(Radio Iowa/IDALS) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture says two positive cases Avian Influenza are confirmed in Woodbury County. The cases are both in backyard mixed species flocks. There have now been 17 cases reported in the last two months.

Commercial and backyard flock owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds. Sick birds or unusual deaths among birds should be immediately reported to state or federal officials. Biosecurity resources and best practices are available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship website. If producers suspect signs of HPAI in their flocks, they should contact their veterinarian immediately. Possible cases must also be reported to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at (515) 281-5305.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the recent HPAI detections in birds do not present a public health concern. It remains safe to eat poultry products. As a reminder, consumers should always utilize the proper handling and cooking of eggs and poultry products, including cooking to an internal temperature of 165˚F.

About HPAI
HPAI is a highly contagious viral disease affecting bird populations. HPAI can travel in wild birds without those birds appearing sick, but is often fatal to domestic bird populations, including chickens and turkeys. The virus can spread through the droppings or the nasal discharge of an infected bird, both of which can contaminate dust and soil.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University’s Extension Department has grants available for organizations to use to grow vegetables for food banks. Katie Sorrell is the coordinator for the “Growing Together Iowa” grant program. “Communities either start a garden or they convert a previous community garden. And all of the produce grown at these gardens is donated to local food pantries, along with nutrition education materials,” she says. Sorrell says Grow Together was created after they got a grant to educate people on the SNAP program, which used to be known as food stamps.

“Back in 2016, we were brainstorming how can we combine this nutrition education grant we have along with the Master Gardener Program. And that’s where we dreamed up this growing together Iowa program” Sorrell says. “So it’s been going on, this will be our eighth year as we enter into 2024.” The funding from the U-S-D-A provide for grants of up to four-thousand dollars. “The county extension office staff work closely with Master Gardeners and with staff at the local food pantry, and usually they create a new garden, whether that’s with raised garden beds or an in-ground garden, specifically for that donation piece,” she explains. Sorrell says the food grown in the gardens is popular.

“When we asked food pantry clients, what would you most like to see in the food pantry? Like what foods would you most want to have? Fresh fruits and vegetables are almost always at the top of the list because all cultures use fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s not tied with a certain culture,” she says. Sorrell says having the fresh fruits and vegetables at the food pantries gives people a healthy option, and it frees up food dollars they can spend on other items. They had 33 Growing Together Iowa county projects in 2023. “And they donated to 100 pantries. And you won’t believe this, they donated 103-thousand pounds of fresh produce to local pantries,” Sorrell says.

December 18th is the deadline to sign up. You can find the application on the I-S-U Extension website.

(Radio Iowa) –  The Iowa Environmental Council has found Iowans will pay 333 million dollars over the next five years to remove nitrates from drinking water supplies if nitrogen pollution rates don’t change. Alicia Vasto is the water program director for the Iowa Environmental Council. The group has reviewed data from the state agency that issues permits for construction and operation of livestock confinements. “Our report outlines the costs of agricultural pollution, particularly from livestock operations here in Iowa, for everyday Iowans,” she says.

Vasto says the costs are eye-popping and include treatment for life-threatening health conditions. “Nitrate pollution is linked to increased incidences of cancer and a report just earlier this year found that Iowa has the second highest rate in the nation for overall cancer incidence,” Vasto says, “so there’s a growing body of research that is saying the drinking water standard for nitrate is not actually protective enough for these long term health risks.”

A Stanford University study found the risk of premature births doubled among women whose drinking water contained nitrates. The Iowa Environmental Council’s report concludes every Iowan is paying direct or indirect costs associated with nitrates. “When the nutrients in that manure or in that fertilizer can’t be taken up by plants, it leaves the farm fields and enters in our waterways,” Vesto says, “so that contamination can be very costly in terms of health care costs or drinking water costs, but also just costly to quality of life.”

According to the U-S Environmental Protection Agency, more than 250 new livestock confinements were built in Iowa in 2022. The Iowa Environmental Council cites state records which indicate there are more than nine-thousand a animal feeding operations in Iowa of various sizes. “There can be major spills or leaks from manure storage systems,” Vesto says, “but most of the contamination that is problematic is from the application of manure to farm fields.”

Vasto notes that every state agency is reviewing all state rules and regulations and that includes the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which oversees confined animal feeding operations. “We should be keeping in mind that when we loosen regulations, costs will increase for everyday Iowans,” Vasto says, “but if we increase enforcement and regulations we can help prevent some of those costs.”

