Agriculture

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.

Instead of sitting high and dry for harvest and fall manure application, virtually every county in the state now has saturated soils, ponded fields and high running streams. Manure applicators are waiting for that one dry week, and producers are worrying about emptying pits and compacting soils.

“Don’t panic. While there are no good options when storage is full and the ground is wet, there are still some things confinement site owners and commercial manure applicators can do,” says Ken Hessenius, supervisor of the DNR’s Spencer field office. (Find a list of commercial applicators on the Iowa Manure Management Action Group’s website.)

“With saturated soils, the main thing is to keep manure from reaching a creek via surface runoff or through a tile line or the ground water,” he says. Save those valuable nutrients by reducing runoff. Here are some tips:

Call the DNR field office. We will discuss site-specific options and how to minimize problems.

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

Allamakee County FSA is Hiring!
Our office is currently accepting applications for a permanent Program Technician position. The individual selected will be responsible for carrying out general office activities and technical functions pertaining to FSA administered programs. Applicants should possess excellent human relations skills as well as strong clerical and computer skills. A general knowledge of agricultural practices would also be beneficial.
You can read the full vacancy announcement with application requirements at usajobs.gov. Vacancy announcement number is IA-2019-0003. Last day to apply is October 19! If you have any questions or would like more information, please call (563) 568-2148 or stop by our office.

The Kickapoo Grazing Initiative and Great River Graziers have a pasture walk scheduled at the Vance and Olaf Haugen Farm, 12620 Deer Road, Canton, MN Tuesday, October 30 at 10:30 a.m.

Directions: Fillmore County: From Decorah IA, take Hwy 52N about 17 miles to the intersection of Hwys 44 & 52. through intersection onto Dove Road. .5 mile to right on Deer Rd. Go 1.5 miles to farm on east side of road. Fire # 12620.

Topic: Late fall/early winter paddock planning for dairy grazing. Kura Clover production for seed. Guest speaker Bonnie Haugen of DGA will discuss “How the importance of soil health for pastures affects feeding our cows, and conse-quently our profitability. Improving soil health ideas.”

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

Allamakee County FSA is Hiring!
Our office is currently accepting applications for a permanent Program Technician position. The individual selected will be responsible for carrying out general office activities and technical functions pertaining to FSA administered programs. Applicants should possess excellent human relations skills as well as strong clerical and computer skills. A general knowledge of agricultural practices would also be beneficial.

You can read the full vacancy announcement with application requirements at usajobs.gov. Vacancy announcement number is IA-2019-0003. If you have any questions or would like more information, please call (563.-568-2148) or stop by our office.