(Radio Iowa) – The two candidates running to be Iowa’s secretary of agriculture for the next four  years disagree on how to advance voluntary efforts to improve water quality in the state. Republican Mike Naig has been ag secretary since the spring of 2018 and he’s seeking a second full term in the office.  “I can confidently say there’s never been more awareness, more work, more partnerships and more resources being focused and more actual conservation work getting done than at any time in our history,” Naig says. “I’m proud of that.”

Naig says over the past 10 years, the state’s voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy has been showing farmers the value of new conservation practices. “Historically, we’ve wanted to move water off of the landscape as fast as we can,” Naig says, “and, in fact, that’s the sole purpose of a drainage district is to remove water from the landscape , to make that land more productive.” Naig says research is showing farmers the value of cover crops and buffer zones along waterways.

John Norwood, the Democratic challenger, is a Polk County Soil and Water Commissioner.  “The current Nutrient Reduction Strategy isn’t working…Doing things one at a time can’t scale to the 23 million acres,” Norwood says, “The framework ought to be not going things one at a time, but doing them systematically.” Norwood says well over half of Iowa farmland is owned by people who aren’t actively farming it and federal incentives should encourage landowners to adopt more conservation practices.

“Manage water for filtration, manage for acquifer recharge, manage water for flooding,” Norwood says. “We have to scale up soil health. That’s another aspect that we, frankly, don’t have a strategy for.”

The candidates made their comments recently on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S. The state’s voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy was announced nearly a decade ago, to reduce harmful runoff into Iowa lakes and rivers. An Iowa State University dashboard to gauge progress toward the strategy’s goals was posted online a year ago, but has not been updated this year.

(Radio Iowa) – Some farmers in northwest and north-central Iowa are finding their crops damaged from last week’s cold snap. Angie Rieck Hinz, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension, says the frost had the greatest effect on soybean fields. “There are some later-planted soybeans that were impacted by that frost because we did get cold enough those mornings that we were below 32 in some places,” Rieck Hinz says, “so usually we think a killing frost is about 28 degrees for soybeans.” Some pockets of the state did dip into the upper 20s at least two mornings, and a number of fields got nipped. Most farmers will still be able to save the majority of their crops. “It’s just going to take a little bit longer for them to dry down, so harvest is usually delayed a little bit,” she says. “We want them at a certain moisture and it’s going to take a little bit longer after they’ve been frosted to get to that point.”

The color on the soybeans is a key factor after a frost. “We’re always concerned about handling those frost-damaged beans or putting them into the commercial market because if the beans weren’t mature and they were still a little green, it’s pretty easy to get docked at the co-op for those green soybeans,” Rieck Hinz says. “We would advise never to put those green beans or greenish beans directly into the market.” She says aerating the soybeans may bring about a color change so they’re more of a mature tan. Most of Iowa’s corn crop is mature and ready — or close to ready — for harvest, so frost damage to the corn was minimal. “We, in some cases, were at full maturity or at black layer, but there were some fields that were still in that really late dent stage, so we can anticipate some minor yield loss there.”

High temperatures for the next several days are expected in the 70s with lows in the 50s, ideal harvest weather, with more cold moving in Thursday and Friday.

Chris Parks and Cass/Adair County Conservation Officer Grant Gelly talk about all things outdoors. This week they discuss the start of archery deer season, safety tips for hunting in the fall, youth waterfowl season, fall fishing opportunities, and the autumn color change.

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The ‘Tour de Parks’ free, community bike ride has been scheduled for Sunday, October 2, 2022 at 2:00 PM. ‘Tour de Parks’ is a play on the name of the famous bike race, the Tour de France, but unlike the famous event, this bike ride is not a race. Instead, it’s a leisurely 10-mile group ride around Atlantic that will stop at multiple parks where various community groups and organizations will greet riders with music, snacks, and information on community happenings.

The ride will start and end at the Sunnyside Park Kiddie Korral (1300 Sunnyside Lane, Atlantic, IA 50022, at the shelter by the bandstand with lots of playground equipment). The Atlantic Kiwanis will be providing a free meal at Kiddie Korral for riders when they finish the ride, and participating organizations and supporters will be giving away free prizes. 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 Atlantic.

