(Massena, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Leopold Bench Making Workshop. The program will be held at the Outdoor Educational Classroom in Massena on December 7th, beginning at 1-p.m. All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Learn all about making a Leopold bench! Make and take a bench home. They make great Christmas gifts. A donation of $35 is suggested, per bench.

Please pre-register by December 2nd by calling 712-769-2372 or email lkanning@casscoia.us.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 14, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today (Thursday), announced that USDA is investing $18,367,170 in 195 projects across the state to strengthen the economy and lower costs for agricultural producers and rural small business owners with funding through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). “All these projects funded today shine a light on how to fulfill the promise of reliable, renewable clean energy for Iowans,” said Director Greenfield. “USDA is delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to increasing access to clean sources of energy and lowering costs for ag producers, small businesses, and families in Iowa.”

Today’s REAP awards in Iowa include a $500,000 grant to Elite Octane, LLC, an ethanol manufacturing operation in Atlantic. The grant will be used to install a new, more efficient oil recovery system. Officials say the project is expected to save $913,582 per year. It will also save 10,103,986 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, which is enough energy to power 932 homes.

The other projects and their funding can be found online. REAP enables agricultural producers and rural small business owners to expand their use of wind, solar, geothermal and small hydropower energy and make energy efficiency improvements. These innovations help them increase their income, grow their businesses and address climate change while lowering energy costs for American families.

• Cass County: Corn $4.03 Beans $9.71
• Adair County: Corn $4.00 Beans $9.74
• Adams County: Corn $4.00 Beans $9.71
• Audubon County: Corn $4.02 Beans $9.73
• East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.06 Beans $9.71
• Guthrie County: Corn $4.05 Beans $9.75
• Montgomery County: Corn $4.05 Beans $9.73
• Shelby County: Corn $4.06 Beans $9.71

Oats: $2.50 (same in all counties)

 

(Radio Iowa) – A ruling by an administrative law judge says state regulators must now consider public health effects when issuing permits to pull large amounts of water from the ground. The decision comes in a lawsuit challenging how a large-scale feeding operation in northeast Iowa’s Driftless Area disposes of their manure. Steve Veysey is one of the people who say pollution from manure runoff violates the D-N-R’s “beneficial use” policy for water use permits.  “The groundwater in Iowa is a public resource. It belongs to you, to me, to everyone. The water used has to be beneficial to the general public as well, and in the public’s interest, and not detrimental to the public’s health,” Veysey says.

He says the ruling could mean more decision-making power for Iowans when it comes to their water. “If properly implemented, this ruling would require the department to actually listen to public comment, and whether the public in that area really believes that water use is beneficial to the public, and not just to the permit holder,” he says.

The ruling could also affect other underground operations such as the Summit Carbon pipeline. The D-N-R has said that permit laws aren’t the proper way to enforce water quality issues. It’s unclear when the D-N-R will act on the ruling, but the department can overrule the decision if they see fit.

(Massena, Iowa) –  The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Bird Feeder Workshop. The workshop will be held at Outdoor Educational Classroom in Massena, this Saturday November 23rd at 10-a.m. The program is FREE, and all ages are welcome to attend. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Learn all about feeding the birds also make and take a bird feeder.

The Cass County Conservation Board is also hold a Nature Journaling Workshop on Nov. 23rd, beginning at 1-p.m. That program is FREE and will be held at the Outdoor Educational Classroom, in Massena. Learn all about nature journaling and techniques. Participants will make and take a journal home with them.

Please pre-register by November 15th for one or both programs, by calling 712-769-2372 or email lkanning@casscoia.us .

(Iowa News Service report) – When Brent Hershey entered the hog business, he was told that every pork producer in America uses gestation crates on their farm. Gestation crates are metal enclosures, typically seven feet long and two feet wide, where a pregnant female pig, a sow, is kept during her pregnancy. The stalls are so small that sows typically cannot sit or lie down for four months — the entirety of their pregnancy while in the stall. And these gestation crates, long a fixture in industrial pork production, are at the center of a fierce debate between industry groups and the hog farmers who say they don’t want to go back to using them.

