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Industrial hemp grower numbers drop again

Ag/Outdoor, News

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The growing of industrial hemp has not taken off as some envisioned when it returned to Iowa fields in 2020. Lane Kozel with the Iowa Department of Agriculture says the number of growers fell again this season. “Believe last year, we dropped to 45. And this year, we had 33, licensed growers. Of those 33, 26 growers actually planted a hemp crop. So we’re down to about 26 growers this year,” he says. “So it’s been cut in half every year since the program was started.” Kozel says one of the factors is the cost of the inputs and the amount of manual labor needed to properly cultivate and grow a crop .

“I don’t think there’s a market for it as well, I don’t think that’s been established is to help out or growers either,” Kozel says. The processing needed to extract the C-D-B or to create seeds, for grain or fiber has not taken off in Iowa. “Once it grows and there’s no place to go with it — that’s kind of leads to people not being interested either,” he says. Many other states also approved industrial hemp programs, and he says that created a lot of product. “You know, there’s been talked as long as it’s programs and going people have been, sitting on previous crops. C-B-D, that seemed to be the big boom, in previous years. And I think the market is saturated with that,” Kozel says. “And so until we can find some uses for some fiber and some grain, I think it’s going to stay where its at.” Kozel says there needs to be development of processing to use the hemp to make it worthwhile for growers to invest in.

“When we first started the program, I mean, everyone’s got, you know, great ideas with hemp concrete and housing, building material and clothing and what have you, but there’s just none of that going on right now, to my knowledge,” according to Kozel. “I’m sure there’s some small businesses in the country that are making him closing blue jeans out of hemp and things like that. But far as an Iowa, there’s nothing.”

The industrial hemp is required to pass a test that shows it has a T-H-C level below three-point-nine percent. The crop has to be destroyed if it can’t meet that standard. Kozel says everyone passed the test this year.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Red Oak man arrested on an Assault charge; 1 arrested on a warrant for FTA

News

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police report that at around 12:55-a.m. today (Thursday), 30-year-old Michael David Sinnott, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 600 block of Carter Drive. He was taken into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault by Impeding Air Flow. Sinnott was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail. And, at around 6:32-p.m. Wednesday, Red Oak Police arrested 41-year-old Troy S. Williams, of Red Oak, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Williams was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Posted in News |

Corning woman arrested on drug charges

News

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Adams County, Iowa) – A woman from Corning was arrested on drug charges December 30th, following a traffic stop on Highway 148 at Joshua Tree Road. Upon a probable cause search being conducted on the vehicle, 18-year-old Molly Bagby was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She posted a $1,300 cash bond, and was released from the Adams County Jail.

Posted in News |

SUSAN “SUE” JANE IRLBECK, 74, of Avoca (Funeral Mass 1/9/23)

Obituaries

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

SUSAN “SUE” JANE IRLBECK, 74, of Avoca, died Tuesday, Jan. 3rd, 2023, at the Nebraska Medical Center. A Funeral Mass for SUE IRLBECK will be held 11-a.m. Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, in Avoca. Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Avoca has the arrangements.

A Rosary at the funeral home will take place on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, from 5-until 5:20-p.m., followed by the family greeting friends from 5:20-p.m. until 7-p.m.

SUSAN “SUE” JANE IRLBECK is survived by:

Her husband – Allen Irlbeck, of Avoca.

Her son – James Irlbeck, of Avoca.

Her sisters – Barb (Rennie) Weinbrandt, of Davenport; Betty (Tim) Habnab, of Cedar Rapids, Renee (Bruce) Bierstadt, of Des Moines and Gail Linde of Fort Dodge, Ia.

Her brothers – Dennis (Sharon) Linde, and Bruce (Molly) Linde, all of Ft. Dodge.

4 grandchildren & 2 great-grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

No. 16 Iowa women need more balance

Sports

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder says the Hawkeyes need more scoring balance. Junior guard Caitlin Clark and senior center Monica Czinano combined for 56 points in the 16th ranked Hawkeyes’ Sunday loss at Illinois. They also took 44 of Iowa’s 64 shots.

Bluder says other players need to step up.

The Hawkeyes need Gabby Marshall to get involved. The senior guard is averaging only four and-a-half points per game and shooting just 20 percent from three point range.

The Hawkeyes visit 14th ranked Michigan on Saturday.

Posted in Sports |

Iowa’s Fran McCaffery talks Patrick McCaffery and Indiana

Sports

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Iowa will be shorthanded tonight (Thursday night), when hosting 15th ranked Indiana. Junior forward Patrick McCaffery has stepped away from the team to deal with anxiety. He was averaging nearly 13 points per game.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says Patrick is still with the team.

