(Radio Iowa) – Shoppers looking for their favorite cuts of meat should soon see plenty of them. Beef and pork production are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels after disruptions this spring when outbreaks of COVID-19 sent workers home and meat plants cut production. Farmers and feedlots had to leave animals on site longer than expected, but livestock economist Derrell Peel says now very few beef cattle remain backed-up. “It’s taken the rest of the summer and here into the fall to sort of catch up,” Peel says. “I think we are largely caught up at this point, the indications are that we have largely addressed the backlog.”

Most backlogged pigs have also made it to market. Despite estimates claiming millions of market-weight hogs might be euthanized and not reach the food supply, the actual numbers were much lower. Farmer Mike Paustian of Walcott, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, didn’t lose any of his hogs. “There were some big numbers getting thrown around about what potentially, how many pigs might have to be euthanized,” Paustian says, “and when it was all said and done, that ended up being far, far fewer pigs than what a lot of people were expecting.”

Paustian says he bought extra barns so he could house big pigs longer. He and others also changed the animals’ diets so they could eat without gaining weight. About 65-thousand market-weight pigs were killed on farms in Iowa. Reports say two-thirds of those belonged to one company.

(Reporting by Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)

MARION, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa park will be renamed to honor a Keskwaki activist, removing a derogatory term that has long been part of the park’s name. The Linn County Conservation Board on Monday said the name of Squaw Creek Park will change to Wanatee Park. The park in Marion was originally named in 1964.

The conservation board says in a news release that because the word “squaw” is offensive, it decided to remove its use in public buildings and spaces. The new name honors Jean Adeline Morgan Wanatee, who died in 1996. She was was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s wineries are trying to hold on from the pandemic that’s dealt a double hit to their business. Iowa Wine Growers Association, marketing director, Nicole Eilers says it is a business tailored to public interaction. “They had to shift their whole business plan from bringing people into the tasting rooms and giving them the experience that Iowa wine is kind of known for,” Eilers says, “to how do we survive, how do we get the product in their hands when we are not supposed to be around people — so it has been really tough.”

Sales of wine and liquor have been up during the pandemic — but Eilers says local wineries aren’t gaining from that trend. “It’s just getting the product into consumers’ hands, that’s the tricky part. Because most wineries in Iowa — if not all — self distribute,” she says. The second hit to the wineries has been a loss of the added features they provide customers not directly related to selling wine. “Most of them are also functioning event venues. so a lot of them have spaces for weddings and private events. They do live music, all sorts of things,” according to Eilers. “And so,with COVID and a lot of the mandates in place, that has really taken a toll on businesses. Because that really sort of helps offset the decreased wine sales.”

Eilers says some may not be able to stay open. “I haven’t really heard of any wineries for sure closing down due to COVID specifically — but I anticipate that most likely that will be the case for some,” Eilers says.  Eilers says they have a report that comes out at the end of the year that details sales and that will give a better idea of where the industry stands.