The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it has received scattered reports of dead deer around water sources this summer. D-N-R wildlife research supervisor, Willie Suchy, says they believe the dead deer are due to a disease called E-H-D. “Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, ant it’s a virus that’s transmitted by a biting midge. And in dry years deer get concentrated around somewhat limited water and if they happen to be going to a water source where the midges are around and they get infected, then you can have a more significant die off than that local area and that’s what we’re seeing,” according to Suchy. He says they are asking the public to report any deer that are dead or don’t appear to be acting normally.

He says you should call your local D-N-R officer if you see something like this. “The other thing is we are always on the lookout for animals that are diseased and sick. And right now if it’s E-H-D there’s not much you can do, the disease will take its course. But there are other things we can monitor for,” he says. Suchy says the deaths due to E-H-D don’t pose a major threat to the deer population. “At this point it’s above what we normally would see and this is kind of what we would be expecting with the dry weather,” Suchy says. He says the last big outbreak of 1988 and deer numbers then were down a little bit, but he says they bounce back.

The disease has also shown up in Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri and Michigan. E-H-D remains active until rain disperses the deer or a heavy frost kills the midges.

(Radio Iowa)

An expert on droughts says the one that’s settled over Iowa and most of the region isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Michael Hayes, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center, says a big ridge of high pressure has built up over the central U-S, diverting rain elsewhere. Hayes says Iowa’s long-range forecast calls for hot, dry conditions into October. “Maybe there’s some hope beyond that, but it’s a little bit early to say,” Hayes says. “So, that’s not the best news, certainly. Those are expectations. Those outlooks can change and we certainly hope that’s the case.”

Despite withering crops, brown lawns and shallow waterways across Iowa, Hayes says the drought’s affects are not deep yet, because this is a severe one-year event — at least so far. “If this were to extend into a second year or a third year, then we certainly would have more of those concerns,” Hayes says. While some have made comparisons to the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s, Hayes says this drought is most comparable to the 1988 drought. One unusual note, he says the drought which now grips the entire Corn Belt actually began this past winter.

Hayes says, “What’s been interesting about this drought is we had such warm temperatures over the wintertime and in the early spring that a lot of our soil moisture was already depleted and then that just allowed the temperatures to get pretty extreme across a large part of the central U.S.” The National Drought Mitigation Center is based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

(Radio Iowa)

This Saturday the Living Loess Family Tour features Garden Grove eatery and Harvest Studio for a truly nature filled experience.  In addition to the beautiful vistas of the Loess Hills this time of year, the scent of lavender, the pleasures of aronia berries, wine art, gourmet food, jewelry, and the appreciation of hardwood creations- the July Living Loess Family Tour Day August 18 features the Garden Grove restaurant and Harvest Studio mini-classes.

The Garden Grove restaurant just on the outskirts of Crescent, Iowa, is a local- “you’d better get in line early” favorite.  With mouth-watering menu selections, the Garden Grove is an experience in itself.  Plan ahead this Saturday so as to not miss this unique culinary delight.

An unidentified woman using the art technique which will be taught this Saturday at harvest Studio during the Living Loess Tour 9am-3pm. (Pott. Co. Conservation/photo)

The second opportunity is a special class using charcoal and pastel sticks on large pieces of brown paper.  Using the side of the drawing stick gives more freedom of expression.  Stop by Harvest Studio this Saturday for a free mini class on this technique.  The artist, Cynthia Gehrie, is offering a 10% discount on paintings and prints this Saturday only.  For more details, log onto www.harveststudioonline.com.

Plus, all the traditional Living Loess attractions will be open August 18.  Living Loess is a collaboration of nine artisan attractions located within 20 miles of each other nestled in the Loess Hills in Pottawattamie and Harrison counties in western Iowa.  The group opens its doors every third Saturday of the month from May to October offering programs and discounts to the public.  All nine locations will have special activities Saturday, from 9am-3pm.

Visitors are encouraged to pickup a passport at any of the Living Loess stops.  After the passport is signed by all nine entities, they will be entered into a drawing at the end of the season to win a handcrafted Hope Chest from Loess Hills Wood Works along with products and gift certificates.

Living Loess attractions include: Gallaher Designs, Garden Grove Eatery, Harrison County Historical Village and Welcome Center, Harvest Studio, Hitchcock Nature Center, Honey Creek Creamery, Loess Hills Lavender Farm, Loess Hills Woodworks and Sawmill Hollow Family Farm. The Living Loess Tours inaugural season last year was very well received.  Hundreds of visitors enjoyed this hands-on experience in the beautiful Loess Hills.

The group also offers individual group tours upon request for groups 15 or larger.  To schedule a group tour call 1-800-228-6878.  For more information on Living Loess, log on to www.livingloess.com or call 712-642-2114.  Brochures are also available in the Council Bluffs Chamber Visitor Center, 149 W Broadway in downtown Council Bluffs.

(Press Release – Pottawattamie County Conservation Board)

Chalk up another “W” for Cathy Carter. The Council Bluffs woman captured her 31^st Class A Iowa State Women’s Horseshoe pitching Championship earlier this week, in Des Moines. The Omaha World-Herald reports Carter, a former Class-B Champion who moved up to Class-A this year, won the title 30 years in a row before being sidelined last year by a broken ankle. Her victory during Sunday’s competition came over last year’s winner, Shirley Fletcher, who placed second in the event.

Carter, a lifelong resident of Council Bluffs, owns cleaning business in the community. She’s a winner in another area, as well. Two weeks ago, Carter became engaged to Joe Jones.

