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(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A weekly crop report says farmers were able to work around some rain showers. The report says 43 percent of the corn is now in the bin — up from 30 percent last week. That put the corn harvest one week ahead of the five-year average. The bean harvest moved to 70 percent completed compared to 56 percent the week before. That’s also one week ahead of the average. The report says more than half the soybean crop remaining to be harvested in south-central Iowa — while all other districts have at least 52 percent pulled from the fields.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Members of the City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Department Board met Monday evening at City Hall. Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen reminds the public a Scarecrow Contest is underway in downtown Atlantic. For $20, people can rent a pole downtown and decorate with a scarecrow. The deadline to reserve a pole with the Chamber passed as of today (Monday, Oct. 18). All the proceeds benefit the Atlantic Food Pantry. Spectators can vote for their favorite scarecrow by making a monetary donation, located at the chamber. Votes must be cast between Oct 18th-31st.

A reminder also, of this weekend’s “Tour de Parks” bike ride. The ride will start and end at Sunnyside park and is about 9.5 miles, but it is broken into 6 stages and goes past all the different parks in Atlantic. Come do all the stages or just do a few. Come enjoy great conversation and learn more about the great things happening in the area. There will be local organizations along the route with free goodies and giveaways showcasing many upcoming events. The Parks and Recreation Department has bikes and helmets you can use free of charge. If you have questions, please contact the Parks and Rec Office at (712) 243-3542.

Another event Bryant spoke about during the Parks and Rec Board Monday, is the Lions Club Pancake Supper from 4:30-until 7-p.m. Nov. 11.  The event takes place inside the Atlantic Community Building on the Cass County Fairgrounds. The cost is $7 per person for adults, children 12 and under at $5.00. Rasmussen said all the proceeds will be used toward the purchase of “inclusive playground equipment” for one of the City’s Park. One of the sites they’re looking at more specifically, is the Schildberg Recreation Area. Inclusive parks and ADA accessible, but designed for everyone.

Along that same line, Bryant Rasmussen said Atlantic Kiwanis and Lions Club members this past Saturday added more pea gravel around the various park playground equipment, as part of the service project day. Bryant says prior to the added gravel, the amount of fall material designed to protect kids against injury, was “definitely lacking.” He said about 20-tons of pea gravel was moved. The two swing sets at Cedar Park now have new pea gravel, along with a swing set at the Kiddie Korral at Sunnyside Park, and the playground set by the Kiddie Korral Shelter, as well.  Another project is being planned for this coming spring.

And, Rasmussen reported to the Board that a recycled plastic bench has been installed at Cedar Park basketball court area. It was donated by the Lions Club from all the recycled plastic. He said as of two weeks ago, the Elks Club reached their goal of 500 lbs of plastic. They’ve picked a color for their bench, which should arrive within the next four-to-five weeks. Bryant says two other organization: The City of Griswold and the Master Gardeners, are applying for similar benches. He says there are currently 1,800 lbs of plastic available for recycling projects. Their goal had been 500 lbs over six months, so they’ve surpassed in less time than expected. Byrant says they take in about 200-to 300-lbs per week.

For more information on how you can sponsor a recycled bench, contact the Parks and Rec Office at (712) 243-3542.

(Radio Iowa) – Representatives of the United Auto Workers and John Deere say contract talks have resumed. Ninety percent of union workers rejected Deere’s initial contract offer and more than 10-thousand workers at 14 John Deere plants and distribution centers have been on strike last Thursday. Union members say Deere’s initial offer did not meet their wage and retirement goals, plus the union says it’s important to end a two-tiered pay system that ensures younger workers get less. A spokeswoman for the company says John Deere is fully committed to the collective bargaining process, resolving the strike and giving production and maintenance workers the opportunities to earn the best wages.

Revenue for the first three quarters of Deere and Company’s current fiscal year is up 11 percent and net income is up 84 percent compared to the same portion of 2019, before the pandemic hit. The turn-out at many picket lines today (Monday) was larger than it had been in the opening days of the strike.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says farmers are part of the conversation about capturing and storing carbon because common soil conservation practices can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. “Things like cover crops and no-till and nitrogen use efficiency and conservation tillage,” Naig said.

Two proposed pipeline projects are seeking regulatory approval to liquify carbon produced by ethanol plants.  “The play here is for lowering the carbon intensity score of ethanol,” Naig says. “That makes sense. That can work and you can put a project together related to that, so we’ll see where else that can go.”

