Iowa DNR wildlife staff will again be in the field during Iowa’s shotgun deer seasons, collecting samples to test for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Iowa’s wild deer herd. Officials say the effort will concentrate on portions of Northeast Iowa near Wisconsin and Illinois as well as in Wapello, Davis, Pottawattamie and Cerro Gordo counties, following positive tests from captive facilities in or near those counties last year.

Many of the samples will be collected during the first half of December, as more than 120,000 hunters take part in Iowa’s shotgun deer seasons and deer harvested during those seasons are major sources of samples. Sampling-which involves removing and testing the brain stem and lymph nodes–has been done on free ranging deer across Iowa for years. Many hunters voluntarily contribute samples of their harvested deer for these testing efforts. Most samples are obtained by wildlife staff, checking with hunters in the field or at home processing points.

The DNR says it has historically focused its sampling efforts heaviest in northeast Iowa, after Wisconsin and Illinois yielded positive cases in recent years. After the positive findings in captive herds in 2012, DNR focused additional testing in those counties identified above. Sampling in northeast Iowa for the 2013-2014 seasons will continue at a slightly lower intensity in order to accommodate the additional testing in Davis, Wapello, Pottawattamie and Cerro Gordo Counties.

Since 2002, more than 47 thousand wild deer in Iowa have been tested, with no positive CWD result in the wild herd detected to date. Dr. Dale Garner, Wildlife Bureau Chief, says “We are hopeful CWD has not spread into Iowa’s deer herd. The only way to know this is to continue to collect samples and do the testing. We will work through all hunting seasons, with the peak being the shotgun seasons in December.”

Iowa DNR’s website provides information about CWD and other information on infectious disease at: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/DeerHunting/CWDEHDInformation.aspx

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld Iowa’s hunting laws ruling that just because someone owns land in Iowa it doesn’t mean they have a right to hunt on it. The court finds that Iowa’s laws that provide hunting advantages to permanent residents do not violate the constitutional rights of nonresident landowners.  Three men who own land in Iowa but have permanent homes in other states challenged Iowa’s hunting laws as unconstitutional claiming they discriminate against nonresident landowners.

The court says Iowa lawmakers have developed an extensive statutory scheme that results in the conclusion “that landownership in Iowa is not accompanied by the right to hunt on one’s own land.”  The men objected to Iowa laws that make more licenses available to permanent residents at a lower price.

An Audubon County farmer has received the 2013 Iowa Farm Bureau Excellence Award in Agriculture. The Iowa Farm Bureau reports Randy Dreher has been given the Bob Joslin Excellence in Ag award from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF).

Dreher is a young farmer who harvests crops and raises cattle along with mentoring youth FFA officers. Dreher received the award at the 95th IFBF annual meeting in Des Moines Wednesday. The award honors a young farmer who demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities in Farm Bureau, agriculture and their community. Dreher is a 5th generation farmer and grew up on a Century Farm near Audubon working with his parents.

Today, he and wife Crystal, help run the family farm. Along with being on the Farm Bureau board, Dreher is involved in a number of agriculture programs for youth and is a former FFA officer himself. He has helped with Ag day, first grade coloring contests and sharing agriculture career paths during career day.

As the Joslin Award winner, Dreher received a $1,500 Home and Workshop certificate and all expense paid trips to the 2014 American Farm Bureau meeting in San Antonio, the 2013 Growmark annual meeting in Chicago and the 2014 IFBF Young Farmer conference. The Excellence in Ag Award is given in memory of Bob Joslin who was the Bureau’s president from January 1986 to December 1987 and was known for his support of young farmers.

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker John Boehner says the farm bill should be extended through January while negotiators work out differences on cuts to food stamps and how to restructure farm subsidies. Negotiators are working against a New Year’s deadline for expiration of some dairy subsidies. If those subsidies expire, new laws will kick in that could result in higher prices for a gallon of milk.

