The warm weather last week allowed farmers to get in a lot of combine time as the corn harvest moved ahead by 10 percent and the soybean effort by 29 percent. State Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey says after worries about a late start and drought, farmers have been seeing some good things. “For the most part yields have been good. Most of the folks have been happy,” Northey says.

He says some farmers are seeing better yields than they figured to have a few months ago. “Even those area that had a real dry part of the summer…their yields are definitely down from last year. But they may be better than what they thought they would be going into harvest,” Northey says. “Our yields have been good in northwest Iowa as well, harvest has been moving along. Thank goodness we had a dry week last week.”

The U-S-D-A crop report Monday showed that 23 percent of the corn crop has been harvested — which is the smallest percentage by this date since 2009 and more than two weeks behind average. The bean harvest moved to 61 percent — but is also the smallest percentage harvested by this date since 2009. Northey says cooler weather doesn’t help with drying the crop — and as we head into the last full week of October — the urgency increases for farmers with crops still in the fields.

)”We all look around the corner, we know November is coming. We all remember that a couple of decades ago there was a Halloween storm that buried a lot of crops out in the field, and folks have that in their mind, and the clock is ticking,” Northey says. “So, there are folks who will spend a lot of hours (in the field) when it finally gets fit.” When the harvest conditions are right you can see combines crisscrossing the fields day and night.”

“We hope that they’re all safe and certainly everybody out on the gravel roads and the highways needs to watch for that farm equipment,” according to Northey. “They’re working hard and sometimes it’s hard to be able to see some of the other traffic that is on the road as well.” Northey farms near Spirit Lake and says he’s gotten all his beans harvested, but not the corn.

(Radio Iowa)

Twenty-five years of an environmental and community partnership will be celebrated with the planting of a symbolic tree on Wednesday, October 25th at 1 p.m.. in Atlantic City Park. The public is invited to the celebration. The Atlantic 25th Anniversary Planting recognizes the community’s 25 years of working with Alliant Energy and Trees Forever’s Branching Out partnership.

Dolly Bergmann, president of Atlantic Trees Forever, said in that time, 2,640 trees have been planted in Atlantic through the program, with 24 planted recently throughout the community as part of the celebration. The 25th tree in this recent group will be planted in City Park on October 25 to mark the 25-year partnership. Bergmann said also, “We’ve been all over town.” She said of the sites that have benefited from trees through the years, including parks, schools, the YMCA, courthouse, hospital and Chamber office. She said “People here understand the benefit of trees, including shade and clean air.”

According to Doug Kopp, President of Alliant Energy’s Iowa Utility  “When you plant a tree, you’re starting to leave behind a legacy. Fifteen years from now you can come back and see what you’ve done and it is impressive. These trees provide a benefit to the community in terms of energy efficiency and carbon reduction for years to come and we’re proud to be a part of it.” Shannon Ramsay, Trees Forever Founding President and CEO, says “Trees Forever is very excited to mark the 25th anniversary in Atlantic. Through our partnership with Alliant Energy and the help of volunteers, we’ve been providing a long-lasting benefit to the community.”

An estimated 50,000 blaze orange clad hunters will dot Iowa’s countryside at 8 a.m. this Saturday, Oct. 28, for the opening of Iowa’s 2017 pheasant hunting season. The annual event melds generations of Iowans who reconnect with their hunting heritage. While most hunters will generally only spend the first week or two in the field, those who venture out later will likely be rewarded with success. Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife research biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says “Hunters can expect to find similar bird numbers to last year, but the October rain has our harvest running behind schedule so opening weekend may not be as successful as years past. However, a late harvest could lead to success later in the season.”

Results from the statewide August roadside survey indicate higher pheasant numbers were found in a line of counties stretching from northwest to southeast, but birds are available everywhere quality habitat is found. Bogenschutz said he expects almost a repeat of 2016 pheasant season, where hunters harvested about 250,000 roosters.

Quail season opens Oct. 28, too. Iowa’s quail population is at a 30 year high and landowners report seeing quail in areas that they had not seen them in years but the bulk of the quail population is in the southern three tiers of counties. Iowa’s partridge season opened Oct. 14. Partridge hunting primarily takes place in the north-central counties.

The Iowa DNR’s online hunting atlas lists nearly 700,000 acres of public hunting land, including more than 20,000 acres of land enrolled in the popular Iowa Habitat for Access Program (IHAP) allowing hunter access to private land. Each area on the atlas includes a link to a map with property boundaries, the size of the area, habitat type, species of wildlife likely found, if nontoxic shot is required and more. The map is available as a downloadable pdf that can be printed or saved to a smartphone. To view the atlas, go to www.iowadnr.gov/hunting and click on Places to Hunt and Shoot in the left column.

There are no new regulations this year. Shooting hours are 8-4:30 daily. Hunters are required to wear one piece of blaze orange of which at least 50 percent must be solid color.  Hunters may harvest three rooster pheasants each day with a possession limit of 12.  Hunters may harvest eight quail of either sex each day with a possession limit of 16. When transporting pheasants, either a fully feathered head, fully feathered wing or foot must remain attached for identification purposes.

Iowa Congressman David Young is scheduled to be joined by Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey for the annual “Bringing in the Harvest” tour, this Friday (Oct. 27th. They will tour family farms, cooperatives, and  agribusinesses to learn more about issues affecting Iowa’s farmers and agriculture economy.  Congressman Young will hear from Iowa’s farmers about this year’s harvest, the importance of trade for Iowa’s agriculture economy, and concerns they have which Congressman Young can take to Washington.

