(NWS/Des Moines, Iowa) – The latest U-S Drought Monitor report from the National Weather Service in Des Moines, shows drought conditions improved in portions of northern and eastern Iowa during the past week. The report, issued Thursday, Oct. 19th, showed none of Iowa’s 99 counties are in an Exceptional Drought (D4). Portions of eastern Iowa are in an Extreme Drought (D3). Severe Drought (D2) conditions are found outside those counties in an Extreme Drought, and extends across much of southern and west central Iowa, to include the extreme northern, western and southwestern portions of Cass County, all of Pottawattamie, Harrison and Shelby Counties, and portions of Audubon, Guthrie, Adair, Mills, Montgomery and Adams Counties.

Moderate Drought (D1) or Abnormally Dry (D-O) conditions exist in areas of the State not already covered by the D2, D3 or D4 Drought conditions. Officials say the 30-day precipitation totals are now above normal for much of northwest Iowa and eastern portions of the State. The largest deficits are across southern Iowa. The seven-day precipitation forecast call for dry conditions this weekend, with an increasing threat of rainfall into next week.

The eight-to 14-day outlook indicates a better chance of below normal temperatures across Iowa, with near normal precipitation during that time frame. The bottom line: Drought conditions are expected to persist across Iowa through the end of this month. (Click on the graphics to enlarge)

(Shenandoah, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is partnering with Optimal Aquafeed and Page County Conservation Board to stock rainbow trout at 9 a.m. this Saturday, October 21 in RAPP Park, outside Shenandoah. Approximately 750 rainbow trout ranging from 0.75 lbs to 4.0 lbs. from Optimal Aquafeed will be stocked by Iowa DNR staff in a small borrow pit on the RAPP Park property. A second stocking of approximately 500 rainbow trout is planned for November.

Anglers must have a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout.  The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10. Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily limit.  The child can buy a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit of five trout.

Rainbow Trout (DNR Photo)

This is the third year of this successful partnership that provides a unique fishing opportunity to southwest Iowa anglers.

(Radio Iowa) – Alpaca farmers from all across the Midwest will be bringing their animals to central Iowa this weekend for a large convention, show and competition. The president of the National Alpaca Owners Association, Jennifer Hack, says the Fall Alpaca Spectacular will be the first-ever “mega” alpaca show in North America, as it’s combining five competitions into one.

There will be some 350 alpacas shown at the Iowa venue, which is free and open to the general public. Unlike most other livestock, alpacas aren’t raised for meat, but rather for their fleece, which Hack says is truly unlike that of any other creature.

The event runs today (Friday) through Sunday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University and Alliant Energy dedicated a solar farm on the south side of Ames Thursday. The Dean of the I-S-U College of Agriculture, Daniel Robison says it’s an agrivoltaic project that combines agricultural use with the production of voltage or electricity. The solar panels are up higher and can rotate to allow for the planting of fruits and vegetables around them.

ISU Solar farm (ISU photo)

Robison says I-S-U received a two-point-two million dollar grant from the U-S Department of Energy to study how the crops do in a solar field. He says that type of research isn’t very abundant in the Midwest. They also have planted pollinator plants like prairie grasses around the solar farm and will have beehives as well so they can harvest honey along with the electricity produced by the solar panels.

(Radio Iowa) – An 80-million dollar U-S-D-A grant will provide new incentives to farmers in Iowa and Missouri who switch from planting corn and soybeans on marginal cropland — and grow native grasses and prairie plants to harvest instead. Roeslein Alternative Energy of St. Louis, Missouri, secured the grant with help from Iowa State University and the Iowa Soybean Association. Roeslein spokesman Brandon Butler says the company, which started in 2012, has been capturing energy from livestock waste.

“We’re able to tarp over those lagoons, capture all those gases, bring them to a centralized (location) and then we separate those molecules,” he says. “We upgrade the methane into…renewable natural gas — called RNG — and we directly inject that into the natural gas grid.” The new initiative plans to make renewable natural gas from the plant material harvested from local fields.

“The biogas is really, really important to rural America and agricultural communities,” Butler says. “This is reallly our chance to interact with this extreme push towards a more sustainable future.” Butler says this new project also fits with the company’s mission.

“We want to create processes that are good economically, they’re good environmentally and they’re good for wildlife,” he says, ‘because when it’s good for wildlife, it’s good for us as well.” The five-year pilot project will compensate farmers for growing restored grasses and prairie plants, which have deep roots that store carbon in the soil. The harvested biomass will be combined with manure in facilities that ultimately produce renewable natural gas.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture is trying a new approach called “batch and build” to address runoff that impacts water quality. Ag Secretary Mike Naig says it involves doing several water quality projects together. “It’s an innovative approach to really grouping together and installing practices more efficiently,” he says. Naig says it brings more people in to get more done. “Historically, we might have built one or two at a time and worked with individual landowners or farmers to do that,” Naig says. “What we’re doing is working with counties and other partners to group those together, you might do 20, 30,40 or 50 at one time.” He says there is more efficiency in the work.

