Iowans who are considering taking up a new hobby in the new year might consider taking a course in beekeeping. A record number of beekeeping classes will be offered in the state this winter at locations all over Iowa. State apiarist Andrew Joseph says the courses are starting as soon as January 9th, just over a week from now.

“Wintertime is a good time to learn about all of the basic information you need to get started with a hive of bees,” Joseph says. “You’ll get this knowledge in your mind, you’ll know where to get things, how to order your equipment and put it together and what to expect over your first season. That’ll prepare you well for springtime, which is when beekeepers will start their new colonies.”

It can be a profitable hobby, Joseph says, and the number of beekeepers is growing.  “They’re just skyrocketing and this is definitely true for Iowa and it’s true for pretty much everywhere in the U.S.,” Joseph says. “We’ve jumped over the last ten years from around 3,000 or 3,500 beekeepers across the state to an estimated 4,500 now today.”

Iowa’s 4,500 beekeepers manage more than 45,000 colonies of honey bees. Those bees produce about 4-million pounds of honey annually, valued at over $8-million. Honey bees are also responsible for the pollination of many Iowa crops, as well as home gardens and plants eaten by wildlife. The economic value of honey bees as crop pollinators in Iowa is estimated at $92 million a year. Joseph says the classes being offered by the state will be of help for those who are just starting out.

“Most of the people that would be interested in these classes are new hobbyists, beekeepers with a couple of hives in their back yard,” he says. “It’s a great way to start, just two or three hives, get a taste for it and let it go from there. If you get a passion for it, build up your numbers.”

The state’s offering some 27 classes in beekeeping in a host of sites, included at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, on Thursday evenings from March 31st to April 14th. Another class will be held in Glenwood. The date and times for the classes have not yet been set. The full list of class sites and dates is at: www.abuzzaboutbees.com

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is planning to place trout in 17 different urban lakes over the next four months. Biologist Joe Larscheid is in charge of the agency’s fisheries. “Trout are a cold water species and they generally are confined in Iowa into the northeast corner of Iowa naturally, but when the water turns cold in the late fall and winter, we can stock these fish in other parts of Iowa,” he says. “We do that to bring trout closer, especially to urban areas, and make these family-friendly events and just really create some excitement about fishing.”

Larscheid says trout are easy to catch and once D-N-R staff put the fish in one of these urban lakes, it doesn’t take long for all the trout to be caught. “It doesn’t take sophisticated equipment. Usually a biologist is there on hand and some local partners there on hand to help people be successful, so if you have young kids, these are really good events to go to,” Larscheid says. “The odds of catching fish are pretty high.”

There are a lot of “anglers” out there in the state according to Larscheid, and thousands of Iowans are angling to catch trout. “We’ve sold more trout stamps in 2015 than ever before and they continue to increase every year,” Larscheid says, “so trout fishing is extremely popular in Iowa.” In addition to a state fishing license, anglers need a trout stamp to legally catch trout — and more than 44-thousand trout stamps have been sold this year.

The D-N-R’s first urban “trout stocking” event is scheduled fpr January 9th at the Scharnberg Pond in Spencer.  “I’d just like to encourage people when these events are in your area get your plans together, get your family together and really make an effort to get there,” Larscheid says. “A lot of these trout are caught very quickly one we put them in the system, so the fastest action is usually the day of, right when we stock them.”

In addition to the event planned in Spencer, trout will be stocked at lakes in 16 other cities from January through April, including Big Lake (plus Gilbert’s Pond) in Council Bluffs, at 4-p.m., on Jan. 22nd.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are calling on the public’s help in bringing illegal hunters to justice. The DNR’s Mick Klemesrud says people are tracking deer and other animals from their vehicles and communicating with other hunters by cell phone. “This type of activity has taken hold in certain counties in western and southwestern Iowa,” Klemesrud said. “Our officers are aware of it and it’s something we don’t like to see.” Recently, the DNR charged three men with multiple hunting violations in Cass and Audubon Counties. The men — from Adair, Stuart, and Denison — are accused of illegally shooting two buck deer.

“We think we’ve got one of the most valuable natural resources in our deer herd — it’s world renowned and people come from all over the country and the world to hunt our deer. We want them to do it by the rules,” Klemesrud said. “There are rules we have set up that say you can’t use vehicles and two-way radios to pursue deer.”

The investigation into the illegal activity in Cass and Audubon Counties was launched after the DNR received calls from the public. The three men charged in the case are scheduled to make their initial court appearance on January 7.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say a manure overflow at a small hog finishing farm about three miles southwest of Lenox was being investigated Thursday evening. A passerby noticed that the pit at the facility appeared to be overflowing and alerted the DNR on Thursday afternoon. The buildings at the site have shallow under-building pits.

