(Radio Iowa) – An invasive bug that could threaten many of Iowa’s fruit crops and trees has been found in the state — but a top Iowa insect expert says there aren’t enough of them at this time to pose an immediate threat to Iowa’s agriculture. State entomologist Robin Pruisner says a person found the first spotted lanternfly on a maple tree in Dallas County and the second a week later in the same area. Both were immature – black with white spots.

“We do not call what we’ve found so far in Dallas County and infestation,” she says. “it appears that we’ve got hitchhikers — not a reproducing population at this time.” The spotted lanternfly can jump from plant to plant and feed on sap. It leaves behind a sticky substance that can develop a sooty mold which blocks photosynthesis and can kill the plant. Pruisner says she’s disappointed the bug has been found here. 

The closest known infestations of spotted lanternfly are in the Indiana-Ohio area, so I didn’t expect them to make such a large jump into Iowa,'” she says. Spotted lanternflies can attach their egg masses on vehicles or firewood and hitch a ride for a long distance. Pruisner is encouraging people to send photos to the Ag Department if they think they’ve seen the insect.

(reporting By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with Connections Area Agency on Aging say they still have vouchers available for the Senior Farmer’s Market Voucher Distribution program. Seniors meeting income requirements can obtain vouchers that they can use at participating area Farmers Markets to buy $30.00 worth of fresh, locally grown produce. To request an application call 800-432-9209 x8888 and leave a message with your name and phone number. All calls will be returned within five business days in the order they are received. Applications will then be mailed out every Thursday with an addressed return envelope. Once your completed application is received, vouchers will be mailed out to you. Please note applications not completed will not receive vouchers until all information is provided.

Program Criteria:

• Must be at least 60 years of age or older
• Your Annual income must be less than: $25,142 Single; $33,874 Married. When a staff member returns your call, please indicate whether you are applying as an individual or a married couple.

Outline of Process:

• Connections Farmers Market line open for applicants to leave their name and number for an application call back.
• PLEASE LEAVE ONLY ONE MESSAGE PER INDIVIDUAL OR COUPLE. DO NOT LEAVE MORE THAN ONE MESSAGE. MULTIPLE CALLS WILL ONLY DELAY APPLICATION PROCESS.
• All calls will be returned within five business days.
• Applications will be mailed out on Thursdays of each week.

This method is the only way to obtain Farmers’ Market vouchers in 2022.

ATLANTIC, IA – This week at Produce in the Park customers will find Pim’s Thai Food Truck and local vegetable favorites including sweet corn, tomatoes, and zucchini. The July 28 market will also include popular dessert vendors Frosting Inc. and Kringleman Pastries and an expanded local meat selection. Brun Ko Farm and Noble Provisions have been selling beef, pork, and lamb (Brun Ko only) at the market this season, but this week Bridgewater Farm will also start selling meat. Bridgewater Farm has been selling produce and eggs at the market all season, but starting July 28 Bridgewater will also be selling both chicken and beef. In future weeks, the farm will also offer pork.

Chickens on Bridgewater Farm. Bridgewater Farm will begin selling chicken at Produce in the Park July 28

Produce in the Park customers are reminded that vendors accept a variety of payment methods. All vendors accept cash, and some vendors accept credit and debit cards and Venmo payments. All meat, produce, honey, and jam vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as food stamps), and all produce vendors also accept and distribute Double Up Food Bucks (coupons given for produce purchased with SNAP/EBT). Brun Ko Farm, Bridgewater Farm, Sue’s Country Garden, Piper’s Brae Farm, and Corn 4 a Cause all accept both senior and WIC farmers market vouchers for produce and honey purchases (as part of the Farmers Market Nutrition Program).

