DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Emergency grazing is now allowed in 25 Iowa counties as a result of an emergency drought declaration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Emergency grazing authority is limited to livestock producers who have suffered pasture losses due to ongoing drought conditions in the 25 counties. Farmers will take a 10 percent conservation reserve program payment reduction for grazing CRP acres under the emergency provisions.

Beginning August 2nd, all Iowa counties will be eligible for emergency haying and grazing of CRP acres under an expanded declaration announced by Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack this week. Producers must request approval of emergency grazing and obtain a modified conservation plan from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Hunters in Iowa shot a record low number of pheasants last year. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates 109-thousand pheasants were harvested in 2011 — the fewest since record keeping began in 1962. DNR wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz was expecting the numbers to be low following five winters with above average snowfall and five wetter than normal springs. “Was I expecting the harvest to be this much lower? No, probably not, I was figuring around 150,000 to 200,000 would probably be our harvest,” Bogenschutz said. The estimate is based on a random survey of hunters.

Harvest estimates were highest in northwest Iowa. The DNR will conduct a roadside survey over the first two weeks of August to gauge what hunters can expect this year. Bogenschutz is predicting a significant increase in pheasant numbers. “Based on field reports from staff, seeing broods this year, obviously this is probably our best production year in the last six,” Bogenschutz said. “We had good winter survival of the hens that were there. That was key.” The 2012 pheasant and quail hunting seasons will open October 27.

The DNR also reports an estimated 57,285 mourning doves were harvested during Iowa’s inaugural mourning dove hunting season. Around 9,000 resident and nonresident licenses were purchased for dove hunting. “This second year, I would suspect maybe we’ll see both of those bump up. We’ll have some more hunters and that will lead to additional harvest,” Bogenschutz said. “Our staff is kind of learning the ropes on dove management, so we have a few more actively managed areas out there for doves that hunters can use.” The 2012 mourning dove hunting season is tentatively scheduled to begin on September 1.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Kate Olson

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The U.S. House this afternoon (Tuesday) is scheduled to debate legislation that would forever ban federal officials from regulating the work kids and teenagers do on American farms. Iowa Congressman Tom Latham, a Republican from Clive, is the bill’s sponsor. “Growing up on a farm myself and understanding how important it is to learn the operations of the farm, the responsibilities, to get the skills that you need,” Latham says, “it’s very important that kids are able to help out.” Last fall Department of Labor officials proposed regulations that would have prohibited kids under the age of 16 from operating “power-driven” equipment like tractors.

No one under the age of 18 would have been allowed to work in grain silos or handle pesticides. This past February the agency proposed an exemption to allow children to work on their own family’s farm, but then, in late April, Labor Department officials tabled the entire set of rules “for the duration of the Obama Administration.” Latham says it’s important for congress to act to kill the proposal for good. “I think that for family farms they want certainty to know that the Department of Labor (officials) sometime in November aren’t going to come back in November and say, ‘This rule is now in place,'” Latham says.

Safety advocates argued the rules would protect children from dangerous labor on farms, and they cited data indicating that of the 16 U.S. children under the age of 16 who died of work-related injuries in 2010, 14 of them were working in agriculture. Critics of the rules cited other data indicating the number of child injuries and deaths on American farms declined in the past decade. Latham argues officials in the Department of Labor showed a “total misunderstanding” of what family farm operations are. “They have no clue,” Latham says. “…I would say that, you know, a child who has never had (and) is prohibited from actually helping on a farm to understanding machinery, understanding livestock, is much more vulnerable and does not have the skills nor the experience later on, then, could actually cause a more dangerous situation.”

This spring Iowa Senator Tom Harkin said he was disappointed the department had walked away from regulations that were, at the core, about protecting children and which could have been revised to correct some of the concerns that had been raised.

(Radio Iowa)

U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says House Republicans need to quit stalling and vote on a Farm Bill that would reinstate expired disaster assistance, providing help for farmers suffering through the worst drought in almost a quarter-century. Vilsack announced Monday that virtually all farmland enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program has been released for haying and grazing of livestock, plus haying and grazing will be allowed on Wetland Reserve Program easement areas in drought-impacted areas where it won’t set back conservation goals. Speaking late Monday afternoon at an event in Mason City, Vilsack said the condition of the crops nationwide is continuing to decline rapidly. 

“Our latest crop report that was issued just minutes ago indicates our challenge — 35 percent of the nation’s soybean crop now in poor to very poor condition; 45 percent of the nation’s corn crop now in poor to very poor condition; and nearly 55 percent of our range and pasture land rated poor to very poor condition,” Vilsack said. “That is a challenge for American producers and for all those whose livelihoods are tied to what happens on the farm.” Vilsack is asking Eric Cantor, the Republican leader in the U.S. House, to bring the 2012 Farm Bill up for a vote immediately, as the bill h3as passed the U-S Senate and includes livestock disaster assist3ance programs.

