(Radio Iowa) – The ongoing drought continues to cause flow issues on some Iowa rivers. D-N-R Conservation and Recreation Division administrator, Pete Hildreth, says the West Nishnabotna River is too low to allow pumping at the main marsh for the Riverton Wildlife Area.

He says another area of the wildlife area has been able to get water pumped in.

He says that marsh area is four inches below normal, but that have had enough water for the teal hunting season. Hildreth says they hope to eventually get more water in the other marsh.

Hildreth made his comments during the recent Natural Resources Commission meeting, and says there are other areas that are also dealing with low water issues.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Produce in the Park (PIP) is a weekly farmers market and community gathering held every Thursday evening from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM in the Atlantic City Park, now through October 12th. This week (Sept. 21st), local musician Jenna Nau will be providing live music and Amos Fabulous Foods food truck will be on site from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM. Numerous vendors will be in attendance offering a variety of products including baked goods, produce, sweet treats and crafts.

This week you can look forward to the following vendors:

Aubrey’s Bows: assortment of bows including new fall bow collections
Bridgewater Farms: wide assortment of produce including sweet potatoes
Brun Ko Farms: honey, radishes, peppers, sweet snacking peppers, 5, 10 & 20 lb boxes of heirloom slicing tomatoes, onions, garlic & jalapenos and leeks
CK3 Farms: wide assortment of produce including watermelon
Harrisdale Farmstead: assortment of produce including grapes
Imagine Garden Gifts: unique garden gifts including antique, vintage, and repurposed planters.
Kringleman: assorted Danish pastries
Neighborhood Bakehouse: sourdough, baguettes, sandwich bread & mini chocolate baguettes
Noble Provisions: homegrown ribeyes, beef snacks (jerky, summer sausage, beef sticks), beef brats, patties, pork brats, Italian sausage, & ground pork
Piper’s Brae: aronia berries, aronia jam and eggs
Ray’s Wood Turnings
Sue’s Country Garden: assortment of plants, produce, baked goods & jams/jellies
Ter-Bear Honey: home raised raw packaged honey
The 11th Acre: wide assortment of produce, baked goods, cottage foods & crafts
Windy Hill Compost

Featured kids activities will be bounce houses, provided by the Nishna Valley Family YMCA and yard games. Zion Recovery, PIP September sponsor, will have numerous agencies at the park as well as activities for kids to enjoy.

All vendors accept cash, with many accepting credit cards and Venmo. All qualifying food vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as food stamps) with all fresh produce vendors accepting Double Up Food Bucks–coupons given for SNAP/EBT purchases of fresh produce.

For updates and information on Produce in the Park or how to sign up to participate, visit www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com. ‘Like’ or ‘follow’ Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/).

Produce in the Park is sponsored by: First Whitney Bank & Trust, Cass Health, Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Gregg Young of Atlantic, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Atlantic.

Iowa ranks first in the country for tractor rollover deaths, and a rebate being offered through a University of Iowa program aims to make farmers safer. Brandi Janssen is director of the U-I-based I-CASH, the Iowa Center for Agricultural Safety and Health. A properly-maintained tractor can be a workhorse across several generations of farmers, and Janssen says the older machines are more deadly in rollovers as they lack ROPS, or rollover protection systems.

A ROPS is a metal bar or frame that attaches to the tractor. In a rollover, the ROPS — when used with a seatbelt — prevents the operator from being crushed under the machine. Sadly, many Iowa farmers don’t shell out the money to retrofit their tractors.

Adding ROPS to a tractor may cost between 15- and 25-hundred dollars, but Janssen says a rebate is being offered that erases a large portion of that cost.

There is a waiting list for the ROPS rebates in Iowa, but Janssen encourages every owner of large farm equipment to sign up, as it’s a life-saver.

This is National Farm Safety week. For information about the rebate, visit “ROPSr4u.org” or call (877) 767-7748.

Today:  Sunny with a high near 81. Breezy, with a light south southeast wind becoming south 15 to 20 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.

Tonight:  A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms with a low around 60. South southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tuesday:  Mostly sunny with a high near 83. South wind 10 to 15 mph.

Wednesday:  A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny with a high near 78. South southeast wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Thursday:  Mostly sunny with a high near 78.

