(Radio Iowa) – Several people have reported seeing a wandering lost moose in Plymouth County. The moose is a female and is thought to have traveled to northwest Iowa from northern North Dakota. Iowa D-N-R Wildlife Biologist Doug Chafa says it is a rare sight here. He says the last moose sighting was back in the fall and winter of 2015, so it is unusual. Chafa says there are usually two reasons for a moose to travel this far south.

Plymouth County moose

He says a young bull moose may leave the herd because it couldn’t compete for position with other older bull moose. Or he says the female moose in northwest Iowa could be sick. “Sometimes moose will have this roundworm parasite called a meningeal brain worm. It damages their brain and they will have some weird behaviors like just taking off and walking south,” according to Chafa.

Chafa says he understands the curiosity factor from people wanting to see the moose, but he warns people to keep their distance. “Moose are large dangerous animals to get in close proximity to. It would not be a good idea to try and interact with this moose in any way,” Chafa says. “When an animal starts these long-distance dispersals — if you intercede in that or interfere in that — there is a long history where that just goes, really, really poorly.”

The Iowa D-N-R Wildlife Biologist says there is no way in determining whether the moose will continue heading south, or if it has found its new home. Chafa says several years ago, a wandering moose found its way south to Interstate 80 near Walnut, Iowa. Chafa doesn’t believe the moose will do much property damage, but he says that onlookers hoping to see the moose should respect a landowner’s private property rights and not trespass.

(Radio Iowa) – If it seems like there’s an inordinate amount of Canada geese flocking around Iowa right now, you’re not imagining things. While many of the distinctive black-and-white-necked birds live here year-round, others are in the midst of a migration from Canada to parts south. Orrin Jones, a waterfowl biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says Iowa’s city-dwellers are likely noticing the gobs of geese the most. “The geese are actively seeking out the metropolitan areas,” Jones says. “That’s a very attractive place for them right now. It has a combination of open water sources, food, and relative safety.”

Hunting season on geese in central Iowa just ended last weekend. The D-N-R is tabulating figures from a recent Canada goose count that pegs the Des Moines population at around 20-thousand, though statewide numbers aren’t quite ready yet. Iowans can’t help but spot the big birds in places where they usually congregate — and elsewhere. “Right now, we have a mixing of a lot of different populations of geese and their movement patterns coincide with a lot of people’s daily commutes,” Jones says. “When the birds are very active, that’s when people are very active and it leads to this perception that there’s just a huge amount of geese in the area — and there are a lotta’ geese.”

The goose population is not too high, he assures, saying the current numbers are within the state’s objectives for the feathered creatures. While some of the geese are permanent Iowa residents, Jones notes that others are in the midst of an annual migration. “Whether they stay here or go farther south or go back north will depend upon the weather,” Jones says. “If the winter gets more severe, they’ll continue farther south. If it becomes more mild, they’ll spread out or maybe move farther north or maybe distribute across Iowa.”

If you’re tempted to toss some bread to those geese, don’t. Jones says the wild waterfowl need to be able to find food on their own. Plus, he says human food is often detrimental — and can be dangerous — for geese.

WATERLOO, Iowa (January 21, 2021) – Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 13th Annual Capture the Heart of America Photo Contest. “Best of Show” was awarded to Greg Punelli of Ankeny for his photo, “Battle in the Blizzard” in the Partner Site category. Taken in Prairie City at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, the photo was chosen by the public in an online voting campaign in early December.

Harvest Tailgating for Lunch, Sandy McCurdy of Bridgewater

Awards were also given to the top photos in each of six categories, voted on by panel of judges. People’s Choice “Most Liked on Facebook” was awarded to Joyce Meyer of Calmar for her photo, “Over the Rainbow” in the Iowa Farmscapes category. The “Visitor Guide Photo Feature,” selected by Silos & Smokestacks staff from the Partner Site category for a special feature in the 2021-22 Visitor Guide, was awarded to Brian Abeling of West Des Moines with “Mines of Spain Recreation Area.”

Category winners include:
Life on the Iowan Farm
FIRST PLACE: Ready For Work, Bee Klemzak of Waterloo
SECOND PLACE: Harvest Tailgating for Lunch, Sandy McCurdy of Bridgewater
THIRD PLACE: Summer Sunrise, Diane Michaud Lowry of Ames
HONORABLE MENTION: Puddle Jumper, Ann Clinton of Waukee

East Place Harvest, Linda Buxton of Creston

Modern Agriculture
FIRST PLACE: Hancock Harvest, Brian Abeling of West Des Moines
SECOND PLACE: Fly & Apply, Beau Brown of Iowa City
THIRD PLACE: East Place Harvest, Linda Buxton of Creston
HONORABLE MENTION: Chad Heggen, Deere in the Beans of Joice

While the Heritage Area covers a 37-county region in Northeast Iowa, the contest allows Silos & Smokestacks to share America’s agricultural story across the entire United States. A complete list of winners and their photos can viewed at www.silosandsmokestacks.org/photo-contest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Jan. 21, 2021) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig has extended the deadline for farmers who planted fall cover crops to sign up for a $5 per acre reduction on their 2021 crop insurance premiums. Farmers and landowners now have through January 27 to sign up online at apply.cleanwateriowa.org. Fall 2020 cover crop acres enrolled in other state or federal cover crop cost-share programs are not eligible. Farmers who received prevent plant payments in 2020 are still eligible for the discounted insurance premiums.

The insurance premium reductions will be available for fall-planted cover crops with a spring-planted cash crop. Some insurance policies may be excluded, like Whole-Farm Revenue Protection, or those covered through written agreements. Participants must follow all existing farming practices required by their policy and work with their insurance agents to maintain eligibility. For questions regarding the application process, call 515-281-5851 or email covercropdemo@iowaagriculture.gov.

This is the fourth year the crop insurance discount program is being administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA). Interest in the program continues to grow and new farmers and fields join each year. To date, about 1,700 farmers have enrolled nearly 500,000 acres of cover crops in the program. Farmers are encouraged to visit their local USDA service center offices to learn more about other cost-share funding available to support the implementation of conservation practices.

w/Brandon Scheuring.

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(Radio Iowa) – On the last night of the Trump Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency granted three waivers to oil refiners, exempting them from the obligation to blend corn-based ethanol into fuel. Leaders in the biofuels industry say the last minute waivers flout federal law and recent court rulings. Two of the waivers are for ethanol blending requirements in 2019 and one is for 2018. The Reuters wire service is reporting 45 waiver applications are still on file for review by the Biden Administration.

The president of the Renewable Fuels Association says the industry is hopeful that Biden’s E-P-A will clarify that “this nonsense with giving out these small refinery exemptions is done.”

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An owner of a large pork production company that disproportionately benefited from an Iowa coronavirus aid program donated $25,000 to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ campaign last month. Mary Ann Christensen is a board member of Christensen Farms, one of the nation’s largest family-owned pork producers. The $25,000 campaign donation she gave Reynolds was among the largest that Reynolds received in 2020 and far more than the $1,000 that Christensen gave the governor in 2017.

Christensen Farms received $1.86 million in 2020 through the Iowa Disposal Assistance Program, which was 72% of the pandemic aid awarded in its first rounds. The program reimbursed farmers who euthanized their hogs after COVID-19 disrupted their supply chain.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who served nearly three years in the Trump Administration is heading home. Bill Northey resigned as Iowa Ag Secretary in March of 2018 to become Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “It’ll be different waking up now every day not thinking about all the things we need to do at USDA,” Northey says. “There’s other folks that’ll work on that. Now I can start thinking about what I might do next.”

Northey helped draft the agency’s rules for implementing the 2018 Farm Bill and he helped set up the payments to farmers impacted by trade disputes and the pandemic. “Those were all in addition to the Farm Bill programs and the disaster programs that are there to respond in case of weather programs,” Northey says. Northey oversaw a division of the U-S-D-A with 21-thousand employees, operating out of about three-thousand locations and Northey traveled extensively. He visited U-S-D-A offices in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as well as in 48 of the 50 states — he didn’t make it to Hawaii or Alaska.

Northey says he got to see massive cattle ranches, blackberry farms and other types agriculture he wasn’t familiar with before. “It was very interesting to realize the breadth of agriculture in this country,” Northey says. The biggest surprise for Northey was the intensity of internal agency activity to implement and support U-S-D-A programs. Northey cites the pandemic relief fund as an example.

As the former state ag secretary exits the U-S-D-A, a former Iowa governor is returning. Tom Vilsack served as President Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture for eight years. “It’s really nice to have somebody who knows how the place works and probably has had a little bit of time to think about what he might want to do the next time around, if there was a next time around,” Northey says, “so he’ll hit the ground running.” Northey says he has no idea if his service in the Trump Administration will impact his future prospects.

“It’s kind of interesting in my time in Washington, D.C., sometimes I almost felt farther from politics than I did when I was secretary of ag in Iowa,” Northey says. “There I need to keep track of it when I was out and around. When I got out and around as Under Secretary of USDA, they just asked me about programs.” Northey says he paid less attention to politics — and to Twitter — than he had during his 11 year tenure as state agriculture secretary and he had no comment on Trump’s actions on January 6th.

“I’m probably not the best person to understand either the pieces that happened or the consequences of those,” Northey says. “We’ll see what time brings.” Northey was in the U.S.D.A’s D.C. office building when rioters breached the U.S. Capitol. Northey says the building is at the opposite end of the National Mall from the Capitol and he never felt threatened. Northey’s sister and brother-in-law took over his farming operation near Spirit Lake when Northey left for D.C. in 2018. Northey and his wife are moving back to a townhouse in the Des Moines area with a U-Haul this weekend. Northey says he’s not coming back to retire.

“Not ready to rock on a front porch some place,” Northey says. “Certainly interested in being able to do some other things and we’ll figure those out.” Northey, who is 61, graduated from Iowa State University with an agri-business degree and earned an M-B-A from Southwest Minnesota State. Northey served as president of the National Corn Growers Association in the mid-1990s and won his first term as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2006.