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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
(Radio Iowa) – It’s midsummer and Iowans are taking full advantage of their local, county and state parks, with some facilities reporting much heavier use than usual for July. Brian Lammers, director of the Hamilton County Conservation Department in Webster City, says the pandemic has forced people to rethink how they take vacations and many are turning to the great outdoors. “There’s been a large number of new campers,” Lammers says. “Camping sales have been up across the state and that definitely shows inside of our campgrounds. We’ve seen a lot of new campers come in and people asking for assistance because they’ve never camped before.”
A recreational vehicle dealership in Webster City reports its best-ever sales of R-Vs over the past few months. Lammers says it’s encouraging to see so many people enjoying the fresh air and beautiful landscapes our parks systems provide. “We’re also seeing a large increase in our beach areas, swimming at our local lakes,” Lammers says. “A large number of people are turning out and using our bike trails and picnic areas.”
With the upturn in people using our parks, Lammers says there’s always a bit more work involved. “The only downside of things that we’re really seeing is the amount of trash that’s being produced. That stuff’s been hard to keep up with,” Lammers says. “We’ve had to add extra dumpsters in our campgrounds.”
Campers are urged to police their campgrounds before they depart and if garbage cans or dumpsters aren’t handy, to take the trash with them to throw away at home.
Here are the results from the FFA Floriculture Contest [Trophy Sponsors: Berg Electric; FFA Association; Special Occasions; Mailander Law Office; KJAN; Olsen Fuel Supply; Iowa Gold; Smith Plumbing & Heating and Sandbothe Firestone]
4-H Rabbit Awards Results [Trophy Sponsors: Natalie & Stephen Ritter; In Memory of Jim Rush*;Oathoudt Farm Supply; In Memory of Ray Zellmer by Rosemary Zellmer**; Cappel’s Ace Hardware; Orscheln Farm & Home; VFW Post #3415; Body Basics Chiropractic; Kurt Roberts; and Retallic’s Rabbits.]
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack says he’s “deeply concerned” about a report showing that the first known coronavirus outbreak at an Iowa meatpacking plant was far more severe than the state publicly acknowledged. Loebsack wrote a letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds requesting information about the state’s response to the outbreak at the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction.
The letter came two days after The Associated Press reported on documents showing Tyson officials told safety inspectors on April 30 that 522 employees were known to be infected. A dozen were hospitalized and two died. But at a May 5 news conference, the Iowa Department of Public Health said that only 221 workers at the plant had tested positive.
ALBERT CITY, Iowa (AP) — State environmental officials says a hog farm manure tank leak was the likely cause of a fish kill in a northwestern Iowa tributary this week. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the leak happened over the weekend near Albert City when an unknown amount of manure was released into the tributary.
On Sunday, the DNR found a some dead fish, manure and elevated ammonia levels throughout four miles of the tributary, which connects to the North Raccoon River. The incident was reported by farm owner Kris Ehlers, who suspected a failed valve on the manure tank. DNR workers concluded the spill did come from Ehlers’ farm, but was likely coming through underground tile lines.
(Radio Iowa) – A new map from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows dry conditions worsening in western and central Iowa. State climatologist Justin Glisan says 15 counties are now in what’s considered severe drought. “Over the last 30 to 45 days, we’ve seen a dwindling rainfall, especially across west-central Iowa,” Glisan says. “If we go back four to six months, we actually see precipitation deficits in the range of eight to 12 inches, so we’ve been dry, especially across western Iowa.”
Glisan says he’s constantly asked about when and if any significant rainfall is coming to Iowa. “The forecast models just have been off for some reason,” Glisan says. “When we expect rain out of Nebraska, it comes toward western Iowa and you can watch it on radar, it just sort of vanishes. Because of those dry conditions, there’s not enough moisture at the surface to really pop those storms up.” Glisan says he remains hopeful the situation may change soon.”If we look at our outlooks moving into next week, it looks like we’re starting to turn down the temperature dial,” he says, “and along with that, we’re trending towards near-normal rainfall moving into the first of August.”
A very hot weekend is ahead but the forecast calls for the chance of rain Sunday night, moving into Monday. Severe drought is shown in part or all of these 15 counties: Adair, Audubon, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Madison, Polk, Sac, Shelby, Story and Webster.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s lakes and rivers continue to be busy, especially on the weekends. Iowa D-N-R boating law administrator Susan Stocker, says things really got going during the Fourth of July.”I think the challenge is for 2020 as we might all agree is that cabin fever probably hit people about four-thousand percent. And so everybody based on previous restrictions wanted to be out and enjoy the weekend,” Stocker says.
She says there were 11 people arrested for boating under the influence of alcohol during the Fourth of July weekend — which was a little above last year. There were 392 additional citations or warnings issued. Stocker says the crowds aren’t going away — especially with all the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having.”With the temperatures in the 100’s then people are out on the water recreating — and though they are surrounded by water — they forget to drink water,” Stocker says. “Adding alcohol and not adding any water, dehydration and alcohol certainly don’t mix.”
