(Radio Iowa) — A safety expert says as Iowa boaters plan to make their first voyage on the water this season, they should check the boat’s life jackets.  Susan Stocker, the boating law administrator and education coordinator in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says “Make sure that there aren’t any rips or tears in it.”  The major concern is to ensure the life jacket fits whomever may be wearing it on the boat. “Every life jacket has a label on it that tells the weight and the size for the intended wearer,” Stocker says.

There are more than 230-thousand registered boats in Iowa. Stocker says all boaters should use the buddy system — and give a “float plan” to someone who is NOT out on the water. “Where you’re going to go, when you’re going to be back and potentially even what ramp you’re going to be putting in at,” Stocker says. “With any high water, we may have some snags or debris that’s in the rivers and streams and being able that if you don’t show up back at home at 6:30 in the evening, that somebody starts looking for you.”

Flood conditions in some areas of the state may make boating impossible. Stocker says boaters must realize in high water, submerged trees and other objects can wreck the boat. “The other thing is when you are in a paddle-craft, whether it’s a canoe or a kayak, you’d better expect to be dumped and put in the water because that’s just the nature of those,” Stocker says, “and unfortunately I can say that we just had our third boating accident and it was a paddler.”

It happened within the last few days in southeast Iowa. Stocker says the paddler tipped over and “almost died from hypothermia.”

(Radio Iowa) — The governor’s signing of the bill that makes industrial hemp production legal has put the process in motion to create the rules for producers. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig (Like egg) says the 2018 federal farm bill opened the way, and the state now has to follow through. “We will apply to the U-S-D-A and seek approval from them to have a state program,” Naig explains. “So, there is quite a bit of work yet to do here before we actually have a program to implement here in the state.”

He says that means there won’t be any hemp grown on Iowa farms until 2020. That gives producers time to research hemp as a possible crop. “We’re encouraging folks to take the time. We’ve got a year now to look at everything from the agronomic things that you need to look at — from a seed selection and tillage and land and all those types of things — all the way across to what are the markets for the product. Are you growing industrial hemp for for C-B-D production or for fiber of for grain and oil production.”

He says it is the same process you should use for any new crop. “We really encourage folks to take the time and understand and learn and then be ready to take the field in 2020 is that is viable for them,” Naig says. Naig says there could be some crossover in the equipment used for traditional crops and the planting of industrial hemp. “From a seeding standpoint we understand, and I think some the traditional planting equipment probably works,” according to Naig. “And then really on the harvest side, it so much depends on what the end use is.”

He says you might need different equipment to harvest the hemp for oil than you do for harvesting it for fiber. Those who pushed for legalizing industrial hemp say it has a variety of uses from fabric to oils, paper and rope that could benefit farmers. Naig says you have to research if growing hemp is viable for your operation. “I’ve said many times I am confident that we can grow industrial hemp in the state of Iowa. We used to and we’re good at growing nearly anything,” Naig says. “It’s really a question in my mind of whether or not folks have a viable market for that product. And that’s really what we should be looking at from an economic standpoint.”

Naig says industrial hemp has the potential to be grown anywhere in Iowa. “The legislature did cap the amount of acres that a producer can grow to 40 acres — so we’re not talking about whole sections of farmland here that would be going into farm production,” Naig explains. “Forty-acre tracts or smaller tracts of land — I think we’ve seen that in some other states like Kentucky where they’ve really been ahead here on industrial hemp production. I think it can be applied anywhere — but again — economics will really drive that.”

Farmers cannot legally grow hemp in Iowa until the U-S-D-A approves the proposed regulatory plan Naig’s department is working up. The law l does not legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and requires the hemp plants to have T-H-C levels of point three (0.3) percent or less. Plants with T-H-C levels above that percentage are still considered controlled substances in the state and must be destroyed.

(Radio Iowa) — Entries for this year’s Iowa Century and Iowa Heritage Farms are due soon. Becky Lorenz (lore-ENZ) coordinates the program at the Iowa Department of Agriculture, which singles out the state’s long-time family farms. “A Heritage Farm has 150 years of continuous ownership in the same family, while a Century Farm has 100 years of continuous ownership,” Lorenz says. “You need to have at least 40 acres of your original piece of property to qualify.”

