The Atlantic City Council took no action Wednesday on a proposal by Syngenta Crop Products, to develop an advertising campaign with the City, , to promote its “Agrisure Viptera” corn seeds, for local farmers. City Administrator Doug Harris said the company wanted to place advertisements in store front windows, on street lamps, park benches and other such locations. As part of the company’s public relations campaign, Syngenta would have included Atlantic in advertisements targeting local farming communities. The City would have worked with the company to promote town events, living and other attractions, as part of the campaign.

Harris said because the company wants the signs put in-place beginning October 16^th (prior to the Council’s next meeting), he said the next meeting would be too late to take action on the proposal, meaning the council would have had to have acted on the request immediately. Harris said the company didn’t come right out and say it would make any donations to the City or local charitable organizations in exchange for the deal. Because of that, and because the City has no policy in place for such an arrangement, he said the Council needed to decide if they should “Shoot from the hip,” and approve the proposal without more information, or politely decline the offer.

Mayor Dave Jones said the “last second,” two-day notice about the offer is not enough time for the council to discuss the matter. Councilman Steve Livengood agreed. Councilperson Kathy Somers said they had received an e-mail from a Syngenta competitor, requesting the Council oppose the offer. Mayor Jones said Chamber Director Megan Roberts informed him the company is looking at four cities in Iowa for its advertising campaign, none of which have offered any kind of response thus far. A couple of those communities, he said, may have been waiting to see what Atlantic’s response would be.

In addition to the Council’s opposition to the short notice of the proposal, City Attorney David Wiederstein recommended they take no action on the offer.

Info on animals available for adoption at the Atlantic Animal Shelter.

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w/ Dave York

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The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency has moved the Fire Danger Index in the County into the “Extreme” category today (Wednesday), and tomorrow. Low humidity and winds shifting to the NW today and tomorrow, will create dangerous fire conditions. NO open burning of any kind is allowed in Shelby County, and farm equipment operators should be extremely vigilant in making sure their equipment is free of debris, and pay close attention to their surroundings, especially when combining acreages. Shelby County is included in a Red Flag Warning that is in effect from 1-p.m. today through 7-p.m.

w/ Kate Olson

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is hosting a dozen public meetings to discuss the future of Iowa’s state parks. Kevin Szcodronski, state parks bureau chief with the DNR, says the forums will help the agency develop a five-year plan to improve the parks’ amenities. The meetings are taking place this month at 12 state parks. “It’s just an open book meeting, if you will, to get a good idea of what the people who use that park are thinking about that park’s future,” Szcodronski said. Two of the public meetings were held Monday in Creston and Tuesday in Boone. Ten more meetings remain – including two forums Thursday night at Gull Point State Park near Spencer and Backbone State Park near Strawberry Point.

Although improvements at state parks can be costly, participants are encouraged to bring all their ideas. “We specifically ask people in attendance, if money was no object, what would you like to see in that park? We’re thinking into the future quite a ways, so you really can’t let finances deter you,” Szcodronski said. At the same time, park users are being asked to be reasonable with their requests. “After they get done with their wish list…then we ask them, ‘O.K., given money is a factor, what should we focus on?’ We kind of bring them a little back to reality and talk about some of the top priorities that are within reasonable means,” Szcodronski said.

Upcoming meeting dates/locations:
Oct. 4 Gull Point
Oct. 4 Backbone
Oct. 8 Stone
Oct. 9 George Wyth
Oct. 9 Rock Creek
Oct. 9 Pleasant Creek
Oct. 11 Wapello
Oct. 11 Bellevue
Oct. 15 Waubonsie
Oct. 18 Prairie Rose (meeting to be held at the First Baptist Church in Harlan at 6pm, not at the Park itself)**

Learn more at www.iowadnr.gov

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa is among three “shining stars” in the Midwest, according to the latestly monthly economic survey of business leaders and supply managers in nine states. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says Iowa, North Dakota and Oklahoma are all energy-producing states and their economies are prospering. Goss predicts Iowa and some of the other farm states in the region may soon take a big hit.
“Agricultural equipment sales are still doing reasonably well but I don’t see that can hold up,” Goss says. “That’s going to come down and punch some of the growth we’re now seeing in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, pulling that down, Kansas down as well.”

Goss says there is some weakness in non-durable goods like food production while biofuels and ethanol production are not holding up. “The 2012 drought has yet to put a dent in business activity for agriculture equipment manufacturers in Iowa, but has negatively influenced retail sales,” Goss says.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Tuesday), announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will be awarding $244,000 in grants to Iowa organizations to help enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in Iowa. Among the recipients is: The Southern Iowa RC&D in Creston – which received $23,928 to gather economic and social impact data in rural southwest Iowa to support specialty crop production; and, the Golden Hills RC&D in Oakland –  which received $24,000 to support creating, marketing and promoting the Iowa Loess Hill AVA Wine Trail.

The IA Dept. of Ag and Land Stewardship received $271,296.81 through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to support the program. Iowa agricultural non-profit organizations, cooperatives, specialty crop industry associations or organizations, and producer groups were eligible to apply for funding to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.

“Specialty Crops”  eligible under the program are fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.  The funds not passed through to Iowa organizations will be used by the Department to administer the grant. The maximum grant award from the Department to sub-grantees is $24,000 and administrative and indirect costs are not allowed. The Department received 29 proposals requesting assistance and the 11 chosen were selected by an independent review committee of nine industry stakeholders.

Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey said “Specialty crops are a very important part of Iowa agriculture as they allow farmers to diversify and give customers access to locally grown products. ” Northey says “These federal funds will support a variety of efforts that will make these Iowa grown crops more available and encourage Iowans to choose fruits, vegetables, nuts and flowers that are produced right here in our state.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s corn and soybean harvests have passed the halfway point as farmers move quickly to get the drought-damaged crops out of the fields. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 56 percent of the corn and 54 percent of the soybeans have been harvested. That’s a week or two ahead of normal. The USDA says in Monday’s weekly report that the condition of the corn improved slightly, with 47 percent rated poor or very poor, 33 percent fair and 20 percent in good or excellent shape. Soybeans are rated 31 percent poor or very poor, 37 percent fair and 32 percent in good or excellent condition. Iowa continues to be dry. The state saw just .17 inches of rain in the past week, below the normal of .77 inches.