The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, February 13 to address a full agenda of matters including the consideration of changing the Maximum Levy Public Hearing date, the approval of a Resolution allocating American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for election items and the consideration of personnel matters relating to the Allamakee County Auditor’s office and the Allamakee County Sheriff’s office.
Board chairperson Dan Byrnes called the meeting to order with Supervisors Mark Reiser and Dennis Keatley present for this meeting. There was no Public Comment during the time allotted for that agenda item.
Guide Available for Underserved Farmers, Ranchers
A multi-agency guide for USDA assistance for underserved farmers and ranchers is now available. If you are a farmer or rancher and are a minority, woman, veteran, beginning, or limited resource producer, you can use this booklet to learn about assistance and targeted opportunities available to you. This includes programs offered through the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency. Download the guide here. The guide is also available in Spanish, Hmong, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese on farmers.gov/translations.
Crop producers must make some important and timely decisions if they want to participate in the Farm Bill programs for 2023.
The deadline to make an election and enroll is March 15, according to Ann Johanns, education extension specialist and manager of the Ag Decision Maker with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
For program year 2023, producers have three options: Agriculture Risk Coverage-County (ARC-CO), Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or Agriculture Risk Coverage-Individual Coverage (ARC-IC). Even if producers have enrolled in the past and want to keep the same program, they still need to enroll this year, by March 15. Enrollment is an annual decision.
“To be eligible for payment, producers must complete the enrollment contract for each of their farms,” said Johanns. “Every situation is unique, so we need to make the best decisions for individual farm operations and take the opportunity to make changes if necessary.”
Farmers and industry persons are invited to attend the 2nd Annual Soil Health Workshop in conjunction with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Thursday, February. 23, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Wilder Business Center on Northeast Iowa Community College’s (NICC) Calmar campus. The workshop will feature a variety of speakers focused on unlocking nutrients with soil health.
Jimmy Emmons of Leedey, OK is the first presenter with “Grazing Beyond the Yield.” An international leader in the soil health movement, Emmons served as the regional coordinator for USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation Program. He recently joined the Oklahoma Conservation Commission as its soil health mentoring coordinator.
Our representative, Anne Osmundson, in the Iowa House, has cosponsored House File 3 which adds eligibility obstacles and restrictions on individuals and families receiving SNAP. This is a program that provides financial support for people in need to provide food on their table.
An average of 50% of the people who are nourished with this support are our northeast Iowa children and 24% are our northeast Iowa elderly. The money does not come from our Iowa state taxes. It is a federal program so it is already coming to the state.
SNAP is a program where eligibility is based on income. This bill would add obstacles including having to meet monthly red tape requirements so that our friends and neighbors would lose eligibility and access to food for our northeast Iowa children and elderly.
Iowa conservative MAGA Republicans are showing us great examples of hypocrisy. They want to eliminate a woman’s right to choose, ban abortion, criminalize dispensing abortion pills, and force women to have babies. Then, once these children are in the world the HF-3 “SNAP” bill (Food Stamps) that these same conservative Republicans are pushing will limit who can access the needed food to help these children thrive. Approximately 300,000 Iowans receive this federally funded program; half of them are children, disabled, or elderly.
A total of 39 Republican legislators, including Anne Osmundsen, want to institute a means testing for recipients. That means if you have over $2,450 - or $4,250 if over age 60 - in household assets, you won’t qualify for SNAP. If you have two cars, you won’t qualify. Do you know anyone in Allamakee County who can get to work without a car?
Iowans value their freedom to make their own healthcare decisions without interference from the government. This attitude extends even to the emotional issue of abortion. The majority of Iowans believe such pregnancy questions should be left to a woman and her physician.
A recent Iowa poll found that 61% believe that abortion should be legal in most cases, while only 33% felt it should be illegal. And yet, extreme Republicans who are in control of our state government intend to restrict that freedom as much as possible.
The latest example is House File 146, which is supported by State Representative Anne Osmundson. The bill would make it a felony to “manufacture, distribute, prescribe, sell or transfer” abortion drugs in Iowa. The use of pills to cause an abortion (called a medical vs. a surgical abortion) was the most common approach used in Iowa in 2020 at over 79%.
Cardiac Rehab at VMH ... February 13-19 is National Cardiac Rehab Week. Veterans Memorial Hospital began its own Cardiac Rehabilitation program over three decades ago to help fulfill a need in the community, a need that has been and continues to be well utilized. Pictured above, left to right, is Cardiac Rehab Nurse Amy Rolfs, RN with Gary Moritz of Monona using the weights in the Cardiac Rehab Department. A Cardiac Rehabilitation program is essential for the fullest recovery of a victim of a heart disorder and is available locally at Veterans Memorial Hospital. Submitted photo.
Veterans Memorial Hospital began its own Cardiac Rehabilitation unit over three decades ago to help fulfill a need in the community - a need that has been and continues to be well utilized.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Half a million people die each year due to this disease. Many people develop symptoms of heart disease when they are in their 40s or 50s, interrupting a most productive time of life. Cardiac Rehabilitation is an important tool in the fight against heart disease. Rehabilitation involves monitored exercise, nutritional counseling, emotional support and education about lifestyle changes to reduce risks of heart problems.
Heart Month recognized at VMH ... February is Heart Month. Pictured above is Callie Thorson, Emergency Department Manager at Veterans Memorial Hospital, in ER Room 1 of the hospital. She shares the facts and tips about heart health in the surrounding article. Submitted photo.
Over 950,000 Americans die each year from cardiovascular disease. Since February is National Heart Month, Veterans Memorial Hospital provides the following facts and tips on heart health:
• 250,000 people die within one hour of onset of a heart attack.
• 60-70% of those individuals are male.
• Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women and men.
• 75-80% of arrests happen in the home.
• Bystander CPR does improve the outcome once someone has arrested.
• Traditional CPR courses are not reaching those who live with high-risk populations.
• Rapid defibrillation is the most important treatment for victims.
• For every minute delay in defibrillation there is a 10% loss for chance of survival.
• In the case of heart attack, “Time is Muscle.”
• In the case of stroke, “Time is Brain Tissue.”
Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, together with Helping Services of Northeast Iowa, will begin offering the ‘Baby and Me - The Basics’ class Tuesday evening, March 14, from 5-8:30 p.m. in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.
Helping Services’ Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians Barb Fjelstul and Rachel Weber will teach the basics of how to correctly secure children in their car seat and getting the seat secured in the vehicle. Barb Fjelstul, also a breast-feeding educator, will guide participants through the challenges and rewards of breast-feeding and provide techniques to ensure baby is getting the most benefit from nursing.
Rachel Stone, RN, a labor and delivery nurse, will give expecting mothers education on breathing techniques and coping with pain during labor.
