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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
(A collaborative report from Sentient/Iowa News Service) – A U-S Department of Labor investigation this spring found the number of minors employed in livestock slaughterhouses nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2022. An animal rights group says the conditions in these plants are dangerous for workers, and inhumane for the animals killed there. Iowa slaughters more pigs than any other state. Sean Thomas, with the group Animal Equality, says there have been cutbacks in the number of inspectors at pork processing plants, where more than a thousand hogs are slaughtered in an hour, meaning workers are at greater risk and the hogs face inhumane conditions.
Livestock producers say they are constantly looking for more environmentally friendly ways to keep up with consumer demand. They offer as evidence federally funded programs they use to reduce the impacts of large livestock operations. Thomas argues that increased consumer demand and the commercialization of livestock production means producers are moving the industry in the wrong direction.
Processing facilities reportedly have an effect on their communities, too. A university study has shown a correlation between domestic and sexual violence in places that are home to meatpacking facilities, a link that doesn’t exist in manufacturing sectors that don’t involve killing animals.
Male workers cutting pieces of meat with knives at the meat cutting department of the slaughterhouse
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa hunters took more pheasants last fall than they have in the last 16 seasons D-N-R wildlife biologist, Todd Bogenschutz says there was a 62 percent increase in birds taken.
Bogenschutz estimates more than 83-thousand hunters took to the fields — which is up 32 percent — and is probably due to surveys that showed bird numbers up.
He says hunting seems to follow cycles.
The drought that had spread across Iowa the last couple of years actually benefited pheasant numbers.
Bogenschutz says the 2024 roadside survey concluded on August 15th and the results are expected to show a pheasant population slightly lower in some areas due to spring flooding.
Four Women Managing Farmland Forums and Annie’s Project 20th Anniversary Celebrations will be offered across the state the first week of September. Cass County Extension will host the Southwest Iowa location on Sept. 3 in Atlantic. Other dates and locations include Sept. 4 in Iowa City, Sept. 5 in West Union and Sept. 6 in Storm Lake. All events are FREE to attend and feature a complimentary meal and full day of education. Pre-registration is required for meals and materials.
Targeted to any women involved in the agriculture industry, these one-day regional forums are a valuable opportunity to refresh your conservation, leasing and estate management skills while networking with other women in agriculture. Topics will include soil erosion and water management, landowner responsibilities and the economics of farmland, as well as trusts, taxes and succession planning.
Women of all ages make important decisions about land leasing, conservation practices and transition and estate plans. The forums are designed to help attendees meet their long-term farmland management goals. By combining strategies, women can create equitable farmland leasing, adoption of conservation practices and efficiencies in transitions to next generation farmers.
Well over 3,000 Iowa women have completed Annie’s Project or Annie’s Inspired multi-session farm management courses since 2004. Nearly 1,000 women participated in Women in Ag Leadership conferences since 2017. The changes these women made not only benefited their families, farms, and agribusinesses, but also contributed to a stronger Iowa agricultural system through financially stable businesses, improved conservation practices and closer community networks.
The forums are a thank-you to all those who made Annie’s Project a successful program in Iowa and a welcome to all those who haven’t yet participated. Over the noon hour, there will be a pictorial slide show celebrating and honoring the contributions and milestones of Iowa women in agriculture over the past twenty years.
Did you know …
Each regional forum will be slightly different. Doors for the Cass County event on September 3 open at 9:30 AM. We will start our morning with refreshments, time for networking, and resource tables for participants to visit while they connect. Over the lunch hour we will celebrate 20 years of Annie’s Project and Women in Ag programming in Iowa. Wrap up the day with fun door prize giveaways and leave refreshed with new information and new connections in ag!
Registration is free and required so that everyone has a chair and a lunch. Local agendas and online registration can be found at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag. Sign up today and save your seat at this fun and informational event to celebrate and connect local women in ag!
This program is financially supported by a USDA NIFA Critical Agriculture Research and Education grant (2021-68008-34180) and a Farm Credit Services of America gift through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Women in Ag program.
(Radio Iowa) – Attendance at this year’s State Fair has set a record. Over 1,182,000 (One-million 182-thousand) people attended the 2024 Iowa State Fair, which ended Sunday. In addition to the overall record, a single day record of nearly 123,000 was set on Saturday, August 10th. Daily attendance dropped below 100,000 on just two days — last Tuesday and Wednesday.