Florida was the first state to ban gestation crates in 2002. At the time, Hershey thought Floridians had no idea what they were doing — that they didn’t “understand good production.” Twenty years and a California ballot initiative later, Hershey would be tearing all the gestation crates out of his 1,000-head Pennsylvania sow farm and his 2,000 head Delaware sow operation.

The new laws got Hershey rethinking the crates. “We thought, look at the life that we are asking the animal to live,” he says. “They’re going to be safe, but they can’t walk, they can’t turn around. At the same time, we started going to see some barns that animals were free in. We looked at that and thought, wow, that really looks more natural.”

California’s Proposition 12 and Question 3 in Massachusetts are state ballot measures that banned the sale of pork born to gestation crate-sows. These laws also offer protections to egg-laying hens and veal calves. Organizations like the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) have long called for Prop 12 to be overturned, and in 2023, their case against the California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary traveled from the Ninth Circuit to the Supreme Court of the United States. The highest court eventually upheld the constitutionality of Prop 12, but the two industry groups did not drop their opposition. Instead, they shifted focus to Congress.

The public position of the Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council on gestation crates has never wavered — both groups insist pork farmers do not want the ban — yet Hershey and other farmers say differently. “As soon as the Supreme Court announced this decision, within weeks, we tore all our gestation crates out,” Hershey said at a briefing for the U.S. House of Representatives. “Now we’re on [the California] standard, and we’re doing better. It’s very ironic.”

Not long after the decision, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall introduced the “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act” to the Senate, which would prohibit “against interference by state and local governments with production of items in other states.” In effect, this bill would overturn Prop 12. And in the May 2024 version of the Farm Bill, House lawmakers included language similar to the EATS Act that would “ensure that producers of covered livestock are not subject to a patchwork of State laws restricting access to a national market.”

Farmers like Hershey are concerned that the language, if passed, could destroy the more humane pork market that has been created, nationwide and internationally, for farmers looking to serve the California market. California is the 5^th largest economy in the world, and the state gobbles up close to 15 percent of the country’s entire pork consumption.

Yet the Farm Bureau and the Pork Council continue to deliver a national campaign that all pork farmers are in favor of the EATS Act and that Prop 12 is killing their farms. “It’s not true at all,” Hershey tells Sentient. “They’re saying that they represent us all, but they do not represent us at all.”

Calling “Baloney” on the Farm Bureau

In a statement released after the Supreme Court upheld Prop 12, Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall wrote, “This law has the potential to devastate small family farms across the nation through unnecessary and expensive renovations, and every family will ultimately pay for the law through higher food prices.”

“I call baloney on that,” says Iowa hog farmer Ron Mardesen, who has been raising hogs in Iowa since the 1980s. Mardesen is a farmer with Niman Ranch, a network of farmers who produce meat that is hormone-free, cage-free and compliant with Prop 12.

Mardesen sees a lack of representation for independent farmers. “We’ve lost 90 percent of independent hog farmers in the last 35, 40 years. The National Pork Producers just sit and bobble their head every time everybody wants to get bigger and wants to get more consolidated.”

In a recent advertisement campaign backing the EATS Act, the Pork Producers Council highlights “Cindy,” a fictional character who runs a barbeque food truck that sources from Perkins Family Pig Farm. Cindy’s operation shutters due to rising pork prices, and the farm does too.

A note with the video reads: “This scenario could soon become a reality across America.” The video stresses that Prop 12 especially hurts smaller farmers: “A farm that would have been transferred to future generations deteriorates into ruin or is sold to a big company,” the narrator says. “Proposition 12 has burdened every link in the food supply chain, from the farmer to the business owner.”

Yet Missouri sow farmer Hank Wurtz says he has no idea where this is coming from. All of the farms he knows are converting to Prop 12. If a sow farm is closing, it is not because of Prop 12, Wurtz adds.

“I know for a fact that there are many [gestational] crate farms in this country right now that are considering shutting down,” he says. “They’re not able to be viable anymore, but that’s not caused by California. That’s caused by 20,000 sow operations going up all over the Midwest. It is the rest of the industry’s large-scale operations that are making the small family farms irrelevant.”

According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, since 1990, “the number of farms with hogs has declined by more than 70 percent as individual enterprises have grown larger.” Meanwhile, the number of hogs continues to grow in the U.S., primarily in concentrated animal feeding operations that typically house anywhere from 750 to tens of thousands of hogs per building.

