(Des Moines, Iowa) – You’ll have no shortage of food – favorites and new additions – to pig out on, during the 2o24 Iowa State Fair. Officials today (Tuesday), announced 84 new food selections for you to indulge in, including some out-of-the-box Iowa eats such as a BLT on a stick and bacon cheeseburger egg roll. The 2024 fair begins Aug. 8th.

The full list is available HERE. A food judging contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. July 16. Last year’s “Best new food” contest winner was What’s Your Cheez – Deep-Fried Bacon Brisket Mac-n-Cheese Grilled Cheese.

What’s Your Cheez – Deep-Fried Bacon Brisket Mac-n-Cheese Grilled Cheese

(Des Moines, Iowa/Iowa Capital Dispatch) – State utility regulators have approved a public meeting schedule starting in late August, in which Summit Carbon Solutions will present its significant proposed expansion for its carbon dioxide pipeline system. The company’s initial network of pipe in the state — which runs a total of about 690 miles — was recently approved by the Iowa Utilities Commission, although Summit is barred from starting construction until it has permission to build the system in North and South Dakota. The system might capture carbon dioxide at ethanol plants in five states and transport it to North Dakota for underground storage.

The expansion in Iowa includes about 340 miles of pipe to connect to more ethanol plants. It is the result of Summit inking new agreements with more ethanol producers after another company, Navigator CO2, abandoned its plans for a similar project. Summit has said it has agreements with 30 of the state’s 42 ethanol plants.

Crowd in Fort Dodge for Summit’s hearing before the Iowa Utilities Board (now known as the Iowa Utilities Commission). (RI photo)

The public meetings for the expansions are set to be held in 23 counties, after which Summit can negotiate for land easements and petition for pipeline permits. In southwest Iowa, pipeline expansion meetings will be held :

— Aug. 26th at 6 p.m. in Adams County: Corning Opera House Cultural Center, 800 Davis Ave., Corning
— Aug. 27th at noon in Montgomery County: Red Coach Inn, 1200 Senate Ave., Red Oak
— Aug. 27th at 6 p.m. in Guthrie County: Guthrie County Activity Center, 209 State St., Guthrie Center

Proposed pipeline expansion routes:

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Food System Coalition wants to make locally-produced food the norm, not the exception, and is releasing a 250-page plan to get there in the next decade. One priority in the plan is to make it easier to get food from the farm to the table. That means supporting more local and regional infrastructure, like small-scale processing for specialty crops, grains, dairy and livestock. Coalition executive director Chris Schwartz says more than 40 partners across Iowa helped shape the plan.

“Which details all the things that we think we need to do in the state of Iowa to have a food system that is more local, that is more nutritious, that is more environmentally sustainable, and is more just for people doing the work.” Strategies include improving farmers’ access to land and expanding incentives to adopt practices that protect Iowa’s soil, water and air. Giselle Bruskewitz is the senior program director at Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development.

“We’re talking about small grain processing, rural grocery stores getting the infrastructure that they need,” Bruskewitz says, “vegetables that can be processed at scale so that schools and other institutions can buy them.” She says the coalition also wants to invest in more refrigerated trucks and food hubs, which aggregate and distribute local products.

Iowa’s network of food hubs serves nearly 70% of the state’s counties.

(Radio Iowa) – Thirteen businesses, including one here in Cass County (IA), will get state money this year from a fund designed to help small-scale meat processors. Iowa Economic Development Authority spokesperson Kanan Kappleman says the grants total more than 970-thousand dollars.”Eligible projects under the Butchery and Revitalization Fund would include expanding or refurbishing an existing facility or establishing a new business,” she says. Kappleman says the money is often used for buying equipment.”Refrigeration facilities, freezer facilities, or equipment that is necessary to expand the processing capacity of a facility,” Kappelman says. Kappelman says the fund was created after the need was revealed for these type of processors when the large-scale meat processors were shut down during the pandemic. She says there are just a few requirements to get the grants.

“Number one they would be authorized to do business in Iowa. The second is that they employ less than 75 individuals,” she says. There also some limits on the amount of the grants. “The maximum award amount for any one company was 100-thousand dollars and no more than 50 percent of the eligible project expenses can be made with these grant funds,” Kappelman says.

There were five projects that requested grants that didn’t win awards this year. Locally, Bailey Beef Processing in Anita received a grant for $41,500 toward their total project cost of $83,000. As KJAN News reported in May,The Cass County Board of Supervisors received a request for County participation in helping the Anita Locker receive an economic development grant. Supervisor’s Board Chair Steve Baier said he wrote “a general letter of support” for the grant, because other projects that have flourished under similar grants.

Scot and Cheryl Bailey, along with their son Jackson, own the Anita Locker. Scot and Cheryl appeared before the Board to explain the need for funds to update their facility, especially in light of business coming from the Minden Locker, which had to close due to damage from the April 26^th tornado.

Cheryl Bailey said they applied for a matching grant from the IEDA (Iowa Economic Development Authority) because of the need to improve their freezer capacity.

She said they had also applied for a CIS (Cooperative Interstate Shipping) license, which allows participating state-inspected meat and poultry establishments to ship products across state lines. To qualify for the CIS program, a meat processor must have fewer than 25 full-time employees and comply with all federal food safety, sanitation and facility regulations. Anita Locker has six employees, including two full-time and two part-time, and if the locker can update it’s compressor, that would bring in more business and allow them to hire three-to-four more people.

