Farm operators in southwest Iowa who have sustained major forage and/or crop production, and/or physical losses due to flooding, may be eligible for an emergency loan. Iowa USDA Executive Director John Whitaker says applications for assistance should be completed at the Cass/Pottawattamie County Farm Service Agency (FSA) office, in Atlantic.

Whitaker says the FSA 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. Applicants must be unable to obtain credit from other, usual sources, in order to qualify for FSA Farm Loan Program assistance. Most of the disaster loans can be for up to seven-years, however, if the loan is secured only on crops, it must be repaid when the next year’s crop income is received.

The deadline for final applications is April 23^rd, 2012. For more information, call the Cass/Pott County FSA office, at 712-243-1377.

Barbara Determan, President, 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees; Patti Blum; Chuck Morris, Director, 4-H Youth Development

The Shelby County Extension Service reports a Harlan woman was recently inducted into the 2011 Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. Patti Blum received the honor during a ceremony at the 4-H Exhibits Building at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday, August 21st.

Eighty-eight Iowa counties participated this year and selected 121 inductees for their outstanding service and dedication to 4-H. Inductees or their surviving family members were presented a certificate by the Iowa 4-H Foundation as they were introduced on stage.

Patti has been involved in 4-H for over 30 years.　 She served Shelby County as the 4-H Program Assistant for 13 years, working with countless leaders, volunteers and 4-H members during this time to keep the 4-H program strong. She supports 4-H at the state level as well, and was superintendent of the Issues class at the Iowa State Fair for many years. Blum has also served on the Iowa 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees and headed up the fundraising committee on the Board. Officials say her love of working with youth really comes through in judging, and she continues to be a 4-H judge for communications and static exhibits at many county and state fairs to help youth realize their potential with her positive guidance.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Seed maker Syngenta is suing a grain elevator operator that has banned the company’s biotech corn. Bunge North America, which operates grain elevators across North America, including one in Council Bluffs, recently posted notices that it would not accept corn planted with Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera seed. In the lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Sioux City, St. Louis-based Bunge said the seed has not been approved for export to China.

“We are surprised and disappointed that Syngenta has taken an action which could put at risk a major export market for U.S. corn producers,” St. Louis-based Bunge said in a statement Tuesday. Minnesota-based Syngenta claims Bunge violated federal and state laws and that the seed has been approved for shipment to other international markets, including Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and Korea.

Syngenta spokesman Chuck Lee said only 1 percent of the nation’s corn crop will be exported to China this year. Bunge said it will accept Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera seed once it is approved by China.

“Until this approval occurs, we must protect the integrity of our export supply chain by not accepting Agrisure Viptera and other varieties that do not have major export market approval,” the company said in its statement. “Our obligation to our farmers is to provide access to the global marketplace and the price benefits of that access. Syngenta’s decision to commercialize Agrisure Viptera should not foreclose our ability to sell to a major market – China,” the company said.

China is currently the seventh largest importer of U.S. corn, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Cass County: Corn $7.09, Beans $13.25

Adair County: Corn $7.06, Beans $13.28

Adams County: Corn $7.06, Beans $13.24

Audubon County: Corn $7.08, Beans $13.27

East Pottawattamie County: Corn $7.12, Beans $13.25

Guthrie County: Corn $7.11, Beans $13.29

Montgomery County: Corn $7.11, Beans $13.27

Shelby County: Corn $7.12, Beans $13.25

Oats $2.91 (always the same in all counties)

City leaders in Council Bluffs are open to the possibility of having an indoor and outdoor firing range within the community, but they’re approaching the matter with safety foremost on their minds. The Council Bluffs City Council on Monday unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance, that would have a licensed engineer or architect determine the safety of indoor and outdoor firing ranges.

Currently, the issue is the city’s responsibility, City Attorney Richard Wade, who was contacted by another attorney, whose client is considering building an indoor firing range, said he believes the city doesn’t have the necessary expertise necessary to determine how safe such facilities should be.

Under the proposed, new ordinance, before any firing range can open, the owner or operator must submit plans that have been signed by a licensed engineer or architect certifying that the structure or outdoor site has been designed and built in a manner that permits the safe discharge of firearms. There are no specifics in the ordinance on how an indoor firing range is to be built.

CARTER LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Heavy rainfall has forced the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to close Carter Lake in southwest Iowa to all boaters.

The DNR says in a news release on Monday the heavy rainfalls from storms that moved across the area Sunday night has led the agency to close all boat ramps on Carter Lake until the water level has dropped enough so that docks and the shoreline are protected.

The DNR also says all boat ramps on Carter Lake in Omaha, Neb., are closed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad says state environmental officials clearly overstepped their bounds when they sought to ban lead shot in dove hunting. Speaking Monday at his weekly news conference, Branstad argued that efforts by the Natural Resources Commission to ban lead shot was the latest example of state bureaucrats abusing their power. A legislative panel delayed the action last week, and the matter will go to the Legislature next year. Branstad says he’s restructuring the commission and wants to send a message to other state entities that they shouldn’t take action better left to lawmakers. Environmentalists say lead shot can be deadly to other animals who can consume the pellets.

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has denied a request to build a 5,000 head hog confinement in Adair County. In a letter dated Friday to a consultant working with the operator of the proposed facility, the DNR said an evaluation of the proposal indicated it failed to meet the requirements necessary for approval. The Adair County Board of Supervisors recommended the DNR deny the construction permit because of problems with the application and community opposition.

The operator, Twin Lakes Environmental Services LLC, a manure management company based in Rockwell City, has 14 days to appeal the decision. Mike Sexton, a consultant with Twin Lakes, says the company is reviewing its options to determine its next step. He declined to identify who his company is working for.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Friday) announced that he will be participating in agricultural focused town meetings in Pottawattamie, Montgomery and Cass Counties on Tuesday, August 30th, as part of his efforts to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties again in 2011.  Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Tom Latham will also participate in the meetings. The town meetings will take place in Oakland, Red Oak and Atlantic.
In Pottawattamie County, the Agriculture Town Hall meeting will be from  10:00 – 11:30 a.m., in Oakland, at the Community Building, at 129 Harrison Street.

In Montgomery County, the meeting is from 1: 00 – 2:30 p.m., at the Montgomery County YMCA, at 101 E. Cherry Street, in Red Oak.

In Cass County, the meeting is from 3:30 until 5-p.m. in the Medium room at the Cass County Community, in Atlantic.

Northey, a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his second term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are promoting the use of science and new technologies to better care for our air, soil and water, and reaching out to tell the story of Iowa agriculture.

An official with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the Lake of Three Fires State Park, near Bedford, in Taylor County, was damaged Thursday evening from a storm that caused power outages across the region. State Parks Chief Kevin Szcodronski says the storm brought golf ball sized hail that striped trees by the lake nearly bare. Trees and limbs were damaged in the park to the extent that the roads to the picnic areas are impassible.

Szcodronski said the DNR is calling campers who had reservations to tell them the park has some damage and is without electricity. He says the water is still on, and restrooms are functioning. Campers are still welcome to camp if they choose, he says, and the DNR will help them find a site in a nearby state park campground, or give them a full refund.

Szcodronski said he will be bringing in staff from other parks to help with the clean up and inspect the facilities and trails. He says “Everything is covered in leaf litter. This was a big storm that caused a lot of damage and power outages across southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri.” He says they really don’t know when the power will return.

Waubonsie, Viking Lake and Lake Manawa state parks also sustained damage, but not to the extent of Lake of Three Fires. Szcodronski said there were no injuries reported.