The Farmers’ Almanac is predicting wild temperature swings and periods of storminess this coming winter for much of the Midwest – including Iowa. Almanac editor Peter Geiger says Iowans can expect something slightly more harsh than the rather mild weather of last winter. “It’s not going to be like the coldest winter ever, but I think you’re going to get some decent precipitation, which you need badly,” Geiger said.

The Almanac predicts areas east of Iowa, like Wisconsin and Illinois, will experience colder than normal temps with a varied mix of snow, sleet and rain. People from the Great Lakes to northern New England are being advised to prepare for a very cold and snowy winter. The Farmers’ Almanac has been releasing winter weather predictions for 196 years. Geiger notes the publication is accurate with the forecast about 75 to 80 percent of the time. According to Geiger, the forecast is based – in part – on a “mathematical and astronomical formula” created by Almanac founder David Young in 1818.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers who requested emergency grazing and haying on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres of the deadline dates to remove cattle or hay from the CRP acres. Producers with emergency grazing authorization must remove livestock no later than September 30, 2012. For those producers haying the authorized acreage, all haying must be completed no later than August 31, 2012. Bales must be removed by September 30, 2012.

CRP participants who participated in the emergency grazing and haying must report the number of acres actually hayed or grazed no later than September 30, 2012, and reports are subject to spot check by USDA. In addition, participants must report the tonnage harvested or the number of livestock grazed by September 30. For more information about the deadline dates and required information for emergency grazing and haying of CRP acres contact your local FSA office.

Livestock producers, orchards and vineyards facing critical water needs due to this summer’s ongoing drought may soon find some relief announced John R. Whitaker, State Executive Director for USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).  Five Iowa counties; Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Davis, and Wapello, have been approved to implement and hold a sign up under the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP).

Farmers experiencing severe drought conditions may be eligible for cost-share assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program or ECP.  This program provides cost-share assistance if the damage is so severe that water available for livestock, orchards, and vineyards has been reduced below normal to the extent that they cannot survive without additional water. 

Producers with water shortages will need to sign the required forms and have the area inspected prior to starting any work, which may include technical assistance to determine what is needed to bring a water supply to the area. “Contacting your local county office is critical.  Producers not completing the required forms and who were not inspected prior to starting the work could be ineligible and cost share could be denied,” stated Whitaker.

Farmers experiencing severe drought conditions may be eligible for cost-share assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program or ECP.  This program provides cost-share assistance if the damage is so severe that water available for livestock, orchards, and vineyards has been reduced below normal to the extent that they cannot survive without additional water.

A producer qualifying for ECP assistance may receive cost share not to exceed 75 percent of the cost of installing eligible temporary measures.  Cost share for permanent measures is based on 50 percent of the total eligible cost.  Cost-share assistance is limited to $200,000 per person or legal entity per natural disaster.  Water source related problems existing prior to the applicable disaster are ineligible for ECP assistance.

Approved practices and measures may include:

• Installing pipelines or other facilities for livestock water or existing irrigation systems for orchards and vineyards
• Constructing and deepening wells for livestock water
• Developing springs or seeps for livestock water.

Producers who have experienced severe drought conditions requiring outside assistance to provide supplemental water should contact their local county FSA office for more information or go on-line at www.fsa.usda.gov.

The meeting for the Sunnyside Skate Park in Atlantic that was scheduled for 10:00am Saturday has been rescheduled to Monday, August 27th at 6:00pm at the skate park.  The meeting had to be moved due to the rain on Saturday.  Anyone intending to utilize the skate park facility should plan on attending and parents are encouraged to attend as well.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) say even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared the recent West Nile virus outbreak as the largest ever seen in the U.S., Iowa West Nile virus case reports have been consistent with recent years. The  (IDPH) says it has received five confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness and several additional cases are currently being investigated. The five confirmed cases include one each in Grundy, Linn, Lyon, Page, and Plymouth counties. All patients have recovered.

While overall mosquito activity has been lower this year, likely due to the extremely dry spring and summer, officials say the cases illustrate West Nile virus is circulating and causing illness. IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk says “Iowans may think the use of mosquito spray while outdoors is unnecessary because there seem to be few mosquitoes bothering them.” But Quinlisk says they’re urging residents and visitors to continue the use of insect repellent with DEET while outdoors, to protect against mosquitoes which may be carrying the West Nile virus, and ticks, which may carry Lyme disease.

