Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees reports Cass County Fire Chiefs have been discussing a possible Burn Ban for Cass County. The Chiefs contacted Cass County Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon, after receiving some concerns by local residents. McNees says at this time, the overall consensus is to remind residents that conditions today (Monday) are very dangerous and ANY open burning should not be conducted. All precautions should be taken by farmers harvesting their crops to clean and maintain their equipment to help prevent equipment fires that could easily result in a large out of control field fire.

Atlantic Chief Mark McNees says also, “ At this moment it seems to be a typical fall harvest season with a large fuel load of unharvested crops. However, there are still reasonably green areas surrounding fields and some areas that are fairly wet in parts of the county. At the current pace, and with the two week outlook in the forecast, it appears much of the harvest will be completed within 2 to 3 weeks. I would not encourage any open burning until later in the fall or early winter when the crops are out and there may have been some more precipitation. It would be best to wait as long as possible. If conditions worsen greatly a ban may be issued and residents will be advised.”

Grassland Fire Danger Index 10/12/15

It is best always to contact your local fire department chief before any burns are conducted to get their advice and to give notice that a burn is being planned. Cass County has been very successful the past few years in keeping wildland fires from occurring by communicating with residents in this regard.

McNees added, “Several area departments have specifically trained to conduct prescribed burns for CRP mid management burns, and have instituted programs to do other planned, controlled burns for landowners in their districts. This provides a much safer and timely outcome for everyone. Fire departments can train, plan, and conduct land burns at times when they have personnel, and landowners benefit from the control of such burns.”

Landowners are encouraged to contact their departments now if they would like to discuss such burns, including the timing, areas, and costs. McNees says “ last year Atlantic began a program for prescribed burns and it became difficult to get them all done when several waited until late to make requests. Departments want to stay within their districts, but will aid neighboring departments if necessary, which is another reason to contact your department to see if they have such a program instituted and can assist the landowner.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Several Nebraska and Iowa organizations will receive some of the $17 million in grants the federal Agriculture Department is handing out to help new farmers and ranchers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the grants recently. The money helps support programs to train and support beginning farmers and ranchers. An Iowa State University program will receive $698,393 to help aging farmers plan for succession at their operations.

Department of Natural Resources offices assigned to state parks are getting more firepower to go along with their handguns. D-N-R spokesman Kevin Baskins says the officers are now learning to use assault rifles that will be assigned to them. “We made a purchase of 37 A-R-15’s. There are actually 34 officers who are in training to be certified on these,” Baskins says. Baskins says the state parks are safe but the officers often assist other law enforcement agencies such as country sheriffs or state troopers.

“A lot of our state parks are located in more remote areas of the state and that includes some of the counties that don’t have very high populations,” according to Baskins. “So, at times, our officers do provide mutual aid.” Baskin says the rifles will allow the officers to be prepared for any situation they might face. “One of the unfortunate realities of today is that we want to make sure that our officers have equipment that meets the standard of what they might encounter in some of their everyday duties in the parks,” Baskins says.

Baskins says they are sworn peace officers who can enforce any of the laws on the books. The state park officers must pass proficiency tests before being issued a rifle.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has slightly lowered its corn and soybean harvest estimates based on updated harvest figures across the U.S. Farmers are expected to bring in 13.56 billion bushels of corn, about 1 percent lower than the September estimate but still the third largest crop on record. Record per-acre corn yields are expected in 11 states – including Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Soybean production estimates are also 1 percent lower. But the 3.89 billion bushels would be the second largest on record. Best-ever yields are expected in seven states, including Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota. About a fourth of the nation’s corn crop has been harvested, which is slightly behind average. Soybeans are ahead of the five-year average with 42 percent harvested.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors held a special meeting Wednesday evening to draft a 5-year plan for Parks and Recreation in the Community. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring told KJAN News they plan to meet on Oct. 21st and narrow down their wish list and developing a time-line, prior to presenting it to the City Council at budget time.

The Board, according to Herring said its number one priority is the continued development of the Schildberg Recreation area, and the seeking out of grant funds from Vision Iowa and other sources, especially with regard to the campground area. That includes getting electricity and water hook-ups established. Other, continued improvements the Parks Board wants to see include those for Sunnyside Park. That means refurbishing the smaller shelters, add better lighting and new paint jobs.

