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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) — The wet weather slowed the harvest again this week. The latest U-S-D-A report shows there were about two suitable days for fieldwork last week. The corn harvest is now 15 percent complete — which compares to 11 percent last week. The corn harvest got started early — and is still 10 days ahead of last year despite the weather. Southeast Iowa leads the state with 39 percent of its corn harvested. Eighteen percent of the soybeans are now in the bin — that’s an increase of just three percent from last week’s total. The bean harvest is now five days behind the average.
(Radio Iowa) — Advocates of corn-based ethanol expect President Trump to make a major announcement about the fuel additive tomorrow (Tuesday). “This is something we’ve literally been working on for seven years. If all goes as we think it will, this is going to be a very good day.” That’s Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Shaw and others expect Trump to announce the E-P-A is preparing a waiver that will allow the year-round sale of E-15 — that’s gasoline with a 15 percent ethanol blend.
“We do think that rule-making can be done in time for June which is when the restriction would come back into play,” Shaw says, “so by taking action tomorrow, President Trump is setting us up to have E15 available across the United States next summer.” Shaw predicts the oil industry will go to court to try to block the waiver for E-15, so legal wrangling may commence soon. In the meantime, Shaw says tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) announcement should provide a psychological boost to the ag economy.
“And it’s a market boost,” Shaw says, “a little bit at first, but definitely growing over time, so we’ve very excited here.” A number of media outlets are reporting Trump will make the E-15 announcement in Washington before he departs for his rally tomorrow (Tuesday) night in Council Bluffs.
(Radio Iowa) — Harvest season will kick into high gear once Iowa gets an extended period of dry weather and that means large farm machinery will be traveling the state’s roadways. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Vince Kurtz is calling on motorists to be patient and prepared. “Even though you may end up following a tractor for several miles at 35 miles an hour, in the grand scheme of things, it’s really only going to cost you a couple minutes of your time,” Kurtz says. “As opposed to the danger that you could be putting yourself and your family in by making a poor pass or by going too fast, not paying attention, and possibly rear-end that implement coming up over the top of a hill.”
Farmers can help reduce the chances of a crash by properly marking their machinery. “That all begins with a SMV (slow moving vehicle) triangle at the back of every vehicle you’re pulling,” Kurtz says. “So, if you’re pulling a wagon, you have to have that SMV triangle on the back of that wagon and visible. If you’re pulling another piece of equipment, make sure you have it at the back of that train.”
Farmers working after dark should also have a red light at the rear of the vehicle and flashing amber lights. Kurtz says he’s been called to three or four accidents involving farm equipment within the last month.
(Radio Iowa) — The continued wet weather may prove to be problematic for farmers wanting to harvest their crops. Iowa State University Extension Grain Quality Specialist, Charlie Hurburgh believes the wet conditions add a new issue to the harvest. “It’s just been a difficult fall — and now we are going to have mold problems in the fields for sure,” Hurburgh says. “And farmers need to scout their fields and look to see which fields seem to be more less affected by mold problems and harvest them first.” The wet conditions led to growth issues that are now showing up as farmers head to the fields.He says there is a lot of corn that is down because the stalk health wasn’t great and he says the down corn is more likely to spoil in the field than the corn that is standing up. “All in all we will have a little bit of a problematic harvest.”
The Iowa State grain quality specialist says the condition of this year’s grain is slightly below last year’s harvest. “The kernel fill wasn’t just tremendous like it was last year. And the kernals weren’t as deep and they aren’t as big, which means our test weights will be okay, average, 54-55 pounds, but I don’t think anything exceptional,” according to Hurburgh. “From a livestock and ethanol persepctive, that’s really not too serious.” Hurburgh adds that the quality of the grain may deteriorate if we continue to have cool wet days — as there really hasn’t been a lot of natural drying days. “We only had maybe two days of really good drying weather right after the Labor Day deluge. There were two or three days where we got a lot of drying and then we went right back into the water again,” Hurburgh says. “The moisture reports have been all over the place.”
He says soybeans are seeing similar problems with high moisture levels. Hurburgh says for long-term storage of grain, corn moisture needs to be around 15 percent moisture, and for soybeans, the moisture content should be around ten to twelve percent.
