• KJAN, Atlantic  .15″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic .28″
• Massena  .32″
• Audubon  .38″
• Oakland  .17″
• Manning  .23″
• Villisca  1.23″
• Logan  .16″
• Creston  .52″
• Red Oak  .27″
• Carroll  .26″
• Clarinda  .85″

w/Kate Olson.

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Des Moines, IA – In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey about 41,000 cattle operations nationwide to provide an
up-to-date measure of U.S. cattle inventories. “This information helps producers make timely, informed business decisions and plan for herd expansion or reduction. It also helps packers and government leaders evaluate expected slaughter volume for future months and determine potential supplies for export,” said Upper Midwest Regional Director Greg Thessen. “Obtaining the current count of cattle will serve as an important decision-making tool for the entire agriculture industry.”

During the first two weeks of January, Iowa producers will have the opportunity to report their beef and dairy cattle inventories, calf crop, death loss and cattle on feed information. To
make it as convenient as possible for producers to participate in the survey, NASS offers the option of responding via the Internet, telephone, or mail. Survey respondents are encouraged to use the new Respondent Portal at agcounts.usda.gov. On the portal, they can complete their surveys, track upcoming surveys, access data visualizations and reports of interest, link to other USDA agencies, and more.

NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents. The information provided by survey respondents will be used for statistical purposes only. In accordance with federal law, responses
will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed in identifiable form. Survey results will be published in the Cattle report to be released on January 31, 2023. These and all NASS reports are available online www.nass.usda.gov/Publications.

For more information, call the NASS Upper Midwest Regional Field Office at (800) 772-0825.

(Radio Iowa) – Anyone who’s ever entertained a cat with a laser pointer will understand the premise behind the latest research at Iowa State University involving lasers and young chickens. I-S-U animal science professor Liz Bobeck found a way to motivate chickens to move around using specially-designed lasers. They project a red dot onto the floor of the pens to stimulate the birds’ predatory instincts, encouraging them to be more active.

“It gives them something else to do in their day-to-day tasks,” Bobeck says. “It gives them a choice to have an option to play, which I think is something that is kind of neat. From a performance and welfare benefit, they are up and moving. They are able to grow faster, better, stronger bones. They have better feed conversion.” That’s especially important because as the chickens approach market weight, they often become more sedentary, but the lasers keep them hopping.

“Our initial work was for four minutes, four times a day,” Bobeck says, “and we move the lasers in kind of a random pattern so the birds feel like they’re chasing something that would be moving at the speed of a bug or an insect that they might like to chase anyway.” An initial concern was that if the birds exercised more, they’d lose weight, but Bobeck says they’re finding the opposite, that the broilers saw improved weight gain and bone density.

“When the birds get up and play with the laser, they actually go to the feeder and to the water, so they spend more time eating and drinking and walking, and then actually growing,” Bobeck says, “and this is translating to really cool benefits as far as meat quality goes.” Laser pointers always carry warnings about how dangerous it can be to gaze into the high-intensity light, but Bobeck says none of the test chickens have wound up visually impaired.

“We haven’t found yet that the birds can figure out where the lasers are coming from since they’re moving,” Bobeck says. “But we also have not seen any issues with birds looking into the laser and becoming blind, and it’s also the safest wavelength for humans. So, our goal is to also not harm any person that will be working in the barn.” I-S-U is working with a livestock lighting company to eventually take this concept to market.

(Radio Iowa) – The annual Iowa State University survey released today (Tuesday) finds the average price of an acre of farmland set a record again at 11-thousand-411 dollars. I-S-U’s Wendong Zhang oversees the survey. “This represents a 17 percent growth over the past year, and this is really phenomenal because that when you’re thinking about over the past few years — last year 2021 Iowa will farmland values rose 29 percent — and so this is a ramp up that is that we haven’t seen since the 1980s, essentially,” Zhang says.

Zhang says the inflation adjusted farmland value was a nearly nine percent increase — which is also a record. He says it is the first time since they since they started collecting information in the 1940s that both the regular and inflation adjust values have set records. He says overall medium quality ground rose the most at 17-point-seven percent, the high quality ground rose about 17 percent, and the low quality ground rose 15 percent. Each county saw an increase. “All 99 counties rose 10 percent or more — so it all rose between 10 percent to about 22 percent,” he says.