It costs a lot to remove nitrates from drinking water. It costs the Des Moines Water Works 10-thousand dollars a day to operate its nitrate removal facility when nitrate levels are high.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  The Cass County Extension office is again hosting continuing instructional courses (CICs) for local commercial pesticide applicators, but wants to remind anyone who has yet to attend the training that all CIC training must be completed by the end of December to keep a license current. To avoid conflicts with year-end scheduling, Cass County Extension is requiring that all training dates be scheduled by Friday, December 15^th.

“We know year end is a busy time for all, and we don’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to attend their annual required training, as time to meet those annual requirements is getting short,” shared Kate Olson, Cass County Extension Director. “We do offer trainings on a first-come, first-serve basis, and our hours will be slightly different during the holidays, so we’d like to remind folks to call and get their classes scheduled before our year-end calendar fills up.”

According to Olson, reshow dates can occur after December 15^th, as scheduling allows, but they must be on the calendar before then to be honored. To ensure a spot on the training schedule, applicators needing to complete CIC for the year are asked to call as soon as possible if they have a preferred training date, but no later than Friday, December 15^th at 4:30 PM. Applicators calling after this date will NOT be placed on the training schedule.

Training dates can be scheduled locally by calling the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or by emailing Office Manager Lori Anderson at lander@iastate.edu. For more information on the Commercial Pesticide Applicator program or the CIC classes, please visit www.extension.iastate.edu/psep/.

(Iowa DNR News) – The Iowa DNR is working with hunters again this gun season to collect deer tissue samples to test for chronic wasting disease. So far this year, tissue samples from eight individual deer are suspected positive for the always fatal disease. Hunters interested in participating in the surveillance effort are encouraged to contact their local wildlife biologist to arrange for sample to be collected. If the sample quota has filled, the DNR will assist them in submitting their sample through the hunter submission system, in partnership with Iowa State University. Submitting a sample through the hunter submission system comes with a fee of $25.

Chronic wasting disease has been found in 16 Iowa counties, including Fremont, Greene and Woodbury, in the western part of the State. If hunting in an area where chronic wasting disease has been found, hunters are encouraged to hold the deer meat separately until the test results are available. Hunters can check the results online at the Iowa CWD dashboard at www.iowadnr.gov/cwdresults. If a hunter’s deer tests positive, the DNR will contact them to offer to collect the meat and any other parts of the animal for proper disposal.

Hunters in areas where the disease has been found need a plan for carcass disposal. The DNR recommends a trash service or landfill that accepts deer carcasses. If that’s not possible, they recommend leaving the deer carcass on the property where it was harvested. The idea is to avoid accidentally transporting the disease to a new area, and responsible carcass transport is the best way to prevent it.”

Virtual meeting

The Iowa DNR is hosting a virtual public meeting on chronic wasting disease on Nov. 29, at 7 p.m., when staff will provide an update on the science of the disease, its status in Iowa, and current management efforts. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and staff will answer as many as time allows. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Interested individuals can register through the link https://bit.ly/IowaDNR-CWD.

(Iowa DNR News) – Iowa’s most popular hunting seasons are less than two weeks away when more than 100,000 blaze orange clad hunters will be walking, posting, sitting and standing in Iowa’s timber and field edges hoping to tag an Iowa deer. The first deer gun season is Dec. 2-6; the second deer gun season is Dec. 9-17. The good news is, that Iowa’s deer population is stable to slightly increasing across much of the state, with the exception of certain parts of northwest, west central and southwest Iowa. Jace Elliott, state deer biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says “The gun seasons are the most popular of all of our hunting seasons, a lot of great tradition and memories are made during this time. These two seasons also play an important role for our deer herd management with more than 50 percent of the total harvest typically occurring during these 14 days in December.”

In 2022, hunters reported harvesting 109,600 deer and Elliott is predicting a similar harvest this year. So far in 2023, more than 25,000 deer have been harvested, which is slightly higher than each of the last two years’ harvest up to this point. While hunter success in earlier seasons has been good, Mother Nature can play a role when hunting opportunities are much shorter. Cool weather with snowfall on opening day leads to higher harvest; warm weather with rain leads to lower harvest. The way too early forecast calls for above normal temperatures.

