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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
Healthy Cass County, Atlantic Parks & Rec, and Royal Neighbors are organizing a public walk at the Schildberg Recreation Area on October 6 at 10:00 AM. Everyone in Cass County is welcome to join!
Early October is a beautiful time of year to spend time outdoors in Iowa, but if that’s not reason enough to join the walk, the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Royal Neighbors, and Cass County Iowa State University Extension will be providing free water bottles and other
giveaways to participants.
The walk at Schildberg is just one of many walks taking place in Iowa on October 6. October 6 is Iowa’s 11th Annual Healthiest State Walk. All Iowans are encouraged to get outside and walk for half an hour on October 6, whether or not they are joining in a public walk.
The Healthiest State Walk is spearheaded by Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with the goal of making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation. On their blog, Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative shares many benefits to walking including increased energy levels and better sleep, as well as increased blood flow that leads to better cognitive functioning, improved memory, and reduced anxiety and depression. Lastly, Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative points out that walking is a great way to connect with others.
Healthy Cass County encourages people who cannot attend the Schildberg walk to consider registering their own public or private walk and inviting a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor to join them in walking. Individuals and organizations may register their October 6 walks at www.iowahealthieststate.com/events/annual-walk/.
(Radio Iowa) The latest drought monitor reflects the lack of rain we’ve seen in the state in September. The D-N-R’s Tim Hall some areas that were in D-1 moderate drought have now moved to the D-2 severe drought category.
Only about 24 percent of the state is reporting NO drought conditions — down from about 25 percent last week. Hall says we shift at the end of September from the growing season — or “water year” concerns to the subsoil moisture concerns.
He says the need to bank moisture for next year varies across the state.
Hall says one positive is the plants are not pulling water from the ground and the cooler weather leads to less moisture lost from evaporation.
He says there can be replenishing rains in October and November — but the odds get worse deeper into fall.
Halls says 2020 was also a dry year — so the state started out behind and hasn’t been able to fully replenish the groundwater through this year.
A survey of real estate agents finds the price of tillable Iowa farm land is increasing significantly. The Iowa chapter of the Realtors Land Institute releases survey data in March and September. The latest report shows Iowa farm land values have jumped nearly 19 percent since the spring. Compared to a year ago, the average price for Iowa farm land is up 26-point-six percent. The Realtors Land Institute cites high commodity prices, a good harvest and favorable interest rates as factors driving up farm land prices. The group reports farmers are the primary buyers, but investors are very competitive at public auctions of farm land. Farm land prices are rising throughout the corn belt. According to the Chicago Federal Reserve, the dollar value of good Iowa farm land rose 18 percent between July of this year and last July.
(Radio Iowa) Farmers in Iowa and across the Midwest are keeping a lookout for an exotic bug that was found in Kansas earlier this month. The spotted lanternfly has bright red hind wings with black spots. Robin Pruisner, with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, says the insect could harm nursery stock and woody plants like trees, shrubs and raspberries.
The state ag department says it beefed up public outreach since the Kansas find. Iowa State University entomologist Donald Lewis says this pest and its “piercing-sucking mouthparts” feed on sap, which will weaken lots of fruit and woody trees.
Kansas and federal officials are investigating after one of the bugs was found in a 4-H project. Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly was first seen in Pennsylvania in 2014 and is a skilled hitchhiker. The Iowa and Nebraska ag departments have both received reports of possible sightings of the insect, but so far they’ve all been false alarms.
(Atlantic, Iowa) – A tree that can live as long as 3,000 years (according to ArborDay.org), will be planted by the Atlantic High School Class of 1970, Saturday afternoon, on the grounds of the High School. Dr. Tressa Wilcox, of Atlantic, say a Gingko Tree will planted at 2-p.m. Saturday by the east drive of the Atlantic High School. The “50-year plus 1” event was delayed due to the pandemic. The AHS Class of 1970 planted a Gingko Tree back in 1970, also.
The class planted their first tree on the grounds of the downtown Atlantic City Park. It can be found on the northeast side, and a little toward the central part of the park. Dr. Wilcox said that first tree “is doing very well.”
Gingko leaves in the Fall
Since they graduated, the AHS Class of 1970 has lost 35 of their classmates.
Dr. Wilcox says school officials have been very supportive of the tree planting.
The hole the tree will be located in, is deep enough for the 12-foot tall tree.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Board recently approved the rules for a new fund designed to help small meat processors. Iowa Economic Development Authority spokesperson, Kannan Kappleman, says the agency is charged with handing out the 750-thousand dollars. “The fund provides financial assistance in the form matching grants to businesses for projects related to small-scale meat processing, licensed custom lockers, and mobile slaughter units,” according to Kappleman.
She says those rules lay out the requirements to receive the grants. She says the I-E-D-A website has a document on frequently asked questions and the rules. Kappleman says the shutdown of the large-scale meatpackers during the pandemic shined the light on the smaller operations. “So these smaller establishments were fulfilling the needs that were definitely in demand at that time,” she says.
The grants can be used to modernize and improve the operations. The Iowa Legislature passed and Governor Kim Reynolds signed what officially called “The Butchery Innovation and Revitalization Fund” into law in June of this year.
(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans are now harvesting vegetables from their gardens and while our moms or grandmothers may have used pressure cookers to can them in jars, today, preserving the bounty is much easier. Food safety specialist Barbara Ingham says chopping and stewing your tomatoes before freezing them is the quickest and simplest way to store your harvest. “They come out of the crockpot kind of looking like what I would find in the grocery store in those nice 15-ounce cans,” Ingham says, “and then I freeze them in freezer bags once they’re cooled in those roughly two cup, 15-ounce quantities.”
Ingham says if you blanch and then freeze your corn, squash, and tomatoes before popping them in the freezer, they’ll last you for a good long while. “In the freezer, they’re safe indefinitely but we generally say about a year,” Ingham says. “This time of year, we’re looking to refill our freezer, so we hope that what was placed in the freezer last year is out of there.” Ingham says when it comes to corn, you’ll just need a sharp knife. “It’s actually going to be a lot quicker if you can take the corn off the cob,” she says, “and just take those kernels and cook them, blanch them relatively quickly a couple of minutes in boiling water.”
Don’t stack up freshly blanched food in the freezer. Instead, she says to spread the packages around on the freezer racks so the food can freeze quickly to lock in the flavors.
https://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/spendsmart/2015/08/24/7857/
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