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Info from the Atlantic Animal Shelter.
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Democrats in the Iowa Senate have voted to hire 13 new state employees to inspect large livestock facilities and they warn that without them federal inspectors may step in. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants large-scale confinements inspected once every five years and the E-P-A is in discussions with the state over how many state inspectors it would take to do the job. Senator Dennis Black, a Democrat from Grinnell, says retaining jurisdiction at the state level is important.
“EPA barks once and then they bite and that was advised to me in a phone call. Whether it was intimidation, whether it was fact, anything else — I could care less,” Black says. “Bottom line is the EPA claims to have drawn the line in the sand and stated: ‘Iowa you will clean up your act. You will see to it that your waters are cleaner.'” Republican Governor Terry Branstad and Republicans in the Iowa House want to hire five new inspectors rather than 13.
This is one of hundreds of budget decisions that must be resolved before the 2013 legislative session concludes.
(Radio Iowa)
The Trustee in the bankruptcy case for G&R Feed and Grain Co., Inc., in Portsmouth, has provided a status update on the disposition of proceeds and sale of the property. Trustee Deborah L. Petersen says she has selected Del Peterson & Associates to auction the real estate, fixtures, machinery and equipment. Del Peterson & Associates is not related to the Trustee. The Bankruptcy Court must approve the employment of the auctioneer.
The Trustee has also filed the Notice of Intent to auction the property by public online auction to be held on June 11, 2013, subject to Court approval. Details are in the Notice which will be sent out by the Bankruptcy Court. Peterson says she has also accepted an offer to purchase the feed inventory and soybean meal on site. The property is intended to be sold to Fred Roane, (doing business as) “Your Feed Ingredients,” for the price of $20,550.00. The sale is without warranty and the buyer will have to remove all items at Buyer’s expense. Again, this sale is subject to Court approval.
Peterson reports that she is also in the final stages of collecting accounts receivable that were due to G & R. She has filed an adversary proceeding against Cargill for the proceeds for the grain delivered in December. Peterson will begin claims review in May and still anticipates an interim distribution to creditors in late summer/early fall, again subject to the Court’s approval. The analysis of pre-petition preference claims and post-petition transfers will be done after the claims are reviewed.
The deadline for filing claims in the Bankruptcy is May 20, 2013. If you have a claim for a deferred price contract, or any other amount due you, you should take action to timely file a claim with the Bankruptcy Court. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has sent out all checks for warehouse receipt holders. The Iowa Department of Agriculture is still processing claims.
If you have legal questions, including how to file a claim, the Trustee advises that you should contact an attorney of your choice.
(9-a.m. News)
An Iowa State University ecologist is unsure how many more people might start hunting bobcats if the Iowa Department of Natural Resources decides to go ahead with a proposal to lift the seasonal quota for the cats. This D-N-R allowed hunters to trap 450 bobcats in Iowa this past season in a limit determined by population data and reproduction rates for the cats. I-S-U professor Bill Clark is one of the people that help gather the data. “I think one of the reasons they chose to propose that is that in practical terms, it’s difficult to regulate,“ Clark says. The season runs until the quota is reached and any bobcats caught after that must be returned to the D-N-R.
“So, one justification in their mind is well, we should just allow the trapper to keep those animals, and if they decide to sell the fur or have a mount made that’s not a waste of the resource,” according to Clark. He says it’s hard to predict if the number of bobcat hunters would increase without a cap, but says he thinks if the season gets out of hand, the D-N-R would reinstate the quota. Clark made his comments on Iowa Public Radio’s “Talk of Iowa” program.
(Radio Iowa)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A measure that would permit the use of all-terrain vehicles on some roads is gaining support in the Iowa Legislature. The Senate Transportation Subcommittee approved the bill Thursday and moved it to the full Senate Ways and Means Committee. It earlier passed the House in a 75 to 22 vote.
The bill would require those who want to drive an ATV on county roads to register for a small fee with the state Department of Transportation. ATVs would not be permitted on highways except on designated crossings. Cities could allow the ATVs on certain highways within their jurisdiction. Critics of the bill say ATVs aren’t made for road travel and passing the law could increase the potential for accidents.
Iowa State Executive Director for USDA Farm Service Agency, John R Whitaker, has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 22 Iowa counties as part of a Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation. Farm operators who have suffered major production and/or physical losses caused by combined effects of freezing temperatures and continuing drought conditions may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans. Other programs may also be made available to assist farmers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) due to this designation.
A Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation has been issued for the following counties:
The Farm Service Agency may make Emergency Loans to eligible family farmers which will enable them to return to their normal operations if they sustained qualifying losses resulting from natural disaster. Physical loss loans may be made to eligible farmers to enable them to repair or replace damaged or destroyed physical property, including livestock losses, essential to the success of the farming operation. For production loss loans, the disaster yield must be at least 30 percent below the normal production yield of the crop, on a crop or crops that make up a basic part of the total farming operation. Applicant must be unable to obtain credit from other usual sources to qualify for the Farm Service Agency Farm Loan Program assistance. Interest rates are based on the date the loan is approved. The current interest rate for emergency loans is 2.375%.
Interested farmers may contact their local County FSA office for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Information can also be found on-line at www.fsa.usda.gov.
Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say it’s been 10 years since the DNR and the Food Bank of Iowa joined to promote a new program to help reduce the size of Iowa’s deer herd, and help Iowans in need receive a healthy meal. The Help Us Stop Hunger (HUSH) program allows hunters to donate any legally harvested deer to a participating locker as a way to encourage hunters to harvest more deer.
Lockers process the donated deer into ground venison in specially labeled two pound packages that are picked up by the local food bank and distributed in the community. HUSH lockers have processed 56,000 donated deer providing more than 11 million meals since the program began. The program exemplifies Iowans helping Iowans. Jim Coffey, who coordinates the HUSH program for the DNR, says “We asked our hunters to harvest additional deer to reduce the herd size and the HUSH program gave them an option to donate the additional venison to help their fellow Iowans in need. We have a lot of lockers who enjoy the program and participate because it supports their local community.” Carey Miller, executive director of the Food Bank of Iowa, said “We are so grateful for this partnership and program,” says . “It has helped put a high protein, low fat product into the hands of hungry Iowans.”
Since its inception, the program served an important role to help reduce the deer herd, but that role will be changing. As the deer population approaches the management goal, the program will not be used as much for population control as it will be for certain situations, like hunters wanting to support their local food bank or for hunters participating in special population management hunts in urban areas or park settings. The Iowa program is viewed nationally as one to emulate and states from Hawaii to Nebraska call on Coffey looking for the recipe to replicate Iowa’s success.
Every deer license sold includes a $1 fee that supports the HUSH program. The program is administered through the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund of the Iowa DNR. Lockers are paid $75 for each HUSH deer processed and participation in the program is voluntary. In 2012, 89 lockers participated in the HUSH program. The Food Bank of Iowa received $5 per deer to pick up and distribute the venison.
More information on the DNR’s HUSH program is available online at http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/DeerHunting/HelpUsStopHungerHUSH.aspx