Rising input costs and stagnant pig prices are causing smaller, independent farmers to turn to alternative strategies to stay afloat.

A New Type of Sow Farm

When Prop 12 was passed in 2019, Wurtz saw an opportunity in a niche market. According to Wurtz’s research, sow farmers have been getting approximately the same price — around $42 — for piglets throughout the past ten years. With Prop 12, Wurtz saw an opportunity to make his farm more economically viable.

“We love farming, but we need to be able to make money and support our families,” he says. “When Prop 12 came along and they’re offering around $50 a pig, that’s a game changer.”

Wurtz says he has invested $12 million into building a brand-new Prop 12 sow barn to replace his gestation crate operation in Northwest Missouri.

“It wouldn’t have been feasible in 2019 to go build a $12 million farm based on just the animal humane aspect of it. We wouldn’t have been able to bankroll it. It had to pay around 30 percent more because it cost 30 percent more to make it Prop 12,” he says.

When the law was challenged by the Supreme Court, Wurtz felt abandoned by the NPPC, and envisioned a future where small, family farms like his would no longer be able to exist.

“We were actually shaking in our boots at that time,” he says. “We’d be no longer financially viable.”

Wurtz did not get into the Prop 12 business for animal welfare — he’s sure to clarify that. But the increased quality of life for his sows has been an unanticipated benefit.

“We didn’t feel like we were abusing our animals all those years. But in hindsight, now looking at the farm that we have in Missouri here, I get the point,” he tells Sentient. “If you grow up a certain way, you just think crates are normal.”

Wurtz says he knows a lot of farmers who do not want to speak out in support of Prop 12 because they do not want to be associated with animal rights activists.

“But the fact of the matter is, Prop 12 is one of the best things, economically, that’s happened to us in a very long time,” he says. “That’s good for American farmers. We need to make a living somehow. If Californians want to pay more for it, we welcome that.”

The Farm Bill as a Legislative Vehicle

The last farm bill to pass through the U.S. Congress was in December 2018. It expired in Sept. 2023, got a one-year extension, and then expired again at the end of September 2024. The EATS Act is included in the House Republicans’ version of the 2024 farm bill draft.

“[The EATS Act] was introduced with the strategy of them trying to attach it to the farm bill,” says Farm Action Fund Senior Director of Programs Christian Lovell at an EATS Act event held at George Washington Law School. “I don’t think anybody thinks that a bill like that would be considered as a standalone item.”

The EATS Act is unprecedented in that the broad language of the bill could have larger ramifications to states’ rights than just what kind of food can be sold. According to a report by the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program, certain terms in the bill, like “agricultural products” are “defined so broadly as to potentially include vaccines, vitamins, and even narcotics.” The Act could even threaten the labeling of meat, including where it comes from.

At the G.W. Law event, Lovell emphasized that consumers care about where their food comes from and how it was raised, and the EATS Act could obstruct that information.

“The corporations that control our food system, it’s almost like they want to hang a veil over that,” he says. “They don’t want the consumer to see anything until it gets to the grocery store shelves, and that’s because those corporations have rigged a food system that is extractive to rural communities like the ones I grew up in and now live in.”

For Mardesen, the fact that the EATS Act was just slipped into the farm bill makes the prospect of its passage more likely.

“I have not seen this as a hill that many people are willing to die on. The thing that scares me, and it really worries me, is that, look, if we get into this 11th hour wheeling and dealing, and you’ve got somebody who says, ‘Okay, I’ll do this. If you do this,’ I don’t know how pivotal this is [for legislators] at this point,” he says.

The saddest part for Mardesen is the impact this could have on farmers like Wurtz, who have shifted their entire operation for Prop 12.

“So many guys have already made the commitment, already made the investment, already made the transition to gestation-crate-free systems in order to reap the benefits from the higher markets, and that stool is going to be kicked right out from underneath them,” he says. “And that’s a lot of good, hard working pork producers that we need.”

That includes hog farmers like Hershey, who came to question what he once believed to be a necessary part of his work: “If, hypothetically, that model was the cheapest way to produce pork, putting pigs in cages that can’t turn around and can’t walk for four months at a time, if that’s legitimate, then you gotta ask the question, ‘yes, but is that okay?’”