Iowa State Fair’s Grand Concourse on Aug. 16, 2024. (RI photo)
This was Iowa’s 170th State Fair. The previous attendance record was set in 2019.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – Two recent graduates of the Cass County 4-H program have received scholarships through the Iowa 4-H Foundation to continue their education. One hundred and one Iowa 4-H scholarships valued at over $106,000 were awarded as a part of the Foundation’s scholarship recognition ceremony. Awards were presented Sunday, July 14th at the Gateway Hotel in Ames. Over 450 applications were submitted, and scholarships were awarded to recipients from 56 counties across the state of Iowa with a wide variety of 4-H experiences. Congratulations to local 4-H member Parker Brock and alumni Emily Plagman for receiving scholarships from the Iowa 4-H Foundation!
Parker received the Delores and Gail Nelson Cass County Endowed 4-H Scholarship. This $500 award is provided by the endowment created in honor of Delores and Gail Nelson, given to a Cass County 4-H’er who has demonstrated leadership skills while in 4-H. The student must be planning to attend any Iowa college, university or community college and will be an incoming freshman in the fall. Parker plans to attend Iowa Western Community College and major in History.
Emily received the Peyton Family Endowed 4-H Scholarship. This $1,000 scholarship is provided through the endowment created by the Peyton Family for any former Iowa or Oklahoma 4-H member who has demonstrated 4-H participation with evidence of strong community service
and leadership in 4-H and at Iowa State University or OSU. The applicant must be a sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student in the next academic year and pursuing a major in or related to agriculture with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA. Emily attends Iowa State University with a major in Agriculture Studies.
Cass County 4-Hers Emily Plagman and Parker Brock were honored at the Iowa 4-H Foundation Scholarship reception in July.
“Iowa 4-H Foundation scholarships acknowledge the hard work and dedication of young people who have used their 4-H skills and experiences to ‘make the best better’ for others,” said Emily Saveraid, Executive Director of the Iowa 4-H Foundation. “We also are thankful for the many scholarship donors who fund these important opportunities for Iowa 4-H’ers.”
The Iowa 4-H Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides the private financial resources to develop and deliver quality 4-H youth programs throughout the state of Iowa. These opportunities help young people enhance their ability to use critical thinking, leadership, communication, and social skills – tools that will give them a competitive edge in their future endeavors. More information at www.iowa4hfoundation.org.
(Report from the Iowa News Service in collaboration with Sentient) – Animal rights advocates are asking large scale livestock operations in Iowa to gender test chicken eggs before the birds hatch. It’s part of an effort to reduce the practice of chick culling. Egg-laying facilities around the world cull about 6 million chickens every year – typically, male chickens that are not profitable to raise for meat. Ag operations kill those chicks after they are already born. Humane League President Vicky Bond says some European countries have banned the practice in favor of what’s known as “ovo-sexing.”
Ag operations have cited costs of adopting the technology as one reason for the delay in adopting it. Chick culling has been around since the 1920’s when livestock producers started breeding their chickens for either meat or eggs. 
Some 100 years later, Bond argues ag operators should be required to end it, rather than killing the male chicks that are too lean – often by grinding them up. She says it’s a fact not lost on consumers in the grocery store.
U-S egg producers had widely agree to end the practice by 2020, but so far, there’s been a lack of oversight and pressure on the industry to follow through.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Environmental Council (Citing the weekly Iowa Department of Natural Resources data), today (Friday), report a total of 14 beaches in Iowa are under advisories for excessive E. Coli levels. Advisories are issued when bacteria standards for safe swimming are exceeded.
All State monitored beaches are posted with Information Signs on indicator bacteria and blue-green algae toxins that provide general information regarding ways to reduce the potential health risk associated with swimming at public beaches. These signs will also inform the public of current monitoring efforts and ways to obtain the data. Water samples from the beaches are analyzed for microorganisms, known as bacteria and cyanobacteria toxins. These indicator bacteria are one-celled organisms visible only under a microscope.
High levels of these bacteria indicate that the water has come into contact with fecal material. 