DETAILS for Produce in the Park July 28:
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM
Location: Atlantic City Park (10 W. 7th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022)
Food Trucks: Pim’s Thai
Product Highlights: Fresh produce (sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, onions, and more!), meats (beef, pork, lamb, and chicken), farm-fresh eggs, honey, popcorn, lemonade, cupcakes, cookies, pastries, fruit crisps, soaps, candles, lotions, art prints, jewelry, greeting cards, plants, lawn decorations, and more!
Fun: Live music, yard games, and more!
Guest Chef: Homemade Hamburger Helper from July sponsor United Church of Christ of Atlantic
Visiting organizations including Cass County Master Gardeners and Nebraska AIDS Project
Free drawing for a dozen eggs sponsored by the Cass County Local Food Policy Council. (Anyone age 18+ can enter for free. Winner will be drawn after the market and receive eggs the
following week.
Payment methods accepted: All vendors accept cash. Many accept credit cards, Venmo, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) Senior and WIC checks. All qualifying food vendors accept SNAP/EBT (also known as food stamps). All fresh produce vendors both accept and distribute Double Up Food Bucks (coupons given for SNAP/EBT purchases of fresh produce).

w/Kate Olson.

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(Atlantic, Iowa) – The 2022 Cass County Fair begins today (Wednesday), with a couple of judging events and other activities. According to the Fair schedule, 4-H and FFA Static Exhibits Judging takes place from 9-a.m. until 2:30-p.m. The Bucket of Junk Judging is from 10:30-a.m. until 12:30-p.m., and the Clover Kids Showcase runs from 9:00 a.m. until Noon, today. A full slate of activities at the FREE Cass County Fair in Atlantic begins in earnest on Thursday, with: The Horse Show; 4-H & FFA Exhibits opening, and the Food Sale; Thursday night features the Little Miss and Little Mister contest, followed by the King and Queen Contest, and Senior Recognition.

Other activities and events at fair include a Carnival, beginning at Noon (Beginning Thursday); Commercial Booths open (Beginning Friday), from Noon until 9-p.m. through Monday. Don’t forget all the great tasting food! The Foodstand is open Thursday through Monday, from 6:30-a.m. until 10-p.m., and on Tuesday, Aug. 2nd, from 6:30-until 10-a.m.. The Chuckwagon Hours are from 11-a.m. to 10-p.m., Thursday through Monday, and the FFA Foodstand is open Thursday through Monday from 7:30-a.m. until 8-p.m., and from 7:30-a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2nd, until the end of the Livestock Sale.

The Cass County Fair runs through Tuesday, August 2nd. Check out the schedule, below (Please click on the image to enlarge):

(Radio Iowa) – Dead fish are washing up on the shore of Storm Lake. Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Ben Wallace says an initial investigation indicates one species of fish is affected. “It looks to be a disease kind of specifically impacting the common carp,” he says, “so, to be honest, not a huge impact on the fishery there.” Wallace says thousands of dead carp have been found along Storm Lake’s shore.

“This kind of thing does happen. It’s not super common, but it’s a natural occurrence to have disease outbreaks in wild fish populations,” he says. “…They have a lot of necrotic tissue on their gills, had some fungus growing on their scales and stuff, so everything points to a disease impacting the common carp.”

Wallace hopes to find a lab to test sample fish to gain more information. He says the kill could last a couple more weeks before the disease runs its course. He does not expect other species of fish in Storm Lake to be impacted.

(Clarinda, Iowa) –  The Page County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported after a helicopter struck a power line, cutting the line, Sunday evening. According to Sheriff Lyle Palmer, Deputies were dispatched a little after 6-p.m., to the area of 180th Street and Redwood Avenue, about 1.5-miles north of Clarinda, where the blades of a Bell Model 206 Helicopter had accidentally struck and cut the power line, while the chopper was in the process of spraying a field.

The pilot, Oren William Perkins of Abbeville, LA., returned the helicopter to the designated landing zone near 205th Street and T Avenue in Montgomery County, where it landed without incident. The chopper is owned by JBI helicopters of Abbeville, LA.

A Bell Model 206 helicopter similar to the one involved in the Page County incident.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office notified the FAA of the incident. A damage estimate for the helicopter was not available. Damage to the MidAmerican Energy power line and Southwest REC transformer, was estimated at $270,000.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Clarinda Fire Department at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Environmental Council is calling for updating the system for measuring pollution in Iowa waterways. The state’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy program uses models to estimate the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Iowa’s water. Iowa Environmental Council water program director Ingrid Gronstal says a lack of in-stream sensors makes it difficult to accurately assess water quality. “The public needs to know what their tax dollars are going toward and whether that money is being spent wisely,” Gronstal says. “So, are we actually getting a water quality benefit out of that?”