Enrollment is currently open for the 2023-2024 Cass County 4-H program year and it is FREE to join 4-H in Cass County. Thanks to generous donations to our Cass County 4-H Endowment fund, members fees are completely covered in Cass County. Youth in kindergarten through 12 grade are eligible to join. There are 7 Clover Kid Groups and 11 4-H Clubs in Cass County to choose from, most meet monthly. Clover Kid Groups are for youth currently enrolled in kindergarten though third grade. These youth meet with their club and participate in hands-on activities, make new friends, and build life skills. Youth currently enrolled in 4th-12th grade are eligible for 4-H Community Clubs. 4-H helps youth develop leadership and communication skills while exploring new interests and giving back to the community in a fun and safe setting with friends and caring adults.

On October 8th Cass County 4-H is hosting their annual Fall Fest from 2:00-4:00pm on the fairgrounds, 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic. All community members are welcome to attend this event, admission is free, tickets to participate at booths are only 10 cents each. 4-H Clubs host booths with fun activities and share information about what they do as a 4-H group. Plan to attend to have a fun family outing and learn more about 4-H. This event is fun for all ages, you don’t have to be in 4-H to attend Fall Fest!

If you would like to learn more about 4-H, there will also be a New Member/Find Out Night on December 4th from 5:30-7:00pm at the Cass County Community Building 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic. This is a free event, open to anyone interested in learning more about the program and asking questions to County 4-H Staff, volunteers, and current members.

4-H is in Iowa’s 99 counties and offers dozens of project area topics to learn about in addition to agriculture. With the help of caring adult volunteers, we help youth explore their interests—things like entrepreneurship, engineering, child development, music, performance, or art–while preparing young leaders for the careers and challenges of tomorrow. 4-H is uniquely poised to help youth develop life skills such as public speaking, self-motivation, healthy lifestyle choices, emotional intelligence, conflict management, and negotiating. These skills may be a key indicator of future career success when paired with the hard skills often taught in academic settings.

For more information about joining your local Iowa 4-H Youth Development program as a 4-H member or adult volunteer, visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or contact the ISU Extension and Outreach Cass County office.

The new drought monitor shows the same old story for Iowa, the drought conditions are not getting better. Tim Hall of the Iowa D-N-R says the areas that didn’t get some of last week’s rain show up in the drought map.

Northeast Iowa has the most counties in extreme or severe drought conditions. Both of those designations increased statewide last week with nearly 26 percent of the state in extreme drought and almost 73 percent in severe drought. Hall says the water levels in some rivers and streams are much lower than normal for this time of year.

He says flows tend to be low this time of year anyway, and being 10 percent below normal really indicates how little rainfall we’ve had. Hall says water systems that pull from rivers have one thing in their favor.

But Hall says there is a lot of concern about when we might get some rain to replenish the dry areas.

He says the short term forecast doesn’t call for much precipitation to help with the problem.

Today:  A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny with a high near 76. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Tonight:  A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy with a low around 54.
Saturday:  Mostly sunny with a high near 77. Light west wind becoming north northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Sunday:  Sunny with a high near 74. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday:  Sunny with a high near 80. Breezy.
Tuesday:  Mostly sunny with a high near 84. Breezy.

Weather conditions have prompted the U-S-D-A to lower its prediction of corn yields in Iowa by one-and-a-half percent.

The estimate released today (Thursday) is based on crop conditions through September 1st. The U-S-D-A predicts the average corn yield in Iowa will be 200 bushels per acre, down slightly from last month. However, at least 200-thousand more acres of corn were planted in Iowa this year compared to last and the U-S-D-A predicts Iowa’s overall corn harvest will be two percent larger than last year’s. The U-S-D-A’s analysis of Iowa soybean yields per acre is the same as it was in August.

Fewer acres of soybeans were planted in Iowa this year and the U-S-D-A expects the total soybean harvest in Iowa to be down two percent from last year.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor update shows conditions worsened for the Atlantic area. 

Conditions have been revised from Moderate Drought (D1) to Severe Drought (D2), according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor.

Atlantic has been in drought since August 29, 2023.

The map shows the northern part of Cass County, along with most of Audubon, Shelby and Guthrie counties are are some of the driest in the region.

The Climate Prediction Center’s September Drought Outlook, released on August 31, 2023, predicted that drought conditions would likely develop in September