(Radio Iowa) — A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City concludes something many Iowa farmers already know — the farm economy has yet to rebound. Fed economist Nathan Kauffman says farm income and credit conditions continue to deteriorate across the region. “The primary challenge has been low commodity prices,” Kauffman says. “We’ve seen a drop in primarily soybean prices that began earlier this summer and that has persisted through the fall. Revenue has generally been relatively weak so it has continued to weigh on the farm sector.” The report says the agricultural economy continues to suffer from high yields and and lower demand, which Kauffman says is primarily due to the trade war with China. “The China market is very large, especially going into the fourth quarter and into the first quarter,” he says. “Exports to China specifically of soybeans account for a large share of exports during that time.”

Kauffman, who is based in Omaha, says farmers have been cutting expenses, some are even taking off-the-farm jobs to cope. He says a resolution of the trade disputes would give commodity prices a boost. Kauffman says the silver lining in the agricultural downturn is strong farmland values. “It has really supported the finances and the balance sheet of a lot of producers that have equity to be able to tap in terms of farmland values,” Kauffman says. “We continue to watch that just to be sure we’re not seeing some cracks start to emerge in that particular market and so far, it’s held up okay.”

Kauffman says crop prices have pulled down the agricultural economy with the livestock sector holding stable. This is the fifth year of the economic downturn in the ag sector.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Medivac Ambulance was dispatched to the scene of a vehicle in the ditch early this (Friday) morning, north of Atlantic. The accident occurred a little after 6-a.m. on north Olive Street, near the ADM Grain facility. The female driver of the vehicle was complaining of neck pain. Roads in the area were slick at the time, with fog having frozen on an already wet surface. No other details are currently available.

(Radio Iowa) — Senator Joni Ernst says there appears to be a breakthrough in negotiations on the Farm Bill. Ernst is the only Iowan on a conference committee that’s been struggling for weeks to reconcile House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill. A provision championed by Iowa’s other Senator, Chuck Grassley, is not in the final deal. It would have imposed limits on farm subsidy payments to NON-farmers. Republicans in the HOUSE had been pressing for new work requirements for food stamp recipients. That’s not in the final version either. “That has been worked out between the House and the Senate and so I do believe that we will be able to move forward and get that bill on the floor of the Senate as soon as possible,” Ernst says.

Ernst says the Republican leader in the senate who decides which bills get debated has assured her a vote on the Farm Bill will happen in the Senate in December. “So as we’re laying out the road map for the rest of 2018 — the ‘lame duck’ session — the Farm Bill has been included in that mix,” Ernst says. “…So I believe that we will get…this done. We will get it to the president and he will get it signed and reauthorized.”

The Farm Bill expired October 1st. If congress fails to pass a replacement by December 31st, the NEXT congress would have to start at square one in drafting a bill and first pass it through COMMITTEES in the House and Senate before votes could be taken in the full House and Senate.

Police in Council Bluffs arrested a man this (Friday) morning, after they were dispatched a little before 3-a.m., to 305 N 6th Street, for report of a suspicious male. The suspect gave the responding officers a false name, threw punches at the officers and ran from them before officers were able to gain control of the him and place the man in handcuffs.

Michael Wickman

The suspect, identified as 31-year old Michael Wickman, of Council Bluffs, was transported to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Wickman will be charged with two counts of Assault on Police Officers, False Information, Interference with Official Acts and Eluding when he’s released from the hospital. The officers involved also suffered minor injuries during the incident.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A Canadian woman was found by snowmobilers after she spent three days stuck with her car on a muddy rural road in southeast Iowa. Seventy-two-year-old Terry Harnish, of Hubbards, Nova Scotia, was visiting friends on Thanksgiving when she took a wrong turn onto a dirt road outside Fairfield. Her car became mired in mud up to its wheel wells, and she was unable to walk to one of the farmhouses she’d passed. The Des Moines Register reports that she spent the next three days in her car, surviving on a tea drink and marzipan cake.

Fairfield police Lt. Colin Smith says Harnish had ended up on a dirt road that’s just not traveled this time of year. The heavy snow that fell Sunday proved her salvation, because it brought out two teenage snowmobilers whose attention she attracted with her car lights and horn. Their father used a tractor to take Harnish back into Fairfield.

(Radio Iowa) — It’s unclear when or even if veterans who’ve been short-changed on their “Forever G-I Bill” benefits may get what they’re owed. Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican who is a combat veteran, is among those who’ve asked the Veterans Administration for an explanation. “Someone from the VA had indicated they would not go back and correct the deficient payments that had been made to our veterans for their educational benefits,” Ernst says, “and our stance is if you have promised our veterans that those payments would be made, then they need to be made.”

The Forever G-I Bill provides educational and housing benefits to military veterans who go to college.  “And if they were told that they would receive these educational benefits, we need to ensure they are receiving those educational benefits,” Ernst says.

A Veterans Administration official gave conflicting answers to a HOUSE committee yesterday (Thursday), leaving open the possibility benefits may not be recalculated and veterans may not be fully reimbursed for the fall semester. Congressman Dave Loebsack of Iowa City says the situation is causing financial hardship for many veterans who’ve gone back to school. “We’re hopeful that this is going to get taken care of. I don’t know if it is just an IT glitch or what it is,” Loebsack says. “But this is compounding of course, the Iowa National Guard members who were forced to pay back a part of their salary after a payrolll error was made by the Army.”

Loebsack says Iowa veterans may call his office for assistance in calculating what they’re owed through the Forever G-I- Bill. “I’ve held every administration accountable, whether it’s Democratic or Republican, since I’ve been in congress and that’s what we’ve got to do,” Loebsack says. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of it.”

Loebsack has been a member of congress since 2007 — which means he’s served during the George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:20 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Democratic candidate in a northeast Iowa House district trailing by just nine votes has sued, seeking to force election officials to count 33 ballots left uncounted because they lack a postmark. Kayla Koether, is seeking a temporary injunction in Polk County District Court to stop Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate from certifying the House District 55 election results on Monday.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — Longtime Bettendorf Alderwoman Debe LaMar has died. She was 61. The city says in a news release that LaMar died Thursday. Television station WQAD reports that LaMar died after a long battle with cancer. She was first elected to the City Council in 1998 and served five terms. She also served as mayor pro-tem for seven years.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal security agents say a gun was found this week in the carry-on bag of a passenger at the Des Moines International Airport _ the 11th gun found at the airport this year. Television station KCCI reports that Transportation Security Administration workers discovered the loaded handgun Wednesday during an X-ray screening of the bag. Des Moines police are investigating to determine whether the passenger will face criminal charges.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A state health official says the products that will be for sale when medical marijuana dispensaries open in Iowa on Saturday will shake up traditional ideas about the herb and how it is consumed. Department of Public Health deputy director Sarah Reisetter says “there won’t be joints, there won’t be edibles.” Dispensaries are set to open in Council Bluffs, Davenport, Sioux City, Windsor Heights and Waterloo.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at 9:55am Thursday of 38-year-old Luke Daniel Rinehart of Red Oak on a valid Montgomery County Warrant for Violation of Probation. Rinehart was arrested in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue in Red Oak and taken to the Montgomery County Jail. He was being held on $2,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal security agents say a gun was found this week in the carry-on bag of a passenger at the Des Moines International Airport — the 11th gun found at the airport this year.
Television station KCCI reports that Transportation Security Administration workers discovered the loaded handgun Wednesday during an X-ray screening of the bag.

Des Moines police are investigating to determine whether the passenger will face criminal charges.
Travelers who bring a firearm to airport checkpoints also are subject to a civil penalty from the TSA of up to $13,000.