Jim Field visits with Atlantic Public Library Director Michelle Andersen about a $20,000 national grant for small and rural libraries that will help with accessibility issues.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (23.5MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Jim Field visits with Atlantic Public Library Director Michelle Andersen about a $20,000 national grant for small and rural libraries that will help with accessibility issues.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (23.5MB)
Subscribe: RSS
DES MOINES, Iowa (May 15, 2023) – The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program (RFIP) Board approved 15 project applications and 11 supplemental grant requests for a total of more than $800,000 during its quarterly board meeting on May 9. Twelve of the fifteen projects are for E15 infrastructure, three are biodiesel terminals, and the eleven previously funded ethanol projects received supplemental grants of $6,000 each. The RFIP helps fuel retailers provide higher blends of lower cost Iowa grown biofuels to consumers by incentivizing the installation, replacement and conversion of ethanol and biodiesel dispensing and storage infrastructure. Incentives to upgrade biodiesel terminal and storage facilities are also available. While the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship manages the program, a board appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate determines grant allocations on a quarterly basis.
“Consumers save money when they can fill their tanks with higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “By helping fuel retailers install this infrastructure, we are continually increasing the number of Iowa fueling stations where consumers can buy cleaner burning and more affordable homegrown biofuels.”
Counties with locations receiving one or more of the 15 project grants include the following: Story, Polk, Dallas, Linn, Sioux, Benton, Buena Vista, Crawford, Dickinson, Dubuque, Clinton, Howard, and Madison. The complete list of locations can be found here. The supplemental grants were awarded to retailers that have added tanks and associated equipment, including dispensers, for dispensing E15 or higher ethanol blends at additional locations. To receive supplemental grants, retailers must be awarded multiple RFIP grants and complete their projects within one year of the original installation.
To date, $5,755,228 of funding for this fiscal year has been awarded to 119 biofuels infrastructure projects. The program also leverages significant private investment by the participating fuel retailers. The Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Board will consider additional RFIP grant applications during its next quarterly meeting in July, and the deadline for accepting new applications for that meeting will be Friday, June 23 at 4:30pm. The RFIP grant application is available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website.
The breakdown of RFIP funding for this fiscal year, so far, is as follows:
Over the history of the program, the state has invested approximately $60 million while private industry has invested over $200 million. To learn more about the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program, visit the program’s webpage on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website.
(Indianola, Iowa) – Simpson College, in Indianola, has hired a new president, and it’s an alumnus. According to a news release, Jay Byers, a 1993 graduate of Simpson, will be the school’s 25th president when he takes office for the 2023-24 academic year. Byers will succeed retiring president Marsha Kelliher, who was hired in 2020. A formal announcement on Byers’ hiring will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, in Hubbell Hall on Simpson’s Indianola campus.
Jay Byers has worked for the Greater Des Moines Partnership, an economic and community development organization based in downtown Des Moines, for 18 years — the last 11 as president and CEO — and has been on the school’s board of trustees since 2012.
(Radio Iowa) – Wetter weather slowed the planters in the fields a bit last week.The U-S-D-A crop report released Monday, showed an increase of 16 percent in the amount of corn planted during the week — about half the amount planted last week.
The corn planting total is now at 86 percent — eight days ahead of last year and one week ahead of the five-year average. Bean planting moved at about the same pace — gaining 20 percent compared to last week — putting the total at 69 percent. That’s about one week ahead of last year and the five-year average for beans.
Thirty-five percent of planted corn has emerged from the ground, nearly five times as much as last week. And the report now says 19 percent of the beans have emerged.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is the nation’s top corn grower, with more than 13-million acres devoted to the vegetable, but some Iowans are planting their first small crops of -sweet- corn this spring. Aaron Steil, consumer horticulture specialist at the Iowa State University Extension, says if you’d hoped to have sweet corn by the 4th of July, you would need to have planted in mid-April, but he says there’s still plenty of time to get seeds in the ground. “The last practical planting day, especially for the early varieties, is the end of June,” Steil says. “You would obviously be harvesting later if you planted that late, but you would still be able to get a crop in before frost easily.”
There are many types of sweet corn from which to choose. Steil says the “standard sugary” cultivars have the traditional sweet corn flavor and texture, but are only of the best quality within the first day after harvest, because sugars quickly convert to starch after picking. “Most folks really enjoy sweet corn that has good storage life,” Steil says. “Sweet corn really does start to go downhill very quickly after harvest and so certain varieties, like the super sweet or the augmented super sweets, store pretty well.”