Nina Elkadi wrote this article for Sentient.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County (Iowa) 4-H’ers and their families, volunteers and supporters gathered on Sunday, November 10^th to celebrate the 2023-2024 4-H year at the 2024 County Convention. Officials report 4-H leaders reaching milestones, were recognized for their service. Receiving five-year recognition were Diane Brahms of Union Leaders, Terri Hansen of Grant Guys & Gals Clover Kids, Carrie Ohms of Grant Guys & Gals Clover Kids, Toni Rieck of Grant Guys & Gals, and Laura Robinson of Washington GEM.

The 4-H Alumni Award, given to 4-H alumni that have stayed active in supporting the local 4-H program, was presented to Dale and Vickie Retallic. Dale and Vickie have been active in many parts of the Cass County Fair in all ways possible. Exhibitor, Parent, Superintendent, Volunteer, Cook, Assistant Superintendent, Grandparents are some titles they have had on the fairgrounds. They have raised two sons that are current fair department superintendents and have grandchildren now exhibiting on the grounds too. Dale and Vickie have created a deep-rooted tradition of being involved with Cass County 4-H at the county fair and continue to support youth in the program through many avenues.

Natalie Bierbaum recognized as Cass County’s newest Honorary 4-H Member. This is awarded to a member of the community who was not a 4-H member themselves but supports and assists the local 4-H program. Natalie has made photo backgrounds for youth to take photos of their awards out during fair, takes photos of many shows and award ceremonies at fair. Natalie was instrumental in the creation of our 75th Exhibitor T-shirts we got to show in this year and her help with the 75th Fair Celebration committee preparations. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Lindeman Tractor. The team at Lindeman’s works with many of our 4-H families each month through their regular business. They stated how appreciative they are to see the next generation of our 4-H youth getting involved in the agriculture field.

They have been involved in Cass County 4-H and the county fair as far back as 1959 in multiple ways including, an entertainment sponsor, a livestock sale supporter, and a trophy donor. Behind the scenes, they provide equipment, storage, and trucking before, during, and after our Fair. During Fair week, Bob, Norma Jean, and their Lindeman’s family are often sharing meals at the food stand multiple times a day. Members and leaders of all 4-H clubs in Cass County were recognized for club activities, and project awards completed throughout the year. Intermediate and Junior 4-H members who completed a record book received project awards based on leaders’ recommendation. Record books are rated on organization, appearance, goals and learning, spelling, and grammar.

High school members turn in their record book at the club level, then leaders nominate records to be reviewed again at the county level. These project records should be well organized, neat, and show evidence of solid Citizenship, Communication, and Leadership activities. Points received determine if platinum, gold, silver, or bronze awards are given.

A ink to photos and a document that has names listed for each photo is available at: https://iastate.box.com/s/7m44pxq3an1c4m3hus4wg3epqi2ozf3q. Photos courtesy of Captured by Ashley Photography.

Awards given by clubs are as follows:

Bear Grove Blazers:

Club Awards: Top Historian Book, Top Treasurer Book, Youth Council Club Challenge Participant, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

Catherine DeBord: Home Improvement, Clothing & Fashion, Star Intermediate Record Book

Alyson Dreager: Swine (platinum), Dog (platinum), Goat (platinum), Home Improvement (platinum), Photography (gold), Sheep (gold), Gold Senior Record Book

Dylen Dreager: Swine (bronze), Silver Senior Record Book

Keagen Dreager: Home Improvement

Walker Gary: Poultry (platinum), Platinum Senior Record Book

Jamie Jacobsen: Citizenship, Health

Maggie Jacobsen: Citizenship

Hunter Kardell: Swine, Visual Arts, Star Junior Record Book

Lynsie Kardell: Photography, Star Intermediate Record Book

Macie Kloewer: Rabbits

Maggie Kloewer: Food & Nutrition, Rabbits

Mia Kloewer: Bronze Senior Record Book

David Retallic: Swine (gold), Platinum Senior Record Book

Sophia Retallic: Swine, Food & Nutrition, Sewing & Needle Art, Visual Arts, Rabbits, Photography, Star Junior Record Book

