A survey from the Iowa Realtors Land Institute shows farmland values dropped almost nine-percent from a year ago. Iowa’s average farmland value is now just under 65-hundred dollars an acre. In September of 2013, the average acre was worth 87-hundred-50 dollars. Kyle Hansen, at Hertz Real Estate Services in Nevada, says the decrease is tied to lower commodity prices.

“We were down 8.7% on a state average for average quality tillable ground,” Hansen says. “A lot of that is just a continuation of what we’ve seen with the downward pressure due to the extended lower commodity prices. It’s really a continuation of what we’ve seen in the last 12 to 18 months.”

He says their projections indicate farmland values will continue on the down-swing for perhaps another year. “With the commodity prices staying low and it appears like we’re going to have a great crop this year, that would continue to keep prices low,” Hansen says. “We would anticipate an additional softening over the next six to 12 months just because of the lower revenue that is being generated by the farmers.”

Hansen says the strongest farmland values in Iowa are still in the northwest, where there was a three-percent decrease. “Northwest Iowa is still the highest-priced farm ground in the state of Iowa,” Hansen says. “They have a lot of strength in the ethanol industry as well as in the years past, the higher revenue generated from livestock, primarily the beef cattle that are there.”

He says the largest drop in farmland values was in southwest Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa remains among the nation’s top states for making and selling organic foods. A report from the USDA shows Iowa consumers spent over $120 million on organic items last year. Organic sales in the state doubled from the previous national survey conducted in 2011.

In 2015, Iowa ranked fifth in the nation for the total number of certified organic farms with 674 farms covering 93,707 acres. That’s up from 81,634 acres of certified organic farmland six years ago. California is far and away the national leader in both organic production and sales.

Wisconsin, New York, and Pennsylvania are also ahead of Iowa for the number of organic farms.

(Radio Iowa)

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) today (Monday) announced she will hold a roundtable in Atlantic to speak with cattle producers about the issues affecting cattle feeders, and the agriculture industry as a whole. The roundtable, which takes place 12:30-p.m. Wed., Oct. 5th, will be held at the Rock Island Depot (102 Chesnut Street), and is open to the public.

Sen. Ernst says “Our Iowa cattle producers play a vital role in our state economy and help to feed the world. This roundtable provides a great opportunity to discuss the many issues facing our cattle producers, and the ways in which we can ensure continued growth, stable markets and expanded trade opportunities for the industry.”

Cass County: Corn $2.81, Beans $9.16
Adair County: Corn $2.78, Beans $9.19
Adams County: Corn $2.78, Beans $9.15
Audubon County: Corn $2.80, Beans $9.18
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $2.84, Beans $9.16
Guthrie County: Corn $2.83, Beans $9.20
Montgomery County: Corn $2.83, Beans $9.18
Shelby County: Corn $2.84, Beans $9.16

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is scheduled to meet with egg producers and industry leaders this Wednesday (9/21) to discuss issues with raising cage free eggs. The demand for cage free eggs is rising, but Vilsack questions whether consumers realize what it takes to make that possible. United Egg Producers President Chad Gregory says around 90 percent of egg farms currently produce eggs through conventional methods. “To switch that 90 percent over to cage free, we’re looking at $45 per bird. So, a one million bird egg farm – which is about average these days – would cost $45 million dollars,” Gregory says.

Around 160 companies have committed to selling cage free eggs, according to Gregory. Given what they need to meet demand, he says it’s a significant investment. “The food companies and retailers who have made these announcements so far, they have collectively buy around 200 million birds on an annual basis. So you take those 200 million birds, times $45.00 per bird, and you get somewhere around 8 to 10 billion dollars,” Gregory says.

Switching to cage free doesn’t happen overnight, Gregory adds, and companies will need to make huge investments in time and resources to meet the goal of supplying only cage free eggs. Iowa is the nation’s top egg producer, with roughly 60 million laying hens producing nearly 15 billion eggs per year.

