Officials with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Wednesday, report the Guthrie County Agri Drain Corporation in Adair, has been named the “Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneuer Award” winner for February, 2013. The IFBF says Agri Drain, founded in 1976, has played a vital role in helping generations of farmers manage water and reduce erosion. The company operates an 80,000 square foot manufacturing company and provides jobs for more than 50 people, many of them, longtime employees.

The IFBF says the company’s farm tile innovations, erosion control products and drainage systems make them a leader in the industry. Renew Rural Iowa (RRI) is an IFBF initiative supporting new and existing businesses through education, mentoring and financial resources. The next Renew Rural Iowa Business Success Seminar takes place March 5 at Iowa Central Community College in Ft. Dodge. For more information, go to www.renewruraliowa.com.

An animal rescue operation group is in the process of trying to find new homes for four horses that were found emaciated on a Fremont County farm. The one Arabian and three quarter horses were confiscated from a farm near Farragut, on Monday. Sheriff’s officials and a local veterinarian visited the farm late Monday afternoon, after they received a telephone tip.

The veterinarian examined the horses and determined they had been neglected. Two of the animals were said to be several hundred pounds underweight. A 22-year old man who released the animals while authorities were making arrangements to have them removed from the property, was cited on suspicion of interfering with official acts and livestock neglect. The unidentified man was taken to jail, plead guilty Tuesday, and paid a fine.

The horses were removed from the land by court order. Their current location has not been disclosed. Anyone interested in adopting the animals can call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424. Hooves and Paws Rescue of the Heartland is trying to find homes for the horses.

Officials with the Cass County Extension Service and other state/local partners, invite area farmers and the public to attend an informational presentation this Friday, Jan. 25th, from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), on Laws and Regulations that affect your farming operation. Janelle Kracht, District Field Manager for Iowa Corn, says  “The laws and regulations change all the time. It is important to share up to date information and this is directly from the DOT, so farmers can ask questions.”

The free presentation takes place 2-PM Friday, at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic (805 W. 10th Street). A question and answer period will follow the presentation for any farmers who have questions related to specific rules and regulations. Presenting partners for the event include the Iowa Corn Growers Association, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, the Iowa Soybean Association, Cass County ISU Extension, and the local Cass County Corn and Soybean Association.

There is no cost to attend, no preregistration required and the meeting is open to the public. Questions in advance of the event should be directed to Janelle Kracht at 515-229-9980.

Results of an annual poll show many of the state’s farmers believe farmland is overvalued and the market bubble will eventually burst. J. Gordon Arbuckle, co-director of the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, says nearly 13-hundred (1,300) farmers were asked a series of questions about land values and prices. An overwhelming number pointed to one major reason for the recent surge. “High grain prices, which really are the major drivers of land price increases right now, were the highest rated factor,” Arbuckle said. Around 90-percent of the farmers surveyed cited grain prices as a “strong or very strong influence” in land prices. Arbuckle, an Iowa State University sociologist, said he found the response to one survey question troubling.

“From an economic stand point, if something is more valuable, you would think that you would take better care of it. But, what we found was that almost 50 percent of the farmers disagreed with that statement and said they did not believe that the increase in land values were leading to a greater commitment to soil conservation,” Arbuckle said. The Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll has been conducted by a number of agricultural agencies since 1982. It’s the longest running survey of its kind in the nation. In the 2012 survey, the average age of the farmers who responded was 64.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with Shelby County DevelopSource are inviting area farmers to a workshop in February designed to help families begin the conversation and put together a plan, on transitioning farms from retiring, to beginning farmers. The discussion and information will be held at the Shelby County Center of Iowa Western Community College, during a two day Farm Succession Conversation and Planning Workshop on February 8^th and 9^th. The workshops are planned as a multi-generational event for exiting owners and spouse and succeeding owners and spouse.

Workshops are held on consecutive days to allow for the initiations of conversations and written plans. The Succession Conversation and Planning workshop will feature several guest speakers including David Baker from Iowa State University and John Baker, Beginning Farmer Center Administrator and Attorney at Law. Over the two days, participants will review the retirement plan concept and receive information on transfer plans, estate plans and a process for creating a family statement of intention. Family groups will be given time to write a statement of intent and vision of the future.

