(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Sierra Club Iowa is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the large fertilizer spill on the East Nishnabotna River that killed thousands of fish. Chapter Director Pam Mackey-Taylor says they sent a letter with the request. “We’re asking that the Environmental Protection Agency which is federal government agency pick up the investigation of what happened and initiate criminal and serious civil charges related to the spill,” she says. Mackey-Taylor says if the issue only goes through the state civil process there would be a maximum 10-thousand dollar penalty and the cost of the dead fish.

“It’s a little bit of a long drawn out process. We feel that this is serious enough given that it’s 60 mile stretch of the river. It’s in two states, massive amount of fertilizer,” Macky-Taylor says. “And we think that it needs to be stepped up and gone through the civil as well as the criminal courts to get resolution.” The D-N- R reports more than 749-thousand fish were killed from the fertilizer spill at the NEW Cooperative near Red Oak in Montgomery County March 11th. The spill killed nearly all the fish in an almost 50-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna River into Missouri. “They said that this is one of the largest kills of fish in Iowa. There are a few spills that are larger, but no we haven’t heard of anything this large for some time,” she says. She says the company should be held responsible.

New Cooperative spill

“Obviously, there was nobody around doing any kind of surveillance or survey, or monitoring of what was happening. No monitors on the equipment to notify what spills are happening. No guards. And so this is just a flagrant violation that just needs to be fixed. And it’s more than just a simple little accident,” Mackey-Taylor says. She says Missouri wildlife officials believe some 40-thousand fish were killed in their state.

(Radio Iowa) – The governor will soon have an opportunity to put her signature on a bill that requires egg substitutes as well as plant-based or lab-grown meat sold in Iowa to be clearly labeled. Republican Senator Dawn Driscoll of Williamsburg says it started out in the Senate as a meat integrity bill, but now the proposed penalties for misleading labels would apply to products that resemble eggs, too.

“We gave a great bill to the House,” Driscoll said, “and now they have famously applied their special seasoning to this bill.” Driscoll is promising that next year she’ll help address some of the concerns raised about that addition, but 13 Senate Democrats voted against the bill. Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines says once the governor signs the bill — public schools, the state universities and community colleges will not be able to buy egg substitutes for the food served in lunch rooms and cafeterias.

“It’s more government interference with our schools,” Petersen says. Liquid egg substitutes can be chepaer if prices for eggs climb due to supply chain issues — and experts say about two percent of children are allergic to eggs. If the bill becomes law, Iowans who receive government food assistance could be barred from buying egg substitutes — if the U-S-D-A approves a waiver for the state.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board (CCCB) will hold a Wildflower Walk in a little over two-weeks. The event takes place April 27th, beginning at 9-a.m., at the Pellett Memorial Woods, north of town. There is no cost to partake in the event.

The CCCB invites you to walk through the early spring wildflowers with their naturalist. You’ll learn the names, uses and history of the Wildflowers.

The Pellett Memorial Woods is located just outside of Atlantic (63066 Troublesome Creek Rd), ½ mile north and ¾ mile east of the KJAN radio station.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – A House-passed bill that would give property owners resisting a proposed carbon pipeline a new legal option has cleared initial review in the Iowa Senate. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, is working on some adjustments to the bill, but he says it’s time for the legislature to do something. “I do believe this is the correct thing…to give people an opportunity to know the fate of their land without waiting three years,” Schultz said. “That just seems cruel and unusual.”

Under the bill, property owners along a proposed hazardous pipeline route could go to court after a permit application is filed for a ruling on whether developers would have eminent domain authority to seize land for the project. Property owners who don’t want the carbon pipeline on their land are urging senators to pass the bill. Kathy Carter of Rockford says they need relief.

“We need relief from the unending stress,” Carter said. “We need the relief of the worry of how do I afford to continue on, all in an effort to protect my own property.” Jeff Boeyink, a lobbyist for Summit Carbon Solutions, says if the bill becomes law, it would have a chilling effect on Summit’s pipeline, as well as natural gas pipeline development. “At its core, this bill has been written to frustrate infrastructure development,” Boeyink said. “There’s just no doubt about it.”

Another lobbyist for the company told senators that Summit has paid 158 million dollars to over 12-hundred Iowa landowners who’ve signed voluntary easements for the pipeline — accounting for nearly 75 percent of the pipeline route through Iowa.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources annual spring auction is being held online until April 24. To view the firearms for sale and to register to bid, go to https://auctionsolutionsinc.com/auctions.

Items up for auction include firearms, bows, gun cases and scopes. The items are sold “as is” with no guarantee or warranty. The list of items for sale and the terms of service is available at https://www.proxibid.com/Auction-Solutions-Inc/Iowa-State-Firearm-Auction-2024/event-catalog/259840.

Iowans who are winning bidders are required to pick up their firearms on April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the northwest corner parking lot/loading dock of the Wallace State Office Building, 502 East Ninth Street, in Des Moines.

The Iowa DNR reserves the right to reject any bids and withdraw any item from the sale at any time.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa agriculture officials are closely monitoring new developments with highly pathogenic avian influenza in the country. The U-S-D-A reported dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas tested positive for the virus last month. Earlier, avian flu was confined to domestic poultry and other bird species. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says other confirmed cases have been reported in Idaho, MIchigan and Ohio.

“What happens is, you’ve got cows that start to go off feed,” Naig says. “They might run a fever, their milk production drops, and that’s how folks started to realize and pick up that they had a problem. So, that certainly affects the health of dairy herds and the profitability of dairy, but, the good news is, those dairy cattle recover, just like you and I get over the flu.”

Last weekend, the Centers for Disease Control issued a health alert to inform clinicians, state health departments and the public of a case of avian influenza in a person who had contact with dairy cows presumed to be infected with the virus. Though the case was confirmed in a farm worker in Texas, Naig says the public should not be alarmed.

“There’s only ever been two confirmed cases of high path avian influenza in humans,” he says. “One was in Colorado a few years ago, related to a poultry site. And, the second one now is a dairy worker, a worker at one of these positive sites who had a lot of contact with those cattle and milk. So you can understand why that might have happened, but there is no indication that it moves from person to person.” Naig adds, the avian flu doesn’t constitute a food safety issue.

“As long as you are drinking pasteurized milk,” Naig says, “the milk that you and I buy at the grocery store, or that kids are drinking at school during a lunch hour, that is pasteurized. That kills any viruses and bacteria that are of concern, that’s where I can say this is not a food safety issue, but one that we are watching very closely, trying to anticipate how we can stay ahead of it here in the state of Iowa.”

More information regarding avian influenza is available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that gives Iowa’s attorney general subpoena power to investigate agland purchases and ensure foreigners and foreign governments are not investing in Iowa farmland. “Important legislation to secure Iowa farmland from adversaries of the United States,” Reynolds said this morning.

For decades it has been illegal for a foreign citizen for own more than 320 acres of Iowa farm ground, but Reynolds says foreigners could be using a loophole by investing in limited liability companies that buy agland. The new law requires agland purchase reports filed with the state to include more information about ownership structures. “When Iowa speaks, the country listens and with this bill our message is unmistakable: American soil belongs in American hands,” Reynolds said.

Under current law, foreign entities caught owning more than 320 acres of Iowa farmland can be fined $2000. The new law raises that fine to 25% of the assessed value of the land. “Together, these policies ensure that Iowa can continue to deter hostile nations from attempting to undermine or co-opt the agricultural dominance that Iowa farm families have worked so
hard to build,” Reynolds said.

Governor Kim Reynolds signed SF2204 into law in ceremony in Iowa Capitol rotunda on April 9, 2024. (RI photo)

A huge crowd of legislators and ag group leaders gathered in the Iowa Capitol rotunda for today’s bill signing ceremony. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said Iowa has had a good law since 1979 to ban foreign ownership of large tracts of Iowa farmland and this update makes it better.

“We know how important it is to protect our farm ground here in Iowa and I really appreciate the governor and the legislature for giving our office the tools that we need to get to the bottom of a situation if we think a foreign government might own some farm ground,” Bird said. “Call our office. We’ll investigate it and we appreciate the tools that we need to make sure that everybody is following the law.”

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said it’s landmark legislation to keep farm ground in the hands of Iowans. “With strengthened enforcement, deterrence and disclosure tools being implemented with this legislation, Iowa’s prohibition on foreign ownership of farm ground will continue to be the gold standard for this type of legislation in other states,” Naig said.

National estimates indicate foreigners own millions of acres of farmland, roughly equal to the size of Ohio.

(Radio Iowa) – D-N-R staff are now going out after dark and driving back roads to conduct surveys of wildlife. State deer biologist, Jace Elliott, says it’s something they do every spring. “Every county has two different 25 mile transects that run from east to west across each county. And these routes are surveyed at night with a spotlight,” he says. Elliott says they are looking primarily for deer and raccoons, but also other furbearers, like skunks. to track their population.

“And and of course, that’s important because we need to understand the dynamics at play with the different species that we’re monitoring,” Elliott says. “So, for instance, the deer counts that the survey provides, then go into informing our management decisions for antlerless harvest quotas.” He says the numbers will help him learn about some of the impacts on the deer herd. “I’m personally going to be taking a close look at some of our southern Iowa counties in terms of their deer numbers, after the recent E-H-D outbreak may have impacted some county populations in the southern half of the state,” Elliott says. He says the same applies for those keeping an eye on other animals. “All of the furbearers species get examined for statewide and regional trends, but there hasn’t been any large swings in populations from a statewide scale for those species,” he says.

Elliott says the spotlight surveys will run through this month and the results will be released in early summer.