(Radio Iowa) – A state senator from southeast Iowa says the Iowa Fertilizer Company near  Wever has been a massive economic success for the region and is poised for possible expansion. The Dutch company that owns the facility is selling it to Koch Industries for three-point-six BILLION dollars, if federal regulators approve the deal. Senator Jeff Reichman is a Republican from Montrose, which is about 20 miles northeast of the plant.

“I am personally excited about the sale and I share the excitement with Southeast Iowa Regional Planning, Greater Burlington Partnership and Lee County Economic Development about the possibilities of expansion and investment,” Reichman says. Democrats in the Iowa House say the sale will make consolidation in the fertilizer industry worse and will likely lead to higher fertilizer prices for Iowa farmers. They also say the tens of millions in state and local tax breaks awarded more than a decade ago to the company that built the plant were intended to spur competition with Koch Industries, which is the country’s largest privately-held company.

Reichman says liberals are obsessed with Koch Industries because Charles and the late David Koch have been influential donors to Republican candidates. “They are a leader in this fertilizer market and do want to continue to grow,” Reichman says. The fertilizer plant was first proposed in 2012 as a project of Orascom, a construction company based in Egypt. Orascom was purchased the following year by O-C-I, which is headquartered in the Netherlands.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to set new standards for future pipelines and electric transmission lines as well as wind farms and solar arrays is among the many bills that face a deadline. Bills have to clear a committee in the Iowa House or Senate by the end of this week or they’re set aside for the year. Republican Senator Dennis Guth of Klemme says one goal of his bill is to ensure companies that install pipelines and electric generating facilities on farmland are responsible when problems — like sink holes — crop up long into the future. “It’s pretty scary when you’re going through a field with combine and suddenly there’s a hole right in front of me,” Guth says. “I stopped one time with my corn head hanging over the hole going, ‘Oh! I need to back up here.’”

Guth’s bill would require that all pipelines and any underground transmission lines be buried at least eight feet deep to ensure proper drainage through tile lines. “It also makes sure that landowners that are resistant are not harassed by the companies. It allows for initial contact and, after initial contact, the landowner has to sign off on a letter to say: ‘Yeah, it’s OK. I want to continue negotiating,’” Guth says. “I know there have been some landowners, especially older landowners, that finally gave in just because they just wanted these people to go away and that’s really not the way to win a contract.”

Governor Reynolds has said she’s open to changing state regulations for pipeline permits in the future, but she says it would be unfair to change the rules for carbon pipeline developers Summit and Wolf. Guth’s bill is not retroactive. “It does not actually affect the current pipelines,” he says. “Kind of wish it did, but I know that anything that’s doing that is not getting anyplace in the senate.”

Earlier this month, the GOP leader in the senate said there’s no consensus among the 34 Republican senators on a pipeline-related bill.

(Radio Iowa) – The idea of naming the tiny Iowa Darter as the official state fish has sailed through a House subcommittee. Representative Elinor Levin of Iowa City said it’s a great way to raise awareness about the only fish that has “Iowa” in its name. “It’s a pretty fish,” Levin said during a brief subcommittee meeting on the idea. “I think it’s going to be a nice symbol for our state.”

Representative Shannon Latham of Sheffield agreed. “I was surprised to find out we didn’t already have a state fish,” Latham said.

Darter Fish (IA DNR photo)

Every state that surrounds Iowa has a state fish. The walleye is the state fish of both Minnesota and South Dakota. Wisconsin’s state fish is the musky. The bluegill was named the state fish of Illinois in 1986. And, in 1997, the channel catfish became the state fish of both Nebraska and Missouri.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s cleared initial review in the Iowa House could make it harder for Iowans diagnosed with cancer to argue in a lawsuit that the disease is linked to the weed killer known by the brand name Roundup. Craig Mischo is director of government affairs for Bayer, the company that makes Roundup. He testified at the Iowa Capitol yesterday (Wednesday).

“Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate have been subject to litigation and significant media attention over the past several years,” Mischo told lawmakers. Brad Epperly, a lobbyist for Bayer, says the bill provides some liability protection to Bayer by saying the company has fulfilled its duty to warn consumers about Roundup if the warning label meets federal guidelines.

“We’ve got a product. We spent millions of dollars developing it. It spent probably, you know, a decade going through regulatory trials before it was approved. We’ve complied with the requirements for what we’re supposed to label on it, advise, etc. (regarding) the usage of the product,” Epperly said. “We should be able to rely upon that.” Other lawyers told legislators the bill would also provide liability protection to a Chinese-owned company that makes Paraquat, a farm chemical that’s been linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Brian Marty, a West Des Moines lawyer, represents clients who’ve been exposed to Paraquat and to Roundup, which Marty says has been linked to non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.  “These are primarily farmers and ag workers who used these products consistent with their labeling and consistent with custom usage of these products that they thought were safe,” Marty said, “and, especially in the Parkinson’s context with Paraquat, are now faced with essentially a death sentence.”

One of the Republicans who voted to clear the bill through a House subcommittee says it needs significant changes. Representative Megan Jones, a lawyer from Sioux Rapids, says she has zero interest in protecting the Chinese government. “I am going to very hesitantly and very begrudingly sign off on the bill today, but it is going to have to be amended…because it is too big of a beast,” Jones said. Representative Megan Srinivas, a Democrat from Des Moines who’s a doctor, voted against the bill. She says there are medical studies showing a correlation between certain ingredients in farm chemicals and some ailments.

“I’m very concerned that we are ignoring the evidence in front of us just because of word games and are going to be putting Iowa’s farmers at risk with passing such a broad bill,” Srinivas said.

Another member of the subcommittee who is a farmer said the bill has some merit and the conversation about it will continue in the legislature.

