(Iowa DNR News) – Fall colors are starting to tinge the forest canopy. The DNR is now sharing the first fall color report of 2023. Fall color started early in northeast Iowa, most likely due to the drought. Lots of vibrant colors from sugar maple, sumac, Virginia creeper, ash, walnut, basswood and cottonwood. Some buckeyes are turning red in north central Iowa. Hard maples are turning yellow and orange in northwest Iowa. Walnut and cottonwood are turning yellow. Roadside sumacs are bright red and crimson in central Iowa. Walnut, cottonwood, and hackberry are becoming yellow. Virginia creeper vines are bright red.

Walnut, elm and cottonwood are showing yellow; some are already losing their leaves in southeast Iowa. Poison ivy, sumac and Virginia creeper are turning bright red. Poison ivy and Virginia creeper vines are turning bright red in south central Iowa. Walnut and cottonwood have turned yellow; some are already losing their leaves.

Fall color is a week ahead of last year in west central Iowa. Some shrubs and trees are starting to turn on the drier slopes. Lots of fall prairie flowers in bloom. Walnut and cottonwood are starting to turn yellow in southwest Iowa. Dogwoods are turning purple, plums are reddish pink, and drought stressed sumac is starting to turn red. With all of Iowa’s beautiful state parks and wooded areas, there are so many places to get your fall color fix. Plan your autumn excursions today!

Get outside this fall!
Autumn brings a welcoming crispness to the air. Fun abounds statewide for those in search of color and good times outdoors. From fall festivals to apple orchards, Iowa has many fall activities to celebrate local traditions and create memories with your family. Start planning your autumn excursions today with these great resources:

• Travel Iowa – lists of apple orchards and pumpkin patches, must-visit fall attractions, fall festivals, scenic drives and more
• MyCountyParks.com – attend a fun fall program for the whole family at a local county park
• Iowa State Park Passport- discover your new favorite parks, check in to track your progress and earn prizes

It’s easy to add fall color to your yard. Iowa DNR, through a partnership with the USDA Forest Service, is offering a mixture of hardwoods, low-growing ornamental and evergreen tree species for $25 each.  All Iowa residents can purchase up to two trees to be picked up at the following locations:

Tuesday, October 3, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Jefferson County Conservation (2003 Libertyville Rd, Fairfield)
Thursday, October 12, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Swan Lake State Park Nature Center (22676 Swan Lake Drive, Carroll)
Tuesday, October 17, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Fort Des Moines Park (7200 SE 5th St, Des Moines)
Submit an order form, available online, to reserve your trees.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Here’s a reminder from the “Station where your friends are”: The ‘Tour de Parks’ free, community bicycle ride will take place this Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 2:00 PM. The ‘Tour de Parks’ bike ride around Atlantic will be a guided ride this year. The group ride will depart from Atlantic City Park (10 W. 7th St. Atlantic, IA 50022) at 2:00 PM sharp. Nishna Valley Trails President Dave Chase and wife and Board Member Barb Chase will be leading the group ride on their tandem bicycle. Board Member Bruce Henderson and Rick Pellett will also assist with guiding the group.

Tour de Parks will stop at multiple parks throughout Atlantic where community organizations will greet riders and share information. The ride will end back at the Atlantic City Park where the Atlantic Kiwanis will be providing a free meal, Sarah Selders will be singing live, and additional community organizations will be sharing information and greeting riders. Tour de Parks participants can expect to ride on both trails and streets, as the ride is designed in part to highlight area trails and the bike-ability of the City of Atlantic. The full route is approximately 8 miles total with one small hill, but this year there will also be a shorter 6-mile option with no hills.

Participating organizations include Cass County Conservation, Nishna Valley Trails, Cass County Extension, Cass County Grow Another Row, Healthy Cass County, Cass County Master
Gardeners, Atlantic Kiwanis, Atlantic Rotary, and the Atlantic Lions Club.

Details:
Tour de Parks – Atlantic
Date: Sunday, October 1, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM start time. The ride will last until approximately 4:00 PM.
Location: The ride will start and end at Atlantic City Park (10 W. 7th St., Atlantic, IA 50022)
Who: Anyone who would like to bike around Atlantic and check out some great parks!
Cost/Registration: Free, no registration required!

Nishna Valley Trails is a tax-exempt local nonprofit that promotes the development of recreational trails and cycling. People who support these causes are welcome to join the group. For more information on Nishna Valley Trails or to join the organization, contact President Dave Chase at barbdavechase@gmail.com or 712-249-3059.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Extension will be celebrating all things 4-H during National 4-H Week October 1-7. Now is the time of year for youth to join and participate in 4-H, a worldwide youth development program, hosted in Iowa by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Cass County 4-H will be hosting a Fall Fest on Sunday, October 8th from 2:00-4:00pm at the Cass County Fairgrounds. The community is invited to come out for an afternoon of family fun! Current 4-H members will be at the event to celebrate 4-H. All are welcome to join in on the fun and see what 4-H all is about.

“We have a variety of fun activities planned which will showcase some of the project areas with hands-on activities, games and fun at our Fall Fest October 8th!” says Katie Bateman, County Youth Coordinator with Cass County Extension. “A 4-H information booth and snacks will be available from 2:00-4:00pm!”

Fall Fest will be a fun event for all ages to come out and celebrate National 4-H Week! You are invited to follow Cass County 4-H on Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CassCoIAExt or search for “Cass County Iowa 4H” on Instagram.

