DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A real estate agents group estimates high quality crop land in Iowa is worth $11,515 an acre. The Realtors Land Institute, made up of people specializing in farm and land sales, management and appraisal, say the average value is up 9.4 percent from September 2012. The Des Moines Register reports northwest Iowa had the most expensive land, at $13,387 an acre.

Those surveyed were asked to estimate average values as of March 2013. The soaring prices are due largely to high prices for commodities, such as corn and soybeans, that have put farmers in position to buy land as well as low interest rates.

Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency say due to increased winds, recent area fires, and lack of rain the last few days, the  Shelby County Fire Danger Index will remain in the “Moderate Category,” until Thursday, May 2nd.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — As family farms sell out to corporations and more farmers move to the city, it’s getting harder for single people in rural areas to find mates. Some are improving their chances with the help of a three-decade old social organization, Singles in Agriculture, that specializes in people like them. The group has members in 16 states, most in the Midwest and West. Unattached farmers, both men and women, get together several times a year in rural communities for dances, bowling or just to talk about agriculture.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency says due to a warming trend, the likelihood of increased winds and a dryer forecast over the next few days, the fire danger rating will be bumped up to “MODERATE,” through Monday, April 29th. The fire danger index had been in the “Low” category for more than a week, because of recent rains.

Controlled burns should be monitored closely, and property owners should contact their local fire chief before any burns are initiated.

Info from the Atlantic Animal Shelter.

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w/ Dr. Keith Leonard

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Onawa, Iowa – The public is invited to the 37^th Annual Loess Hills Prairie Seminar May 31-June 2, at the Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area, northeast of Onawa. There is no fee to attend. There are more than 40 field sessions and programs covering many topics for participants of all ages. The seminar began in 1977 as part of the Western Hills, now Northwest, Area Education Agency’s role in providing education and training for K-12 educators in the areas of conservation, environmental and science education.

The seminar is regularly attended by 250 to 300 adults and students each year. Participants may attend all of or any part of the seminar’s indoor programs or field sessions.  Registration is necessary only if requesting meals or requesting the Missouri River ecology boat tour. Evening programs are held at West Monona High School in Onawa.

Attendees can kick off the seminar by volunteering with prairie management at the Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area by removing shrubs and shade from 9 a.m. to noon on May 31. The project will begin at the campground parking lot. Volunteers should bring sunscreen, bug spray, water, and loppers and hand saw if possible.

                For more information on the volunteer project, contact Doug Chafa, wildlife biologist, at 712-420-2437. The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is sponsored annually by Northwest Area Education Agency, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Monona County Conservation Board, with additional support from many organizations and individuals. For more information, call Gloria Kistner at 800-352-9040, Ext. 6080.

w/ Kate Olson

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Three farm demonstration projects have won grants to work on ways to make farm activities more energy efficient. Carol Yates of the University of Northern Iowa is working with the farmers through what’s called the Iowa Farm Energy Working Group. “The Farm Energy Working Group is a statewide organization of people interested in helping farmers on small to mid-sized operations find new ways to reduce their energy use and try to change from fossil fuel use to other ways of making energy on the farm,” Yates says. “And if those ways can come from resources on the farm, that’s even better.”

Yates works at the U-N-I Center for Energy and Environmental Education and says the alternative energy can come from all types of sources, including solar panels and windmills. One of the projects involves a farmer near Coralville adapting an electric sickle mower to be used with his electric tractor. “Some other farmers who are in western Iowa are going to install some L-E-D lights in their new energy-efficient dairy processing building. And those are the new very efficient lights that use about 75 to 80-percent less energy,” Yates explains. Tom and Janna Feldman will install those lights at “Doe’s and Diva’s Dairy” in Honey Creek. The third demonstration project also involves dairy farming.

“A dairy foundation near Calmar is going to install two robotic milking systems for some of the cows that it has there,” Yates says. “And this will be used as a demonstration to educate farmers on the best practices in dairy operations. And they are going to collect data usage to show — we hope — that these robotic milkers reduce the use of energy and water.” The end goal is to come up with ways to reduce energy use on the farm that can be shared. “These are farm-scale kinds of ideas, and we are very interested in sharing the results with other farmers,” Yates says. She says they share the information in a variety of ways from reports on the data, to presentations by the farmers, to field trips, with the idea that the demonstrations will show ways other farmers can incorporate what they’ve learned in their operations.

The projects are funded through the Leopold Center at Iowa State University. The Iowa Farm Energy Working Group includes farmers and representatives from agriculture, policy, higher education, utilities and farm organizations. For more information on the group, visit: www.uni.edu/ceee/farm-energy-working-group.

(Radio Iowa)

The deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas is prompting questions about regulatory oversight there. In Iowa, officials say fertilizer is only produced at a handful of sites across the state, but many others store fertilizer. Workplace safety in Iowa is overseen by Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement. Administrator Steve Slater says annual inspections aren’t required at most sites that handle fertilizer. “If we have a complaint or a serious injury, they’d certainly fall under our inspection list. But they’re not on a general scheduled inspection list as being a high-hazard industry unless there’s an issue like I just mentioned,” Slater says.

Depending on the circumstances, Slater says the rules may be tighter for plants that process fertilizer. Slater says Iowa has a mostly good track record with fertilizer plants, but the incident in Texas is likely to prompt reviews of regulations nationwide. “This is like the occurrence that just happened in Boston – you can’t predict this stuff – when it does happen, it makes big news and big headlines and provides good opportunities (to discuss) whether we’re doing enough and how we can do things better,” Slater says. Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials say there are at least two existing fertilizer plants in Iowa, located in Fort Dodge and Sergeant Bluff. A third facility has just begun construction in southeast Iowa’s Lee County.

The state Department of Agriculture’s website lists more than 3,000 companies licensed to store, sell or distribute fertilizer in Iowa. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates 700 retail facilities in Iowa that store more than 10,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. Four people died and 15 more were injured when ammonium nitrate exploded at a plant near Sioux City in 1994.

(Radio Iowa)