According to the Iowa Environmental Council, the State of Iowa has spent 100 million dollars since 2013 on water quality projects, but a lack of real-time water measurements means its difficult to determine if the investments are working. Gronstal says the models currently being used to estimate water quality can exclude factors that may impact a waterway – like land use changes or extreme weather patterns. “These are models that were developed close to a decade ago,” she says, “and they didn’t account for climate change effects then, and so certainly not responding to climate change effects now.”

The Iowa Environmental Council is calling for the state to release all of its water quality monitoring information to the public.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Kendall Crawford; additional reporting by Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)

(Radio Iowa) An international organization is now classifying the migratory North American monarch butterfly as endangered, and efforts underway in Iowa will aid the helpful insect if more people get onboard. Laura Iles, director of the Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic at Iowa State University, says the monarchs’ status change should bring more awareness. “It’s important to always draw attention to insects and other animals and the impacts that habitat loss and things like that can have,” Iles says. “It doesn’t legally change their status like the Endangered Species Act does, but it does remind people that it’s important to protect these really cool insects.”

Last week, the International Union for Conservation of Nature issued a report showing monarch populations have fallen up to 72-percent and are at risk of extinction. The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service has -not- listed the monarch as an endangered or threatened species in the U-S but will revisit that status in 2024. Iowans are aware of the monarchs’ plight and many are taking action, she says, by keeping pollinators in mind when planting their gardens and plotting out landscapes. Iles says, “The key with a garden that protects and invites pollinators in and all those beautiful butterflies is having lots of flowers, which most of us who garden like pretty flowers anyway, so it’s kind of a win-win.”

She says growing plants for insects is an amazing way to enjoy nature in your own back yard. “Have those pollinating plants available all summer long, especially early and then later into the fall if you can,” Iles says. “Having those blooming plants available and then reducing any insecticide use in your yard because those insecticides can’t pick and choose between just the pest insects, so you have to accept sometimes a little bit more pest damage when you’re gardening for pollinators.”

Besides planting plenty of flowers, Iles suggests Iowans also plant milkweed, as it’s the only plant on which monarchs will lay eggs. “We’ve got several different species of milkweed in Iowa,” Iles says. “The common milkweed is probably the one that people are most familiar with and very often, it just comes up as a weed in the garden. I just leave it. One less weed to pull and I’ve got some habitat there for monarchs.”

In addition to butterflies, common insect pollinators in Iowa include honey bees, bumble bees, solitary bees, beetles, flies, ants and wasps. Bats, birds and other animals that visit plants can also be pollinators.

For more tips, visit:
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/attract-butterflies-and-other-pollinators-your-garden-and-landscape

(Radio Iowa) – As Iowa farmers start putting together the finances for the next growing season, they’re again considering liquid manure rather than commercial fertilizer for cropland. Nitrogen and phosphorous are typically applied to corn and soybean fields, but a global shortage of commercial fertilizer has caused prices to spike. Iowa State University Extension agricultural engineer Kris Kohl can liquid manure from livestock operations can be a cheaper alternative.

“Typically a person that’s buying manure is going to get it for probably 80 or 90% of what the equivalent fertilizer is, so that’s a savings,” he says. “Oftentimes they’ll get the micro nutrients, the sulfur and zinc, thrown in for free.” I-S-U Extension will host a workshop on August 1st in Storm Lake for those who have manure to sell and those who are looking to buy it. Anyone buying manure in bulk for the first time needs to collect soil samples from farm fields and file a manure management plan with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

“Our research at Iowa State shows there’s a slight advantage to using manure over commercial fertilizers,” Kohl says. In a typical year, I-S-U experts estimate 14 BILLION gallons of manure are spread on Iowa fields. Transporting liquid manure can be costly, though, and environmentalists are raising concerns about drainage from fields into rivers and lakes.