrounds
58 transports to local hospitals
283 ice packs used at first aid stations
42 bee stings treated
969 bandaids used at first aid stations
3 grease fire responses

The Iowa State Fair runs through August 18th.

Click to access 2024-IAstFairMap_WaterFountains_RefillStations.pdf

(Radio Iowa) – This year’s “Big Boar” at the Iowa State Fair is the biggest — ever. The crowd at the “Big Boar” competition roared as this year’s winner weighed in and Swine Barn Superintendent Ernie Barnes announced the result. “1420 pounds,” Barnes said. “Congratulations!” That’s 120 pounds above the previous record. Bryan Britt of Monticello raised the big pig.

“I won in ’19 and then in ’21 as well and we were close the record, but I really had my goal set for the record…Back home, I’m know as the big boar guy,” Britt said, with a laugh. Britt, who is Irish, called the boar Finnegan, for good luck.”I’m a pork producer and I’ve been raising pigs all my life. I’ve raised this guy since birth,” Britt said. “For me to break that record…it’s really nice. I couldn’t believe that he was that much heavier.”

While some of the bulked up boars in these types of competitions eat things like donuts and drink milk in addition to about 20 pounds of feed a day, Britt says Finnegan is a finicky eater. Britt is keeping the ingredients in Finnegan’s standard ratios a bit of a trade secret. “I picked him out at birth, thinking he had a big skeleton. You’ve got to feed them right to get them to this size,” Britt says. “It just doesn’t happen overnight.” Finnegan is three and has a taste for what’s sometimes called the Irish champagne.

Bryan Britt of Monticello with Finnegan, the Iowa State Fair’s ‘Big Boar’ (RI photo)

“I’ve given him a Guinness and he seems to like that,” Britt says, with a laugh. Britt likes a pint on occasion as well. There were six other contestants in this year’s “big boar” competition at the State Fair. Britt’s boar weighed nearly 400 pounds more than his closest competitor. “This pig, when he was born, had a big frame and you have to feed them to get the skeletal muscle on them early and you have to let them get a frame before you start really letting them eat all they want to eat,” Britt says. “It’s really hard to get a pig to this size.”

Finnegan will spend the next 10 days in the Swine Barn at the Iowa State Fair, then due to biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of disease, Finnegan won’t return to Britt’s operation, but will spent the rest of his days on another farm nearby.

(Radio Iowa) – There are “multiple” sightings at the Iowa State Fair today (Thursday). Hundreds of twins and triplets of all ages have entered in the annual competition. Twenty-six-year Macey Mitchell and her twin sister Morgan are from Winterset — and Macey has three-year-old twins named Magnolia and Kimber. Macey spoke for her quad — all clothed in pale purple. “We come every year and we’re always matching and we’ve come since we were kids every year,” she said. “This is just something we do every summer and we love it.”

According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, women who are fraternal twins have a one in 60 chance of having twins. The chance is even greater for an identical twin. “I don’t know the odds. We were told it skips a generation, but that may or may not be true,” Macey Mitchell said, with a laugher. Morgan says she notices her nieces have the same kind of connection she and her twin did when they were young. “We have tried to figure out all the tricks they pull on us, since we were doing it first,” she says, “but they surprise us.”

Macey Mitchell and her twin sister Morgan, with Macey’s twins: Magnolia and Kimber.

This year’s blue ribbon twin babies at the State Fair are Edith and Ida, the children of Barbara Rodrigues and her husband Andrew. The twins are wearing matching outfits and head scarves today (Thursday). “It’s a design of sunflowers and sunshine,” Barbara said. “They are sunshine for us.”

There are two types of winners in the State Fair competition for multiples — for those who do not look much alike AND for those who do. Edith and Ida are identical twins. “I have always wanted a State Fair blue ribbon and I knew I would not get one,” Barbara says, “so I’m living vicariously through my children.” The twins will turn one in a few weeks.