Atlantic Parks and Recreation lends out bikes and helmets free of charge anytime, and these can be checked out for the ride. For questions or to borrow a bike or helmet for the ride, contact Atlantic Parks & Recreation at 712-243-3542. Participating organizations planning to host stops at parks along the route include Atlantic Parks & Rec, Nishna Valley Trails, the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Bike Farm, Cass County Extension, Cass County Grow Another Row, Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services, Produce in the Park, SHIFT ATL, Atlantic Public Library, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Cass County Tourism, and Atlantic Kiwanis.

(Radio Iowa) -Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says a significant percentage of land owners should agree to let carbon pipelines run through their property before any developer is granted eminent domain authority to acquire land from unwilling property owners.

John Norwood, a small business owner and Polk County Soil and Water Commissioner, is the Democrat who’s running against Naig. Norwood says all pipeline land deals should be voluntary and the pipeline owners should make yearly payments to landowners and to counties.

Norwood says the pipelines aren’t the right answer for the long term success of the ethanol industry.

Naig, a Republican who is seeking a second full term as ag secretary, says an over reliance on electric vehicles is dangerous and ethanol use should expand.

The candidates made their comments during taping of Iowa Press which aired tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Extension will be celebrating all things 4-H during National 4-H Week October 2-8. 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. 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 the 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 4th and 5th from Noon to Noon during National 4-H Week. 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!

To wrap up National 4-H Week, Cass County 4-H will be hosting a Fall Fest on Sunday, October 9 from 2-4 PM at the Cass County Fairgrounds followed by a 4K Fun Run. 4-Her’s will be on hand to celebrate 4-H as well as invite new/potential 4-Her’s to join in the fun and see what 4-H all is about. All members of the community are invited to come out for an afternoon of family fun!

Katie Bateman, County Youth Coordinator with Cass County Extension says “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 9th!. We will have youth hosting game booths, a hayride, plinko, a scavenger hunt and much more. A 4-H information booth and snacks will be available from 2-4pm. Following the Fall Fest, we are hosting a 4-K for 4-H starting at 4:00pm. You can sign up for the run or a 1-mile fun-run/walk option at the Youth Council Booth from 2-3:30pm at Fall Fest!”

Fall Fest will be a fun event for all ages to come out and celebrate National 4-H Week! Details about National 4-H week events are located on the Cass County Extension Website, www.extension.iastate.edu/cass. 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. We will feature our club activities, share 4-H trivia and more on these social media pages throughout the week.

Bateman says “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. 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.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in 44 Iowa counties have now taken action to express concerns about the three proposed carbon pipelines. In the last week, the Adair and Floyd County Boards of Supervisors have sent letters to state regulators. Floyd County Supervisor Linda Tjaden says the proposed Summit and Navigator pipeline routes pass through Floyd County.

The letters express concern about training for emergency crews who’d have to respond to pipeline ruptures, as well as potential construction damage to land and drainage tiles. The letter about the Summit route also mentions it would pass through the Avenue of the Saints Development Park in Charles City and the pipeline could damage electrical, water and sewage utilities in the area.

The letter from the Floyd County supervisors also expresses concern about the use of eminent domain for a private purpose. State law allows pipeline developers to apply for eminent domain authority to gain access to properties where landowners have refused to grant voluntary easements.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors has sent the Iowa Utilities Board a letter, saying the board is not oppose to the purpose or construction of the pipeline, but is opposed to eminent domain being used as a way of achieving it. None of the three proposed pipeline routes run through Adair County, but there are nearby ethanol plants in Menlo and Corning. If those facilities are connected to a carbon capture pipeline in the future, the route would likely pass through Adair County.

(Radio Iowa) A judge has struck down a state law that enhanced the penalty for trespassing at an ag-related business if the person took pictures or recorded video that was shared. Animal welfare groups had sued the state over the law aimed at those who’ve used undercover video of livestock confinements and dog breeding facilities to allege the animals were being mistreated. Two previous state laws with the same goals have been blocked by federal courts. Critics say the laws could be used to shield unsafe working conditions or animal neglect. Supporters of the law say farmers are being smeared and hurt financially by unfounded accusations. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was first to report that a federal judge ruled that private property rights are an important governmental interest, but taking photos and recording videos is protected speech under the First Amendment.

w/Kate Olson.

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