There are more than 19-thousand Century Farms in Iowa and just over 12-hundred Heritage Farms. A ceremony is held each year during the Iowa State Fair that recognizes each of the farms as they reach the landmark — and the 2018 event was unusual. “We had 359 Century Farm award winners and 148 Heritage Farms,” Lorenz says. “This will be my 9th show this year and last year was the most combined numbers that we’d ever had.”

The deadline to enter is June 1st. The Heritage Farm program was started in 1976 while the Century Farm program began in 2006. Learn more about the program and find an application here:
https://www.iowaagriculture.gov/century/centuryApplicationProcess.asp

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s conducting a national search to find a new director for the Department of Natural Resources. On May 1st of last year, Chuck Gipp retired after seven years as the agency’s leader. Bruce Trautman has been the department’s acting director for the past 12 months. “Bruce has been the deputy for quite some time,” Reynolds says. “He’s doing a good job over there and instead of working on someone else’s timeline, I want to make sure we get the right person.”

The governor says it’s a big agency with a wide variety of responsibilities and that has complicated the process of finding a new director. “We have a great story to tell. This is a beautiful state. We have a lot of opportunities and need to really be able to address both ag concerns, business concerns and environmental concerns as well.”

There’s been an acting director leading the state’s prison system since the previous director retired December 27th. Reynolds says after a national search, she’ll be interviewing prospects for that job in the next few weeks.

(Radio Iowa) — A return to cool, wet weather put the brakes on planting in most areas of the state. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says the weekly U-S-D-A crop report showed less than two suitable days for field work last week. “It has definitely been a challenge this spring for producers all across the state,” Naig says.  Naig says less than half the projected corn acres are planted. “We’re at 48 percent planted in corn, which is four or five days behind average. Soybeans are at 13 percent statewide — and that’s nearly a week behind average — so there’s obviously a concern out there on the part of our farmers,” according to Naig.

The U-S-D-A report says this is the smallest percent of corn planted by May 12 since 2013 when just 15 percent of the expected crop had been planted. It is the fifth time in 40 years that less than half the expected crop has been planted by May 12. The soybean planting is six days behind both last year and the five-year average. Naig says farmers are anxious — but this is not new. “This also something that our producers are very used to dealing with, is the weather each spring,” Naig says. “We know if we can get some sunny weather and some warmer temps, this crop can get in the ground pretty quick.”

He says farmers still have some time before considering a move from corn to beans. Naig says as you get to the end of May and Memorial Day they start to think of all of their options, but he says producers like to wait as long as possible to make those decisions. Cool temperatures are also a problem for corn that is already planted, as only five-percent of the corn is emerging. “Northwest Iowa up where we farm up there in Palo Alto County, we have really struggled to get those soil temps to stay above 50 degrees with any consistency,” Naig says. “It is interesting as you travel the state north to south — even just how the trees are leafed out and the difference.”

Northeast Iowa is lagging most in corn planting — at only twenty-four-percent. West central Iowa has the most corn planted at 67 percent

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — China’s announcement Monday of higher tariffs on $60 billion of American exports — retaliation for President Donald Trump’s latest penalties on Chinese goods — hit particularly hard in the farm belt. China’s vast consumer market has been a vital source of revenue for American farmers.

Since December, when U.S. and China negotiators called a truce to tariffs and began signaling that an agreement might be reached, soybean farmers had been holding out hope that sales to China would resume, said Todd Hultman, an Omaha-based grain market analyst with agriculture market data provider DTN. In the meantime, the farmers had been storing a record stockpile of nearly 1 billion bushels.

The latest news of a new round of tariffs, with no agreement in sight, spooked the financial markets and some farmers who had been tentatively optimistic. In a statement Monday, the American Soybean Association reacted with frustration edged with anxiety. “The sentiment out in farm country is getting grimmer by the day,” said John Heisdorffer, a soybean farmer in Keota, Iowa, who is chairman of the ASA. “Our patience is waning, our finances are suffering and the stress from months of living with the consequences of these tariffs is mounting.”