Naig says fertilizer plants might be able to link to a carbon pipeline as well. Naig is vice chair of the carbon sequestration task force Governor Kim Reynolds appointed in late June. The group is scheduled to meet tomorrow (Tuesday) .and discuss policy recommendations for lawmakers.

(KCRG) Moline, Il. — Reports show John Deere CEO John May sold $72,473 company stocks a few days before the strike began. Earlier this week, more than 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike after negotiations between United Auto Workers and John Deere failed.

The majority of union workers rejected a contract that would have delivered 5% raises to some workers and 6% raises to others. According to documents acquired by KCRG, the Security and Exchange Commission reported on Tuesday that May began selling stocks in March 2021. But the SEC requires the documents to be filed within two business days after the transaction.

KCRG reports the John Deere stock decreased by 6.3% in the last month and 3% in the last five days. John Deere has not responded to KCRG’s request for comment.

(Des Moines) Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Friday, extended a proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain. The proclamation that continues through November 14, 2021, allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage and stover to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight), without a permit – for the duration of the proclamation.

It applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.

(Radio Iowa) – October is recognized as “Pork Month” and Iowa Pork Producers Association executive director Pat McGonegle points to the economic study they commissioned to show the impact of the pork industry on the state. “We do it with a third party so it kind of pulls some of the bias out of it…one of the key things that we found in it is the Iowa pork industry — both direct and indirect impact — equates to about 140-thousand jobs in the state of Iowa,” McGonegle says.

McGonegle says the direct and indirect economic impact is estimated at six BILLION dollars. And he says the pork industry provides a market for Iowa grain. “We’ll consume about 24 percent of the corn that’s produced in the state and about 22 or 23 percent of the soybeans that are produced are consumed on pig farms,” he says. Consumption of pork products has steadily increased during the past few decades, and according to McGonegle, one bright spot lies with the export of U-S pork products. He says Iowa exports about 26 percent of the hogs produced to 100 countries. “And it’s everything from pork chops to pig’s feet and everything in-between. And so, all of those things add value, not just to the producer — but to the entire network that it takes to bring pork products to consumers.”

McGonegle says whether the pork industry continues to expand within the state will depend on input costs, such as higher grain prices, and higher costs for building materials.

(Radio Iowa) – The John Deere plant in Ottumwa sat quiet and the parking lot was empty as its workers went on strike early this (Thursday) morning, and about a hundred people began picketing outside of the company’s gates. Some motorists stopped to give food and water to the workers while several more honked their horns as they passed by to show their support for the striking employees.

Trucks entered and left the factory throughout the morning. A cheer rose from the picket line as a truck did -not- enter the facility. A worker who did not want to be identified explained. “You see, there’s been truckers driving by being in solidarity with us and not crossing our picket line,” said the worker. “Some of them are. Some of them aren’t. We’re cheering them on and booing the ones that do.”

Deere employees in the Quad Cities. (WVIK photo via Radio Iowa)

In a statement, Brad Morris, Vice President of Labor Relations for Deere and Company says Deere is “determined to reach an agreement with the United Auto Workers that would put every employee in a better economic position and continue to make them the highest paid employees in the agriculture and construction industries.”

The statement from John Deere concluded by saying the timetable of the two sides coming to an agreement is unknown.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa needs targeted investments to strengthen and expand its electrical grid to prepare for extreme weather events brought on by climate change. That’s the recommendation from the latest Iowa Climate Statement being released by a coalition of more than 200 researchers. Iowa State University engineering professor Jim McCalley says the extensive power outages from last year’s derecho showed clear vulnerabilities in the state’s infrastructure.  “We need to reduce impact and increase speed of restoration and recovery during extreme events,” McCalley says. “This requires diversification in the ways that we supply power. It means, for example, deploying microgrids for loads providing critical services such as hospitals and grocery stores.”

Utility companies should be making investments now, he says, to bolster Iowa’s electric grid.  McCalley says, “The future is going to bring winds, extreme temperature evens, floods and droughts at a frequency and severity exceeding conditions for which much of this equipment was designed.” Fortifying the grid will also allow for more wind and solar development, which McCalley says is key to zeroing out emissions.  “The transmission capacity that we currently have is insufficient to build out the resources that we need to hit zero carbon,” McCalley says. “That’s not an opinion. It’s a fact.”

The authors of the Climate Statement are calling on residents and regulators to push utilities to make the investments.

On the web at https://iowaenvironmentalfocus.org/iowa-climate-statement/

(reporting by Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)