“The majority leader Eric Cantor has suggested he has his finger on the pause button. As I’ve said many times, I wish he would take his finger off the pause button so I don’t have to put my finger on the panic button. I think producers are beginning to be concerned about this because we have until September 30th to have a new (Farm Bill),” Vilsack said. “…People say, ‘Well, maybe they could extend the existing (Farm Bill).’ The problem with that is it will not revive the current livestock programs.” Vilsack accuses House Republican leaders of delaying help to the nation’s farmers. “The House, as I understand it, adjourned a day early last week because they didn’t have anything to do,” Vilsack said. “Well — Farm Bill, now. Pretty simple.” According to Vilsack, speedy passage of the Farm Bill would provide farmers and ranchers with some “predictability” in the midst of all the uncertainty caused by the drought.

“They’re planning on taking a five-week recess,” Vilsack said of congress. “I don’t know of a single farmer who in the midst of harvest when there is work to be done stops the combine and says, ‘You know what? I’ll just take a couple of weeks vacation and the work can always get done later. This has got to get done and there is no better time to do it than now.” Last week during a public briefing in the White House, Vilsack said he was getting on his knees every day and praying for rain. A leading atheist group took issue with Vilsack’s statement. The leader of the Council for Secular Humanism said Vilsack was sending the wrong message to distraught farmers by suggesting prayer was the best response. During an event Monday afternoon in Mason City, Vilsack was asked by a reporter if he had any response. “I’m still praying,” Vilsack said. Vilsack visited Soy Energy in Mason City and spoke to members of the Iowa Biodiesel Board. Earlier in the day Vilsack visited the Cedar Rapids area and toured a farm near Center Point.

(Radio Iowa)

The nation’s largest food distributor has joined a growing list of restaurants and retailers urging pork producers to stop using gestation stalls for sows. Sysco executives released a written statement Monday, saying they take the company’s role as a “responsible corporate citizen very seriously” and would “work diligently with suppliers to ensure humane treatment of animals.” Sysco is the largest food distributor in the country, with over 40-billion dollars in sales last year in the U.S., Canada and Ireland. The president of the Humane Society of the United States says a growing list of food-service companies from McDonald’s to Costco are conveying a “no confidence vote” in gestation crates for pigs. Pork producers say the stalls keep the sows safe, as pregnant pigs are often aggressive and get injured in fights, but major players in the pork industry like Cargill and Smithfield are phasing out the use of gestation stalls.

 The National Pork Producers Council accuses what they refer to as “radical animal rights groups” of having the “goal of ending food-animal production in the U.S.” The pork producers also accuse the Humane Society of “not telling the truth about animal care” on America’s family farms.

(Radio Iowa)

A deer at a hunting preserve in south-central Iowa’s Davis County has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). The disease is fatal to deer and Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesman, Kevin Baskins, says that’s why it’s important to keep on top of the situation. “Well there’s always a concern about the spread of it, but the good news is that this particular animal was contained. It’s not like it was just a deer that was just roaming wildly and had a lot of exposure to other wild deer,” according to Baskins. “I think at this point we’re just going to have to look at this particular facility and what can be done there to contain it as much as possible.”

It’s not know how long the deer had been at the facility and where it came from.  “No, I think that’s what we are going to be talking to the owner about, trying to trace back the history of this particular animal,” Baskins says. C-W-D can also be found in elk and deer and involves a protein in the brains of the animals, leading to symptoms that include weight loss and abnormal behavior. Baskins says tests are conducted on thousands of captive animals each year. “This particular facility, there’s been a hundred and 17 deer in the last five years tested – including 43 in the last year — and this was the first positive detection that we have had of Chronic Wasting Disease in that particular herd,” according to Baskins.

The state began taking samples from hunters in 2000 to test the wild population of deer after the disease was confirmed in surrounding states. The state tested just over 43-hundred deer during last year’s hunting seasons. “Nothing has turned up at all so far, but I think what you’ll also see too is that we’ll be increasing the number of deer tested in that immediate area to make sure that it didn’t get into the wild population,” Baskins says. while the disease is deadly to deer, the D-N-R says there is no evidence that C-W-D can spread to humans, pets or domestic livestock such as pork, beef, dairy, poultry, sheep or goats.

(Radio Iowa)

4-H BUCKET CALF SHOW RESULTS

GRAND CHAMPION 4-H BUCKET/BOTTLE CALF—Mallorie Wookey

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION 4-H BUCKET/BOTTLE CALF—Jordyn Figgins

BEEF SHOW RESULTS
CHAMPION ANGUS BREEDING HEIFER—Clay Jordon
RESERVE ANGUS BREEDING HEIFER—Abby Pendleton

CHAMPION CHIANINA BREEDING HEIFER—Connor Hultman

CHAMPION SHORTHORN PLUS BREEDING HEIFER—Easton Hultman

CHAMPION COMMERCIAL BREEDING HEIFER—Hannah Sunquist
RESERVE CHAMPION COMMERICAL BREEDING HEIFER—David Sorensen

GRAND CHAPION BREEDING HEIFER—Hannah Sunquist
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION BREEDING HEIFER—Easton Hultman

CHAMPION COW-CALF PAIR—Maria Pendleton
RESERVE CHAMPION COW-CALF PAIR—Quinn Sheldon

