An official with the University of Iowa says a meeting will be held this Wednesday morning in Oakland, with regard to flood protection efforts in the area. Richard Lewis, Senior Research Writer at the U-of-I, says watershed management authorities will be formally creating flood-protection and water quality plans for the East Nishnabotna and West Nishnabotna River watersheds. Planning groups will meet 9-a.m. Wednesday (Sept. 14th) at the Oakland Community Center (614 Dr. VanZee Road), in Oakland.

More details about the meeting can be found here: http://bit.ly/2cH6lvS

Lewis says the meeting is a key step in moving the flood protection planning forward. It comes after the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa announced last June at meetings in Sidney and Glenwood, that it had obtained $96.9-million to address issues associated with the devastating and dangerous floods Iowa communities experience year-after-year.

Nine watersheds across Iowa will serve as project sites, including the East and West Nishnabotna Rivers.

Bob Beebensee and DNR Conservation District Supervisor Brian Smith talk about conservation topics in Southwest Iowa.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (9.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Delegates at this week’s Iowa Farm Bureau policy conference passed a resolution supporting the idea of finding existing or even NEW state tax revenue to finance water quality projects. The group had previously OPPOSED the idea of raising state taxes to finance soil and water conservation initiatives. Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says the group believes a VOLUNTARY approach that provides government incentives to farmers is the best approach.

“Every farm is unique. Every farm is diverse. Every farm is different in its slope or its topography or its drainage and so we need to develop plans that are uniquely qualified for that farm and you don’t do that through regulation,” Hill says. “You do that through voluntary, incentive-based action.” This spring, Iowa lawmakers deadlocked over how to best finance a massive increase in state funding for water quality projects.

For the past few years, the state has been under pressure from the federal government to reduce the amount of farm chemical runoff, then came the Des Moines Water Works lawsuit in 2015. It amounts to a legal challenge of the voluntary approach to water conservation on Iowa farms. “The lawsuit may be a way of bullying farmers in a way,” Hill says. “We don’t think that’s the right thing. We think we all should come together. We all should partner together. We all should figure out how to accomplish out goals and solve the problem together. It doesn’t need to be through a court.”

On Monday, a coalition of groups will hold a news conference to declare support for increasing the state sales tax to pay for water conservation efforts. The Iowa Soybean Association along with environmental groups, Iowa Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy are listed on a news release as part of the coalition.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Guthrie County Extension service report Palmer Amaranth was confirmed in Guthrie County this (Friday) morning. Guthrie County Extension & Outreach will host a meeting on Palmer Amaranth next 7-p.m. Wednesday, September 14th at the Extension Office in Guthrie Center (212 State Street).

Topics to be covered include:

• The recent discovery of Palmer Amaranth in Guthrie County
• P-A Identification
• Plant Biology
• Current levels of infestations across Iowa
• and Management possibilities in CRP Plantings and Row Crops.

The session will be presented by ISU Field Agronomist Mike Witt.

For more information on Palmer Amaranth, go to this link: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/article/stopping-spread-palmer-amaranth-aggressive-competitive-weed

The president of the Iowa Farm Bureau says it’s “vitally important” that congress pass the pending “T-P-P” trade deal before year’s end. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership. Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says congress should act after the November election, before the new president takes office. “Every day that we delay is a day that we depreciate the value of the agreement,” Hill says. “It’s a multilateral, comprehensive trade agreement. It includes 12 countries which brings net farm income to the positive by about $4.4 billion a year.”

Hill says, unfortunately, the two major party presidential candidates have “poisoned the well” on the trade pact President Obama’s administration negotiated with 11 other “Pacific Rim” countries. “But we’re hopeful. We’re working on it every day. It’s important to America. It’s important to the world,” Hill says. “And after we get this one done, TTIP — which is the European trade deal — could be executed upon. It’s being negotiated now, but we can’t do that until we get TPP.”

The Trans Pacific Partnership involves a dozen countries with a border that touches the Pacific Ocean. Farm groups say the deal would stop countries from using “non-scientific” reasons for barring the import of U.S. commodities, like corn and soybeans as well as pork, beef and dairy products.