(Radio Iowa/Brownfield Ag News)

• KJAN, Atlantic  2.49″
• Adair, 3.20″
• Adair-Casey Elementary School, 2.80″
• Audubon  3.19″
• Avoca  3.9″
• 5 miles s.w. of Bagley, 2.31″
• Carroll  2.64″
• Clarinda  .18″
• Coon Rapids, 2.80″
• Denison  2.3″
• Elk Horn  2.44″
• Fontanelle, 2.37″
• Glenwood  .4″
• Greenfield, 2.20″
• Guthrie Center  3.11″
• Irwin  3.5″
• 2 miles N/NE of Lewis, 1.65″
• Massena  2.4″
• Missouri Valley  3.98″
• Oakland  2.21″
• Panora, 2.56″
• Redfield, 1.96″
• Red Oak  .75″
• Shenandoah  .52″
• Treynor  2.2″
• Underwood  2.33″
• Walnut  4.75″
• Woodbine  3.91″
• Villisca  .55″

A blend of fuel that’s been off the market in Iowa during the summer driving season is returning today (Friday). Gasoline that has 15 percent ethanol blended in it is now available again. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw says federal regulations are to blame as the newer E-15 fuel blend wasn’t given the same summer driving allowance that the commonly used E-10 blend was given 30 years ago.

“As a result of that, you actually have to have two different types of gasoline to blend — one for E-10 and one for E-15. Oil companies use this quirk in federal regulations and only supply Iowa with the blendstock that is suitable for E-10, thereby freezing E-15 out of the market for three-and-a-half months,” Shaw explains. Shaw says the E-15 can be used on a majority of vehicles on the roads. “It’s approved for use in all 2001 or newer vehicles. It is not approved for smaller off-road engines. But if you have a 2001 or newer vehicle, you can use E-15 and you are going to be getting a cleaner product, a higher octane product, and it’s going to cost you less while providing the same mileage and probably a little bit of increased power,” according to Shaw.

He says the inability to sell E-15 year round has kept some retailers from selling the blend, but he says they’ve been working to increase it’s availability. Shaw says 69 stations now offer E-15 across the state, which is a big jump from last year. Shaw says retailers have to stop selling E-15 on June 1st when the so-called summer driving season starts. “We are going to be working very hard between now and next June to try to get the E-P-A to fix this or Congress to fix this. We need one of those two entities to step up and say ‘this is ridiculous,’ there is no scientific basis for treating these fuels differently. It is preventing a legal fuel from being available in the marketplace,” Shaw says.

He says the oil companies want to block anything that will cause more renewable corn-based ethanol and less oil to be used. Shaw says another tactic used by those who are against ethanol use is to say that drivers won’t be able to decide which fuel to use if there are too many choices at the pump. “Somehow you’re smart enough to drive a car 80-miles-an-hour down the interstate, but you’re not smart enough to choose between more than two fuel options,” Shaw says, “I just don’t buy into that.”

He says you can go to a restaurant and choose between thousands of different kinds of flavor mixes for you pop and that doesn’t cause any problems for customers. Shaw says having choices is a good thing. “We support consumer options and consumer choices. No one is forced to buy E-15. In fact in most of Iowa no one is even forced to buy E-10. You can pay quite a bit more money and get a non-ethanol blend,” Shaw says. “I think you are silly if you do — but it’s there. So, we like the fact that consumers can choose E-10, E-15 and in some stations they can choose an E-30 and E-85 if they are driving a flex fuel vehicle.”

Shaw believes E-15 would be a top choice of drivers if they all had access to it. “If we could make this universally available and consumers said ‘hey yeah I’d like to save five or ten cents a gallon, I’m gonna use E-15,’ it could make up 80 percent of our fuel market,” Shaw says. “Now that is going to take some time. Right now what we’re seeing is that it generally makes up anywhere from 15 to 25 percent of the sales of the stations that actually offer it.”

Shaw says stations in Minnesota that offer E-15 have seen it move to 50 percent of their sales. Retailers in the Des Moines and surrounding metro areas are selling the E-15 for one dollar, 15 cents a gallon at times today (Friday) to promote its return to the market. You can find a station that sells E-15 by going to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website http://iowarfa.org/

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bankers say weak farm income continues to weigh down the economy in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states. The overall rural economic index for the region remained in negative territory and declined to 37.3 in September from August’s 41.1. Survey officials say any score below 50 on any of the survey’s indexes suggests a decline in that area.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says farm income is expected to decline 12 percent over last year. That is limiting spending by farmers and hurting the economy in rural areas. Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

Goss says the number of farm loan defaults hasn’t increased significantly over the past year, but more loans are being restructured.

Officials with the Atlantic Police Department are asking for your help in solving an incident of field vandalism. Authorities say last Sunday (September 11th), a person reported that a bean field had been mowed through, causing several paths of damage. Officials say it appears that the field was mowed with a bush hog.

The land is located on the southeast corner of Buck Creek Rd. and Iowa Ave., in between the railroad tracks and the Schildberg Recreation Area. Anyone having information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Atlantic Police Department.

Area where a bean field was vandalized.