CHAMPION HEIFER FEEDER CALF—Austin Sorensen
RESERVE CHAMPION HEIFER FEEDER CALF—Clay Jordon

GRAND CHAMPION FEEDER CALF—Austin Sorensen
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION FEEDER CALF—Clay Jordon

CHAMPION MARKET HEIFER—Connor Hultman
RESERVE CHAMPION MARKET HEIFER—Hayden VanMeter

CHAMPION BEGINNER BEEF—Carter Bruce
RESERVE CHAMPION BEGINNER BEEF—Sam Lindgren

CHAMPION HOME RAISED STEER—Tony Klocke
RESERVE CHAMPION HOME RAISED STEER—Karlee Fisher

CHAMPION PURCHASED STEER—Kara Gillespie
RESERVE PURCHASED STEER—Hunter Poston

GRAND CHAMPION MARKET ANIMAL—Kara Gillespie
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION MARKET ANIMAL—Connor Hultman

CHAMPION BEEF RATE OF GAIN—Hunter Poston
RESERVE CHAMPION RATE OF GAIN—Tony Klocke

CHAMPION SENIOR SHOWMAN—Kara Gillespie
CHAMPION JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE SHOWMAN—Hayden VanMeter

CHAMPION BEGINNER SHOWMAN—Easton Hultman

CHAMPION OVERALL BEEF SHOWMAN—Kara Gillespie

4-H AND FFA LIVESTOCK JUDGING CONTEST
FFA TEAMS
1.     CAM FFA                951
2.     RED OAK FFA            858
3.     RENO SMITH FFA (Villisca)    857
4.     ATLANTIC FFA            843
FFA INDIVIDUALS
1.     Caitlin Paulsen        CAM        332
2.     Ethan Wessling        CAM        315
3.      Ali Hosfelt            CAM        304
4.      Kara Gillespie        RENO SMITH    301
5.      Jon Sands            RED OAK    300
6.      Steven Wright        ATLANTIC    294
7.      Mikayla Dolch        RENO SMITH    292
8.      Haley Woods            Red Oak        292
9.     Travis Herzberg        Reno Smith    285
10. Kory Schmelzer        Corning        284

MONTGOMERY COUNTY 4-H RESULTS

JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE TEAMS

1.    GRANT SPITFIRES                    848
ROB VIAL, HANNAH VIAL, COLE CARLSON, CONNOR HULTMAN
2.     LINCOLN HUSTLERS                    791
ALEC SELBERG, HAYDEN VanMETER, RYAN LUNDGRAN, KATIE VanMETER
3.     BUCKAROOS                        782
SHELBY STORESUND, MARIAH LOMBARD, JESSA DAVIS, JUSTIN BERNARD

JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE 4-H INDIVIDUALS
1.     CONNOR HULTMAN        295
2.    ROB VIAL                     286
3.    CARTER BRUCE            282
4.    COLIN BRUCE                 279
5.    KATIE VanMETER            272
6.    RYAN LUNDGREN            268
7.    COLE CARLSON            267
8.    JESSA DAVIS                264
9.    ALEC SELBERG            251
10.    MARIAH LOMBARD        249
SENIOR 4-H TEAMS
1.     SHERMAN OVERALLS #2            855
ALEC THOMAS, CARTER BRUCE, MARGARET HOUSTON
2.    SHERMAN OVERALLS #1            801
GRANT VRBA, COLIN BRUCE, TANNER ALLENSWORTH

SENIOR INDIVIDUALS
1.    ALEC THOMAS            315
2.    KARA GILLESPIE            301
3.    GRANT VRBA                282
4.    SHELBY STORESUND        269
5.    MARGARET HOUSTON        258
6.    TANNER ALLENSWORTH    240

4-H AND FFA SWINE SHOW RESULTS

GRAND CHAMPION MARKET BARROW—Macy Elwood
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION MARKET BARROW—Daniel Swanson

GRAND CHAMPION MARKET GILT—Ragen Anderson
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION MARKET GILT—Macy Elwood

GRAND CHAMPION MARKET HOG—Macy Elwood
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION MARKET HOG—Daniel Swanson

GRAND CHAMPION DERBY BARROW—Kyle Olson
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION DERBY BARROW—Kylee Johnson

GRAND CHAMPION DERBY GILT—Matthew Truka
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION DERBY GILT—Madalyn Johnson

GRAND CHAMPION DERBY PIG—Kyle Olson
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION DERBY PIG—Kylee Johnson

GRAND CHAMPION RATE OF GAIN PIG—Kylee Johnson
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION RATE OF GAIN PIG—Madalyn Johnson
CHAMPION SWINE SENIOR SHOWMAN—Daniel Swanson
RESERVED CHAMPION SENIOR SHOWMAN—Kyle Olson

CHAMPION JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE SWINE SHOWMAN—Reese Anderson
RESERVE CHAMPION JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE SHOWMAN—Hannah Vial

CHAMPION BEGINNER SHOWMAN—Madalyn Johnson
RESERVE CHAMPION BEGINER SHOWMAN—Kaylee Jacobs

CHAMPION OVERALL SHOWMAN—Daniel Swanson