Among the places Young will visit on the tour, is Rose Acre Farms, near Guthrie Center, the Henry A. Wallace Country Center in Orient, Milk Unlimited in Atlantic, The POET Biorefinery in Corning, a Water Quality Demo Project near Sharpsburg, and a listening session with Ringgold County FSA, Soil and Water Conservation Boards.

Acting Iowa Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg paid a visit Monday afternoon to the Elite Octane, LLC Ethanol Plant, in Atlantic. Gregg met with Project Developer Ron Fagen, Plant President and CEO Nick Bowdish, Plant Manager Mike Messing, Republican Senator Tom Shipley and others, about what it took to make the plant a reality since 2006, when several attempts for various reasons each resulted in a failure to get off the ground. The site sat empty, except for one office building, and a concrete pad, until 2015.

Bowdish told Gregg “We’re back at it. We’ve had dozens of hurdles to see this thing come together, but one of the key ones was at that time, Governor Branstad [and current Governor Reynolds] took a meeting. We sat down and laid out ‘If this was gonna be competitive, we had to get the sale tax exemption done with Iowa Economic Development Authority, and that wasn’t just a rubber stamp.”

Bowdish said they just sent in the paperwork this week for their first sales tax redemption. He said they’ve estimated it at a $4.25-million dollars sales tax redemption through the Iowa Economic Development Authority. “Without that [he said] the capital costs would have been over what we could have justified.”

Bowdish asked Gregg to share with Governor Reynolds, thanks for her efforts to get keep the RFS in place and to strengthen it, if possible. Gregg said he was proud to see his boss in action, speaking with President Trump last week. He said “It was surreal… to watch Gov. Reynolds in her moment….advocate [for RFS].” He said it’s not every day that you’re in the room when the President is on the phone.”

Trump directed the EPA to table proposals to weaken the RFS, but Reynolds has said she’ll keep pressing to make sure that doesn’t happen. Gregg said their faith was validated last Thursday, when EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt put his assurances in writing as Reynolds asked. Gregg said Gov. Reynolds will be meeting with Tuesday in Washington, D.C. with Administrator Pruitt and Vice President Pence. The topic of discussion will be Fair Trade.

Left to right: Pat McCurdy; Ryan Pellett; Sen. Tom Shipley; IA Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg; Nick Bowdish; Mike Messing; Ron Fagen, Inc.; Russell Joyce/CADCO.

Bowdish told the Lt. Governor they’re looking at a May 2018 start-up for the Atlantic Elite Octane Ethanol Plant. At first, he said, there will be about 50 people, and although they haven’t advertised yet, all the positions are posted on the company’s website. They already have more than 200 applicants.

Bids were placed last week for some of the needed corn. They’ve already purchased one-half million bushels. They will process 50-million bushels and ultimately produce more than 120-million gallons of ethanol per year, when fully operational.

Fagen, Inc. Chairman Ron Fagen (Left) speaks with Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports the fire danger today is HIGH.   Any open burning plans need the approval of your local Fire Chief and a burn plan. High wind speeds, sunshine and rapidly drying conditions, will make fires difficult to control. The Shelby County EMA says it will begin twice weekly update, Mondays and Thursdays, to help keep the public informed of conditions which may be dangerous.

Recent wildfires in California, in areas thought to be at very low risk, show us that  being prepared and knowledgeable about the conditions conducive to fire spread and growth are vitally important to all of us. This program developed through the EMA and Local Emergency Services Association is a proactive approach to keeping the public safe.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — All roads and nature trails at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge remain closed weekend for a scheduled deer hunt. The closure began Saturday and runs through Sunday to ensure public safety during the white-tailed deer hunt. The visitor center will remain open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A second antlerless muzzleloader deer hunt is scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 16-17. A temporarily closure will take place that weekend as well.

Spots for that hunt are still available to Iowa and Nebraska hunters. Nebraska residents can apply for the hunt through the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s website or a local office. Iowa residents can apply by contacting the refuge at 712-388-4803. The refuge is located 25 miles north of Omaha on U.S. Highway 30.

Bob Beebensee and DNR Conservation Officer Grant Gelle talk about all things outdoors. A lot of hunting seasons opening up for the Fall and Bob and Grant talk about the regulations and what to be on the look out for.

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A contest is underway to select the cover of the next Iowa Travel Guide. Iowa Tourism Office spokesperson Jessica O’Riley says Iowans can vote for one of four options. “We have one of a couple shopping in downtown Mount Vernon, we’ve got people hiking in the Loess Hills in western Iowa, we’re showing off one of Iowa’s three whitewater parks – one on the cover is in Manchester, and then we also have a nice image of some people paddleboarding at sunset on Gray’s Lake in Des Moines,” O’Riley said. Iowans can check out the photos and vote for their favorite at traveliowa.com

ITG 2018 cover options

Visitors to the website can vote daily through early next week. “Voting closes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and we’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, October 25, at the Iowa Tourism Conference (in Sioux City) and on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts,” O’Riley said. The 2018 Iowa Travel Guide will be available in late January. More than 125,000 guides are distributed annually to travelers from every state and around the world.

A photo of the Snake Alley Criterium in Burlington is on THIS year’s cover of the Iowa Travel Guide.

(Radio Iowa)

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert today, is advising local fire chiefs in the County to place your local fire danger signs in the Extreme category, until 7-pm. The request is due to the expected high wind and dry conditions. No open burning is allowed in Shelby County today. Fires that do start will move quickly and be very difficult to contain and control. Seivert advises property owner/tenants to “Have a plan. If a fire occurs and you are in the path. You must move quickly to place of safety.”