w/ Max Dirks

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new consortium of environmental groups is asking Gov. Terry Branstad to support a statewide moratorium on new and expanded hog confinement operations because of polluted waterways. The Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture announced itself at a Wednesday Capitol news conference and sought Branstad’s backing.

The alliance, which includes more than 20 groups, wants the moratorium in place until the state improves water quality in its lakes and streams. Alliance members blame hog confinements for polluting waterways and creating health problems for nearby residents.

Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes rejected the alliance’s proposal, calling it an “extreme” plan that would hurt agriculture and Iowa’s economy.

The alliance is separate from the recently formed Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition, comprised of agriculture, business and conservation groups that support increasing the sales tax to fund natural resource programs.

One person suffered what were described as non-life threatening injuries during an accident southwest of Atlantic Wednesday afternoon.Cass County Chief Deputy Sheriff John  Westering told KJAN News a John Deere 8310-R tractor hauling an empty liquid manure hauler/spreader, was traveling north on Highway 6 at around 12:48-p.m., when part of the trailer clipped east side the Trooper Stanley Gerling Memorial Bridge, over Turkey Creek, about a mile south of Memphis Road.

The impact caused the both the tractor and tanker to go out of control and crash into the concrete bridge railing on the west side of the bridge. The tractor and tanker went over the concrete railing and toppled about 25 feet, with tractor ending up on the north side of the ditch and part of the tanker in the creek.

The driver of the tractor, 31-year-old Timothy McFarland, of Waukee, was freed from the machine by non-mechanical means and was said to be up and walking around. He was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance.

The tractor was considered a total loss. The accident remains under investigation.

A workshop is being held in central Iowa today (Wednesday) to help communities find the needed resources to help redevelop and revitalize areas that may have environmental contamination. Mel Pins, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the workshop is focused on what are known as “brownfield” areas, and he offers an example.

“If there’s a closed gas station in your community that’s been sitting there for a number of years, why has it not been redeveloped?” Pins asks. “That’s probably because somebody fears contamination. Whether there are problems or not, that perception or that stigma holds up reuse and redevelopment.”

The all-day workshop is free and open to anyone, targeting Iowa community leaders and non-profit groups. “The workshop is designed to cover some of the things we can offer, both technical and financial assistance, to help investigate environmental issues at these sites, to see if they’re suitable for reuse, and if necessary, even to help clean them up.”

The D-N-R workshop is underway at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Extension Program Coordinator Kate Olson

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The head of the Iowa DNR’s State Forest section is predicting an “average” year for fall colors. Jeff Goerndt is hoping he’s wrong, but says recent wet and cool conditions may not result in the best and brightest show for leaf watchers. “We’re really keeping an eye on northeast Iowa, where we typically have our best fall color. We’ve had some really heavy rain, storm events and flooding in that area. There’s more cooler and wet weather forecast for that area and that’s not necessarily the best recipe for good fall color,” Goerndt says.

Northeast Iowa has an abundance of hard maple trees, which supply bright red and orange colors. Goerndt suggests the Loess Hills in western Iowa offer a completely different, yet equally stunning, fall look.

“There are a lot of cedar trees, which give you sort of green colors, mixed in with a lot of yellow colors from some of the ash and cottonwood trees,” Goerndt says. “It’s sort of a different fall color look than what you’re going to see around the rest of the state.”

Leaves typically change first across northern Iowa between the last week of September to the second week of October. Central and southern Iowa generally change color between mid to late October. The annual fall color show is a big tourist attraction for many cities and towns around the state. “Folks like to visit our state parks and state forest areas, especially the areas around the larger reservoirs with a lot of trees. Also, if you get out there and drive those scenic byways around the state, those are great places to view fall color,” Goerndt says.

Weekly updates on fall color information can be found at iowadnr.gov/fallcolor.

(Radio Iowa)

Fall arrives Thursday and the Iowa Department of Transportation is already looking ahead to winter by signing farmers up for the Standing Corn Program. Scott Suhr,  the D-O-T’s district transportation planner, based in Atlantic, explains how it works: “We actually have this program where we pay farmers to leave corn in their field. The corn that’s left in the field in drifting areas holds the snow back from the roadway and has a benefit to the DOT and to the motorist by keeping the snow off the road.”

The program has been around some 15 years. The agency also pays farmers five-dollars for each bushel of corn left in the field. Once spring arrives, farmers are free to harvest the corn. There is a second installment of the program that involves installing snow fences. Suhr says, “If we have drifting areas along certain highways, you can put up snow fence and we’ll pay the farmers to put that fence up, I think it’s a dollar a foot that we pay out for that.”

The program makes the D-O-T’s work more efficient. “Some of the winters we have in Iowa, you can get a lot of blowing snow and if you have this eight or ten rows of corn that’s holding that snow that’s drifting back from the roadway, then, motorists don’t have to deal with it or our maintenance crews,” Suhr says. “It also helps us clean up these winter storms a lot quicker.”

To qualify, the unpicked corn rows must be nearest to the road and the D-O-T will only compensate farmers for up to 16 rows. There’s no official deadline date for farmers to join, but he says they like to have all the information ready by the time harvest starts — by the first or second week of October.

(Radio Iowa)

To help haul in this year’s harvest, Governor Terry Branstad, Monday, signed a proclamation granting a temporary 60-day weight limit exemption for trucks on Iowa roads, effective today (Tuesday). The proclamation specifically increases the weight allowable for shipment of corn, soybeans, hay, straw and stover, by 12.5 percent per axle (up to a maximum of 90,000 pounds) without the need for an oversize/overweight permit.

The 2016 proclamation again applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa, excluding the interstate system. Trucks cannot exceed the truck’s regular maximum by more than 12.5 percent per axle and must obey the posted limits on all roads and bridges.The proclamation directs the Iowa Department of Transportation to monitor the operation of the proclamation, assure the public’s safety and facilitate the movement of the trucks involved. Farmers who are transporting grain are also required to follow their vehicle safety standards on axle weights.

Cass County: Corn $2.83, Beans $9.23
Adair County: Corn $2.80, Beans $9.26
Adams County: Corn $2.80, Beans $9.22
Audubon County: Corn $2.82, Beans $9.25
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $2.86, Beans $9.23
Guthrie County: Corn $2.85, Beans $9.27
Montgomery County: Corn $2.85, Beans $9.25
Shelby County: Corn $2.86, Beans $9.23

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors received some good news Monday evening. Director Seth Staashelm said Howrey Construction began work Monday on the Lake #2 Trail project. It starts with grading this week, with paving on Oct. 3rd. The project will be complete that same week.

Howrey Construction was the company that did the Lake #1 trail. The Lake #2 trail is the next major step for the Connector Trail. The project was made possible through a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant from the State, along with $26,800 from the City of Atlantic. It was initially thought to cost about $134,000, but last month, the bids came in well below that. Howrey’s bid was $109,000.

In other business, Staashelm said the Cass County Forest Health Walk and Emerald Ash Borer Informational meeting will be held October 3rd. He says he and DNR District Forester Lindsey Barney will tour Sunnyside Park and check out the nearly 1,000 trees and evaluate them. They’ll also talk about Emerald Ash Borer. Staashelm says the devastating disease that kills Ash trees has not made it’s way to Atlantic, but there were two suspect trees in the area of the City Park and 7th and Locust that turned out not to be infected.)

The meeting takes place at the Cass County Community Center on Oct. 3rd, from 3-until 7-p.m. For more information call 243-1132. (On the web at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/cass/Cass%20County%20Forest%20Health%20Walk%20and%20Emerald%20Ash%20D2.pdf )