Nolan Sunderman: Self-Determined

Carter Witzman: Swine (gold), Silver Senior Record Book

Benton Franklin:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Youth Council Club Challenge Finisher, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

Brock Henderson: Breeding beef (gold), Gold Senior Record Book

Zander Pieken: Rabbits (silver), Gold Senior Record Book

Blayre Steffen: Swine, Beef, Star Junior Record Book

Brookelyn Steffen: Self-Determined (silver), Gold Senior Record Book

Brylee Steffen: Home Improvement, Swine, Beef, Star Intermediate Record Book

C&M Champions:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Endowment Donation, Silent Auction Item

Cowpokes:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Youth Council Club Challenge Participant, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

AJ Barber: Beef, Horse, Welding

Shelby Hansen: Dog, Star Junior Record Book

Kayedance Sturm: Horse (bronze), Silver Senior Record Book

Grant Guys and Gals:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Endowment Donation, Top Window Display National 4-H Week, Rabbit Herdsmanship, Swine Herdsmanship, Youth Council Club Challenge Participant, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

Macy Burg: Gold Senior Record Book

Brayden Dawson: Beef

Colby Euken: Clothing & Fashion, Photography, Vet Science, Woodworking, Swine, Agronomy, Star Junior Record Book

Ada Hansen: Communications (platinum), Platinum Senior Record Book

Isaac Hansen: Swine, Beef, Food & Nutrition, Woodworking, Clothing & Fashion, Star Junior Record Book

Mack Hansen: Food & Nutrition, Swine, Animal Science, Visual Arts, Beef, Home Improvement

Kambry Langfelt: Beef

Kylee Wessling: Food & Nutrition, Rabbits

Griswold Clubsters:

Club Awards: Beef Herdsmanship, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

Raylea Amos: Beef, Star Junior Record Book

Blaine Buffington: Swine

Bristol Chambers: Beef, Star Junior Record Book

Josephine Millikan: Consumer Management (gold), Clothing & Fashion (silver), Sewing & Needle Art (platinum), Food & Nutrition (gold), Gold Senior Record Book

Grove H.O.T.:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, 2024 Banner Club, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

Hudson Brock: Communications, Star Intermediate Record Book

Parker Brock: Silver Senior Record Book

Conner Johnson: Poultry (platinum), Shooting Sports (gold), Woodworking (gold), Platinum Senior Record Book

Lily Johnson: Communications (gold), Citizenship (platinum), Clothing & Fashion (platinum), Dairy Goats (platinum), Food & Nutrition (platinum), Leadership (platinum), Photography (platinum), Poultry (platinum), Platinum Senior Record Book

Madeline Richter: Gold Senior Record Book

Claire Schroder: Rabbits (platinum), Sheep (platinum), Gold Senior Record Book

Independent Members:

Record Book/Project Awards: Grant Petty: Sheep (platinum), Swine (platinum), Platinum Senior Record Book

Pleasant Noble United:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Overall Herdsmanship, Youth Council Club Challenge Participant, Silent Auction Item, Highest club attendance at convention.

Record Book/Project Awards:

Conlan Amos: Poultry, Star Intermediate Record Book

Zoey Amos: Gold Senior Record Book

Emma Ritter: Dog

Gage Ritter: Ag & Natural Resources

Kailey Swain: Visual Arts (platinum), Goats (platinum), Poultry (platinum), Rabbits (platinum), Platinum Senior Record Book

Pymosa:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Top Secretary Book, YC Club Challenge Winner, Silent Auction Item, Highest 4-H member recruitment.

Record Book/Project Awards:

Olivia Olson: Platinum Senior Record Book

Claire Pellett: Food & Nutrition (platinum), Beef (gold), Dog (gold), Health (gold), Platinum Senior Record Book

Oakley Skow: Food & Nutrition, Dog, Poultry, Photography, Star Junior Record Book

Miraylie Stuart: Beef (platinum), Platinum Senior Record Book

Union Leaders:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Endowment Donation, Top Community Service Award, Sheep Herdsmanship, Silent Auction Item

Record Book/Project Awards:

Oliver Becker: Sewing & Needle Art

Tristan Becker: Beef (gold), Silver Senior Record Book

Bay Erickson: Rabbits, Visual Arts, Food & Nutrition, Photography, Clothing & Fashion, Star Junior Record Book