The best way to prevent West Nile virus is to eliminate mosquito breeding areas and to use insect repellent when outdoors. Iowans should take the following steps to reduce the risk of exposure to West Nile virus:

• Use insect repellent with DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Always read the repellent label and consult with a health care provider if you have questions when using these types of products for children. For example, DEET should not be used on infants less than 2-months-old and oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under 3-years-old.
• Avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, shoes, and socks whenever possible outdoors.
• Eliminate standing water around the home because that’s where mosquitoes lay eggs. Empty water from buckets, cans, pool covers and pet water dishes. Change water in bird baths every three to four days.

While West Nile virus case reports so far have been consistent with recent years, there has been a slight increase in Lyme diseases case reports. 113 cases of Lyme disease have been confirmed thus far in 2012. There were 100 confirmed cases in 2011.

Iowa State University climatologist Elwyn Taylor says the cooler temperatures and rainfall we’ve seen recently do not mean Iowa’s drought is finished. “It definitely has not broken yet, maybe has for a few locations, but for the most part it is still with us,” Taylor says. Some areas of the country though have seen the relief from dry conditions come. “The southeastern United States is done with their drought, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona — we won’t say done with the drought– but much moderated there and disappearing in places but still at strength in the Midwest and out into the Rocky Mountains,” according to Taylor.

Taylor says about 80-percent of Iowa’s rainfall comes from the Gulf of Mexico.  “We are seeing a flow of moisture, at least a moderate flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico,”Taylor says, “and it’s only about half the strength, or a little less than half the strength, and with that being weak we’re not seeing a real quick end to this”. While Taylor says factors influencing Iowa’s weather are moderating toward more normal temperatures and moisture in the immediate future, he expects the drought to continue into next spring in most areas.

(Radio Iowa)

John R. Whitaker, State Executive Director for USDA’s Iowa Farm Service Agency (FSA), announced Thursday, that continuous sign-up for the Highly Erodible Land (HEL) Initiative under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) started on July 23rd, 2012. Iowa received a total allocation of 50,000 acres to enroll in the HEL CRP program. Offers will be accepted until either the state acreage allocation limit is reached or September 30, 2012 whichever occurs first.

Whitaker says “CRP is a voluntary program that shows the commitment that landowners have to protect environmentally sensitive land. This initiative will accept offers with a weighted average wind or water erosion rate of at least 20 tons per acre per year for new cropland or CRP acres that expire on September 30, 2012; however, existing grass stands that are not expiring CRP will not be considered eligible.”

Producers should stop by their local county FSA office to determine if their land qualifies for the Highly Erodible Land Initiative and to receive additional location-specific details. Landowners enrolled in CRP receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland. Incentive payments are not authorized under this initiative. New land contracts approved during this continuous sign-up initiative will become effective the first day of the month following the month of approval and are valid for 10 years.

Iowa State Executive Director for USDA Farm Service Agency, John R. Whitaker today (Thursday), announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 62 Iowa counties as part of a Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation.   Farm operators who have suffered major production and/or physical losses caused by drought beginning August 7th, 2012 and continuing may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans.  This designation makes the remaining producers in Iowa eligible for these loans.

The Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation determination of August 15th, 2012 lists 35 Iowa counties as primary disaster areas.  These primary counties locally, include:  Adair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Fremont, Guthrie, Hancock, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pocahontas, Pottawattamie, Sac, and Shelby.  Thirty-two Iowa counties are contiguous to this designated disaster area, making those producers also potentially eligible for the program based on this designation.  The contiguous counties include:  Ringgold, Taylor and Union, in southwest Iowa.

Whitaker says “With this designation, all producers who have suffered a loss due to a natural disaster are eligible to apply for an FSA Emergency Loan. With the various designations that have been issued, producers should contact their local FSA office to determine the application deadline that applies to them.”  The Farm Service Agency may make emergency loans to eligible family farmers which will enable them to return to their normal operations if they sustained qualifying losses resulting from natural disaster.

Applicant must be unable to obtain credit from other usual sources to qualify for the Farm Service Agency Farm Loan Program assistance.  The final date for making application under this designation is April 15, 2013. Interested farmers may contact their local County FSA office for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.  For a list of disaster designations for Iowa, go to www.fsa.usda.gov/ia.

A slight improvement in the atmospheric moisture content has prompted the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency to reduce the Fire Danger index from “Extreme” to “High,” where it had been for several weeks prior to Wednesday’s extremely dry and dangerous conditions. Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next few days and hopefully, some of that rain will fall over Shelby County.

Seivert is asking participating agencies in the County to move their “Fire Danger” signs back into the High Category. He says while the explosive conditions the area experienced Wednesday have moved on, the wind this (Thursday) afternoon and Friday are expected to increase into the 20-mph range.

Open burning is not recommended.  Please call the emergency management Agency at 755-2124 if you feel you need to burn during this time.