Before buying seed, you’ll need to consider what elements are important, including flavor, sweetness, crunch and kernel color. When arranging your sweet corn plot, plan ahead for irrigation and make sure the soil is well fertilized, because corn uses a lot of nitrogen, as well as phosphorus and potassium. “Rather than planting corn in long rows, like we so often see it in the field, planting our sweet corn in blocks because it’s wind-pollinated,” Steil says. “When we plant them in blocks, it does a better job of pollinating those ears of corn and you get better filled corn ears. You don’t have those little gap-tooth missing spots in the corn ear.”
Crayon drawings by kids may depict eight or ten ears of corn on each stalk, but Steil says you shouldn’t expect nearly as many. “One good ear can be expected from each stalk of corn,” Steil says. “In general, you can expect in a 10-foot row that you’ll get about 11 to 13 ears of corn, when you properly space your corn plants when you’re planting.”
For a continuous supply of sweet corn, plant early, mid-season and late cultivars. Also, he says to plant only fresh seeds, as old seeds may not germinate well. In addition, keep sweet corn isolated from popcorn as the quality of sweet corn will be lowered if it’s cross-pollinated by other types of corn.
Des Moines, Iowa – A woman from Guthrie County faces multiple felony theft, forgery and money laundering charges, after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from two former employers.
Authorities say 44-year-old Angel Marie Welker, of Menlo, forged checks and used company credit cards from Infomax Office Systems in Des Moines to buy over $10,000 in gift cards and make other unauthorized purchases last year, according to court documents, which go on to say she took more than $50,000 from Infomax.
She also allegedly forged more than $10,000 in checks while working at Vision Park Eye Care in Urbandale. Welker was booked into the Polk County Jail on May 14th. Her preliminary hearing is on May 25th.
Today: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 76. North northwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 51. West northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 81. North northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. Breezy.
Monday’s (24-hour) High in Atlantic was 56. The Low was 51. We received .11” rain, Monday. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 82 and the Low was 46. The Record High on this date was 93 in 1939. The Record Low was 25 in 1907. Sunrise is 6:01. Sunset is 8:33.
(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University economist says there was a whole lot of uncertainty in the hog market well before last week’s Supreme Court opinion on pork production. The court ruled California may require that any pork sold in California must come from pigs that are the offspring of sows that had enough room to turn around in a livestock barn. I-S-U Extension livestock economist Lee Schulz says some producers have already retrofitted or built new confinements. Others may not be able to afford it.
“Pork producers are having some of the largest losses in 25 years. You have to go back to 1998 to see losses this large,” Schulz says. “…We’re already seeing contraction in the industry.” There could be an opportunity for businesses that make and install the metal enclosures for sows, but Schulz says given the labor market, finding enough employees to do the work will be challenge.
“Not only the availability of labor, but the cost of labor also is kind of a prohibitatnt when we think about having to make large changes on farms to both buildings and equipment,” Schulz says. California produces just one percent of U.S. pork. However, Californians consume 15 percent of all the bacon and other pork products sold in the country.
“The adjustments will have to take place outside the state of California. Where those exactly take place are still to be determined,” Schulz says. “Certainly there will be an impact here because of the size of Iowa’s pork production.” Nearly a third of the nation’s hogs are raised in Iowa. Schulz says Iowa swine operations that have already adjusted to California’s new rules will get higher premiums for their pigs in the near term.
“Likely they are the lower cost producers that would enable them to do that,” Schulz says. “A lot of times it’d be the larger producers. There are economies of scale in pork production, so if I have per unit lower costs, I am able to make some of those transitions a bit quicker.”
A court injunction that has prevented pig production rules for pork sold in California from taking effect will expire July 1st. The U.S. Humane Society says the Supreme Court made it clear preventing animal cruelty is a core function of state governments and California will have the strongest animal welfare law in the country.
(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A subject wanted in connection with a stolen vehicle was arrested Monday afternoon when he was recognized in the parking lot of a Council Bluffs grocery store. Council Bluffs Police officers responded to assist a Pottawattamie County deputy who identified the suspect in a stolen pickup truck.
The vehicle pulled into the Mega Saver at 9th Ave. and S. 36th St. The deputy positively identified 38-year-old Jake Flynn, of Council Bluffs, as he exited the truck and entered the convenience store. Flynn had four warrants for his arrest (2 felony and 2 misdemeanor warrants). Flynn had barricaded himself in the cooler inside the store. Council Bluffs Police negotiators responded, as well as the Council Bluffs Police emergency services team. After approximately two and a half hours, Flynn was taken into custody. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.
Flynn was charged with Theft 1st and Criminal Mischief 1st in addition to the warrants for his arrest.
The Council Bluffs Police Department would like to thank the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement for their assistance in bringing this incident to a peaceful ending.