Gage Erickson: Visual Arts, Food & Nutrition, Clothing & Fashion

Avery Lee: Woodworking, Visual Arts, Photography, Food & Nutrition, Clothing & Fashion

Bryson Lee: Woodworking, Food & Nutrition

Eden Ohms: Clothing & Fashion, Sheep, Beef, Poultry, Food & Nutrition, Child Development, Visual Arts, Sewing & Needle Art, Star Junior Record Book

Leah Ohms: Food & Nutrition (platinum), Sewing & Needle Art (platinum), Beef (platinum), Sheep (platinum), Visual Arts (platinum), Photography (gold), Platinum Senior Record Book

Washington GEM:

Club Awards: 4-Her’s for 4-H, Goat Herdsmanship, Poultry Herdsmanship, Youth Council Club Challenge Finisher

Record Book/Project Awards:

Colton Anderson: Sheep, Star Intermediate Record Book

Maddy Anderson: Swine (gold), Platinum Senior Record Book

Natalie Boose: Visual Arts, Rabbits

Bentley Bruck: Photography (gold), Beef (gold), Platinum Senior Record Book

Jacquelyn Freund: Sewing & Needle Art (platinum), Gold Senior Record Book

Macy Freund: Home Improvement, Food & Nutrition, Sewing, Clothing & Fashion

Morgan Kirchner: Sewing & Needle Art, Poultry, Visual Arts, Clothing & Fashion, Star Junior Record Book

Quincy Robinson: Swine

Gentry Waters: Clothing

Paxton Wickard: Woodworking, Welding, Swine, Star Junior Record Book

Zach Zellmer: Swine, Rabbits, Star Intermediate Record Book

High School youth members can also apply for county level awards to show highlight the experiences they have demonstrating their leadership, communication and civic engagement through multiple project areas through their 4-H experiences.

The Merit award went to Ada Hansen of Grant Guys and Gals – She is well-rounded with her 4-H projects and leadership, citizenship, and communication capacities.

Achievement was awarded to Olivia Olson of Pymosa – Olivia has shown outstanding personal growth through participation in a variety of 4-H projects and programs.

Citizenship award going to Lily Johnson of Grove H.O.T. – Lily has learned the meaning of citizenship and has demonstrated that understanding through good practices.

Leadership this year goes to Maddy Anderson of Washington GEM – Maddy has acquired and demonstrated leadership beyond the local club level. Leadership is helping a group attain its goals.

Learning through Livestock award this year goes to Claire Pellett of Pymosa – Claire has made noteworthy progress toward maturity and leadership thorough her service as local club, county, area, and state livestock events.

There were seventeen third graders that are eligible to graduate into the 4-H program for the 2024-2025 program year. Youth who graduated from Cass County Clover Kids included: Ethan Retallic of Bear Grove Blazers Clover Kids, Parker Walter of Bear Grove Blazers Clover Kids, Bentlee Caceres of Cass County Creators, Calon Huddleson of Cass County Creators, Emma Kay of Cass County Creators, Lana Leyh of Cass County Creators, McKinley Sandbothe of Cass County Creators, Callen Waters of Cass County Creators, Olivia Weirich of Cass County Creators, Cade Wickard of Cass County Creators, Jase Ohms of Grant Guys & Gals Clover Kids, Brielle Wessling of Grant Guys & Gals Clover Kids, Breken Amos of Griswold Clubsters Clover Kids, Laena Amos of Griswold Clubsters Clover Kids, Adalyn Buffington of Griswold Clubsters Clover Kids, Natalyn Smith of Griswold Clubsters Clover Kids, Elsie Starlin of Griswold Clubsters Clover Kids

The afternoon concluded with the installation of thirteen senior level 4-H’ers onto the 2024-2025 County 4-H Youth Council. Members are Hudson Brock of Grove H.O.T., Alyson Dreager of Bear Grove Blazers, Jacquelyn Freund of Washington GEM, Ada Hansen of Grant Guys & Gals, Conner Johnson of Grove H.O.T., Lily Johnson of Grove H.O.T., Josephine Millikan of Griswold Clubsters, Leah Ohms of Union Leaders, Olivia Olson of Pymosa, Claire Schroder of Grove H.O.T., Miraylie Stuart of Pymosa, Kayedance Sturm of Cowpokes, and Kailey Swain of Pleasant Noble United.

