(Radio Iowa) — The federal government is considering moving at least two divisions of the U-S-D-A out of Washington D-C and Iowa is pushing to be the new headquarters, but some oppose the move. Jonathan Hladik, policy director for the Center for Rural Affairs, says the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture should stay put in the nation’s capital. “Over the past few years, this office has taken a hit,” Hladik says. “We’ve seen across the board within federal government employees, a lot of people retiring, a lot of people leaving. So, there are a lot of very good career employees who are employed by these agencies now and if the agency moves to a different city or moves across the country, we’re going to lose a lot of that top talent.”

U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says moving the agencies would save the federal government money, but Hladik disagrees. He says cross-country moves will bring a loss of experience and it’ll show up in what’s being produced. “The lower quality of research and lower quality work has cascading effects because this is the research that universities rely on, that associations rely on, that other organizations rely on to do their job,” Hladik says. “I think they take a hit here as well.”

One of the major concerns is not just the geographic move, but Hladik says it’s in shifting the power structure. “We’re moving authority. We’re changing who is going to be in charge of these organizations and the very tenor of this organization,” Hladik says. “This move would fundamentally make it more of a political position.”  An investigation of the proposed move by the USDA’s inspector general could trigger further efforts by Congress to block or restrict the decision. The Center for Rural Affairs is based in Lyons, Nebraska.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — The DowDuPont cellulosic ethanol plant in central Iowa has been bought by a German biofuels company’s U.S. subsidiary. Verbio North America Corp. and DowDuPont announced Thursday that the purchase includes the 30 million-gallon plant in Nevada and a portion of its corn stover inventory. The price was not released. The cellulosic ethanol plant, which opened in 2015, is considered the next generation in renewable fuel production. It uses corncobs, husks and stalks to produce the biofuel. DowDuPont closed the plant last fall, announcing that it was for sale. DowDuPont said the operation no longer fit its strategic plan.

Verbio intends to install equipment for making natural gas made from corn stover and other cellulosic crop residue. Verbio North America Corp. is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a subsidiary of Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG, which is based in Leipzig, Germany.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers are expected to harvest the largest soybean crop on record but must deal with a constricted market in which to sell the crop because of President Donald Trump’s tariff battle with China.

In its latest update released Thursday, the USDA places the expected soybean harvest at 4.6 billion bushels, the largest ever.

Illinois leads soybean production with 688 million bushels and Iowa is second.

Selling soybeans to China has nearly halted with the tariff dispute resulting in a growing stockpile and the lowest prices for farmers in more than a decade.

Corn production is estimated at 14.6 billion bushels, the second largest crop on record.

Iowa remains the nation’s leading corn producer with an expected 2.5 billion bushels.

w/Max Dirks.

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(Radio Iowa) — Milk prices have steadily fallen the past few years, forcing the closure of 80 Iowa dairies during 2018. Mitch Schulte, executive director of the Iowa State Dairy Association, says retaliatory tariffs from Mexico in answer to U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel are a major part of the problem. “The dairy industry has been dealing with three years of low milk prices and as we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel and higher prices coming, we got hit with retaliation tariffs,” Schulte says. “That’s played a huge part of what’s going on in the dairy industry right now.”

Recent changes to the dairy margin protection program may offer some help for producers, according to Schulte. “When you look back at the margin protection program, the formula that was in that program was wrong,” Schulte says. “It really just didn’t pay out the way that it should have. With the new changes, what we’re seeing is better payouts and more consistency to that program. It really is helping our dairy producers.”

Schulte says passage of a federal Farm Bill would help the dairy industry, but the major fix lies with the need to lift the steel and aluminum tariffs. He notes, Mexico is the Iowa dairy industry’s number-one trading partner. “We need to do all we can to have that open free trade agreement that we had and not deal with those retaliation tariffs,” Schulte says. “A lot of the language that was in that agreement should, at some point, help our dairy producers but those retaliatory tariffs are still in place until they figure out what they’re going to do with the steel and aluminum.”

Iowa is the nation’s tenth-largest milk producing state. With the loss of 80 dairy farms this year, their number is now down to 1,070 dairies statewide.

