(Radio Iowa) – The updated Iowa Drought Monitor shows 97 percent of the state is in drought or near-drought conditions. Much of the state is in severe or extreme drought. The area of extreme drought in eastern Iowa goes from the border with Minnesota to the Missouri border. It includes the northeast Iowa cities of Cresco, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids and the areas around Mount Pleasant, Bloomfield and Ottumwa in southeast Iowa. The area of exceptional drought also sweeps through central Iowa and over to Aububon and Cass Counties in western Iowa.

Iowa Drought Monitor map issued on 12/28/23 (Image courtesy of NOAA/NCEI)

There are only three areas of the state that aren’t in some level of drought or exceptionally dry conditions. One area is in the eastern edges of Jackson, Clinton and Scott Counties that abut the Mississippi River. The others are in northwest Iowa in the parts of Plymouth and Woodbury Counties that border the Missouri River as well as where the four corners of Cherokee, O’Brien, Clay and Buena Vista Counties meet.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is third in the country among states for raising and milking goats. Extension Dairy specialist Fred Hall calls goats a gateway livestock enterprise, similar to chickens.  “People have chickens in a little barn on the back side of the property because they can,” he says, “they can afford to buy the hatch eggs and take care of them and they have table eggs and maybe sell it dozens of the neighbors. That’s a gateway to doing something else. Goats are the same thing.”
He says it allows people to get into the milk business at a much lower cost than buying cows.

“You can afford to get started. You can learn sanitation, you can have a healthy quality product. You can make cheese, you can drink the milk, you can make yogurt,” Hall says. Hall says he’s seen the goat gateway lead to bigger things. “I’ve seen several different families start out you know, Dad maybe was a carpenter or whatever. And now they’re milking ten does and you know, it’s a lifestyle for them,” he says.He says goats have another advantage over cows.

“Goat milk has a higher yield. If you are going to use it for cheese, make the cheese from goats’ milk, you’ll have more cheese from goats,” he says. Hall and I-S-U Extension recently held some information sessions for those interested in getting into goat milking.

(Lewis, Iowa) – You’re invited to join the Southwest Iowa Soil Health (SWISH) group for the second meeting of their winter meeting series. The meeting in Atlantic on Jan. 3, 2024 will feature T.J. Kartes with Saddle Butte Ag. T.J. will be talking about how cover crops can fit into every operation. He will discuss how to get started, how to move forward, and when and how to adapt the plan. Come prepared with all your cover crop questions. The event takes place at the Wallace Learning Center at the Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm near Lewis (53020 Hitchcock Ave.), from 10-a.m. until Noon on Jan. 3rd.

The meeting is free and open to everyone, so feel free to bring guests. Reservations are not required to attend (note that lunch is not provided but light snacks may be available). If you have questions about the SWISH group, please reach out to Aaron Saeugling, ISU Extension and Outreach Field Agronomist for Southwest Iowa, at 712-243-1132 (or e-mail clonz5@iastate.edu) .

DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield has announced that the Agency is hiring two Climate Change Fellows in Iowa to help with the record number of applications from farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses seeking funding for clean energy projects under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). USDA is hiring a total of 40 Climate Change Fellows nationwide.

Greenfield says “Iowa ag producers and small business owners are investing in clean energy systems through the REAP program. Their investments are climate smart and will lower their energy costs. These non-partisan positions will help handle the renewable energy portfolio within Rural Development. The Biden-Harris Administration is working to lower energy costs for Iowans.”

The new positions are being funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, and they are part of the USDA Climate Change Fellows Program, which hires new staff with a range of skills to carry out USDA’s activities to address climate change and find solutions to agricultural challenges, enhance economic growth and create new streams of income for farmers, ranchers and producers.

Three of the new positions will report to USDA Rural Development’s national office. To apply, visit this USA Jobs posting.