Here is a list of the rest of the grant recipients with the amount of the project and amount of the grant awarded:
Amana Farms Beef Homestead project cost $16,640; grant awarded: $8,320
Cooks Meat Locker LLC Parnell project cost $200,000; grant awarded: $100,000
Double Dutch Meat Processing, Inc. Pella project cost $200,000; grant awarded: $100,000
Edgewood Locker INC project cost $200,000; grant awarded: $100,000
Friedrichsen Meat Company LLC Sutherland project cost $200,000; grant awarded: $100,000
Grimm Family Farm LLC Williamsburg project cost $176,503; grant awarded: $88,251
Jakes Meat Market Sibley project cost $60,418; grant awarded: $30,209
LDL Investsments Brighton project cost $99,210; grant awarded: $49,605
Northcote Meats Inc. Melcher project cost $200,000, grant awarded: $100,000
Regenerative Food Processing Stacyville project cost $105,350; grant awarded: $52,675
Skoglund Meats & Locker Inc West Bend project cost $200,000; grant awarded: $100,000
The Good Butcher LLC Des Moines project cost $200,000; grant awarded: $100,000

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Fair continues now through Tuesday, in Corning. The Fair began Saturday. See the full schedule of events (HERE) below:

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Fair takes place now through July 15th, in Harlan. You can find a full schedule of events HERE. Some of the highlights this week, include:

• Remembering Our Fallen exhibit/memorial to remember all of the brave Iowa soldiers who have passed from their service in the military. The exhibit will be in Floral Hall at the Shelby County Fair from Thursday, July 11 to Saturday, July 13.
• Open class entries and exhibits for youth and adults in many categories, including: Oven products; Agriculture; Needlework; Hobbycraft; Sewing; Homemade wine and craft beer; Canning; Photography; Genealogy; Floriculture, and Art.
• A baby contest, and,
• Cookout contest

The events conclude July 15th with the Livestock Auction on the Shelby County Fairgrounds.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, in their latest Beach Monitor, say swimming is not recommended at multiple sites in Iowa. In western Iowa, swimming is not recommended at the following lakes:

• Blue Lake Beach at the Lewis and Clark State Park (Monona County)  – due to high E. Coli levels.
• Black Hawk State Park/Black Hawk Beach (Sac County) – high e.coli levels.
• Prairie Rose State Park beach (Shelby County) – high e. coli levels
• Lake Manawa State Park beach (Pottawattamie County) – high e.coli levels.
• Lake of Three Fires State Park (Taylor County) – high e.coli results.

No sampling was done in the Okoboji area lakes due to flooding.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Here’s a reminder about an upcoming meeting in Atlantic, Monday, with regards to a thinning deer population in the region. Iowa DNR State Deer Biologist Jace Elliott says the presentation takes place from 6:30- until 8-p.m., Monday, July 8^th, at the Venue in downtown Atlantic.

Other meetings are being held next week, in Denison, Council Bluffs, and Shenandoah. Elliott says the deer population degradation is not specific to any one county. It’s occurring throughout western Iowa.

He says discussions will be held in eight locations altogether. The week of July 15^th, meetings will be held in Onawa Sioux Center, Sioux City, and Cherokee. Jace Elliott says the discussions will be tailored to the region.

He says you don’t need to bring any materials with you to the meetings. You ARE encouraged to bring your fellow hunters along with you, or at least let them know about the sessions, because input from hunters is needed to determine how the DNR should proceed with helping the deer herd to recover.

The results of questionnaires available at each meeting will be published once all the meetings are completed. He says they have a lot of data to put what’s happened, in context.

Elliott says they’ve made “some pretty drastic changes over the last three-years in southwest and west central Iowa, in terms of reducing county anterless tags and other regulations,” in an attempt to turn around the downward deer population trend. He says the DNR is confident they can revitalize the deer population in a few short years.

Elliott said deer harvest practices that have taken place from the mid-2000’s on, is the main factor which has resulted in the current reduced deer population, but there are other factors as well. “Deer hunting, he says, “is one of Iowa’s most recreationally and economically important traditions. Our goal is to manage deer numbers at a level that is acceptable to our citizens and that supports a quality hunting experience.”

See the schedule below for information on other meeting dates, times and locations. All meetings run from 6:30-until 8-p.m.

• July 9, Denison, at Yellow Smoke Park Lookout Shelter
• July 10, Council Bluffs, at Bass Pro Shops
• July 11, Shenandoah, at the Public Library
• July 15, Onawa, at the Public Library
• July 16, Sioux Center, at Sandy Hollow Clubhouse
• July 17, Sioux City, at Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center
• July 18, Cherokee, at the Community Center Auditorium

(Radio Iowa) – A growing number of Iowa students are participating in target shooting contests. Marty Eby is the shooting sports coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the “Scholastic Clay Target Program” in Iowa. He says the trapshooting championships held in early June are example of that growth. “When we first started this thing back in the mid-2000s, we had a couple of hundred kids. It was a two-day event,” Eby says, “and now 15 years later we’ve morphed into our American Trap, a seven day event with over 3100 participants.”

About 42-hundred Iowa students were involved in the program last year. Youth shooting sports have grown more popular over the the past decade. Nearly all states are participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program. “Through last year, Iowa was the largest SCTP state in the number of participants in the United States,” Eby says. Thirty-six Iowa school districts sent teams to the state Skeet Championships in Waukee last month. The statewide shooting competitions for Iowa community college students will be held in October. Eby says the program’s first priority is teaching the kids how to safely handle a gun.

“Before every practice, before every meet, anytime the kids are going to go onto what we call the field, the ultimate importance is safety,” Eby says. “We ingrain our coaches to hammer that home to the kids so that there are no incidents when we’re on the field.” Students who mishandle their gun are disqualified from competition. All tobacco products and alcohol are banned at events — for students, coaches and spectators. Gun critics raise concerns about the growing popularity of youth shooting sports and argue marksmanship training should be the responsibility of parents, not schools.