(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowa officials need to close a loophole that could let foreign interests town Iowa farmland.  “We absolutely cannot let foreign governments undermine the agricultural dominance our farmers have worked so hard to build,” Reynolds said. Reynolds is calling on the Iowa Secretary of State’s office to review land purchase documents, to see if foreign governments or individuals are involved in U-S based companies or trusts that have purchased farmland. “Fortunately, I’m proud to say that Iowa already has some of the strongest laws in the country on foreign ownership of land,” Reynolds said. “In fact, we’ve seen other states look to us for a model for their own policies, but as China’s our laws should, too.”

Under current law, foreigners may own now more than 320 acres of Iowa farmland. Reynolds has proposed a bill that calls on the Iowa Secretary of State to compile a public report to show the extent of foreign ownership of farmland in Iowa.  “With this bill, Iowa will continue to lead the nation and keep American soil in American hands,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds made her comments this (Thursday) morning at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. G-O-P presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are speaking to the group, too.

Jim Field visits with Alicia Herzog about the Spring Master Gardeners course and the Home Gardening web series.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (26.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – The last opportunity for hunters to take a deer this season will focus on unclaimed deer tags in individual counties. Iowa D-N-R state deer biologist Jace Elliott says this final season helps with population control. “Starting January 11th through January 21st, we have January antlerless seasons being held in select counties based on the availability of those county antlerless tags on the 11th,” he says. The D-N-R held its first excess tag season last year. “Those tags can be purchased for use during that January anterless season. It has to be purchased in person at a vendor just because if you purchased it online, the tag may not come to you in time to utilize for the season,” Elliot says. “They must be purchased in person at a vendor, a list of which can be found on our D-N-R website.”

Elliott says the rules change a little bit on the type of gun you can use to encourage hunters to participate. “The Excess Tag January Season allows the use of centerfire rifles between 22 and 50 caliber, that can be used to harvest deer that normally many of those calibers couldn’t normally be used during our firearm season,” he says. “So there’s a little bit of incentive there for hunters to go out and take advantage of these extra seasons.” Elliott says hunters have had success in recent weeks.

“In terms of our overall harvest this season, we’re trending along pretty closely with our five year average. We’re within five percent of the harvest at this time last year, which was a very good year for our deer harvest in Iowa,” Elliott says. “I would expect finishing up at about the same spot, which is between 105 and 110-thousand deer.”

He says the anterless season is a little quieter and longer, and offers a great opportunity to get a deer for your freezer late into the winter.

Jim Field visits with Jimmy Ryan about his show “The Heroes Behind the Hits,” at the Corning Opera House on Saturday.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Jim Field visits with ISU Extension Field Agronomist Aaron Saeugling about the local Crop Advantage meeting in Atlantic on January 18.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (24.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A federal appeals court has upheld two state laws that established new penalties for trespassing on farmland or in livestock confinements. The laws makes it a crime to lie on a job application in order to gain access to an agricultural facility. The laws also forbid the use of a camera while trespassing on agricultural properties. Critics say it’s a violation of the free speech rights of those who seek to expose environmental hazards or the abuse of livestock. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the laws safeguard Iowa’s ag community and protect our food security.

Jim Field visits with Atlantic Elk’s members Gail Butler and Delbert Thurman about the Veteran’s luncheon on Saturday.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (23.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Jim Field visits with Erika Lundy-Woolfolk about the Three-State Beef Conference event on January 17 at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (23.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowans are itching to forget about winter and instead think ahead to springtime and planning out their gardens. The Iowa State University Extension is offering a series of free home gardening webinars starting next week. Alicia Herzog, I-S-U’s Master Gardener Program coordinator, says the course is designed to educate and inspire. “We have ten of these webinar sessions. They’re about an hour each,” Herzog says. “We planned for them to go from 6 to 7 PM Central Time. If they wanted to go through the whole series, it would start January 9th and it goes through March 12th, so ten weeks, every single Tuesday from 6 to 7 PM.” People can sign up for the webinars as late as the day of the event, and they can take any one — or all — of the online classes.

“This is just an educational webinar series that we offer as continuing education for our master gardeners,” Herzog says, “and also just as a free resource to the public, to anyone who’s interested in gardening and wanting to become a better gardener this year.” Attendees can register to join through Zoom or Facebook Live. The ten courses will offer a wide range of gardening topics, with the January classes focused primarily on edibles.

“We’ll talk about tomatoes and dealing with disorders and diseases of those, grape pruning and canopy management, which is one that has been requested many times,” Herzog says. “Also a common one for any gardener is identifying and managing fruit and vegetable insect pests in your garden, and then seed saving for the home gardener.” Other topics will include soil health, cover crops, climate extremes and composting, as well as tips on designing your home garden. The first of the ten classes will be held next Tuesday night.

Register here: https://go.iastate.edu/UOOQEJ