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Applications for recognition at 2026 Iowa State Fair will be accepted through June 1

As Iowa celebrates the country’s 250th birthday, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is inviting eligible Iowa farm owners to apply for Century or Heritage Farm recognition as part of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s (IDALS) Century and Heritage Farm Program. The Program was created by IDALS and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation to honor families who have owned their farms for 100 years and 150 years, respectively.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Century Farm Program, which was created in 1976 as part of the Nation’s Bicentennial Celebration. It is also the 20th anniversary of the Heritage Farm Program, which was launched in 2006. Since their inception, more than 21,000 Century Farms and more than 2,000 Heritage Farms from across the state have been recognized.

Deadlines/Dates
May 14 - August 2: Primary Nesting Season
June 1: The final day to apply for a Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) for Corn or Soybeans
June 19: Office closed in observance of Juneteenth 
July 3: Office closed in observance of Independence Day
July 13-19: Allamakee County Fair
July 15: Deadline to Report Acres
August 12: Deadline to submit an SDRP application

To the Editor:

We need A new Senate Majority Leader. Iowans need someone who can do the job, and if they are unable to deliver they need to go.

Senator Mike Klimesh indicated he was going to protect property rights for landowners, and unfortunately he did not meet the challenge of protecting the citizens of Iowa’s property rights. This has been an issue for almost the last five years now. A sane person would  think that property rights should be one of the top issues or at least near the top to open the session at the State Senate, not at the 11th hour and not even then. It was never brought up in the Senate.

Since Mr. Klimesh didn’t meet  the challenge for Iowans, he should try something else that would suit him better. We need people who say and do what they say they will do. That  will develop a bit of trust in our politicians. Surely someone else will do a better job.

Brenda Barr
Hancock County
 

It was one of those days, where as a parent of three sick littles I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. We were living in a third-floor apartment outside Lynchburg, VA. The day before, the downstairs neighbor, an artist, had complained that we were being too loud. Apparently, all the tiny feet running up and down the hall above him were not conducive to producing the next Picasso - I get it.

My husband was in the back room trying to get some sleep after working the night shift as a $9 an hour janitor - the only job he could find. I was sitting on our navy blue couch - one child on each side of me and the baby on my lap wanting to nurse again for the umpteenth time. All crying, all snotty-nosed, hair uncombed, no one yet dressed for the day. And God help us all if they ran down the hall and once again disturbed the downstairs Michelangelo.

To the Editor:

The cornerstone of democracy is its citizens’ right to vote. Now is the time to use our voices in this democracy.

Courageous citizens have demonstrated their willingness to represent a district in national, state and county elected offices. During the primary election campaign, candidates asked voters what issue is most important to them. Our vote can match issues that affect our children, family and community with a candidate we believe will best address our concerns.

A neighbor to neighbor project is a non-partisan volunteer effort with the purpose to encourage citizens to vote in the primary election. Project volunteers have five questions to ask, and every citizen can ask themselves the questions.

To the Editor:

Congratulations again to Steve and Jane Johanningmeier for being selected as 2026 Master Farmers. They deserve it. As a neighbor since they moved to the farm on our west, they’ve grown and thrived.

Dare I say it, two farmers in Paint Creek township in Allamakee County working the same watershed singled out by Wallaces Farmer, my parents in 1963 and Steve and Jane 59 years later, is notable. Could it be the Tama/Downs and Fayette/Dubuque soils make great farmers? Could it be the family and neighbor support that drives success?

We rented their ground before they moved to Sunny Side Up farm, now Distant View. I got the business for my very (very) crooked rows of corn stretching to their future house. As a high school junior, I might be forgiven for inattentive driving. If only I had precision farming tools of today.  However, I’m glad I did it and glad I’m done.

by Brianne Grimstad

The month of March ended on a positive financial note for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon, according to information shared at the April meeting of the VMH Board of Trustees. VMH Administrator Michael Coyle noted that patient volumes were up in most areas for the month.

The Total Revenue for the month was $5,194,391. Contractuals/Bad Debt/Charity Care came in at $2,637,027 for the month, and Total Expenses came in at $2,707,278 for the month. The hospital ended March with a Net Operating Revenue of $18,521, and that number jumps to $189,017 when Non-Operating Revenue is added in.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, May 18 at the Allamakee County Veterans Museum and Genealogy Research Center in Waukon as part of the board’s annual schedule of offsite meeting locations including public libraries within the county. The Supervisors addressed a short agenda of matters including the consideration of contracts and bonds for gravel road rock, the consideration of a detour route for the Memorial Day Parade, and the consideration of the proposed three-year contract with Cost Advisory Services, Inc.

Bernard D. Pausch, 90, of Waukon died Sunday, May 24, 2026, at Emplify Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI. Funeral services were held Saturday, May 30 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon, with Pastor Mark Oehlert officiating. Burial was at Oakland Cemetery, Waukon.

Bernard Darwin Pausch was born August 18, 1935, in Postville, the son of Harvey and Florence (Thornton) Pausch. He attended country school in the Postville area and graduated from Postville High School. October 20, 1956, he married Mary Andregg at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. Bernard and Mary lived in Postville, Waterloo, and Bowling Green, OH, where he was a meat inspector for the USDA. He and Mary moved to Waukon in 2000.

A variety of Memorial Day activities are being planned for the upcoming holiday weekend, including all the traditional Memorial Day observances this year scheduled for Monday, May 25 in area communities within Allamakee County. Those traditions of parades, full cemetery programs and wreath laying are being planned in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in serving their country, with details of some of those celebrations being outlined on this page in their respective frames.