(Radio Iowa)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – (The City Council in Atlantic won’t allow a pot bellied pig in the City limits, but…) The City Council in Cedar Falls has taken a step toward allowing backyard chickens. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the council voted 4-3 Tuesday to revisit a 10-year-old ban on the domestic birds. The council ordered staffers to prepare an ordinance for a future council vote.

A staff review showed many Iowa cities, including Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, allow a limited number of chickens. Cities that don’t include Ankeny, Coralville and Davenport. David Sturch of the city planning staff wrote in a memo to the mayor and council members that city staffers recognize that urban chickens “are a growing trend for people to have them as pets and for egg production.”

Iowa State University Extension will be holding an informational meeting in Shelby County Sept. 19th, on the current issues surrounding the weed Palmer Amaranth. Officials say the weed has been located in Iowa in the past but has had many more discoveries, within the last year, in first year seeded conservation plantings. The weed has the potential to be detrimental to field crops in the future.

The meeting will discuss plant identification and biology, management tactics and the current infestations in Iowa. You’re invited to join Iowa State Field Agronomist Mike Witt on Monday, Sept. 19th at 9:30-a.m., at the Shelby County Extension office in Harlan.

Some Iowa corn growers are finding a new type of disease on the leaves of their crops. Plant pathologist Doug Jardine says the disease streaks the leaves and somewhat resembles “gray leaf spot” but it’s different. Jardine says with corn maturing and drying, it likely won’t spread any further this season. “We’ve probably, for the most part, wrapped up what we’re going to find this year but we’re already making plans to do a more extensive survey next summer,” Jardine says.

The new disease is being called X-V-V and researchers don’t know how it got here, how to control it or even whether it needs to be controlled. The big question is — will it reduce yields? “That we do not know yet,” he says. “Those studies are being planned for next summer.” Jardine says anytime you get something new that has the potential to impact the corn crop, it’s a big deal in the heartland, especially in Iowa where corn is king.

“Most diseases in the corn crop that we deal with on a regular basis are fungal diseases and many of them can be treated with a fungicide for management,” Jardine says. “This is a bacterial disease and we have another bacterial disease in corn called Goss’s Blight which is also fairly widespread across the corn belt. We’ve been living with that for a few decades but this one is new.”

X-V-V has been found in nine states so far, in Iowa, as well as Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado.

(Radio Iowa)

SHELDON, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigators are investigating a fish kill along the Little Floyd River near Sheldon in northwest Iowa. The kill was reported Wednesday afternoon and initially appeared to involve a small number of fish. But a news release Thursday from the department says further investigation indicates the kill stretched at least three miles and involved hundreds of fish — mostly small chubs, minnows and suckers.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports three central Iowa men were charged with theft for allegedly harvesting ginseng roots on state managed lands along the Des Moines River valley over the Labor Day Weekend. Officials say it is illegal to harvest ginseng from all state-owned and state-managed land, and most county conservation board owned land.

53-year old Bart Bollie, of Madrid, 55-year old Kyle Jones, of Slater and 28-year old Brent Jones, also of Slater, were each charged with fifth degree theft, unlawful possession of wild ginseng root from state-managed lands, and unlawful possession of young wild ginseng. The DNR is asking for restitution and liquidated damages equal to 150 percent of the value of the ginseng, which is $292.50 from each individual. Bollie, Jones and Jones are set to appear in Dallas County court on September 12th.

All three men had valid Iowa ginseng harvester permits. Officers seized 406 illegally harvested ginseng roots, including 41 roots that did not meet legal harvest age, and the digging tools. The DNR says Ginseng plants must have three or more prongs and a flowering or fruiting stalk with red fruits in order to be dug up. Once dug up, the roots must have at least five stem scars to be harvested. Roots with less than five stem scars must be carefully replanted in the same location.

Most of the ginseng collected in Iowa is exported to countries in Asia, with a small portion going to cities along the west coast, like San Francisco. The price of ginseng fluctuates based on the strength of the Asian economy and lately that price has been down. Last year, average quality ginseng roots would bring $500-$600 per pound, and high quality roots up to $750 per pound.

Ginseng may be harvested from September 1 to October 31 from private land with permission from the landowner, and harvesters must have a valid ginseng harvester permit. Permits are available for $37 anywhere hunting and fishing licenses are sold.
There are currently 154 permitted Iowa ginseng harvesters.

(12-p.m. News)