DES MOINES – Today (Monday), Governor Kim Reynolds signed an extension of the proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain, fertilizer, and manure.   

The proclamation is effective immediately and continues through February 23, 2024. The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.  

This proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (a) and (b), by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.  

See the proclamation here. 

(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.

Jim Field visits with Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning about the Winter Day Camps for children.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (21.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(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.

Jim Field visits with Billie Hoover, one of the organizers of “Shine Like Stars,” a prom-like experience for those with intellectual or physical limitations.  The event will be held at the First Church of Christ on March 16, 2024.  Volunteers and donations are welcome…send to the FCC, 1310 SW 7th St., Atlantic, IA 50022.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(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.

Jim Field visits with Audubon County native Elizabeth Zaiger, a Junior at York University in Nebraska.  Elizabeth wrote and recorded her first song, “Jet Streams.”  She talks about that experience, this song and about being a songwriter.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (25.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/Kate Olson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS