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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
(Radio Iowa) – As Iowa farmers await passage of the next Farm Bill, they’re also waiting to see who will lead the debate in congress. Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says the Minnesota Democrat who was the long-time chair of the U.S. House Ag Committee lost his bid for re-election. “Colin Petersen did a great job of training folks and leading the committee,” Hill says. “He will be missed.”
Iowa Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, is hoping to be appointed to the ag committee, but Democrats have a majority of seats in the House — so it’ll be a Democrat with seniority who chairs the panel. Veteran congressmen from California and Georgia are competing to head the committee in 2021. “Most Farm Bills begin in the House,” Hill says. “The House Ag Committee leads in that. Of course, the Senate Ag Committee has a lot of influence.”
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has been a member of the Senate Ag Committee for most of the past 30 years. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst has served on the Senate Ag Committee since taking office in 2015. “I think she’ll continue to fight for ethanol and trade and all those issues that are important,” Hill says.
Congress is to produce a new Farm Bill every five years and the next one is to be passed in 2022. Work on the massive bill will start next year.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa remains the nation’s top pork producer and 2020 will go down as a record year for pork exports, according to new report from the U-S Meat Export Federation. Pork exports during September bounced ten-percent from a year ago, while the volume rose six-percent. Federation president and C-E-O Dan Halstrom says exports exceeded 563-million dollars, thanks to growth in multiple markets. “Japan, one of our larger value markets, had tremendous growth at about 11-percent,” Halstrom says. “We also had Canada with a record month and then you look at Southeast Asia, you’ve got the Philippines and Vietnam which had tremendous growth. China was up as well, but in terms of the total gain for global exports in the month of September, it was broad-based.”
African Swine Fever, or A-S-F, caused a shake-up this year, and Halstrom says we may see a slight drop in demand for American pork in China in 2021. “We’re going to have a record year in 2020 with China,” Halstrom says. “A lot of that’s from the China situation on ASF, but we’re still forecasting the second-largest year ever in 2021 with about 10- or 15-percent decrease there. The key is expanding the reach of pork globally and remain diversified.”
Closer to home, Halstrom says the United States’ neighbors to the south are also vital to continued growth in pork exports. “Keep in mind that Mexico and Central and South America, Latin America in general went into the COVID-19 lockdowns after the U.S.,” he says. “It was really late May when that all happened. So, they were late to go in and they’re probably a little late coming out, but they will come out and we’re starting to see those signs already.”
Almost one-third of the nation’s hogs are raised in Iowa on some 54-hundred farms. Last year, more than 147-thousand jobs were associated with the Iowa pork industry.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R says a unique weather phenomenon led to the death of several migrating birds in northwest Iowa. State waterfowl biologist, Orrin Jones, says the birds ran into trouble after flying into a weather system in Iowa. He says the birds would have left the Dakotas at sunset Monday and then entered into a frontal system in Iowa. He says once the birds hit the weather system they decided to land and then mistook wet pavement for a body of water.
“Be it a wetland or lake and landed there. And then in those very dark conditions, it would be very disorienting to have vehicles coming by with their headlights on– so a lot these birds mistakenly landed on the pavement and then were struck by moving vehicles,” Jones says. Jones says it was just a bad combination of weather and the area where they landed.
“It would have been very dark with rain or freezing rain…so it would be very easy for them to be disorientated under those conditions,” according to Jones. “Some of them probably figured it out and were able to get back in the air and find a more suitable location. Others were probably still trying to figure that out as vehicles approached.”
State Conservation Officer Steve Griebel, of Woodbury County, says he started getting phone calls and text messages about ducks on the road around 9:30 p-m. Monday. He found more than 200 ducks dead along Highway 20 toward Highway 71. Jones says this is the time of year when all of the conditions can come together and create this issue.
“October and November are when Iowa has its highest waterfowl migration — so while this is a kind of rare tragedy to have this happen — it does happen every so often,” Jones says. He says it didn’t seem to be widespread. “It seems to be relatively localized to the Cherokee, Woodbury County are. So, it just happened to affect the birds who were migrating through or over those counties,” Jones says.
The D-N-R says this the most famous occurrence of this type of weather phenomenon that happened on Armistice Day in 1940. Temperatures that day started in the mid-50s and ended with more than a foot of snow, and 150 people and thousands of livestock dead.
(Radio Iowa) – The corn and bean harvests are down to the final days. The U-S-D-A crop report shows just six percent of the corn crop remains in the fields. The most work remains in south-central Iowa — where they still have more than 15 percent to be picked. All the rest of the state has less than five percent of the corn remaining — and that puts the harvest nearly four weeks ahead of last year and more than two weeks ahead of the five-year average.
Just two percent of the soybeans are still waiting to be combined in scattered fields across the state. The soybean crop harvest ends up almost three weeks ahead of last year and 10 days ahead of average.
The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Preserving Pellett Memorial Woods Workday, this Saturday, November 14th. The free program will be held at the Pellett Memorial Woods outside of Atlantic from 1 until 4 pm (feel free to come and go as you wish). The Board is looking for those volunteers who wish to be a part of the preservation process and may contribute, by assisting with the removal of honeysuckle bushes.
If you want to help, please dress appropriately (wearing long pants, long sleeves and gloves), and bring loppers if you have them. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to improve one of Southwest Iowa’s best locations to observe spring woodland wildflowers.
Pellett Memorial Woods is located just outside of Atlantic, ½ mile north and ¾ mile east of the KJAN radio station. The event will be cancelled if there is inclement weather.
ATLANTIC, IA (November 10, 2020) – Harvest Market 2020 is now offering online pre-orders with drive-through pick up. Harvest Market is scheduled for Monday, November 23 from 1-7 PM at the Cass County Community Center. Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh says due to high numbers of COVID-19 in the county, Harvest Market is offering a no-contact shopping option to keep vendors and customers safe and healthy this holiday season.
Information on Harvest Market and online pre-ordering can be found at the Produce in the Park website (www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com) or through Facebook @ProduceInThePark.
While some vendors are planning to offer in-person shopping, a number of vendors are only offering products via pre-ordering this year. Customers who shop online for Harvest Market can
“drive-through pick-up” their orders from behind the Community Center during the market (1-to 7PM, Mon. Nov. 23).
Hoegh says Pre-ordering has benefits beyond slowing the spread of COVID-19. When customers pre-order, vendors don’t risk making lots of pies, centerpieces, or candles that don’t get sold. That saves vendors time and money. Harvest Market is held the Monday before Thanksgiving, so customers can pick up local produce, baked goods, and meats to enjoy at their holiday meals. The market also offers holiday décor and gifts by local crafters and artisans.
Produce in the Park takes community health and wellness seriously and has been consulting with Cass County Public Health about how to hold the fall market safely. As such, customers
who choose to shop in person this year will be required to wear masks and maintain distance from others. The number of shoppers allowed in the Community Center at one time will be
limited, and it is recommended that only one person per household attend the event. Customers should not shop in person if they have been feeling ill within 48 hours, have been exposed to
someone with COVID-19 in the past 14 days, or have received a positive COVID-19 test or are awaiting test results. Customers planning to shop in person should be aware that the in-person shopping option has a chance of being cancelled due to COVID-19, but the pre-order drive through option will not be cancelled.
Harvest Market is sponsored by the City of Atlantic Community Promotion Commission and endorsed by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.
(Radio Iowa) – An effort is underway to save a derecho-damaged cow sculpture done by Norma “Duffy” Lyon — who sculpted butter cows at the Iowa State Fair for more than 40 years. It stands near the town of Toledo and is one of the only large-scale works Lyon did that was not made of butter. It’s known as the “Cow Calf” sculpture — and the head of the calf was ripped off by the derecho. Toledo Mayor Brian Sokol tells K-C-R-G T-V the city wants to help. “I think we really owe it to not only the community but the Lyon family to continue this tradition and the legacy of the family and rebuild this butter cow,” Mayor Sokol says.
Despite the damage, they were able to find all the missing pieces, including the head of the calf. Now their plan is to not only put it back together but preserve it for the long haul. Duffy’s son Eric says the plan is to have it bronzed, which comes at a cost. “Maybe in the 50 or 60 thousand (dollar) range,” Eric Lyon says. “So it’s a lot of money, we think it’s a worthwhile project that will do the community well for a long time.” Mayor Sokol says they are looking for sources of funding.”We’re gonna hit as many grants as we can but it’s still going to take you know several thousand dollars’ worth of private donations,” Sokol says.
The Iowa State University Foundation has a sculpture fund to create a bronze replica of the Cow Calf sculpture for display at the Veterinary Field Services Building. The project is estimated to cost more than 100-thousand dollars which they are fundraising for currently. The mold from that project will then be used to help bronze the original sculpture in Toledo, which will save on some of the cost there. Mayor Sokol said donations for the efforts in Toledo can be sent directly to the city or to the chamber of commerce.
Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency said Sunday, Shelby County is currently in extreme fire danger and is in a burn ban until further notice. 
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