13 Beaches with an E. coli Advisory:
Backbone Beach (Dundee, Delaware County, IA)*
Beed’s Lake Beach (Hampton, Franklin County, IA)*
Big Creek Beach (Polk City, Polk County, IA)*
Clear Lake Beach (Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County, IA)*
Lake Ahquabi Beach (Indianola, Warren County, IA)*
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
Lake of Three Fires Beach (Bedford, Taylor County, IA)*
Lower Pine Lake Beach (Eldora, Hardin County, IA)*
Nine Eagles Beach (Davis City, Decatur County, IA)*
North Overlook Beach (Lake Red Rock, Pella, Marion County, IA)**
Pleasant Creek Lake Beach (Palo, Linn County, IA)*
Sugar Bottom Campground Beach (Coralville Lake, Coralville, Johnson County, IA)**
Union Grove Beach (Gladbrook, Tama County, IA)*
1 Beach with a Microcystin Advisory:
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
4 City and County Beaches exceed the state’s advisory threshold for E. coli.*
DES MOINES, Iowa, August 16, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today announced that USDA is providing $14,610,814 in funding for 19 projects in Iowa to expand access to clean energy systems and increase the availability of domestic biofuels that will create new market opportunities and jobs for U.S. farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers. Included among the projects are Casey’s General Stores in multiple western/southwest Iowa locations, and separate Higher Blends Infrastructure Projects in Oakland and Council Bluffs. The projects will increase American energy security and advance President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to grow the nation’s economy from the middle out and bottom up. 
“By providing fuel station and distribution facility owners with grants to install and upgrade infrastructure, USDA is helping folks find lower prices at the pump,” said Director Greenfield. “The Biden-Harris Administration is working to lower costs for rural Iowans while addressing the impacts of climate change. These projects announced today help create good-paying jobs and new market opportunities in rural Iowa.”
An additional project funded for $9,975,252 involves multiple locations in Iowa and four other states. All 20 projects are funded through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentives Program (HBIIP) and are part of a larger nationwide announcement.
NEWTON — U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks spoke Thursday in favor of carbon dioxide pipelines as a way to aid Iowa’s ethanol production industry with an environmentally conscious impact. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Miller-Meeks, the Republican representative for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, spoke about pipelines and other renewable fuel efforts supported by the Conservative Climate Caucus. She, alongside Republican Reps. Randy Weber of Texas, Doug Lamborn of Colorado and Brett Guthrie of Kentucky — fellow caucus members — visited the Chevron Renewable Energy Group in Newton as part of a trip to Iowa focused on increasing affordable, low-emission energy options.
Following a tour of the biodiesel production facility, the Iowa Republican said Iowa is a “forerunner and a leader” in enacting a conservative vision for climate-conscious energy production through the use of renewable fuels, wind and solar energy.
The caucus wants to explore ways to encourage the adoption of new climate-conscious technology and techniques, but Republicans encourage “market-based solutions” rather than government requirements, Miller-Meeks said. She criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for its approach to climate change solutions, citing the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules on issues like coal and natural gas-fired power plants and tailpipe emissions.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks spoke about the conservative climate caucus during a visit to the Chevron Renewable Energy Group facility in Newton Aug. 15, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
As the Republican lawmakers seek to bolster alternative energy sources and production in the U.S., Miller-Meeks said carbon dioxide pipelines are one way to lower the carbon intensity score of ethanol, which she said in turn makes the industry competitive globally as American ethanol producers compete with countries like Brazil.
The Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project has been a major point of contention for Iowans in both parties as the company seeks to build a network in five states, including Iowa. Much of the pushback over the project has come from the use of eminent domain that would force landowners to allow the pipeline to be built through their land even if they do not grant the company voluntarily easements.
A group of state Republican lawmakers, as well as conservation groups, counties and property owners, have filed requests for reconsideration with the Iowa Utilities Commission on the three-person panel’s decision to issue a permit to Summit in Iowa.
Miller-Meeks said the use of eminent domain is a “state issue, not a federal issue,” but said the ideal is for a “limited amount of involuntary easements” to be used in pipeline projects. She also said it was important to remember that pipeline companies will not be taking or owning the land.
Movie in the Park-
(Lewis, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a “Movie in the Park” Campground Program. Staff will show the FREE movie, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The public program will be held at the Campground Shelter at Cold Springs Park in Lewis, IA on Friday August 30th 2024 at 9:00 pm.
In the movie, Coriolanus Snow mentors and develops feelings for the female District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games. Come out for a great movie under the stars! Bring a blanket or chair, snacks, Dress for the weather, we may reschedule at a later date if it rains, and You DO NOT have to be a registered camper to attend the program!
“Mysterious Monarchs” Programs
The Cass County Conservation Board is holding “Mysterious Monarchs” Programs. The public programs will be held:
FREE! Discover the Monarch Butterflies before their journey south! Conservation staff will tag monarchs and show you how! If you would like a home tagging kit you must attend and pre-register for the Kit. Call 712-769-2372 to pre-register for your kit. You DO NOT have to be a registered camper to attend the program!
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