(Radio Iowa) – A proposal under review in the Iowa legislature would let homeowners associations that govern property surrounding public lakes set speed limits and other rules for boating and other activities on the water. Last fall, a district court ruled the Sun Valley Lake Association had no authority to enforce boating rules on the southwest Iowa lake. That ruling has created problems for Lake Panorama near Panora.

John Rutledge is general manager of the Lake Panorama Association. He says homeowners who use the lake have agreed to limits on boat sizes and how many boats can be on the lake at once. Speed limits are also enforced, so boats don’t create a wake that would rock or swamp other boats nearby. “We have nothing that we believe is frivolous or overreaching,” he says. “It’s all in cooperation with (the Iowa Department of Natural Resources) and we believe we’ve demonstrated that over the last 50 years.”

Ducks Unlimited, the Sierra Club and the Iowa Conservation Alliance that represents hunting and fishing organizations argue the state should regulate activities on all public lakes. Small private vessels can access Lake Panorama from a dock upstream, but Rutledge says 99-point-nine percent of the boats on the lake are owned by Lake Panorama homeowners.

“It’s not our intent to overreach,” Rutledge says. “It’s our intent only to regulate our own members for safety.” A bill on the subject has cleared initial review in the Iowa House AND Senate and a senator who’s working on the bill says the primary goal is to ensure safe boating on Lake Panorama.

Lake Delhi in eastern Iowa is a private lake, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources enforces boating rules on the lake.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The paddlefish snagging season provides anglers a chance to snag an unusual fish on the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers that may’ve put on a lot miles in the water. The D-N-R’s western Iowa fisheries supervisor, Chris Larson, says they recently heard about a fish tagged in Iowa that was caught in one of the reservoirs in Tennessee.

Larson says the fish was tagged in 2013 when it was around 29 inches and had grown to 40 inches and was about 20 pounds heavier. Larson says paddlefish live well over 50 years. The Iowa paddlefish season runs through April 30th.

New York, NY, Ithaca, NY, and Port Rowan, ON— The 27^th Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will take place from Friday, February 16 through Monday, February 19. Volunteers from around the world are invited to count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, then enter their checklists at birdcount.org. Anyone with internet access can participate, no matter what their skill level—it’s a great family activity, too.

A lot has changed since the first Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) was held in 1998. Each year brings unwavering enthusiasm from the growing number of participants in this now-global event. All the data contribute to a snapshot of bird distribution and help scientists see changes over the past 20 years.

“The very first GBBC was an experiment,” says the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Marshall Iliff, a leader of the eBird program. “We wanted to see if people would use the Internet to send us their bird sightings. Clearly the experiment was a success!” eBird collects bird observations globally every day of the year and is the online platform used by the GBBC.

“The Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to introduce people to participation in citizen science,” says Audubon vice president and chief scientist Gary Langham. “No other program allows volunteers to take an instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations that can contribute to our understanding of how a changing climate is affecting birds.”

Varying weather conditions so far this winter are producing a few trends that GBBC participants can watch for during the count.

Jon McCracken, Bird Studies Canada’s National Program Director, reminds participants in Canada and the U.S. to keep watch for snowies. He says, “The GBBC has done a terrific job of tracking irruptions of Snowy Owls southward over the past several years. We can’t predict what winter 2024 will bring, because Snowy Owl populations are so closely tied to unpredictable ‘cycles’ of lemmings in the Arctic. These cycles occur at intervals between two and six years.  Nevertheless, there are already reports of Snowy Owls as far south as Virginia.”

In addition to counting birds, the GBBC photo contest has also been a hit with participants since it was introduced in 2006. Since then, tens of thousands of stunning images have been submitted.

Learn more about how to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count at birdcount.org where downloadable instructions and an explanatory PowerPoint are available. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with partner Bird Studies Canada and is made possible in part by sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited.

This is a wonderful family program for bird watchers of all ages and is free of charge. All you need is basic knowledge of bird identification! It is not required that you record every species you see, only those that can be properly identified. To participate in the bird count either call the Conservation Board at 712-769-2372 and receive everything you need in the mail (or pick up in the office), or go to the website: http://www.birdcount.org/ and follow the instructions.

Let’s get out there this year and stay in the top 10 in the state! Please help the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon Society by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

(Lewis, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Snowshoe Night Hike next week. The Snowshoe Night Hike will be held at the Outdoor Educational Classroom outside of Massena, on February 16th 2024 at 7-p.m. Come out for a great night hike, try to call in various species of Owls that may be in the park that night! Snowshoes (variety of sizes) will be available. Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning says “We will hike, and if the sky is clear, it will be a great night to stargaze! FREE, Dress for the weather!

The event be a night hike with “NO SNOWSHOES- if there is NO Snow!”

The following evening (Nov. 17th), there will be a “Sweethearts Snowshoe Hike.”  The Sweetheart Snowshoe Hike will be held at the Pellett Memorial Woods outside of Atlantic, beginning at 7-p.m. Come out for a great night hike, who knows what nature has waiting for us then! Snowshoes (variety of sizes) will be available. This event is also free. Be sure and dress for the weather.

The event WILL be CANCELLED with “NO SNOW!”

Moments of silence were observed in the Iowa House and Senate this (Tuesday) morning to honor former Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, who died unexpectedly at the age of 64. Northey served more than a decade as state ag secretary before his appointment as a U-S-D-A Under Secretary during the Trump Administration. Speaker Pat Grassley led the tribute in the House.

Senator Dennis Guth, of Klemme, worked in a farm group with Northey before Northey was first elected ag secretary in 2006.

Senator Dan Zumbach, a farmer from Ryan, wept as he spoke about Northey.

Northey had been C-E-O of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa since last March.

Former Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey served as a USDA Under Secretary from the spring of 2018 to early January, 2021. (USDA photo)