(Radio Iowa) — The USDA expects farmers will plant far fewer soybean acres in 2019 compared to this year. In its first statistical guesses for the NEXT growing season, the agency forecasts U.S. corn plantings of 92 million acres and soybeans at 82.5 million. That’s a nearly 3 million acre increase for corn compared to this year, and a decrease in soybeans of more than 6.5 million. Naomi Blohm, a commodity analyst with the Stewart-Peterson Group, says the market has been anticipating a reduction in soybeans because of the U.S.-China trade war. “But to actually have a concrete number, this is the first time that has happened. So is the market paying attention to this? It’s aware of it,” Blohm says. “But it’s not in essence fresh news, so (the market) is not responding to it.”

Blohm suggests any projections for 2019 should be written in pencil at this point. “I would say based on conversations with producers, they don’t totally know yet,” Blohm says. “They haven’t bought their seed yet. They’re not sure if they just want to continue to switch to their regular rotation on things, or what they’re going to do.”  The USDA is also forecasting a more than 3 million acre increase in wheat for next year.

(Radio Iowa) — A new emergency management coordinator started work at the Iowa Department of Agriculture, Tuesday. The legislature set aside a quarter of a million dollars for the agency to prepare for an outbreak of a foreign animal disease, like African swine fever, foot and mouth disease or Avian influenza — the bird flu. A portion of that budget will pay the salary of Dr. Andrew Hennenfent, a public health veterinarian. He will review the state’s emergency response plans for animal diseases and organize drills for responding to an outbreak.

Hennenfent grew up on an Illinois farm and worked as a vet in Orland Hills, a community about 23 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. He recently served as the State Public Health Vet for the District of Columbia, though, and supervised the investigation of diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans.

w/Kate Olson.

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Cass County 4-H is hosting the 4-H County Convention on Sunday, November 11.  The annual awards program will begin at 2:00 PM at the Cass County Community Center, and is being organized by the 4-H Youth Council and Youth Action Committee.

At County Convention, members and leaders of all fourteen 4-H clubs in Cass County will be presented on stage to receive recognition. Record book project awards will be announced and recognition will be given to members who did outstanding project work throughout the year. Local club leaders will be recognized for their service to the 4-H program.

Special recognition will be given to 4-H clubs for exceptional community service projects, herdsmanship at fair, 4-H Endowment Fund contributors, and promotional activities during National 4-H Week. Club officers will also be recognized for their excellent work.

Shelby Van Horn, Cass County Youth Coordinator, said “This is a great event for 4-Hers to receive recognition for their accomplishments. We will also be recognizing community members and businesses for their continued 4-H support. Without those individuals, our 4-H program would not be as strong.”

This year are 21 Clover Kids who have completed 3^rd Grade and moved into 4-H. A Clover Kids Graduation ceremony will be held to recognize those members, and help them transition into the 4-H program. This is the second year for the event.

4-H’ers serving on the 2017-2018 Cass County Youth Council include Claire Smith, Myah Rubio, Katie York, Eric Plagman, Mitchell Williamson, Nathan Behrends, Aly Brockob, Grace Clay and Cody McCreedy. Graduating members will be recognized and final activities of the day will be the announcement and installation of the 2018-2019 Cass County 4-H Youth Council. Parents, relatives, friends and 4-H supporters are invited to attend the celebration and recognition event for Cass County 4-H members and leaders.

The Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources said today (Tuesday), that DNR Conservation Officers are investigating a Nov. 1st hunting incident involving a group of quail hunters in Page County. Authorities say 58-year old Neil Bartelt,  of Fruitland, Iowa, was injured while upland bird hunting in the northwest corner of Page County, near the Montgomery, Mills, and Fremont county lines, around 3-p.m. on November 1st, when he was acting as a “blocker” for his hunting group.

The four other members of the hunting group were walking towards Bartelt when they scared up a group of quail. Several of the hunters fired shots at the quail striking Bartelt with pellets in the face and abdomen. Bartelt was transported to the Shenandoah Medical Center Hospital with minor injuries. The investigation continues into this incident.