Initial appointments may be for up to two years. Additional one-year extensions may be made up to four years. Most states will receive additional funds, announced at a later date, to provide REAP technical assistance in addition to these staffing positions.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A Crop Advantage meeting to provide a solid foundation of current, research-based crop production information, will be held Jan. 18, 2024, in Atlantic. The meeting at the Cass County Community Building (805 W. 10th St.) is designed to help crop producers make smart, informed decisions for their farming operation. The event is hosted by ISU Extension and Outreach. Topics are selected for each meeting site pertaining to field and growing conditions in those areas. Visit www.cropadvantage.org for more information and to register.$75 early registration ends at midnight, Jan. 11th. Late, or on-site registration is $100.

Crop Advantage is supported in-part, by an Iowa Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Professional Development Program mini-grant. Other sponsors include the Iowa Corn and Soybean Associations.

The schedule for the Crop Advantage session in Atlantic is as follows:

8:30 Registration opens
8:55 Welcome – Aaron Saeugling, extension field agronomist
9:00 Grain bags in western Iowa: Bagging profit or storing problems? – Tony
Mensing, extension field agricultural engineer (CM)
10:00 Windbreak School: Establishment, management, and renovation – Billy
Beck, extension forestry specialist (SW)
10:50 Break
11:00 Soybean gall midge – Ashley Dean, extension education specialist,
Entomology (PM)
12:00 Lunch (provided)
12:50 Impacts of cereal rye on nitrogen cycling and crop production: Benefits,
challenges, and potential solutions and opportunities – Richard Roth,
extension nitrogen science specialist (NM)
1:50 Growing season 2024: Current conditions, a final 2023 summary, El Niño
implications and climatological outlooks – Justin Glisan, State Climatologist
of Iowa (CM)
2:50 Break
3:00 Crop markets in 2024: Can we get back to normal? – Chad Hart, extension
crop marketing specialist (CM)
4:00 Iowa Private Pesticide Applicator Continuing Instruction Course.
Additional fee applies. Applicators must attend the entire meeting
to receive recertification credit. – Aaron Saeugling, extension field
agronomist
5:00 Meeting adjourns

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Farmland Value survey showed a shift this year in the county with the highest land value. I-S-U’s Rabail Chandio oversees the survey.  “O’Brien [County] was the was the highest value county last year, this year, it has switched to Sioux County, but still in the northwest,” she says. Scott County in eastern Iowa had held the top spot for farmland value for many years before it recently switched to the northwest. Chandio says another shift saw lower quality ground in southern Iowa top the list for increases in dollar value. “Some of the southern counties, although in value (land quality) they are the lowest, they saw the highest increase in land values,” Chandio says. She says the increase in the southern farmland value is tied to uses outside of farming.

“So a lot of demand, investor demand for southern land comes from recreational use from hunting from these kinds of factors. And if you’re going to buy land for hunting, the land quality, the grain prices or the commodity market or the farm sector is not really as big of a factor in your purchase or your pricing of land, ” she says. Chandio says the southern counties have lagged behind other counties in price increases because the normal land value issues don’t impact them as much.

“The northern counties are the rest of the state more so is more affected by the farm environment or the farm economy which is why it’s reacting first,” Chandio says. “But that’s always been the case that the South has a little bit of lag.” Chandio says the purchase of land for recreational uses like hunting hasn’t change the overall profile of land buyers. “The major buyers of farmland still remain the farmers. Last year this number was 68 percent. This number has it has increased even more at 70 percent,” she says. “So 70 percent of all farmland purchases are done by existing farmers, local or relocating. And then 24 percent of the purchases are attributable to investors, which include both local and non local investors.”

Chandio says the investor activity is higher in the southern part of the state and the investors say their primary reasons for buying land are more recreational.

(Radio Iowa) – If you are looking for a way to help others in the New Year it can be as simple as adding a little extra to your garden. Iowa State University’s Katie Sorrell oversees a program that helps raise vegetables for food banks, and says you can do your part as well. “Find your local food pantry and ask them what produce items their clients like. So depending on who is coming to the food pantry, they might have specific needs maybe their clients really like hot peppers, or maybe their clients love beets. Or maybe their clients love onions,” Sorrell says.

The “Growing Together Iowa” program she coordinates grows thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables, but . Sorrell says your contribution of a few pounds would help. “You could grow an extra row or plant a row specifically for your local food pantry. And also, if you have a home garden, I would just encourage you when your garden comes in strong right, when your zucchini just keep coming and coming, reach out to your local food pantry and donate it because it will be used there,” she says.