Zhang says landowners are happy to see an increase in their land value — but do wonder how long it will last. “There are more growing concerns about the sustainability of the land market growth, and also the elevated entry barriers for beginning farmers and less resource to farmers to enter the market because of the higher prices,” he says. Zhang says commodity prices are the number one reason those in the survey say prices have increased — as everyone was thinking four-dollar a bushel corn would be good — and nobody was expecting corn to get to six and seven dollars. He says there are several reasons for that rise — including the conflict in Ukraine.

Wendong Zhang

“The Russia Ukraine war, the geopolitical uncertainty essentially further pushed up the commodity prices,” he says. “And the strengths and the stability in the U-S market, and the consistency and the quantity of the U-S agricultural markets sort of benefited from that.” He says corn and beans aren’t the only commodities seeing the impact. “This is happening for soybeans and for hay as well. But also this time, we are also seeing tremendous growth in terms of the livestock prices as well. And when you are thinking about especially cattle prices,” Zhang says.

He says this has shown up in the increased growth in land values in the northwest part of the state as there’s a significant presence of cattle producers, and to a lesser extent hogs. He says producers need to have land to spread manure on for nutrient management purposes, so they are more aggressive in bidding nearby grounds.

• KJAN, Atlantic  .51″
• 7 miles NNE of Atlantic  .6″
• Massena  .88″
• Elk Horn  .44″
• Audubon  .48″
• Oakland  .52″
• Logan  .98″
• Villisca  .68″
• Neola  .5″
• Corning  .61″
• Clarinda  .56″
• Shenandoah  .6″
• Creston  .47″

DES MOINES, Iowa (Dec. 12, 2022) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have confirmed a positive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Ida County, Iowa.

The affected site is a commercial turkey flock.

(Radio Iowa) – Some lakes and ponds in northern Iowa already have ice thick enough to support ice fishing, while elsewhere, you can still see open water. Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa D-N-R Fisheries Bureau, says it’s early in the season and Iowans who love ice fishing have to be patient — or head north. Larscheid says Iowans are a hardy people and despite the frigid temperatures, they love ice fishing. He calls the sport “the great equalizer.”

“You don’t need any special equipment,” Larscheid says. “Using the maps that are online at our DNR website, you can find the habitat and the deep-water spots and all of that stuff in ponds. You don’t need a boat. You can go right out to those spots, use your phone to find the exact spot, drill a hole and you’ll be right on top of the fish.” It’s still technically fall, as the first day of winter this year is December 21st. Especially when it’s this early, ice anglers need to make sure safety is their top priority, and there are a few simple rules to follow.

“Go out with a person that you know and trust, and drill a lot of holes as you venture out onto the ice and verify that it’s at least four to six inches thick of clear, hard ice,” Larscheid says. “I, personally, won’t go out until it’s six inches, but four inches of clear, hard ice is considered safe.” He’s quick to add, no ice is 100-percent safe, while new ice is usually stronger than old ice. The D-N-R says river ice is 15-percent weaker than lake ice, while ice with a bluish color is safer than clear ice. Larscheid says ice anglers should never go out alone, and always let someone know where you’re going and when you’ll return.

“It’s good to have a ‘throwable,’ an inflatable thing so if you do fall through, you won’t sink,” he says, “and a rope that a buddy can toss you in case something happens.” The DNR recommends a minimum of four inches of clear ice for fishing and at least five inches for snowmobiles and ATVs. Larscheid also suggests wearing a life jacket, bringing a whistle to call for help, and an extra set of clothes, including gloves. The D-N-R offers a weekly fishing report that’s online at: www.iowadnr.gov.

Jim Field visits with Alicia Herzog, ISU Extension & Outreach Master Gardener Program Coordinator, about the Master Gardener Home Gardening Series beginning in January and ending in March.  To register for the free series of webinars, contact Alicia at 515-294-3627 or mgardener@iastate.edu.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (Dec. 11, 2022) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have confirmed positive cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Cherokee County, Iowa and Buena Vista County, Iowa.

The affected sites are both commercial turkey flocks.

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 at iowaagriculture.gov/biosecurity. 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. An internal temperature of 165˚F kills bacteria and viruses.

Commercial and Backyard HPAI Detections in Iowa