With this weekend likely to be another hot one, Stocker says boaters should drink plenty of water — and follow all the safety rules. “With lifejackets, the only way that it is going to save you is if you are wearing it. Because unfortunately just like seatbelts –if you get into an accident in a car — you are not going to have time to put your seatbelt on before you get into a crash,” Stocker says. She says having the life jacket nearby is not enough. “If you do get into a crash and are thrown out of a boat — the wind and waves are going to take you in one direction and your life jacket and safety equipment in another direction,” according to Stocker. “So, certainly, wearing the lifejacket is vital.”
Any children 12 and under must wear a lifejacket at all times on a vessel underway in Iowa.
(UPDATED 7/24) – As the Cass County Fair continues, members of the Atlantic, CAM and Griswold FFA Chapters would like to remind everyone that the FFA Foodstand is open for business. Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller says the FFA foodstand is open to the public for people to get a meal and go (there is no seating). The FFA Foodstand will also take Cash, Checks or Credit Cards this year.
The FFA Foodstand will open from 7:00am until 4pm Friday through Monday and open in the afternoon on Tuesday during the Cass County Fair. Every morning there will be freshly made cinnamon rolls and breakfast burritos. For lunch, stop out and get a Cass County Fair classic, the FFA Maidrite. Miller says “We will also have hamburgers, hot dogs, walking tacos, nachos chips and chocolate chip cookies. We hope to see you at the FFA Foodstand!”Cass County ISU Extension & Outreach Director Kate Olson, Thursday evening, released the results of the 2020 Cass County Fair Static Exhibit. Following judging of over 200 static exhibit entries on Wednesday July 22, Twenty-two entries from Cass County 4-H members were selected to advance to the “4-H Show Iowa” judging being held in lieu of a state fair in 2020.
Exhibitors Representing Cass County Include:
4-H Show Iowa is a virtual judging event where entries will be judged based on photos and project writeups. Photos of all state fair exhibits can be found on the Cass County Extension Web Page, in the County Fair Results. Please visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass and click on the “Fair Results” logo on the front page to view.
All exhibits advancing to state will receive a plaque thanks to local sponsors including: KJAN AM 1220/FM 101.1; A Plus Designs; Atlantic BPW; Bonnesen’s; Cass County Conservation Board; Armour Insurance; Hockenberry Family Care; DeBord Farms; McAtee Tire; Meyer & Gross Real Estate; Curt & Michelle Behrends; Nishna Valley Shriners; Blaine Service; Kurt Roberts; Schildberg Construction; Smith Heating & Plumbing, Inc.,; Steve and Laura Olsen; Titan Machinery; Jessie and Ryan Evans Family; United Group Insurance; Cumberland Telephone Co.; Washington GEM; Cass County Farm Bureau; Clint and Laura Freund and memorial plaques In Memory of Norma Jean Sothman and In Memory of Ray Zellmer by Rosemary Zellmer.
Congratulations to all of our Cass County Fair State Awardees!
Here are the results from this (Thursday) morning’s Pet Show at the Cass County Fair:
Lot 4: Gerbils, Guinea Pigs, Hamsters, Mice & Rats
Lot 5: Pigmy Goat, Miniature Donkey, Peacocks, Fainting Goats and Dogs
Event Judge was Christy Ladd.
(Radio Iowa) – With the statewide bike ride RAGBRAI cancelled by the pandemic this week, Iowa cycling enthusiasts are meeting online instead as part of the Bike for Climate Week of Action. Julie Johnson, an organizer for Environment Iowa, says it’s an effort to support biking and other forms of clean transportation. “Throughout the week, participants will take grassroots actions such as making phone calls and signing petitions,” Johnson says, “to show their elected officials the importance of biking infrastructure for Iowans.”
That includes marked bike lanes on roadways and dedicated bike trails. Virtual gatherings are planned this week to discuss topics like the benefits of biking infrastructure, tips for new and intermediate bikers, and the state of biking legislation in Iowa. “The keynote event of the Bike Week of Action will be a biking and clean transportation conversation tomorrow,” Johnson says. “The event will feature a lot of different speakers, such as the director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s ‘Transform and Transportation’ campaign, and also Ryan Baker, who owns Iowa City’s World of Bikes.”
That conversation is scheduled for this (Thursday) evening, at 6. She says the state’s cars and trucks are responsible for more than a quarter of Iowa’s global warming pollution, so it’s clear our transportation system is due for a zero-carbon upgrade. “We want Iowans to be able to avoid using their car when they could be biking instead,” Johnson says. “Bike more, drive less, is basically the idea. Get out and enjoy nature and also protect the planet while you’re doing it.”
Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, says “The pandemic has shown a lot of people want to ride bicycles and they want safe spaces to ride them.” Learn more at the group’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1375397082664931/
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