CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
A new survey of rural bankers in Iowa and several other Midwest states suggests the ag economy is improving. Creighton University’s “Rural Mainstreet Index” hit a two-year high in May. Economist Ernie Goss conducts the monthly survey and says lender confidence levels on the rural economy for May inched into positive territory for the first time since August 2015. Farm land prices and ag equipment sales were still negative, but they moved in a positive direction.
“It was still not a great report, but we’re talking about many months, in this case 20 straight months, of the overall index being below growth neutral. Moving above growth neutral was certainly good news,” Goss said.
Survey participants said, over the next five years, rising regulatory costs will be their top challenge. The number of rural bankers reporting farm foreclosures was the biggest risk doubled to one in ten, but Goss says it would take even lower commodity prices for that to be a major concern.
“At this point in time, agricultural commodity prices have at least stabilized. They’re not growing, but what we need to see of course is a good 20-to-25 percent increase in grain prices and livestock prices,” Goss said.
Nearly 90 percent of bankers said low commodity prices were the biggest threat to the rural economy, slightly less than last year. Participants surveyed were located in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
(Radio Iowa)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a sentencing appeal by a father and son whose Iowa-based egg production company caused a massive 2010 salmonella outbreak.
The rejection Monday means Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter DeCoster will be required to serve prison time for misdemeanor food safety violations. The appeal was denied without comment.
The DeCosters were sentenced to three months in prison by a federal judge in Iowa in 2015 but appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld the sentences last July. They’ve been free awaiting their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The attorney for the DeCosters and the federal prosecutor who handled the case declined to comment.
The mild spring with frequent rains means tick-borne disease season is underway in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reminds Iowans to protect themselves against tick bites. Ticks can carry the organisms that cause diseases like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichiosis.
The best way to prevent tick bites is to avoid wooded and grassy areas, where ticks are usually found. If you do spend time in these areas:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an online tool to help you select the repellent that is best for you and your family at https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-insect-repellent-right-you.
If you discover a tick on your body, remove it right away. Folk remedies, such as burning the tick with a match or covering it with petroleum jelly or nail polish, are not effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following instructions for removing a tick:
The most common tick-borne disease is Lyme disease; 232 cases of Lyme disease were reported to IDPH in 2016. Not everyone who gets Lyme disease will have the same symptoms, but the best and earliest sign of infection is a rash that may appear within a few days to a month, usually at the site of the tick bite. The rash will first look like a small, red bump, then expand until it begins to look like a bull’s eye, with a red center and a red ring surrounding a clear area. It is important to contact your healthcare provider immediately if you develop this type of rash or develop flu-like symptoms within a month of having a tick bite or being in an area where ticks are present.
For more information on Lyme disease, visit http://idph.iowa.gov/cade/disease-information/lyme-disease.
The Iowa State University Extension Department has released the results of its first horticulture survey since 2000. Arlene Enderton with the extension Outreach Local Foods Program, says the survey includes crops that can be eaten that are grown to sell to others. “It would include sweet corn, any fruits or vegetables, also it included nuts. And it included pumpkins, even though people don’t usually eat them, you could eat them. We also included honey and maple syrup — which are not horticultural products — but they are specialty crops,” according to Enderton.
The top five crops were tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, green beans, and winter squash. Sweet corn was the top crop in the last survey in 2000, followed by tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and sweet peppers. Enderton says the survey gives them a picture of the types of growers. “We found that the vast majority of them had been growing horticultural crops for less than ten years. So according to the U-S-D-A that would make them beginning farmers, assuming they hadn’t been growing other types of things prior to growing horticulture type crops,” Enderton says. “The median farm size was two acres, which means that half of them are farming on less than two acres and half of them are growing on more than two acres. The largest was eight acres.”
She says grower retirements appear to have impacted the industry. “The average acreage per farmer went down, so we are getting the impression that our farms are smaller today and it appears that some of our larger horticultural farmers may have retired or gone out of business since 2000. We saw a lot fewer of the really large farms — which would be farms that had 20 acres or more,” Enderton says.
She says while farmers are retiring, there appears to be many people stepping in to take over. “One thing that I thought was really encouraging is there is a lot of new farmers. There’s a lot of interest in growing horticultural crops, “Enderton says. “I think that’s a really good thing. I think there’s a potential for a lot of growth.”
About half the growers market their products exclusively through direct-to-consumer markets including farmers markets, farm stands, community supported agriculture, you-pick, and online sales. You can see the full survey on the Iowa Department of Agriculture’s website under the “Hot Topics” section.
(Radio Iowa)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farmers have planted 92 percent of the state’s corn crop, which is three days behind last year’s rate mostly due to wet fields from recent storms but their progress is two days ahead of the five-year average.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture in its weekly crop update released Monday says 59 percent of the Iowa crop has emerged. The quality of the crop is high with 75 percent rated good or excellent. Soybean planting in Iowa is 62 percent completed.
Bob Beebensee and DNR Conservation Officer Grant Gelle talk about all things related to the outdoors.
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The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department and Nishna Valley YMCA in Atlantic, have teamed-up to offer free Outdoor Exercise programs at Sunnyside Park and the Schildberg Recreation Area. Ashton Koehlmoos, Fitness Director at the Nishna YMCA, told KJAN News the programs begin this coming Monday (May 22nd).
She says there are three different weeks the exercise programs will be held outside, with the idea being to showcase the amazing parks we have here in Atlantic, and the classes available to you at the Y. Members and non-members of the Y are welcome to participate in the classes.
The first series of outdoor exercise classes run from Monday through Friday this coming week (May 22nd-26th). Some deal with cardiovascular fitness, others encompass the mind and body, such as Yoga and Pilates. They will be held on the west side of the Schildberg Park. Zumba, which is like an exercise party, will be held in the Camblin Shelter at Sunnyside Park, and Boot Camp for those who enjoy a high intensity workout and strength training, will be held at the west side of Schildberg Park.
Ashton says you don’t have to worry about a Drill Instructor barking at you through the Boot Camp, though. The instructors here are much more friendly, and accommodating. The next set of classes take place June 12th through the 16th, and include Zumba, Boot Camp, and “Balance and Flex together.” There’s also “Yogalates,” which…as you might guess…is a blend of Yoga and Pilates, which something new they’re trying this summer.
The third and final series of “Exercise in the Park” events takes place Sept. 11th through the 15th. Classes are available during the mid-morning and late evening hours, and are held on specific days. No pre-registration is necessary, and again there is no charge. If the weather is not cooperating, classes will be moved indoors and the YMCA.
For more information check out the Atlantic Parks and Rec Department website, on Facebook, or call Parks and Rec Director Seth Staashelm at 243-3542.
Earnings at Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer are bouncing back. Deere & Company’s second-quarter earnings increased 62 percent from the same quarter a year ago. That ended 12 consecutive quarters of earning declines. For the quarter ending April 30th, the Moline, Illinois-based company posted earnings of more than $802 million or $2.49 per share. That compares with $495 million or $1.56 per share a year ago.
This was Deere’s best second quarter since 2014. For the first six months of the year, Deere’s net income of $996 million bettered the $749 million figure a year ago. Deere chairman and CEO Samuel Allen says the firm is seeing modestly higher overall demand for its products, with farm machinery sales in South America experiencing a strong recovery.
(Radio Iowa)