For more information about joining the Cass County 4-H program as a 4-H member or adult volunteer, visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass, call 712-243-1132, or email kbateman@iastate.edu to contact the Cass County Extension office.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Corn harvest in Iowa is four days ahead of last year’s harvest and nearly two weeks ahead of the average harvest schedule, according to the Iowa crop progress and condition report. The report for Nov. 4 through Nov. 10 shows south central Iowa lags behind the rest of the state with more than 15% of its corn still in the field. Overall, 95% of Iowa’s corn harvested for grain has now been harvested.

Iowa’s harvest is comparable with the other top corn-producing states in the country — two of which, Texas and North Carolina, have completed their harvests for the season.Iowa has had a rapid harvest season due to a warm and dry September and October. The above-average amounts of rain the past two weeks, however, have slowed down harvesting and resulted in just three days last week that were suitable for field work.

Justin Glisan, the State Climatologist, said in his report for the same period that average rainfall in Iowa was 1.14 inches, more than double the normal of 0.52 inches. Rain over the past two weeks has helped alleviate some of Iowa’s drought conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s Thursday report, which showed a 37% decline in the percentage of the state in severe drought conditions. Now, 6% of the state has no observed drought conditions.

Soil moisture conditions similarly improved with 50% of topsoil moisture rated as adequate for the week. Glisan also reported the state’s average temperature was 8.9 degrees above normal, a trend that has persisted through harvest season.

According to an Iowa State University Extension and Outreach newsletter, soil temperature and moisture conditions are nearing suitable levels for fall nitrogen application. The ISU mesonet shows soil temperatures across the state in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Other field activities for the week included fall tillage and baling stalks.

(Radio Iowa) – The visitors center at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City will remain closed indefinitely due to heavy damage from summer storms. Nancy Corona, the visitors services manager at the center, says heavy hail and flooding last July left extensive damage to the ceiling, drywall, rugs and exhibits, including the seed lab. She says the center will not be assessed for long-term repairs until next year.

“First phase was clean up, and second phase was just getting us back in the office and getting us up and running again,” Corona says. “And now third phase will be getting that engineering information and costs and the scope of the work, and then we can give a projection at that point.”

Corona says the visitors center will remain closed to the public for at least several months. The outdoor refuge, including the surrounding trails and hunting grounds, remains open to the public.

(Iowa News Service) – Some Iowa farmers are putting a new spin on an age-old animal behavior. They’re using goats to remove weeds, overgrown brush, and non-native grasses – while helping some landowners restore native habitat to their acres at the same time. Goats are pretty well known for producing milk and cheese. They’re even used to help practice yoga these days.

Matt Vermeersch is a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa who farms about 170 acres near Red Oak – near the Nebraska state line – and operates Goats-On-The-Go, a side business stocked with herds of goats hungry for woody vegetation. “A lot of really what we refer to as weeds, or pain-in-the-butt plants,” said Vermeersch. “Things that they love are things like poison ivy, nettles, wild berry species with their thorns – then more woody species like Honeysuckle or buckthorn.”

Vermeersch estimated his three Goats-On-The-Go herds cleared about 120 acres of various vegetation this year, and could have done more had it not been for Iowa’s severe spring and summer weather. There are ecological benefits to the practice, too. People hire Vermeersch’s goats to clear land where native species once grew, and where farmers want it to return.

Vermeersch said while Iowa landowners are often trying to clear overgrown brush and reintroduce native species, sometimes they just need stands of troublesome weeds and brambles removed. At which, Vermeersch said, the goats have no equal. “It almost looks like a wildfire went through there the day after you take the goats off,” said Vermeersch. “We refer to it as a grazing line – and pretty much anything under 6 feet tall all that will be left are sticks and stems. All of the leafy material underneath that is usually consumed.”

Vermeersch said the goats are used for different reasons across the country. In western states, for example, they are dispatched to clear brush that can serve as wildfire fuel, reducing the chances that a fire can become catastrophic by keeping the underbrush down.