“Contract with one land improvement contractor, you pay the bills, once it’s very efficient, you can group them together and get them built. And so this is all part of our effort to scale up and really accelerate the adoption of practices like bio reactors and saturated buffers in the state of Iowa,” Naig says. “And really an innovative program that’s not really being done anywhere else. We’ve created it here in the state of Iowa, very proud of that, and really proud of the partners who are working together on that.”

The bioreactors and buffers at the edge of fields help remove nitrates from the water that comes off tile lines. The Ag Department is working with the Wright County Soil and Water Conservation District on the first phase of the Boone River watershed project with a goal of installing more than 25 edge of field conservation projects. Other similar projects are in Calhoun, Jasper and Boone County.

(Radio Iowa) – Experts say many Iowa trees are showing some brilliant colors right now due to recent cool temperatures. Mark Runkel is a forest health technician with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He says you don’t have to venture far to see nature’s autumn show. “Drive around your neighborhood. You can drive around your city parks. You can walk around some hiking trails,” Runkel says. “There are a lot of opportunities right near everybody’s home to just see some of these amazing color changes.”

For tree experts like Runkel, the colors of the leaves are a clue to what type of tree it is. “You can definitely tell which species based on what colors you’d be seeing,” Runkel says. “It can get a little bit challenging in a forest, if you’re looking at a forest from a distance, and just seeing all these vibrant colors,” Runkel says. Sugar maples, for example, often turn orange in the fall.

“I’m particular to the hard maples. I think that’s a really cool color,” Runkel says. “A lot of the oak species, as well, they kind of play off one another. Especially if you’re looking at a bluff full of trees, you can really see the differences between them really quickly.” Oak trees in Iowa are the last to show their fall color. The timing of this year’s show of fall foliage in Iowa is pretty typical, according to Runkel.

“We’re pretty much seeing it act normally as it would in year’s past,” Runkel says. “The drought conditions that we’ve had can sometimes really impact the fall color, but this year we haven’t really seen any significant impacts.”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has a webpage that offers daily updates on the best viewing for fall colors in Iowa. Find a link at https://www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/Forestry/Fall-Color

w/Kate Olson.

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued more than $1.77 billion this year to agricultural producers and landowners through its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a critical piece of the Department’s efforts to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry on working lands. Right now, CRP’s more than 667,000 participants received payments from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) for their voluntary conservation efforts on more than 23 million acres of private land. Since 2021, CRP has grown by 21 percent in terms of acres enrolled, testament to the Biden-Harris administration’s program improvement efforts.

“Through the addition of tools to sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better quantify these efforts, while also bringing into the fold more Tribes and underserved producers, we’ve made the Conservation Reserve Program better for our nation’s natural resources and for our agricultural producers and landowners,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These producers and landowners voluntarily place their land under contract and, in the spirit of stewardship, agree to establish and maintain prescribed conservation practices for the life of contract. We’re grateful to all CRP participants who are making a tremendous difference by proactively addressing climate change and conserving natural resources now and for future generations.”

Top five states for CRP participant payments:
• Iowa, $402,508,900
• Illinois, $172,723,800
• Minnesota, $150,773,400
• South Dakota, $129,545,200
• Missouri, $99,849,600

Improvements to CRP
• Introducing a new climate-smart practice incentive for CRP general and continuous signups designed to reward participants who implement conservation practices that increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Enabling additional soil rental rate adjustments or rate flexibilities, including a possible increase in rates where appropriate.
• Increasing payments for practice incentives from 20 percent to 50 percent. This incentive, in addition to cost share payments, for continuous CRP practices is based on establishment cost.
• Increasing payments for water quality practices rates from 10 percent to 20 percent for certain water quality benefiting practices available through the CRP continuous signup, such as grassed waterways, riparian buffers and filter strips.
• Establishing a Grassland CRP minimum rental rate benefiting more than 1,000 counties with rates currently below the $13 minimum.

FSA’s conservation programs had a strong showing in 2023. FSA partnered with producers and landowners to enroll 3.9 million CRP this year –including 927,000 enrolled acres through General CRP, 2.3 million acres enrolled in Grassland CRP and 694,000 acres enrolled in Continuous CRP. These results underscore the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and natural resources.
More Information
CRP is a voluntary program contract with agricultural producers through which environmentally sensitive agricultural land is devoted to conservation benefits. CRP participants establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees to control soil erosion, improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years.

To learn more about CRP and other FSA programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center.

Rains kept some farmers out of the fields at a key time last week as they tried to get the harvest completed. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig (like egg) says when rain comes during the harvest it can throw a wrench into progress — so it’s much needed but ill timed. Naig says the timing of the rain is something that was key for those farmers seeing good yields.
Naig says he’s generally hearing some pretty good reports out of large swaths of the state for yields.

The latest U-S-D-A crop report shows the harvest moved from 30 to 42 percent completed for corn last week, and from 52 to 74 percent completed for soybeans.