Hunting licenses for deer went on sale for the first time Wednesday and a D-N-R spokesman says the number of “deer tags” available is dropping in some areas. Deer research biologist Tom Litchfield, says efforts to reduce the deer herd by increasing the number of female or antlerless deer taken have been successful. “Back in 2003 the availability of antlerless licenses was greatly increased in Iowa, and now in 2012 approximately two-thirds of the counties in Iowa are at the target levels, which was to return deer populations back to the mid to late 1990 levels,” Litchfield explained. Litchfield says the drop in deer numbers will be reflected in the available licenses.

“There’s going to be approximately 13-thousand fewer antlerless only licenses available, and these reductions all occurred in eastern Iowa counties — 20 eastern counties — so there will be fewer antlerless licenses available in those counties,” Litchfield says. He says the cutback is a direct result of the success of the plan to harvest more does to help bring down the overall deer population. “It’s do to our deer herd declining in numbers and being at goal throughout most of the state,” Litchfield says. There will also be a change in the combination of licenses available.

“Starting this year we’re starting to go back to the way regulations were prior to 2006, so for 2012, a hunter who purchases an early muzzleloader license will not be able to purchase an antlerless only license in either of the two shotgun seasons,” according to Litchfield. Not all counties are down to their goals for deer numbers, so Litchfield says the hunting numbers will vary based on regions.”Hunters in the northwestern and the north-central portions of the state will see deer numbers similar to what they saw last year, possibly a few more since we had such a nice mild winter,” Litchfield says. “Throughout the remainder of the state — eastern Iowa, southern Iowa, central Iowa — by and large, what hunters will see are fewer deer than last year because the herd is still declining.”

The D-N-R is also eliminating the Thanksgiving weekend antlerless season and cutting the late January season by one week. You can find out more about the deer hunting seasons and where to buy a license on the D-N-R’s website at: www.iowadnr.gov.

While we’ve seen a few breaks from the hot, dry weather, the worst drought in decades is stressing some of us out and calls to the Iowa Concern Hotline are rising. The service offers information referral, a friendly ear and legal advice, if necessary. Hotline director Margaret VanGinkle says questions lately are about how to handle household finances as prices rise due to the drought. “What happens if we have to pay more for milk and groceries and then the price of gas has gone up, too,” VanGinkle says. “Where am I going to find funds to pay for that when my budget is already pretty tight now?”

Forecasters don’t expect a break from the current weather pattern until October, but some fear the drought could continue well beyond this fall and into next year. Van Ginkle says callers are worried about the potential for a prolonged drought. She says, “If there is a shortage of rural water and they’re being asked to cut back on water with their livestock, how does that effect the operation especially on those really hot days, just a concern that might happen.”

Once known as the Rural Concern Hotline, the service was launched by the Iowa State University extension in 1985 to offer advice to struggling farmers during the Farm Crisis. As the name now implies, VanGinkle says the Iowa Concern Hotline is not exclusive to the agriculture community. The number is 800-447-1985. Phone calls are free and confidential.

(Radio Iowa)

The man at the State Fair who handed President Obama a pork chop says he asked the president to boost the amount of protein required in school lunches. Current U-S-D-A guidelines call for school lunches to account for one-third of the recommended daily intake of protein and Greg Lear of Spencer, the president-elect of the Iowa Pork Producers, says kids need more than that. “Because 1.5 ounces is not enough protein for grade school kids when, for 30-40 percent of these kids, it is their major meal of the day,” Lear says. Lear calls protein “brain food” and he says students need bigger portions of it in their school lunch.

“If he’s going to eliminate something, eliminate carbs or other processed sugars,” Lear says. “And I told him the future of our kids are at stake.” Lear was volunteering at the Iowa Pork Producers stand on the fairgrounds Monday evening when President Obama visited the Fair. Obama took one of the chops Lear offered him, then Lear got to talk to the president. “First thing I brought up I thanked him for the $100 million purchase of pork to use in school lunch programs and this kind of stuff,” Lear says. “…But also told him it was a drop in the bucket for the losses that appear to be coming at the independent hog producers in Iowa and the United States and that we needed more help.”

Lear also asked the president to support a temporary suspension of the Renewable Fuels Standard that requires a certain level of ethanol production. Lear says that would help pork producers struggling with high feed costs by freeing up some of the corn supply for livestock rather than ethanol.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Kansas City, KS, office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday, that EPA Region 7 representatives will meet with livestock producers on Thursday, August 30, at the American Legion Hall (210 W. Head St.), in the Carroll County community of Arcadia. During the meeting, which runs from 6:30-to 8:30-pm.,  the EPA’s inspection program for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), winter feeding areas, aerial overflights, medium-sized CAFOs, nutrient management plans and manure stockpiles will be discussed.

EPA staff will also review the selection of CAFOs for inspection, flyover practices and details about CAFO on-the-ground inspections.  In addition, there will be an opportunity for attendees to interact with EPA officials during a question-and-answer session led by Shawn Shouse, of Iowa State University Extension. The EPA says it is working with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa State University Extension, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources to encourage livestock producers’ attendance.

The Cass County Conservation Board says they will be holding a “Mysterious Monarchs” program at the Main Campground at Lake Anita State Park in Anita, on August 31^st. The free, public program begins at4:00 pm, and offers you a chance to discover the Monarch Butterflies before their journey south.

Conservation staff will tag monarchs, and show you how you can do the same. If you would like a home tagging kit, you must attend and pre-register for the Kit. Call 712-769-2372 to pre-register for your kit. You DO NOT have to be a registered camper to attend the program.