Sorrell says fresh vegetables are one of the most requested items at food pantries. She says donated produce frees up money for food bank clients to use on other things.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release rainbow trout in 10 locations across Iowa this winter in areas that would not support them during warmer months. Winter trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their first fish. A family-friendly event is paired with each stocking to help anglers have success and fun while fishing. The popular program is supported by the sales of the trout fee. Anglers need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10.

Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily limit.  They can buy a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit. Winter trout stocking events are dependent on favorable weather and safe ice conditions. Check the DNR Trout Fishing website at www.iowadnr.gov/trout for possible changes to the schedule.

2024 Winter Community Trout Stocking Schedule

Jan. 13, Bacon Creek Lake, Sioux City, at 1:30 p.m.

Jan. 13, Blue Pit, Mason City, at 11 a.m.

Jan. 19, Big Lake, Council Bluffs, at 3 p.m.

Jan. 19, Moorland Pond, Fort Dodge, at Noon

Jan. 27, Lake Petocka, Bondurant, at Noon

Feb. 3, Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake, Ames, at Noon

Feb. 3, Triumph Park West and East, Waukee, at Noon

Feb. 10, Terra Lake, Johnston, at Noon

Feb. 10, Scharnberg Pond, Spencer, at Noon

(Atlantic, Iowa) – On Wednesday December 6th, members of the Atlantic FFA participated in the Iowa Cattlemen’s Foundation Beef Extravaganza. Team members Lola Comes and McKenna Sonntag placed 6th overall, while team members Callee Pellett, Claire Pellett and Colton Becker placed 7th and finally Brock Henderson and Joaquin Wailes placed 11th. Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller. The seven members of the Beef Extravaganza team would like to thank the following individuals for helping with the teams preparation. Dr Nathan Hansen at Anita Vet Clinic, TS Bank employees, Abby Becker and Dan Rosell, Jim Skardvdt, Mike Henderson and the Cass County Cattlemen for paying the entry fee for our contest.

Team member Claire Pellett said, “It was an incredible opportunity to learn more about the beef industry in an engaging and hands-on way. We were put into real life situations and were challenged to develop our skills in many different aspects. I was excited to compete in the contest again this year and was impressed by the growth we made.”

The Beef Scholarship Extravaganza is a unique contest open to high school juniors and seniors that focuses on the student’s knowledge and skills in ten different areas of the beef industry. Teams worked through ten 30-minute stations with 10-minute breaks between each station. Atlantic FFA member Lola Comes commented, “McKenna and I got the opportunity to compete in the Collegiate Cattlemen Beef Extravaganza. It was an extremely challenging contest, but I learned many valuable skills for my future. We dedicated a lot of our time, but I am very passionate about the beef industry. I am excited to compete again next year!

In station one, Health and Handling, Team members were tested on effective stockmanship for handling of cattle and proper health related practices included, but not limited to, proper vaccination procedures and protocols, dose administration and equipment selection, parasite control, castration procedures and other health related practices essential for the beef industry and animal welfare.

During station two, Nutrition, team members evaluated the body condition score of four cows and then assisted the station judge in balancing a feed ration for a real life scenario. To prepare, students learned about body condition scoring, cattle nutrient requirements, the nutrient values of feedstuffs, and how to use that information to determine what diet will be the best for the exercise.

Station three focused on Marketing. This station required contestants to calculate yield and quality grades for carcasses, determine the value of a carcass, and determine values for lots of cattle. Team members should know the degrees of marbling necessary to achieve a final quality grade, assuming that all marbling calls are derived from A maturity carcasses. Students must also be able to use adjusted fat thicknesses, ribeye areas (sq. in.), hot carcass weights, and KPH% (values provided) to calculate final yield grades.

Station four was the Seedstock Merchandising station. Team members demonstrated how to incorporate performance information, pedigrees, and phenotypes into a private treaty sales situation. Judges acted as buyers and team members had to identify the buyer’s needs, concerns, and goals in order to “sell” the bull or bulls.