A slowdown in soybean sales, and the huge stockpiles that result, has a ripple effect. Farmers in many parts of the corn belt have suffered from a wet and cooler spring, which has prevented them from planting corn. Typically when it becomes too late to plant corn, farmers will instead plant soybeans, which can grow later into the fall before harvest is required. Yet now, planting soybeans with the overabundance already in bins and scant hope for sales to one of the biggest buyers in China, could raise the risk of a financial disaster. “This is the fifth year of low prices, basically, for crops,” Hultman said. “I think time is just wearing us out.”

To Brent Gloy of Grant, Nebraska, many farmers like him appear to be facing only bleak alternatives for planting. On Monday, Trump told reporters that a new program to relieve U.S. farmers’ pain is being devised and predicted that they will be “very happy.” The administration last year handed farmers aid worth $11 billion to offset losses from trade conflicts.

Trump seemed to suggest that the aid will make up for, or partially cover, the $15 billion that he said represented “the biggest purchase that China has ever made with our farmers.” In fact, U.S. farm exports to China approached $26 billion in both 2012 and 2013 and equaled $19.5 billion in 2017 — before his trade war began taking a toll on agricultural sales to China.

Gloy, an agriculture economist and a partner in the online research website Agriculture Economic Insights, said he fears there may be no end in sight to the Trump administration’s trade dispute with China. And he noted that most crops that farmers could plant aren’t profitable right now. He said worries that the entire agriculture sector could face severe trouble if the dispute lasts indefinitely.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A fifth farmer has pleaded guilty to his role in an organic grain fraud scheme that involved at least $140 million in sales of grain.
John Burton, of Clarksdale, Missouri, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Burton, 52, admitted that grain grown on his non-organic fields was marketed and sold as organic and that unapproved substances were used on fields certified as organic. Federal prosecutors are seeking to require that he forfeit $2.2 million that was traced to the scheme.

Burton’s plea comes months after one of his associates, 61-year-old Randy Constant of Chillicothe, Missouri, pleaded guilty to charges alleging he masterminded the scheme.

Constant made many of the fraudulent sales through an Iowa grain brokerage that he owned. Three other Nebraska farmers have also pleaded guilty in the case.

OAKLAND, IOWA – Community members are invited to a conversation about water quality on Thursday, May 16, in Oakland, Iowa. The event will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Oakland Community Center, 614 Dr. Van Zee Rd., Oakland, Iowa 51560. Hosted by the Center for Rural Affairs, the event is free, and members of the public are invited to attend. Community members are invited to share their experiences with water quality and flooding in the region.

Center for Rural Affairs staff Cody Smith and Cora Fox will provide context and analysis about the legislative framework of current water quality laws and regulations. Other confirmed attendees include USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service staff, Conservation Districts of Iowa staff, and Golden Hills Resource Conservation & Development. “After the flooding we’ve seen in recent months, water quality continues to be an important part of the recovery conversation,” said Cody Smith, policy writing assistant with the Center for Rural Affairs. “Attendees will have an opportunity to share concerns they may have about water quality in their communities and we’ll explore strategies to move forward.”

Proposals brought forth during the 2019 Iowa legislative session will also be a focus of the community conversation. For more information, visit cfra.org/events.

(Radio Iowa/Brownfield Ag News) — An eastern Iowa farmer was in Washington this week to tell congress farmers need action from the federal government. Dave Walton of Wilton testified at a hearing in a U.S. House committee. “We’re suffering right now for a variety of reasons — the trade issue, some infrastructure issues and other government- controlled things are hitting us pretty hard right now and it’s kind of all at once,” Walton says. Walton says more farmers are finding it difficult to get credit.

“If this doesn’t turn around soon, those farmers may be done this year,” Walton says. The U.S. Commerce Department recently reported farm income fell 12 billion dollars in the first three months of this year. “Because of the government’s manipulation in our market, we need to have some sort of relief here,” Walton says. “Another round of Market Facilitation Payments would be well-received by farmers right now.”

Walton is secretary of the Iowa Soybean Association’s board of directors. His family started farming in Cedar County in 1835.

(Reporting by Ken Anderson of Brownfield Network)