The workshops will be held from noon to 8pm on Friday, the 8^th and 9am to 3pm on Saturday, the 9^th. Cost of the two day event is $150 per family of four, $25 per each additional person and includes refreshments and meals for both days. Interested Beginnings Farmers and Retired Farmers can register by contacting Jane Nielsen at Shelby County DevelopSource at 712-755-3569. Registrations must be received by Friday, January 25^th.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Iowa bicycling enthusiasts may not be able to do much pedaling in the freezing cold right now, but they’ll be flocking by the thousands to Des Moines later this week for the Iowa Bicycle Summit. Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, says it’s actually three big events rolled into one weekend. “We have the Iowa Bicycle Summit which is our education conference,” Wyatt says. “We train people to build trails and teach people how to install bike lanes and build better bicycling facilities into communities. The second thing we have is the Iowa Bike Expo which is our big outdoor enthusiast’s place to see new gear, new bicycles and find new destinations to vacation with your bicycle next summer.”

The third event is the Route Announcement Party for the annual RAGBRAI, a statewide ride that draws more than 10-thousand cyclists from across the world every summer. Wyatt says this statewide summit event at the Iowa Events Center continues to grow every year. “We’re actually setting a record for the Iowa Bicycle Summit at 140 people so far registered, so that’s outstanding,” Wyatt says. “The Iowa Bike Expo, last year we had great weather and had about 3,000 people attend. We have over 90 vendors that are going to be present to talk about bikes and gear and destinations.”

Iowa has some two-thousand miles of bike trails, with some of the longest continuous trail systems in the country. “Over half of Iowans, and we have 3-million Iowans, over half own a bicycle,” Wyatt says. “They may not ride them but certainly we know people have access to bicycles. It’s not too difficult to see the large increases in the amount people bicycling, especially with the introduction of a lot of trails and bike lanes and other infrastructure we have that really make it easy to go out and enjoy yourself.”

Learn more about the events on Friday and Saturday at www.bikeiowa.com.

The Trustee in the bankruptcy case of G & R Feed and Grain Company, Inc., in Portsmouth, provided another update on the matter Thursday evening. According to Deborah L. Petersen, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has accepted bids for the sale of all stored grain. Each producer with a warehouse receipt for stored grain will receive a letter in the next couple of weeks from the USDA. Producers can expect to receive a check for their stored grain from the USDA within 4 – 6 weeks after all grain is removed. At this point, there is no action for producers to take with the USDA.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture has sent letters to producers who sold grain to G & R. The letter indicates that holders of signed credit-sale contracts do not qualify for payment from the Iowa Depositors and Seller Indemnity Fund, but you may qualify for other partial payments. Producers who sold grain for cash or who sold grain on an unsigned contract, who were not paid, may qualify
for the Indemnity Fund and may receive up to 90% of their claim, with certain limits. These producers may proceed to file their claims with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, as well as with the Bankruptcy Court.

G & R filed complete schedules in the Bankruptcy Court and all creditors and contract holders should have received a notice from the Bankruptcy Court. The Notice contains information on how to file a claim with the Bankruptcy Court. If you have a claim for a deferred price contract, or other amount due you, you should take action to timely file a claim. If you have a contract for future delivery of grain, you will soon receive notice of rejection or assumption of that contract, as the Trustee will not be fulfilling those contracts, but may have offers to purchase them.

Once the decision is made, the Trustee will file the necessary notice with the Court and all holders will receive notice of the Trustee’s action. Contracts that are rejected, once approved by the Court, will have no further action required. If contracts are assumed or sold, then the producer will be required to fulfill the contract. The Trustee is gathering other information and working on liquidating all assets as soon as possible, as well as collecting all accounts due G & R. The Trustee has a recorded message that will be updated regularly. You can hear this message at 712-328-8808, option 8. If you have legal questions, including how to file a claim, the Trustee advises that you should contact an attorney of your choice.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say the annual $25,000 Winterfest Ice Fishing Derby is set to take place one-week from this Saturday, near Council Bluffs. The event will be held at Lake Manawa State Park, Saturday, January 26th from 7-a.m. to 1-p.m., with derby participants fishing for the biggest fish they can catch, as well as tagged fish worth up to $25,000.

Numerous door prizes will be given away as well as prizes for the biggest fish in youth and adult categories of bluegill, catfish, crappie, drum, walleye and wiper. Prizes will also be given for a chili cook-off and ice house decorating contest.

Volunteers are busy preparing for the derby and excited that the ice is seven to eight inches in most places on the lake! Shannon Meister, chair of the Winterfest Ice Fishing Derby Committee, says while several hundred people have registered so far, there is still plenty of room for more. Registration will be open the morning of the derby from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for $20 per person.

“Recycled Fish” will host an Ice Bash Friday, January 25th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for food, ice fishing tips, seminars and door prizes at the Hy-Vee on Broadway. For more information and ice conditions, surf the web to www.winterfestderby.com.  Or, contact the Lake Manawa State Park Office at (712) 366-0220.

w/ Max Dirks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS