[Red Oak, Iowa] – Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman today (Sunday), said “An open burn ban will go into effect Monday, February 26, 2024 at 8:00am, for all areas and jurisdictions within Montgomery County. The ban prohibits all open and controlled burning in Montgomery County, including all incorporated city limits within the county.”

Record high temperatures, limited to no moisture and continued drought conditions has created dangerous fire conditions throughout the entire area. Extended forecast outlooks show well above normal temperatures as well as extremely windy conditions causing concern that any outdoor fire will become large and out of control in a very short amount of time.

“Citizens are reminded to not throw out cigarettes from moving vehicles and to discontinue burning yard waste, piled tree debris, grass/agricultural ground and set asides or other items during this ban. Small recreational campfires are permitted only if they are conducted in a fireplace of brick, metal or heavy one-inch wire mesh, however extreme caution should be taken. Any campfire not in an outdoor fireplace is prohibited,” according to Hamman.

Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to criminal charges as well as civil liabilities for any damages, losses or injuries resulting from the fire. The open burn ban is anticipated to remain in effect until the county receives substantial precipitation alleviating the increased fire danger risk.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A burning ban will be in place for Adair County and Guthrie County starting Saturday February 24, 2024. The ban prohibits open burning in Adair County and Guthrie County, including all the cities within the counties.
The current dry conditions throughout the region have caused an increase in fire responses throughout Adair and Guthrie County. As dry conditions and winds persist, dead and drying vegetation is the perfect fuel to spread fires rapidly.

Adair County Burn Ban Proclamation 02-24-2024

Guthrie County Burn Ban Proclamation 02-24-2024

Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator Jeremy Cooper says “Adair and Guthrie County Fire Departments have seen the effects of fires in extreme conditions, and they want to do everything they can to help mitigate life threatening incidents from occurring. These Fire Departments are volunteer departments and are responding to calls that pull them from their everyday life and work and becomes very taxing on those volunteers. We have been in a drought for over 4 years and conditions just have not been improving much. We have experienced an abnormal winter with really only one major snow event that really didn’t help with the overall moisture levels. Hopefully in the coming weeks things will improve and start greening up, it’s just not common to have a Burn Ban this time of year.”

During these dry conditions, citizens are reminded to not throw out cigarettes from moving vehicles and to discontinue burning yard waste, piled tree debris or other items during the ban. Small recreational campfires are permitted only if they are conducted in a fireplace of brick, metal or heavy one-inch wire mesh. Any campfire not in an outdoor fireplace or left unattended is prohibited. Fire Departments will still be able to proceed with their scheduled controlled burns of CRP land and citizens can also obtain a burn permit from their local Fire Chief, if the Chief approves such a request and signs the permit.

Violation of a burn ban can subject a person to citation or arrest for reckless use of fire or disobeying a burn ban. For more information on burn bans and the law or to check the current status of burn bans statewide on the State Fire Marshal’s statewide burn ban website: https://dps.iowa.gov/divisions/state-fire-marshal/burn-bans.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowa’s long-running drought has eased since a month ago but is still by far the worst it’s been leading into the growing season in the past three years, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The area of the state that is suffering from extreme drought — the second-worst classification of the Drought Monitor — is about half what it was in December but still encompasses a vast area of northeast Iowa. That includes some or all of more than two dozen counties.

About three-quarters of the state has some measure of drought. The exceptions are a wide area of northwest Iowa and parts of far southern and far eastern Iowa. Drought conditions have persisted in the state since July 2020 — the longest stretch since the 1950s, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The dryness peaked in September 2023.

Many Iowa rivers have very low flow, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. In Osceola, residents have been urged to conserve water as the town’s water supply — West Lake — has dwindled. But the city reported early this month that the lake’s level had stabilized.

The area of extreme drought in Iowa has shrunk considerably in the past month. (Courtesy of U.S. Drought Monitor)

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Year-round sales of E15 at the gas pump are delayed until 2025. The EPA published its order Thursday. It follows a request from eight Midwest governors, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, to expand sales of the higher ethanol blend beginning this summer.

E15 is currently restricted in the warmer months over smog concerns. The biofuel industry says those concerns are unfounded. Governor Reynolds says she’s not giving up her fight to permit sales this summer and says she is pursuing a waiver.

(Omaha/Valley, NE) – The National Weather Service in Omaha says the warm weather we’ve been experiencing the past few days in southeastern Nebraska and Southwestern Iowa, is here to stay through the weekend. The Weather Service said also, a “Very high fire danger will persist for the next few days.”

In the Hazardous Weather Outlook issued by the NWS in Des Moines, officials said dry and breezy conditions will lead to potential very high fire danger conditions in at least a portion of the area each day. The highest potential may be in southeast Nebraska on Monday, where some areas may see extreme fire danger.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports only Harrison County in our listening area, has a Burn Ban in place. That order was issued in late September, 2023, and remains in effect until further notice.

(Radio Iowa) – Spring will arrive in a little under a month and central Iowans who are plotting out their landscaping projects can get a helping hand as the Des Moines Home and Garden Show opens today (Thursday). Show manager Shannon Nathe says they’ll have some 300 exhibitors at the Iowa Events Center offering a wide range of yard and home-related products and services. “If you have a project in mind, bring your plans, sit down with these business owners, and get on their calendars because they are very busy,” Nathe says. “We have seven feature gardens in the show this year, so there’s seven local landscapers showing their ideas of what you can do in your backyard.”

While the large exhibition hall is indoors, vendors have created stunning garden displays designed to inspire your next home upgrade. “The landscapers are located in Hall A, so when you come down the escalator, it’s just a sea of flowers and some of them are putting in pools and trees,” Nathe says. “It’s a great environment to think about spring, think about your projects that are coming up, all under one roof.”

This year’s list of celebrity speakers includes Patric Richardson, who’s known as The Laundry Guy on H-G-T-V, as well as a woman who’s a combination general contractor, real estate developer, business innovator, and philanthropist. “Ati Williams is a renowned design builder and an engaging TV host on Netflix’ ‘Hack My Home,'” Nathe says, “so she’s going to give you tips and tricks on saving money, but have the higher-end look of, like, let’s say redoing your cabinets. She’s going to give you all the tips and tricks.”

Attendees can get a hand with potting their own plants at the Potting Bar, while there’s also a Made in Iowa Market featuring some three-dozen products that all originated in the Hawkeye State. The 46th annual Home and Garden Show runs through Sunday.

desmoineshomeandgardenshow.com

Jim Field visits with Derek Deist about the Audubon Lions Club 33rd Annual Farm Toy Show Saturday, February 24 from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm at the Agri-Hall on the Audubon County Fairgrounds.

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(Radio Iowa) – A central Iowa farmer is appealing to members of Iowa’s congressional delegation to develop and pass a new Farm Bill before this fall, focusing on legislation that he says is climate-smart. Scott Henry, the owner of Longview Farms in Nevada, says farmers, consumers and the environment would all benefit from legislation that lead the transition to more sustainable food production. Henry says, “A climate-smart Farm Bill is one that allows farmers on a voluntary basis to adopt practices such as cover crops, no-till, prescriptive farming, split applications of nitrogen and other fertilizer sources that help reduce reliance upon synthetics, whether that be through livestock integration or biologicals.”

Henry grew up on the multi-generational family farm in Story County, where he grows corn and soybeans, and raises cattle. He was in Washington D-C last week, meeting with Iowa’s senators and members of congress, along with House and Senate Ag Committee staff. “For us, it’s really working towards making sure that farmers have knowledge about these tools and that those tools are available to them,” Henry says, “and to a certain extent, if there’s any incentive to help get a farmer started down that path, that would be good.”

Much of his farm’s corn crop was knocked flat by the powerful winds of the derecho in 2020 and Henry says they could’ve plowed it under and collected the insurance, but didn’t. Instead, they chose to use the combine, even moving forward at one-mile-an-hour, to harvest the corn off the ground.  “That was the most revealing thing to me in my farming career,” Henry says, “that these production practices that we had implemented really were making the crop resilient in a volatile weather pattern, but it still means we’ve still got to work hard and roll our sleeves up to get the work done.”

A new Farm Bill didn’t materialize last year, and Henry is urging our elected leaders to ensure passage of a progressive measure by this fall. “We’re on a one-year extension right now, that does come up I believe in September,” Henry says. “And the question right now is if we’ll have a new bill by that time, or still pass another extension, or if they’ll do nothing, which is a scenario I don’t think anybody wants. I truly hope that both sides can come together and we can get a Farm Bill that’s passed.”

Farmers and consumers shouldn’t be at odds, Henry says, and he calls this a rallying cry where everyone can have a seat at the same table with the common goal of a sustainable future.

(Lewis, Iowa) – Cass County Conservation officials, today (Wednesday) acknowledged a scholarship was awarded to Naturalist, Lora Kanning, by the Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP), ICCS and Iowa Association of Naturalists.

The scholarship will assist Kanning in attending the 2024 National Association of Interpretation, Heartland Region workshop in Council Bluffs, Iowa this April. The scholarship was funded by REAP-CEP. The Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP): Invest in Iowa, our outdoors, our heritage, our people.

REAP is supported by the state of Iowa, providing funding to public and private partners for natural and cultural resources projects, including water quality, wildlife habitat, soil conservation, parks, trails, historic preservation and more.

(Radio Iowa) – A fourteen year old boy has died in a north Iowa farm accident. Howard County Sheriff Tim Beckman says the incident occurred at about 5 p-m Tuesday about 10 miles west of Elma.

Initial reports indicated that a juvenile boy had been pinned underneath a tractor, but Beckman says it appears the family was taking a large steel wheel off the tractor when the steel wheel tipped over on the teen.

The Howard County medical examiner determined his death was accidental.