When the pits are full, they are drained into an outdoor concrete tank. It is believed that employees emptied the shallow under-building pits at the facility on Wednesday, December 30th, causing manure to overflow from the tank. The tank was not overflowing on Thursday afternoon, but a path where manure had flowed was still visible and field tests indicated slightly elevated levels of ammonia in water flowing into an unnamed tributary of the East Fork of the One Hundred and Two River.

The operator contacted a commercial manure hauler to land apply manure from the tank in order to prevent further overflows. The DNR is continuing to investigate the incident and will consider appropriate enforcement action.

The recently released Iowa State Extension land value survey gives some insight into what happens when farmland is sold in the state. Iowa State University extension economist Wendong Zhang oversees the survey.  “About three-quarters of the land sold in Iowa is bought by existing farmers, so it’s more typical that Iowa farmers are buying Iowa land,” Zhang says. Zhang says the 2015 information keeps with the trends seen through the years in land sales. He says it continues to be tough to try and get land to start a new farm operation.

Zhang says only three percent of the land sold in 2015 was sold to new farmers, and that is something that’s been consistent going back to 1986. “So there are some concerns about the access to land by beginning farmers.” Part of the problem is the cost of land. The average value of farm ground in the state fell by 310 dollars in 2015, but still averages seven-thousand-633 dollars an acre.

“When the land price is high, rent is also high, which creates additional difficulty for the beginning farmers without a lot of financial assets to get into the market,” Zhang explains. “So, I do think the beginning farmers might be better able to better start livestock production as opposed to row crops, given how the land market is playing out.” I-S-U extension has put together a new website that combines the findings of the U-S-D-A, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Realtors Land Institute in determining the land values.

“Farmers, land owners and agricultural professionals could view the land visually. So it is a visualization tool that allows people to analyze and see how changes over time and how land values vary across space, Zhang says. You can see the new tool at www.card.iastate.edu/farmland.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Denny Heflin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/ Kate Olson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa ethanol industry trade group says the state’s refineries produced more than 4 billion gallons of the corn-based fuel additive this year, a new record. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says Iowa provided about 27 percent of the nation’s ethanol. Plants increased production enough to surpass last year’s 3.9 billion gallons by increasing efficiency. Several refineries that make ethanol from corn leaves, stalks and other plant parts also began making the fuel additive.

The group’s executive director Monte Shaw says a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that’s helping to install fuel pumps to further distribute higher blends of ethanol than the typical 10 percent is expected to push consumption higher next year.

Iowa, the nation’s leader in renewable fuel production, has 43 ethanol refineries and 12 biodiesel plants.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship today (Tuesday) announced that the order cancelling all live bird exhibitions at county fairs, the Iowa State Fair, livestock auction markets, swap meets, exotic sales and other gatherings of birds due to avian influenza will be lifted on January 1st, 2016.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said “This is very good news and another sign that we continue to recover from this devastating animal health emergency. We know the ban on exhibitions caused some real challenges for those anticipating showing or selling birds, but we appreciate everyone cooperating as we worked to stop the disease and then allow the industry to recover.”

The Department issued the order prohibiting poultry exhibitions on May 21 in the midst of the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The ban was put into place to minimize spread of HPAI and protect the state’s domestic bird population. Lifting the poultry exhibition ban comes as a result of no new cases of HPAI in Iowa since June and the lifting of the final quarantine on December 1. Iowa is now considered free of HPAI.

Total of 77 premises and 31.5 million birds were affected with the disease in Iowa. There are 35 commercial turkey flocks, 22 commercial egg production flocks, 13 pullet flocks, 1 chicken breeding flock, 1 mail order hatchery, and 5 backyard flocks.

More information about the avian influenza situation in Iowa can be found at www.iowaagriculture.gov/avianinfluenza.asp.

In an effort to provide continuing education to Iowa’s beef producers, the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA) will hold 3 educational forums in January, 2016, two of which will be held in western Iowa.

On January 19th, ICA will partner with the Iowa Beef Center and ISU Extension to offer a Feedlot Forum in Sioux Center,  at the Terrace View Event Center from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The event will focus on defending agriculture, sustainability, competitiveness, antimicrobial usage and profitability. The cost to attend is $25 and $10 for students. Registrations are due Jan. 12 to the ISU Extension and Outreach office in Sioux County. 

The third event, another feedlot forum, held in Carroll at the Carrollton Inn on January 20th, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., will offer a market outlook and discussion on the quickly approaching Veterinary Feed Directive. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to area producers share their environmental compliance stories and learn from state officials the state’s response plan during a Foreign Animal Disease outbreak. The event is free and includes lunch. Contact ICA at 515-296-2266 to RSVP.

ICA will also hold pasture walks and other educational events around the state later this year in order to provide each segment of the cattle industry information on critical topics to them.