Left to right: Clayton Saeugling, Nate Moen, Garrett Schwanke, Adam Freund

The Atlantic FFA Chapter placed 6th as a team in the annual Iowa FFA Agronomy Career Development Event held at Iowa State University in Ames on June 4, 2015. Members of the 6th place team included: Adam Freund, Clayton Saeugling, Garrett Schwanke, and Nate Moen. Their agricultural education instructor and FFA Advisor is Mr. Eric Miller. A special thank you to Aaron Saeugling for assisting the team. Team member Clayton Saeugling said, ”This was a very enjoyable, but challenging contest. This is my favorite Career Development Event of the year. We get to compete against many other great teams, to place 6th was a big accomplishment.”

FFA teams including 90 individuals from 27 chapters participated in this year’s Career Development Event designed to provide the student an opportunity to display their agricultural knowledge and skills in the area of Agronomy. Activities included demonstration of skills and problem solving in Agronomy, including crop, weed, insect and seed identification; crop and seed judging and evaluation; and grain grading. A written examination and computer application activities were included along with a team problem solving competition.

The Iowa State University Department of Agronomy hosted the event and provided T-shirts to all participants. The Agronomy Career Development Event was coordinated and conducted by Mr. Dennis Miller and other faculty and staff with the Agronomy Department at Iowa State University in Ames. The Iowa Crop Improvement Association provided lunch to all participants in the event.

Front Row Left to right:
Secretary Of Agriculture Bill Northey, Haley Carlson, Emily Saeugling, Braden Bean, Cale Pellett, Kyle Redinbaugh
Back Row: Eric Miller, Adam Freund, Garrett Schwanke, Clayton Saeugling, Representative Jack Drake

LEWIS, Iowa—More than 35 high school ag students from FFA chapters across Iowa recently had the opportunity to get an up-close look at several agricultural topics during a field day hosted by Wyffels Hybrids. Students heard from industry experts and participated in hands-on activities with real-world applications.

Students learned from keynote speaker, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, about careers in ag and the growing need for talented and driven people in agriculture.

“I think the future is important and young adults need to realize they need to start thinking about their future and what they want to do with it. This event is a great way to layout the different careers in agriculture to better understand some interests that the students may have. With the growing industry there are many opportunities for the next generation,” Bill Northey said.
Members learned about topics ranging from livestock feed rations and food science, to agronomy and precision ag, to horticulture, native species and ag engineering.

“The field day was another great educational opportunity for the local FFA Chapters. I really enjoyed day and hope that Wyffels continues this program,” Atlantic FFA Chapter member Haley Carlson said.

This event continues to grow in popularity with high school students as it provided a large array of information on agriculture, and potential careers.

“The Wyffels Hybrids FFA Field Day for the Future has continued to grow in its exposure throughout southwest and west central Iowa in its four years. I continue to be impressed with the interest and interaction these future leaders of ag have, and show during our training,” said Bill Backhaus, Region Manager for Wyffels Hybrids.

Wyffels Hybrids donated $25 to FFA chapters for each student participant, plus a matching donation to the Iowa FFA Foundation.

About Wyffels Hybrids
Wyffels Hybrids, headquartered in Geneseo, Ill., is one of the nation’s largest independent seed corn companies. Focusing strictly on developing and marketing elite corn hybrids, the company is dedicated to providing corn growers in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Ohio River Valley with exceptional products, the latest agronomic information, and unmatched customer service and product support. To learn more or request information, visit www.wyffels.com or call 1-800-369-7833.

CENTRAL CITY, Iowa (AP) – The ongoing bird flu outbreak has forced competitors at the Linn County Fair and other poultry events in the state to prepare educational displays and leave their birds at home. But the 79 participants in this weekend’s Linn County competition got to meet Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

Northey visited the fair Saturday to speak about poultry health and the bird flu. He encouraged the young people who developed 4-H projects and told them he was glad they were interested in agriculture. Iowa, Nebraska and many other states where bird flu has been found decided to prohibit poultry events this year to help limit the spread of the disease.

An effort called “Operation Dry Water” begins today (Friday) as federal, state and local law officers look to prevent drunken boating. The Iowa D-N-R’s boating law administrator, Susan Stocker, says officers make their presence known on the state’s lakes and rivers in the operation that runs through Sunday. “Last year we were able to check approximately 11-hundred boaters and we contacted more than 354 vessels that were out there,” Stocker says.

Stocker says boating drunk can have severe consequences for you and your passengers. “More than 71 percent of our boating fatalities in 2014 involved alcohol. So we are stepping up the effort….in order to curb the intoxicated boater who wants to operate a boat,” Stocker says. Twelve people were arrested on the Mississippi River for operating a boat while under the influence, and Stocker says it once again a focus for Operation Dry Water.

“We will continually find that area with a lot of D-W-I arrests,” Stocker says, “and so we need to realize and put it into perspective, it runs the whole length of the state. So, we are talking all they way north-east from Allamakee County all the way to the south-east. So, that’s why we have a lot of D-W-I arrests on the Mississippi River.” The one dozen arrests for drunken boating on the Mississippi last year were part of 41 overall arrests. Eight people were arrested at Coralville Lake last year, five at Clear Lake, four on the Des Moines River and three at Saylorville Lake.

There is a simple step you should take to keep things safe. “Make sure that you do have a designated driver — just like if you were driving a car you would have a designated driver — to operate a boat. And or, wait until you are done for the afternoon to enjoy a beverage on the shore,” Stocker says. The blood alcohol level for boating while intoxicated was reduced in 2001 from point-one (.10) percent to point-zero-eight (.08) percent to make it the same level as driving a car while intoxicated.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Denny Heflin

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WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farm equipment maker Kinze Manufacturing says it must lay off 215 workers as business has slowed because of the impact of low grain prices on farmer purchases. The privately held company based in the eastern Iowa near Williamsburg makes planters and grain carts.

The company released a statement that says it had earlier this year implemented a 30-hour work week in an effort to avoid permanent cuts, but current demand for its products does not support full staffing. Office and factory workers are affected. Remaining workers will return to a 40-hour work week.

Deere and Co., another major farm equipment maker laid off 910 workers in its Iowa factories and 500 in Illinois in January.

w/ Kate Olson

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The U-S-D-A’s latest report on the number of egg-laying hens is showing the impact of the outbreak of bird flu with the flock at its smallest level since 2004. Iowa is the nation’s largest egg producer and the U-S-D-A says total eggs produced in Iowa dropped 28 percent this May compared to last year. The U-S-D-A’s Gregg Thessen says that type of drop would have raised concern in any other year.

” If we wouldn’t have known that there was a disease outbreak, obviously it would have been pretty stunning. But it hasn’t been a secret that there’s been a disease outbreak. So we pretty much knew that it was coming,” Thessen says. What’s not known is how long the flu outbreak will persist, though new reported cases in Iowa have slowed dramatically in June.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Host Bob Bebensee and Brian Smith, Conservation Officer for Cass and Adair Counties.

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