Boehner said Thursday he hasn’t “seen any real progress” on the farm bill. That’s in contrast to comments from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, who said Wednesday that negotiators have made “great progress.”

Cuts to the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program are a major sticking point in talks.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Farmers growing food to sell locally are increasingly finding willing customers to buy their products.  The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, which is based at Iowa State University, says it tracked sales of 103 farmers who reported more than $10 million in local food sales in 2012. Most of the food was purchased by grocery stores, restaurants, schools, colleges, hospitals, nursing homes and nonprofit organizations. The organizations reported they spent just under 9 percent of their total food budget on food grown by local farmers.

The group’s goal is to increase the food purchased by local organizations to 30 percent of their total food budgets. That would boost local food purchasing to more than $21 million increasing income for the farmers and encouraging them to hire additional help.

On the heels of news about two young boys who died after falling through the ice in a rural farm pond in Adams County over the weekend, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has issued some tips for those thinking about venturing out into area ponds and lakes…..

• There is no such thing as 100 percent safe ice.
• The Iowa Department of Natural Resources recommends a minimum of four inches of quality ice for fishing and at least five inches for snowmobiles and ATVs.
• Ice thickness is not uniform on any body of water.  Things like current and springs slow ice growth. Rocks, trees or docks that poke through the ice like will conduct heat and make the ice around it less stable.
• There could be pockets of thin ice or places where ice recently formed, so it would be wise to check ice thickness as you go out.
  • The insulating effect of snow slows down the freezing process.
  • Safety items in the bucket: Ice picks, about 50 feet of rope and a throwable floatation seat cushion for use in case of rescue.
  • Ice fishing is a social activity, don’t go out alone. If the worst should happen, someone would be there to call for help or to rescue.
  • Avoid off-colored snow or ice. It is usually a sign of weakness.
  • Trust your instincts. If it doesn’t look right, stay off.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad will go to Virginia this week to testify against a proposal to reduce the amount of ethanol required to be blended into gasoline. Branstad announced his plans Tuesday, saying he’ll testify Thursday at a public hearing organized by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA proposes to reduce by almost 3 billion gallons the amount of biofuels required to be blended into gasoline in 2014.

Branstad is among many politicians and industry executives who are defending the current levels of ethanol and biodiesel in the nation’s fuel supply. At a recent event, Branstad argued the EPA has embarked on a war on corn that threatens thousands of jobs. Iowa is the nation’s leading corn producer and top ethanol maker.

The first shotgun deer season in Iowa opens this coming Saturday (December 7th), while the bow hunting season that’s underway will continue through January 10th. D-N-R wildlife research supervisor, Willie Suchy says your odds of taking a deer get better in the shotgun season. “In 2012 the shotgun hunters had 35-40-percent success and archery was right around 25, in that neighborhood — so about 10-percent less,” Suchy says. While the chances are better you’ll get a deer with a shotgun,

Suchy says bow hunting has some of its own advantages. “Archery has allure from two aspects of it,” Suchy explains, “One is it’s a longer season so you’ve got more time to spend. You get to kind of specialize on working on deer.” And the second factor is some hunters believe the lower success rate of bow hunting tests their skill more. “I think it’s a challenge for some people,” Suchy says. Hunters have to prepare differently for each method.

“Hunting is a very safe activity overall and the dangers are a little bit different between hunting with a bow and hunting with a shotgun or firearm,” according to Suchy. “Bow hunters tend to sit in stands and trees and most of the injuries tend to occur in mishaps in stands where they fall.” The shotgun season sees more problems with hunters not using proper safety practices. “With firearms it’s more of making sure that you’re shooting at a clear target so you know where the bullet is going to go — so if you’re hunting in a group there’s nobody in danger,” Suchy says.

The first shotgun deer season runs through December 11th. The second shotgun season runs December 14th through the 22nd.

(Radio Iowa)
Find out more at: www.iowadnr.gov.