Agriculture

by Jeremy Leitz, Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568-2148

Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
• November 22: Office closed for Thanksgiving

Fall Certification
Unlike previous years, producers are no longer required to report their fall forage acres by December 15 to FSA.  These crops can be reported in the spring, by July 15, along with your spring-planted crops.  If you do insure any fall forage, make sure you still report this to your crop insurance agent. 

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
At this time, due to lack of a Farm Bill (previous one expired on 09/30/2018) there is no CRP signup.  We will update the public once we know more.

Iowa Learning Farms, along with the Clayton County Soil and Water Conservation District, will host a cover crop field day Thursday, November 29 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Luana Savings Bank. The event is free, open to the whole family and includes a complimentary meal.

Farmers across Iowa are implementing cover crops to reduce soil erosion, improve soil health, limit nitrogen losses, and to provide a source of forage for grazing. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from local farmers about the benefits of cover crops, choosing seed varieties, innovative application methods, best management practices and opportunities for cost share.

Practical Farmers of Iowa begins its popular farmer-led webinar series – called “farminars.” Just as many farmers wrap up the 2018 growing season, farminar season begins again with practical knowledge led by, and for, row crop, livestock and fruit and vegetable farmers.

Held every Tuesday at 7 p.m. CST, each farminar focuses on a unique production or business management topic. All presentations are led by an experienced farmer or subject-matter expert, and attendees are able to ask questions in real time using a chatbox while they listen and watch a slideshow. The presentations are free for anyone with an internet connection.

by Jeremy Leitz, Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568-2148

Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
• November 12: Office closed in recognition of Veteran’s Day

Fall Certification
Unlike previous years, producers are no longer required to report their fall forage acres by December 15 to FSA.  These crops can be reported in the spring, by July 15, along with your spring-planted crops.  If you do insure any fall forage, make sure you still report this to your crop insurance agent. 

New resources will help get proven practices on the ground

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig today highlighted how the long-term water quality funding passed and signed into law earlier this year is being used to scale up water quality efforts in Iowa.

“Having dedicated, long-term water quality funding in place is critically important as we continue to expand our focus on edge of field conservation practices that have been proven to significantly reduce nitrate levels. We are excited to highlight the first examples of how Iowans will benefit from this legislation that provides more than $280 million for water quality efforts over the next 11 years,” Naig said.

A Stockmanship, Handling and BQA workshop featuring Curt Pate from Ryegate, Montana, will be held in Waukon November 17. The Stockmanship session teaches cattle handling methods that improve animal movement and cattle performance by reducing the stress on livestock. Pate will demonstrate low stress cattle handling methods that can be used whether gathering from the pasture or processing through corrals. The workshop will be held Saturday, November 17 at the Northeast Iowa Equity Sales Commission facility located north of Waukon on State Highway 76 starting at 10 a.m. and conclude about 2 p.m. 

In addition to animal handling, Denise Schwab from ISU Extension, will also be certifying participants in the BQA program. BQA is the foundation for the Tyson FarmCheck program which will be required for all who sell cattle to Tyson Fresh Meats in 2019. Other packers and many auction markets will also be requiring BQA certification.

by Jeremy Leitz, Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568-2148

Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
• November 12: Office closed in recognition of Veteran’s Day

County Committee Election
During the week of November 5 producers in Iowa, Lansing, Center, LaFayette, Paint Creek, and Taylor Townships will receive county committee voting ballots.  The last day to return completed ballots to the FSA office is December 3. If you’re an eligible producer in one of these townships, please be on the lookout for your ballot.  Committee members are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA. They work to make FSA agricultural programs serve the needs of local producers.
Marketing Assistance Loans

Advanced Calving Clinic will provide in-depth information for dairy and beef producers.

Register today for the Midwest Dairy Day: Advanced Calving Clinic for Dairy and Beef to be held Thursday, December 6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Iowa’s Dairy Center located at 1527 Highway 150 S, in Calmar, Iowa.

This event is a collaborative effort between Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC). This year’s event will provide an array of sessions on advanced calving, including a unique opportunity for a hands-on experience with a life-sized cow model. Participants choose to attend one of two different blocks of sessions: one block focuses on dairy cows and the other block focuses on beef cows. Dairy and beef producers, students and industry members are encouraged to attend.

Sessions in both the Dairy and Beef block will include:

Improving the odds of a successful cash crop after cover crops is the aim of several new projects funded by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center at Iowa State University.

“Based on strong farmer interest and input from our center advisory committee, almost a third of this year’s $1.7 million in project funding will support research to understand how to best integrate cover crops into Iowa crop and livestock systems,” said Matt Helmers, director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State. “Since the center was established in 2013, we’ve funded about a dozen research projects linked to cover crops.”

by Jeremy Leitz, Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568-2148

Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybee, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP)
The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides emergency assistance to eligible livestock, honeybee, and farm-raised fish producers who have losses due to disease, adverse weather or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires, not covered by other agricultural disaster assistance programs.

Eligible livestock losses include grazing losses not covered under the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), loss of purchased feed and/or mechanically harvested feed due to an eligible adverse weather event, additional cost of transporting water because of an eligible drought and additional cost associated with gathering livestock to treat for cattle tick fever.