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Wed
10
Jun

What's Up at the USDA Office?

Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
May 15 - August 1: Primary Nesting Season - No MCM work on CRP acres
May 26 - August 28: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) Signup
June 30: 2020 ARCPLC Election
July 15: Crop Certification
September 30: PLC Yield Update

Wed
10
Jun

Waterville area farmer uses alternative farming practice to improve soil

Submitted by Eric Novey, Project Coordinator, Allamakee SWCD

Nick Rolling, who farms near Waterville, recently tried a different farming practice. He band applied herbicide (1 ½ pt Dual and 1 qt Roundup) on corn and soybeans while planting into fall seeded rye cover crop. His goals were to suppress weed growth, capture nitrogen from leeching, reduce soil erosion, increase water infiltration, and to increase his overall soil health by getting as much root growth as possible from the rye. Rolling plans to terminate the rye soon.

Research done through the United Soybean Board has shown when cereal rye grew an extra three weeks prior to soybeans, they produced about 300-400% more biomass with a 100% increase in nitrogen retention, compared to early terminated cover crops, with no yield reduction.

Wed
10
Jun

Virtual Spring Field Day Webinar Series to be held June 23-26

Farmers, ag professionals and other interested parties are invited to participate in a virtual field day webinar series being hosted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in conjunction with the Southeast Iowa Agricultural Research Association from June 23-26.

“This virtual field day webinar series is being offered this year instead of the annual face-to-face spring field day that is held at the Iowa State Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm due to the current COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rebecca Vittetoe, field agronomist with ISU Extension and Outreach.

Each webinar will start at 8 a.m. with a 20-minute discussion on the day’s topic, and will include time for a questions and answers session at the end. Sessions will be limited to 30 minutes.

Wed
10
Jun

Letter to the Editor: Combating racism

To the Editor:

If you are looking for ways to combat racism in our country, in addition to or instead of protesting in the streets, here are just some of the things you can do:

Wed
10
Jun

Allamakee County Fair will take place this year, although with modifications

Fair Board, ISU Extension finalizing plans with mitigation guidelines in mind for early July event

Following a lengthy meeting Wednesday, June 3, the Allamakee County Fair Board has made the decision to continue plans to host the 2020 Allamakee County Fair, but in a modified format due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation guidelines put in place as a result of that virus. The board sought input from the Allamakee County Public Health Department, Allamakee County Emergency Management and a variety of City and County officials in making the decision, working in conjunction with the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Allamakee County office to help make the decision on whether to proceed with the annual event and now working on details of just what a modified version of the Allamakee County Fair will entail.

Wed
10
Jun

Plans for splashpad and other park improvements in New Albin receive significant boost from $100,000 Wellmark Foundation Grant


Splashpad and improvements ... Above is a rendering of the new splashpad being planned as part of an overall park improvement project in New Albin. Pictured at right in the image is upgraded playground equipment also planned as part of the overall project. Submitted image created by MySplashPad.

Another view and additional improvements … Pictured above is another view of the splashpad and overall park improvement project being planned for the park area in downtown New Albin. In addition to the splashpad features pictured above, the current basketball court area (pictured at right in the photo background) will be improved upon and fenced off, with an upgrade to playground equipment also planned as part of the overall project. Submitted image created by MySplashPad.

by Lissa Blake

After six years of planning, New Albin’s new splashpad site is starting to take shape.

According to Splashpad Project Coordinator Betsy Whitlatch, the idea to create a family-friendly place for people of all ages started about six years ago. Alexie Grotegut and Hope Lemke founded New Albin Improvement League (NAIL) in 2014, along with several other New Albin residents, with the goal of building a splashpad in the community. Six years later, NAIL organizers and many other volunteers are still working toward fully accomplishing this goal, but are beginning to see the end in sight.

Wed
10
Jun

Dairy Days Parade scheduled for Monday

The Allamakee County Dairy Promotion Board has rescheduled its Annual Dairy Days Parade to Monday, June 15, postponed from its original June 1 date due to COVID-19 restrictions. The parade will be held in Waukon, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The route will begin at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon, traveling south down Allamakee Street to the stoplight intersection and then west on Main Street to the Post Office, where it will then turn north on Second Street NW and travel to Eighth Avenue NW, turning east to return back to its original fairgrounds location.

No candy or other treats or items are allowed to be thrown or shared by parade participants. All parade entrants and parade viewers are reminded to conduct themselves according to the proper social distancing guidelines. The Allamakee Dairy Wagon and Allamakee County Cattlemen will be at the Waukon City Park serving their respective specialties, beginning at 4 p.m.

Wed
10
Jun

Absentee voting fuels significantly higher voter turnout for June 2 Primary Election

Kelleher and Reiser win party nominations for Board of Supervisors, other races mirror broader results

The Tuesday, June 2 Primary Election yielded one of the best voter turn-outs for Allamakee County in recent history, actually about double the percentage of registered voters as in more recent best turn-outs with 35.41% of the county’s registered voters casting a ballot this year. Of those 2,377 votes cast in this year’s Primary Election, a vast majority of those - 2,063 votes - came in the form of absentee ballots, a process encouraged by Allamakee County Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate for this election due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wed
10
Jun

Allamakee County experiences first full week without any new confirmed cases of COVID-19

For the first time since COVID-19 cases began to be officially reported for Allamakee County in mid-March, there were no new cases for an entire Monday-to-Monday week’s timeframe this past week for the county, according to public health reports. In fact, the absence of any new confirmed cases actually stretches beyond this past full week’s timeframe to Thursday, May 28, an 11-day stretch of no new cases being confirmed in Allamakee County by public health officials.

A new case had been initially reported Sunday, May 31 for the county, but was removed from the Allamakee County total the next day following further investigation into the actual county of residence for that individual. The past week’s timeframe of no new cases comes during a week where 111 tests were reported as being conducted, with 144 tests reported dating back to that May 28 date when the last positive case had been reported for Allamakee County.

Wed
10
Jun

Supervisors approve opening all doors of the Allamakee County Courthouse for public access, will continue to offer meetings via web-conferencing means

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, June 8 to address a full agenda of items including the consideration of bids for concrete patching, the hiring of Secondary Roads Department employees and discussion of COVID-19 related items.

During Public Comment, Executive Director Val Reinke of Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) provided an overview of upcoming events and discussed her online attendance June 4-5 at EntreFEST, a two-day conference dedicated to Iowa and Midwest entrepreneurship and innovation. Reinke indicated that Sweeney Real Estate has made a social media post relating to the sale of the Waukon Inn Restaurant with the new owners to utilize the existing equipment in their business.

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