Station five was the Keep-Cull Replacement Heifer station. During the first part of this station team members evaluated expected progeny differences (EPDs) and visually appraised live cattle in order to choose four out of eight heifers to keep that would best fit the production scenario given to contestants. The scenario addressed the objectives and marketing scheme of the operation along with other management information. In the second component teams answered questions about the set of heifers and their EPDs as well as their phenotypical features.

At station six, Job Interview, each student prepared a cover letter and resume and participated in a mock interview with an industry professional. By participating in this station, young people had the opportunity to explore career choices in the cattle industry.

Station seven, Beef Industry Issues and Advocacy, gave team members the opportunity to give a presentation shedding a positive light on an area of the beef industry. Subjects may have included Modern Beef Production, Animal Care, Beef Safety, Beef Nutrition, Environmental Stewardship, and The Beef Checkoff.

The Reproduction station is often considered the most difficult station of the contest. Students were tested on their knowledge of calving management practices such as pre-calving preparation, process of parturition, dystocia, equipment involved in reproductive practices, synchronization techniques, artificial insemination, embryo transfer and other technologies in this field.

In the Credit and Finance station team members were provided with the experience of organizing, preparing, and participating in a mock loan request. Teams met with financial officers and presented a description of a project along with completed financial data in support of the loan request. The project consisted of selecting one of three scenarios: purchasing 100 head of yearling steers to feed out, purchasing 20 bred cows to start a cow/calf business, or purchasing 100 head of heifer or steer calves.

The final station is the Beef Management Challenge. This station allowed students to tie information gained from the other stations of this competition together. This station was an informal discussion between team members and a judge, who assumed the role of a manager who needed advice about his or her cattle operation. The team members assumed a role of a hired consultant to provide advice for the fictitious beef enterprise.

Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller said, “Overall I was extremely happy with how both teams performed. This contest is basically taking ten college sophomore level tests in a row. This contest is very demanding and took a lot of practice.”

(By Atlantic FFA reporter Lily Johnson) – Officials with the Atlantic FFA report 11 members of the FFA traveled to Ankeny on Dec. 2^nd, to attend the Ignite and Amplify FFA Leadership Conference. FFA members from all over the State attended the event which taught them about leadership and student development. Those in attendance from the Atlantic Chapter of the FFA included: Addison Freund; Claire Schroeder;, Maddy Anderson; Mia Kloewer; Braden Wood; Lauren Comes; Keston Schmidt; Frank Freund; Collin Harris; Lily Willrich; Claire Comes, and Addalyn Sonntag.

The IGNITE Conference focused on the Endless Opportunities in agriculture and the FFA, including: Careers in Agriculture What’s Behind Door number1, and Discovering FFA Opportunities. The next workshop was Fuel Up! Managing Emotional Fuel Tanks. Common Ground workshop was learning Diversity & Similarity Among FFA Members. Next is Pay It Forward learning how Servant Leadership and Service Planning can help our community and finally, Follow the Leader: Leading with Integrity.

IGNITE Conference team: Front Row Left to right Front to back Front Row Braiden Wood, Frank Freund, Claire Schroder, Maddy Anderson, Mia Klever
Back Row Keston Schmidt, Lauren Comes, Addison Freund,

The AMPLIFY Conference focused on student development. This year the conference focused on Purpose: Connect. Care. Create. Establishing a purpose as a daily practice and draft a leader purpose statement. Discovering how people are connected to purpose and identify their talents. Members also learned to discover what it means to live to serve as a leader and examine methods for serving others while pursuing purpose, all while Identifying the value in practicing practical self-care as a leader and discovering the difference between living with purpose and completing action items.

To wrap up the conference, each member drafted a personal purpose team and identified how to live out a purpose plan at home.

Amplify Conference members: Collin Harris, Lily Willrich, Addalynn Sonntag and Claire Comes

FFA Advisor Eric Miller said, “These conferences are important to help develop the kind of leaders that we need in our school and community. I am glad the Iowa FFA provides us with the opportunity and the students are so willing to give their time to become better leaders.”