Jim Field visits with Sunni Kamp, Southwest Iowa Foundations Director, about the spring grant cycle opportunities through area county foundations.
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(Radio Iowa) – The final tallies are in, and state climatologist Justin Glisan says 2023 is going down as one of Iowa’s warmest and driest years in more than 150 years of record keeping. Glisan says when you average out the temperatures over 365 days, it’s rare for Iowa’s year-long average temperature to vary by even one-degree above or below the previous year, but that changed during 2023. “We were over two degrees above average,” Glisan says, “so that was looking at the rankings that we have, it’ll be in the top 20 warmest years on record, again going back to 1872.”
As 2023 concluded, he says it ended 182 consecutive weeks of at least D-1 moderate drought in some part of the state. That’s more than three-and-a-half years of continuous drought and some sections of the state have very dry conditions. “We have widespread drought, a large D-3, which is on that scale of D-0 to D-4 for extreme drought, a large swath in eastern Iowa,” Glisan says. “Precipitation deficits within that D-3 region, anywhere from 12 to 18 inches below average just for the year.”
Justin Glisan (Photo courtesy Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship)
The only corner of the state that recorded above-average precipitation during 2023 was northwest Iowa, which saw between one and three inches more than the norm. However, he says the rest of the state was exceptionally dry. “Overall, if you look at the statewide average, about 27 inches, with the average just a little over 35-and-a-half inches,” Glisan says, “so about nine inches below average, and looking at the rankings, it’ll be in the top 25 driest years on record.”
After three consecutive La Nina winters, we’re now in an El Nino pattern, which Glisan says tends to bring the Midwest warmer temperatures in addition to wetter conditions. Glisan says Iowa had a bit of a snow drought last month. “Climatologically December is the snowiest month for Iowa,” Glisan says. “The preliminary statewide average is 1.4 inches. That’s 6.5 inches below average.” Despite the lack of snow, December was one of four months out of 2023 that wound up with ABOVE average precipitation. “A majority of our precipitation was rainfall and that rainfall was gradual over several days and it was able to soak in,” Glisan says. That’s because December temperatures were above average, keeping the ground from freezing solid.
Glisan says there is a storm system in the Pacific Ocean that’s headed east and the long-term forecast indicates it may bring rain and snow to Iowa as early as this weekend. Glisan cautions, though, that the storm system could weaken as it makes landfall on the west coast and moves across the Rockies.
(Shelby, Iowa) – The Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at the Shelby Community Hall in Shelby at 7:00 pm. Carstens’ Board President Charlie Leaders, of Minden, says “Everyone is invited to come to the meeting and hear about what’s happening at the farm.”
Members of Carstens Farm will be voting for three positions on the board of directors. The following board members’ terms are ending as of the date of the meeting: David Dittmer of Minden, Doug Martin of Shelby and Dale Schroder of Avoca will be up for re-election for another term. All are running for another term. Continuing board members are Ben Ausdemore, Charlie Leaders and Gerald McCool of Minden, Bill Johnson and Stan Kern of Shelby, Harvey Ferris of Missouri Valley, Rick Newland of Persia and Terry Torneten of Harlan. Results of the election will be announced following the meeting. Leaders says “We will take ideas for projects in 2024. We’ve got several projects planned that we’ll talk about. Building upkeep and repair are always projects we work on. Reports will be given on the 2023 Carstens Farm Days show. I hope to see many members as well as the general public at the meeting because we want to continue to grow our membership.”
Via carstensfarm.com
Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc. members as well as members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend. Those attending will have the opportunity to renew their memberships or to purchase new memberships. Memberships from the public are important for sustaining the farm’s operations. New or renewing members should note that membership rates remain the same as last year: $25 for family; $15 for an individual. Visit the farm’s website for membership information.
Carstens 1880 Farmstead, Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteers, oversees the working farmstead museum exhibit located south of Shelby, Iowa. The farmstead hosts several thousand people annually during Carstens Farm Days which is held the first weekend after Labor Day. For more information visit www.carstensfarm.com
Jim Field visits with Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning about the “Soiree with the Swans’ event Saturday, January 6 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic.
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Jim Field visits with Cass Health CEO Brett Altman about successes in 2023 and plans for 2024.
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(Radio Iowa) – An eastern Iowa program works to connect immigrant farmers with plots of land to farm. Emmaly Renshaw is executive director of Feed Iowa First, which was launched in Linn County. The three-year community farming program aims to remove barriers to farmers who are growing what are considered culturally-relevant foods. “They’re individuals who want to produce for food access for both their families and their communities,” Renshaw says, “but they’re not necessarily looking at making their farming like a main income again.” Renshaw says in Iowa, crops like yuka, casava and hot peppers can be in low supply, or priced as luxury foods.
By sourcing immigrants from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with land, Feed Iowa First aims to make these crops more readily available. Renshaw says the program’s farmers are barely meeting demand. “We were able to move about a thousand pounds of habanero in about three days,” she says, “and so for us that just helps us begin to understand how big these food gaps are.”
Even if immigrants come to Iowa with agricultural skills and experience, with farmland prices are a premium, she says it’s very difficult for them to get back into the field.
(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa engineering professor says extreme drought poses concerns about water quality as well as the water supply. David Cwiertny is a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Lots of communities are looking at how they can augment their existing supply or have alternative supplies,” he says, “which is why we really need to take good care of the resources that we have or have impaired supplies that can’t work.” Cwiertny is director of the University of Iowa’s Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination. The center was established in 1987 by the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act.
Des Moines Water Works CEO Ted Corrogan, left, and UI civil and environmental engineering professor David Cwiertny on the Iowa Press set. (Photo courtesy of Iowa PBS.)
“When we have a drought…we still have the same types/amounts of chemicals that we’re putting into that water, but less water there leads to higher concentrations and sometimes greater need for treatment,” Cwiertny says, “which also stresses how water systems need to provide for their communities.” Cwiertny says beyond regional water systems that serve communities and rural residents, 300-thousand Iowans rely solely on a private well for their water.
“Many of those are shallow inside, say, the alluvial plains near rivers and creeks. As those start to dry up, then you have homeowners on their own because those fall outside of most state and federal oversight –needing secure water supplies,” Cwiertny says. “We hear anecdotal tales of residents in northwest Iowa who’ve had their wells run dry and we’re just beginning to think about what that means for the quality and the reliability of well water for private well consumers.”
Cwiertney made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.
(Radio Iowa) – Pottawattamie County officials have hired a private firm to inspect areas where the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline would pass through eastern parts of the county. The contract calls for the county-hired inspectors to make sure land is restored to its prior condition and drainage tile systems are repaired and maintained. Supervisor Susan Miller of Carson voted to approve the contract, but suggests it may not go far enough.
Pottawattamie County’s planning and development director says there’s nothing the county can do after recent court decisions blocked other counties’ pipeline ordinances. County Engineer John Rasmussen says he can’t make an estimate on how much wear and tear county roads may sustain during pipeline construction.
Summit has applied for a state permit to build and operate the pipeline, but the Iowa Utilities Board has not indicated when it may decide on the application. The board hosted a public hearing about the project this summer. The hearing started in August and ended in November.
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