McCaffery says there is no timetable for Patrick’s return.

Iowa is 0-3 in the Big Ten and will host a Hoosier team that is expected to contend for the league crown.

With Patrick out, sophomore Payton Sandfort will get more playing time. The Waukee native is shooting only 21 percent from three point range.

Posted in Sports |

House leader a thumbs down on move to fill Natural Resources & Outdoor Rec fund

Ag/Outdoor, News, Sports

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The top Republican in the Iowa House says the 2023 legislature is unlikely to fill a state fund created to finance water quality and outdoor recreation projects. In 2010, Iowa voters passed a constitutional amendment creating the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund where money from a FUTURE sales tax increase would be deposited. Last year, Senate Republicans proposed a maneuver to fill that fund, by converting all local option sales taxes to a statewide one percent sales tax.

House Speaker Pat Grassley says about 50 cities and counties, though, do not have a local option sales tax, so it would be an increase in those areas.  “Now I know there are people that want to offset it and different conversations,” Grassley says, “but at the end of the day, it could cost somebody something.” In early 2020, Governor Kim Reynolds proposed a one cent sales tax increase as part of a plan that put money in the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Fund AND reduce state taxes overall, however the proposal drew some G-O-P opposition and was tabled once the pandemic hit.

The 2023 legislative session begins Monday.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News, Sports |

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Thursday, 12/5/2023

Weather

January 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: Mostly cloudy this morning; P/Cloudy this afternoon. High 31. NW @ 10-20 mph.
Tonight: Fair to P/Cldy. Low 15.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. High 38. SE @ 10 mph.
Saturday: Mo. Cldy w/light snow or flurries. High 32.
Sunday: P/Cldy. High 35.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 29. Our Low this morning was 25. We received .3” of snow from 7am Wed. thru 5:30-a.m. today. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 14 and the Low was -3. The Record High on this date was 62 in 2012. The Record Low was -26 in 2010.

Posted in Weather |

Atlantic’s City Administrator discusses legislative property tax matters

News

January 4th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

[updated] (Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic breezed through part of their agenda Wednesday night, until City Administrator John Lund’s report. Lund was of the opinion, following a legislative briefing, that “Rural Iowa is really, kind of like under siege right now.”

He said there are no concrete proposals that he’s aware of, but…

He say working on the valuations with the Business Property Tax  Credits, “We saw a colossal loss in our taxable valuation.”

Lund said since he became City Administrator, Atlantic has only raised the levy once.

The only reason the City went down from the 27-cents was because the 2021 assessments “Were massive, and the City saw a lot of property taxes from that. It was really difficult to justify keeping that capped. So we lowered that down to five-cents.” He was planning on having it phased back in over the years, but at this point, he said, “We’re gonna need those resources sooner than we think, [because] between the inflation and the rhetoric at the Statehouse” and a possible levy freeze, rural communities will have to find ways to tighten their fiscal belts.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett said a property tax reduction may sound good to anyone who owns property…

She encouraged other Mayors from around southwest Iowa to go to the Iowa State House and make sure the legislators are comparing “apples to apples,” when it comes to cutting property taxes, especially when there is such a large population on the eastern side of the State, and a lesser, more rural population on the western side of the State.

In other business, the two candidates for the Parks and Rec Director are slated to be interviewed in-person. One of the candidates – John Wyatt Adderton, from Savannah, Georgia, will be here on Friday. He’s a Park Ranger, and his spouse is an airline pilot. Michelle Spunaugle – the other candidate – also has experience as a Park Ranger. She lives in Villisca and will be interviewed separately,

Posted in News |

State stocks five lakes with thousands of cold-water loving rainbow trout

Ag/Outdoor, News, Sports

January 4th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will stock rainbow trout in five urban lakes and ponds this month for anglers who enjoy winter fishing. Mike Steuck, the D-N-R’s regional fisheries supervisor for northeast Iowa, says trout get stressed in warmer water and can even die if the temperature is too high. “They don’t like temperatures higher than 70,” Steuck says. “So they’ll quit feeding. They act a little funny and they try and seek out colder water sources.”

Steuck says water temperatures are much cooler now, in the 30s, so it’s an ideal time for the D-N-R to stock the trout — and for Iowans to seek them out by casting a line. “We want people to catch them right away,” he says, “and take them home and see how good fish are to eat and see how much fun fishing is.”

Steuck says the DNR will stock one-to-two-thousand trout in lakes in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Mason City and a few other locations. He says people catch the fish generally within a month after they’re stocked.

(reporting by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News, Sports |