They also looked at grants for adding a shelter on the west side of the Schildberg Rec Area, including electrical connections. Other, phased-in plans over the next five-years for the entire parks system, include the upgrading of playground equipment in all of the parks, making them handicapped accessible, and establishing a focus group to determine upgrades to the swimming pool.

It isn’t too late to order trees from the Atlantic Operation ReLeaf Residential Tree Distribution, but according to Iowa DNR Forestry Programs Coordinator Laura Wagner, species are beginning to sell out, and order forms must be mailed by the end of the day tomorrow (Friday, October 9th). Even if you don’t live in Cass County, you can pre-order trees from the distribution as long as you are an Alliant Energy customer. If you are not an Alliant Customer, then you may come to the event Saturday, October 17th from 9-until 11-a.m., at the Cass County Fairgrounds, to purchase them on a first-come, first-served basis.

There’s also a tree planting and care workshop that same day, beginning at 10-a.m. All the trees offered are native to Iowa and will thrive in Cass county and the surrounding area. The trees typically sell for $100 or more at a retail nursery, and are just $25 through Releaf.

Additional information is available at http://www.alliantenergy.com/CommunityInvolvement/CommunityOutreach/OperationReLeaf/index.htm, and details about the tree distribution are on  an order form available at http://www.alliantenergy.com/wcm/groups/wcm_internet/@int/documents/document/mdaw/mtc1/~edisp/175206.pdf. Just fill out the order form, print, and mail it in with a check to the address listed on the form. You should bring a truck, trailer, or van to pick up your trees, as they can be up to 9 feet tall.

A truck with a tank full of trout will start making the rounds to 17 ponds across the state Friday, including 1-p.m. at Big Lake, in Council Bluffs. Iowa Department of Natural Resources regional fisheries supervisor, Mike Steuck, says it’s the start of the annual program where they stock urban ponds with the trout. “At a minimum it’ll be 15-hundred fish, and it’ll be a combination of rainbow trout and brook trout. And they will all be about 10 to 12 inches or so,” Steuck says.

He says the trout are sort of a bait to get people to seek out more fishing. Steuck works out of northeast Iowa. He says you may’ve seen people fly fishing for trout in waders, but he says that’s not necessary and you can use regular fishing gear.

He says you can catch them with a hook and bobber just like you would bluegills. Steuck says anything flashy you can put on your line will attract the trout. Steuck says the lakes and ponds appear to be ready for the stocking. You need to have a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout.

Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with an adult who has a license. They are limited to one trout daily. The child can purchase a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County chapter of Pheasants Forever will hold a youth pheasant hunt on Saturday, October 24th.  The event is open to youth who have completed hunter safety training. The hunt will take place in the morning from 8-a.m. until Noon.

Participants will be provided a box of either 12 or 20 gauge ammunition.  If there are youth that would like to attend but do not have a shotgun, the chapter will provide one. Parent or guardians of youth who want to participate need to contact Becky Dreager, Cass County PF Youth Coordinator prior to October 22nd at 712-249-5130.

The youth will need to meet members of the chapter at the Atlantic Hy-Vee parking lot at 8-a.m..

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey says the latest U-S-D-A crop report shows good progress in the harvest. According to Northey, “Last week we had five percent of the corn, seven percent of the beans out. Now we’re up to 13 percent of the corn — 32 percent of the soybeans.”  Northey says he’s hearing good things about yields.

“It’s gonna vary every place, but certainly in some areas of north-west and north-central Iowa we’re seeing 60-bushel soybeans where sometimes those are normally 50-bushel soybeans. Certainly corn in a lot of places over 200 bushels (an acre) in place that don’t always get that,” according to Northey. “We are going to have other parts of Iowa that are not going to have their best crop, but in some of these areas, that’s the best crop they’ve harvested.”

The corn harvest is 10 days ahead of last year, but eight days behind average. The soybean harvest is one week ahead of last year, but one day behind average. He expects thing to move forward quite a bit this week. “If we get a good week this week and dodge some moisture in the middle of the week, we’ll be moving along real good,” Northey says.

He says the crop appears to be pretty dry. There have been some concerns about the beans not being dry enough. “Stems are a little damp in some places, so it makes it a little hard to harvest. It takes a lot of power to get those damp stems through the combine, but with good yields, you’ll certainly take that,” Northey says.

Northey farms corn and beans near Spirit Lake.

(Radio Iowa)