Keep an eye out for Cass County 4-H members, volunteers, and supporters showing their 4-H pride during National 4-H Week. Many of our local 4-H clubs will be creating window displays in local businesses. Other clubs will be doing special events and activities during the week such as wearing 4-H shirts to school or doing service projects around their community!

In addition, the Iowa 4-H Foundation and Cass County 4-H are partnering to host the Iowa 4-H Giving Day (www.iowa4Hgivingday.org), a special 24-hour event, on October 3rd at noon until October 4th at noon. Each year on Iowa 4-H Giving Day, supporters and alumni across the state come together to financially support Iowa’s largest youth organization, to ensure these opportunities continue to be available to youth across the state and at the county level. 4-H supporters can donate online or in person to support programs at the county or state level!

“4-H is a year-round program for youth in grades Kindergarten through 12. National 4-H Week is a great time to show some the wonderful things 4-H offers to youth,” stated Bateman. “In fact, research has shown that young people in 4-H are nearly four times as likely to contribute to their communities and are twice as likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs during after school time.”

4-H is active in each of Iowa’s 99 counties and empowers youth to reach their full potential through many different types of experiences including photography, music, woodworking, sewing, livestock and horticulture. 4-H grows confidence, creativity, curiosity, courage, character and much more in youth. 4-H allows youth to use the skills that they learn to go out and make a positive difference in their communities.

Cass County 4-H has more than 300 4-H youth and 100 volunteers involved in the program. Interested in joining 4-H? Contact the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132 or visit the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.

KJAN Sports Director Asa Lucas’ weekly discussion with Atlantic Head Football Coach Joe Brummer. This week we talk about the thrilling Week 5 win against Knoxville and look ahead to the start of the homestand against Creston.

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Asa Lucas, Chris Parks, Jim Field, and Matt Mullenix take a look at 8 area high school football games each week throughout the season. We try to provide some insight into the match-ups while competing for top prognosticator and the Whosman Trophy.

Who’s Gonna Win? is brought to you again in 2023 by Rush CPA & Associates and Fareway.

Last Week:

Matt Mullenix 6-2

Asa Lucas 8-0

Jim Field 4-4

Chris Parks 7-1

Overall 2023 Standings:

Matt Mullenix 31-9

Asa Lucas 29-11

Jim Field 25-15

Chris Parks 33-7

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Jim Field visits with Dave Gammell about the 7th annual Southwest Iowa Car Cruise and Show and Shine in Elliott on October 8.

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(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who had a leadership role in the Farm Service Agency a decade ago says a federal government shutdown would delay Conservation Reserve Program payments, which are issued in October. President Obama appointed John Whitaker as Iowa State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency in 2009 and Whitaker was in that role when the federal government shutdown for 16 days in October of 2013.

“CRP payments and other payments are due October 1. The more that we delay making those payments, the more likely it is the federal government will have to pay interest on those payments,” Whitaker says. “That adds to our cost, the cost of doing government.” If Conservative Reserve Program or C-R-P payments aren’t made by October 31st, the federal government is required to pay a penalty and add interest onto those checks. Whitaker says even a week-long federal government shutdown in October would create issues with C-R-P payments.

“It’s going to be more and more difficult to get them all certified and all through the system and the staff is stressed because they know the cost of not getting the payment made and they also know those producers are waiting on those payments,” Whitaker says. “They expect that payment to be paid in early October, not the end of October or in November or later than that.”

Whitaker made his comments during an online news conference organized by the Iowa Democratic Party. Two years ago, the federal government paid 382 million dollars on C-R-P contracts that keep the land out of corn and soybean production for up to 15 years. Farm Service Agency offices will be closed if congress does not pass a spending plan for the next federal fiscal year, which begins Sunday. Whitaker says that means farmers will not be able to submit required reports to the U-S-D-A about cover crops that are being planted this fall.

“You know, Iowa’s agricultural areas are heavily dependent on the USDA and USDA programs,” Whitaker says. Whitaker served on the Van Buren County Board of Supervisors for 10 years. Whitaker served seven years in the Iowa House before he was appointed to lead the Farm Service Agency operations in Iowa.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The rain farmers have been hoping for slowed some of the harvest last week. The U-S-D-A reports says rainfall cut the time in the field by about two days. The corn harvest is now nine percent statewide, compared to five percent the week before. The corn harvest is still six days ahead of last year.

The percentage of beans in the bin hit 11 percent last week — up from three percent. The bean harvest is three days ahead of last year, and one day ahead of the five-year average.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s still early, but the harvest season in northwest Iowa is getting off to a good start, according to I-S-U Extension agronomist Leah Ten Napel. “Overall, we have a lot of acres left to go,” Ten Napel says. “A very small percentage has been harvested so far. The areas that are getting harvested are actually at fairly good, harvestable moistures, which is great to hear, and yields are not coming back all too shabby for the year we’ve had.”

Weather conditions during this growing season were widely varied, she says, and so are the yields. “Some of our soybean fields were hit really hard with late-season pests and those yields are going to be down in those areas,” she says, “but overall, corn yields have been average-to-above-average and soybean yields maybe slightly below-average-to-average, so far, what I’m hearing.”

Ten Napel says some farmers are predicting about a 200-bushel average for the corn crop. “I would say for our area of northwest Iowa, we may be over that 200 bushel average, in my area,” she says, “just from what I’m hearing so far.” Ten Napel says much of her region received adequate moisture this season, though she notes, parts of Woodbury and Monona counties, just south of Sioux City, were among the driest in the state.