(Radio Iowa) – A 25 million dollar project to restore the historic livestock barns Iowa State Fairgrounds is being celebrated on the first day of this year’s fair. Peter Cownie, executive director of Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation, says work on the Sheep Barn is nearly complete and the Horse Barn is next on the list. “The livestock barns represent the culture and the agricultural heritage of the Iowa State Fair and we’re so proud to continue that, as that is the backbone of the Iowa State Fair,” Cownie said. The opening ceremonies for this year’s Iowa State Fair were staged in front of the Sheep Barn, where sheep shows were already underway. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig wished the exhibitors who’ve brought their livestock to the fair good luck.

“There are so many life lessons that a young person especially can learn from planning and preparing and working hard and competing and then, well, you have to deal with the results of the competition and do so with grace and know that you put it all out there,” Naig said, “or maybe you didn’t and you can do better next year.”

Brick work on the east façade of the Iowa State Fair’s Sheep Barn to be finished after the 2024 Fair. (RI photo)

Darwin Gaudian, president of the Iowa State Fair Board, says this year’s Fair may provide a welcome distraction for Iowans who’ve been dealing with damage from this year’s severe storms. “With the tornadoes, the floods, so this Fair, I hope we can bring those people here,” he said, “and forget those problems at home and relax.”

The Big Boar competition at the State Fair is on today’s (Thursday) calendar. Last year’s winner weighed in at just over a thousand pounds.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Community Wellness Coordinator Grace McAfee reports the Cass County Grow Another Row Committee hosted a free potting event at Mollett Park on August 6th (2024). The weather was great, McAfee says and there were 28 participants who attended the event, which taught community members how to plant late-season patio plants. Participants planted herbs, radishes, peas, lettuce, and spinach. Those crops grow in cooler temperatures, making them perfect patio plants in the early fall months.

Participants also had the opportunity to plant extra pots to donate to the local food pantry. A total of 15 patio pots will be donated to the Atlantic Food Pantry. The Grow Another Row Committee will care for these plants until they are distributed at The Atlantic Food Pantry. (Photos courtesy Grace McAfee)

Thrivent Funding, Atlantic Parks and Rec, and The Grow Another Row Committee made the event possible. Grace McAfee said “We are looking forward to planning more events, such as sharing gardening tips and promoting local foods.” If you are interested in learning more about local food, workshops, and Grow Another Row events, check out the monthly Grow Another Row Newsletter.

Contact Grace McAfee at mcage@casshealth.org to get signed up.

(Radio Iowa) – A century ago, Iowans in the know attended events called “chautauquas,” summer festivals filled with food, culture and interesting speakers on topics like history, art, and philosophy. The second annual effort to revive the spirit of those gatherings is planned for this weekend in central Iowa. Nathan Beacom is founder of the Lyceum Movement, which is sponsoring “Tallgrass: The Des Moines Festival of Ideas.”  “What the Tallgrass Festival is — it’s kind of a revival of something that used to exist long ago in Des Moines, which is a celebration of ideas and culture,” Beacom says. “So we have scientists, philosophers, thinkers coming in to talk about some really important things in America today, including the mental health crisis and the decline of community life.”

It’s not just a “sage on the stage,” one speaker droning on about a topic, as he says these events are designed to inspire those in the audience to discuss the topics and actually talk to one another face to face. “They’re participatory. They’re conversational,” Beacom says. “So often we just talk online. What we do is try to build community, bring people back together, people who come from different perspectives and different backgrounds, to overcome those differences and get to know our neighbors better, and get to have really meaningful conversations with them that we might not have anywhere else.” Yes, the looming presidential election may come up at some point, but Beacom says they strive to stay away from any hot button issues, so everyone can feel welcome and at ease.

He says they’re focused on eliminating confrontations — by having conversations. “We just create an environment of listening to one another, and hearing one another out, and thinking of ourselves as all on a common exploration — to understand these things, rather than to just have an argument and win or lose,” Beacom says. “Generally people, even if people might not think that it’s their cup of tea, people come out really energized.”

The festival opens Friday evening and resumes on Saturday afternoon.