Method of take for the gun seasons

Over time, the type of firearm allowed in the gun season has expanded from the original shotgun-only, to include muzzleloaders, handguns and, most recently, rifles. Rifles shooting expanding type bullet with a maximum diameter of no less than .350 of an inch and no larger than .500 of an inch with a publish or calculated muzzle energy of 500 foot pounds or higher are allowed as a method of take in the gun season. The hunting regulations has a list of allowable cartridges that has generated the most questions. Based on the recent deer hunter survey, the method of hunting during the gun season is split nearly 50-50 between hunters who prefer drive hunting (pushing deer towards hunters on post) and those who prefer stationary hunting (sitting in a tree stand, ground blind, etc.).

Changes to deer seasons

• The antlerless deer quota has been adjusted in 24 counties.
• The Population Management January antlerless-only season will be offered in Allamakee, Winneshiek, Decatur, Appanoose, Monroe, Lucas and Wayne counties if the number of unsold antlerless licenses on the third Monday in December exceeds 100 tags. This season allows the use of any legal method of take, including shotguns, handguns, muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows, and center-fire rifles .223 and larger.
• The Excess Tag January antlerless-only season will be held in any county that still has unsold county antlerless tags by January 10. Only centerfire rifles .223 caliber and above are allowed during this season.
• A new requirement for hunters who harvest an antlered deer is reporting the length of the main beam of each antler.

Phone use while hunting

Reminder to hunters that the use of cellphones, one or two-way radios to communicate the location or direction of game or furbearing animals or to coordinate the movement of other hunters is prohibited. Outside of very few and specific exceptions, modern technology, including social media and instant messaging apps, is not allowed to assist with the hunt. Hunters are encouraged to keep their phone on their person and not in a backpack for safety reasons.

Be sure to report your harvest

Hunters who harvest a deer are required to report their harvest by midnight on the day after it is tagged or before taking it to a locker or taxidermist. The hunter whose name is on the transportation tag is responsible for making the report. If no deer is harvested, no report is necessary. Successful hunters have the option to report the harvest by texting the registration number to 1-800-771-4692 and follow the prompts, through the Go Outdoors Iowa app, online at www.iowadnr.gov, by phone at the number listed on the tag, or through a license vendor during their regular business hours.

Main beam antler length added to harvest reporting requirement

Beginning this year, Iowa deer hunters who harvest a buck will have a quick, additional piece of information to report as part of the harvest reporting requirement – the length of the main antler beam. Specifically, hunters will be asked if the main beam length is below or above 14 inches, but will not be required to provide the exact length. This information will provide buck age structure to the DNR’s harvest data, producing a better overall picture of Iowa’s deer herd from year to year.

Online hunting atlas

Hunters have an online tool that may improve their in-field experience, even before opening day. The Iowa hunting atlas is an interactive map that shows all available public hunting land that is managed by the state, county or federal governments. The atlas is online at www.iowadnr.gov/hunting. A mobile version is also available. A click on an area will show basic information like size, habitat type and likely species available.

Deer donation program

The Iowa DNR, the Food Bank of Iowa and 34 meat lockers are participating in the Help Us Stop Hunger program for 2023. Hunters are encouraged to contact a participating locker before they harvest a deer to see if the locker has any additional drop off instructions. Hunters may also sign up as a deer donor with the Iowa Deer Exchange at www.iowadnr.gov/deer then scroll down to Iowa’s Deer Exchange Program link. There, donors can provide their information on what they are willing to donate. The database creates a map and table with information deer donors and deer recipients can use to get connected.

There are currently 23 hunters registered who are willing to donate deer, and 287 registered recipients wanting venison. Hunters and recipients who had previously registered for the Deer Exchange Program should review their information to make sure it is still accurate and active. There is no cost to participate. It is illegal to sell wild fish and game in Iowa.

DES MOINES – Today (Thursday), Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the signing of a disaster proclamation for Sioux County, Iowa effective immediately through December 23, 2023. The USDA has confirmed a positive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial layer chickens. 

This proclamation allows state resources from Iowa Homeland Security, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and other agencies to assist with tracking and monitoring, rapid detection, containment, disposal, and disinfection. The proclamation also waives regulatory provisions related to commercial vehicles responding to affected sites. 

The recent HPAI detections in birds do not present an immediate public health concern, and it remains safe to eat poultry products. If producers suspect signs of HPAI in their flocks, they should contact their veterinarian immediately. 

(Radio Iowa) – Quad Cities-based Deere and Company is wrapping up its fiscal year on a high note. Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is releasing its fourth quarter earnings, reporting net income of more than two-point-three billion dollars for the quarter, up from two-point-two billion at this time last year.

A Deere news release says worldwide net sales and revenues fell one-percent for the quarter and rose 16-percent for the year. The statement says Deere’s being driven by solid market conditions, differentiated products, and strong execution.