Did you know, 4-H offers over 30 interest areas for youth to learn, grow and excel in? Interest areas include STEM, Outdoor Adventures, Photography, Food & Nutrition and much, much more! Cass County Extension will be celebrating all things 4-H during National 4-H Week October 7-13. Now is the time of year for youth to join and participate in 4-H, the youth development program of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Keep an eye out for Cass County 4-H members, volunteers, and supporters showing their 4-H pride during National 4-H Week. Many community clubs will be creating window displays in local businesses to showcase their 4-H pride. Other clubs will be doing special events and activities during the week such as wearing 4-H shirts to school to show their 4-H pride. Some clubs are even doing service projects during this celebration week!
To kick off National 4-H Week, Cass County 4-H will be hosting a Fall Fest on Sunday, October 7 from 4-6 PM at the Cass County Fairgrounds, to celebrate 4-H as well as invite new/potential 4-Hers to join in the fun and see what 4-H is all about. “We have a variety of fun activities planned which will showcase some of the project areas with hands-on activities, games and fun! We will have youth members providing activities, a photo booth, a giant game of twister, corn hole, and much more. Also a 4-H information booth and a potluck meal will be available,” says Shelby Van Horn, County Youth Coordinator for ISU Cass County Extension and Outreach. “It will be a fun evening for all to come out and celebrate National 4-H Week!”
4-H is a year round program for youth in grades kindergarten through 12. National 4-H Week is a great time to show all the wonderful things 4-H offers to youth,” stated Van Horn. “ In fact, research has shown that young people in 4-H are nearly four times as likely to contribute to their communities and are twice as likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs during after school time.” 4-H is active in each of Iowa’s 99 counties and empowers youth to reach their full potential through many different types of experiences experiences including photography, music, woodworking, sewing, archery, livestock and horticulture. Youth have fun while gaining valuable skills in communication and the arts, citizenship and leadership, science, technology, engineering and math, as well as healthy living and personal life management by being involved in 4-H.
4-H grows confidence, creativity, curiosity, courage, character and much more in youth. 4-H allows youth to use the skills that they learn to go out and make a positive difference in their communities. Cass County 4-H has more than 320 4-H youth and 100 volunteers involved in the program. Interested in joining 4-H? Contact the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132 or visit the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.
(Press release from Cass County Extension)
(Radio Iowa) — As mentioned earlier this week, President Trump is due to speak at a rally in Council Bluffs next Tuesday and is expected to announce the E-P-A will allow year-round sales of gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol. Republican Congressman Steve King says the E-P-A shouldn’t set any blending limits. “Let’s not say E15. Let’s go beyond that. I don’t want to create another blend wall at E15. There’s no reason we would do that except it’s just got stuck in our vernacular,” King says. “You know how (if) you control the language, you control the policy.”
The federal Clean Air Act requires gasoline be blended with products like ethanol to reduce carbon emissions. King says it’s time to let market forces determine how much ethanol is added. “Then the consumers can choose,” King says. “And with gas prices going up and ethanol prices going down, we need to open this up.”
King met with President Trump in the White House this past Tuesday and this was among the topics they discussed.
(Radio Iowa) — Republican Senator Joni Ernst says she’s still hopeful a group of negotiators can agree on a new Farm Bill, but she says that may not happen until after next month’s election. Ernst is the only Iowan on the congressional committee trying to come up with a compromise. The 2014 Farm Bill expired September 30th. Congress is supposed to revisit federal food and ag policy issues every five years and vote to reauthorize the Farm Bill.
“If it is possible to bring the House and the Senate together, get to a consensus, do that after the midterm election, maybe we would be able to get the Farm Bill reauthorized by the end of the year,” Ernst said. “If that does not happen, then we would be looking at some sort of extension.” Voting to keep the the 2014 Farm Bill policies in place for another year is an option. Congress has used temporary extensions in the past when negotiations over a new Farm Bill have faltered.
“I would much rather have the Farm Bill reauthorized than go through these short-term extensions,” Ernst says. A few federal programs have been impacted since the Farm Bill expired five days ago. “However, SNAP and crop insurance, they are still good to go,” Ernst says. “No worries there, those remain in place.” SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also referred to as food stamps.
Having the so-called “lame duck” congress approve the next Farm Bill in November or December — after the election — is not unprecedented. The 1970 and 1990 Farm Bills were passed in the weeks after the mid-term elections in those years. The 2014 Farm Bill was actually supposed to be passed in 2013, but it took congress 21 months to come up with a final deal that could pass both the House and Senate.
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