News Center newsletter

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

Mid-Contract Management (MCM) on CRP Acres
Even though we still have plenty of snow on the ground, now is a good time to start thinking about your MCM, if you are scheduled for this year. Those that are scheduled for this year would have received a packet from our office this past fall detailing what needs to be done.  Most have until May 14, 2019 to complete the work, but now is a good time to start lining up contractors if you haven’t already done so, buy seed if needed, and get equipment ready. If you have technical questions, need a seeding plan, or contractor list contact the NRCS office. Any other questions can be directed to FSA.

Once you complete your MCM, please notify the FSA office, sign the FSA-848B form, and provide acceptable evidence of practice completion to determine proper cost share payment.

It is often hard to talk about passing the family farm on to the next generation. A program offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Clayton County can support farms and farm women with those decisions.

Managing for Today and Tomorrow is a five-session course designed especially to help farm women learn about the four components that create a successful transition - succession, business, estate, and retirement planning. Clayton County will offer the course beginning Thursday, March 7, 2019 and continuing March 14, March 21, March 28 and April 4. Online registration is available at www.aep.iastate.edu/womeninag.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host Boots in the Barn, a program for women beef and dairy producers, in March in the Waukon area. Boots in the Barn is a three-part series for women involved in their dairy or beef cattle operation.

The course will be held March 7, 14 and 21. The March 7 session will feature Denise Schwab, beef specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, who will provide information on understanding expected progeny differences (EPD), sire catalogs and how that relates to sire selection for dairy and beef producers. A panel of experts will provide information on how to apply this information to an operation, specifically addressing dairy and beef crossbreeding programs. The session will be held at Farmers and Merchants Bank Community Room in Waukon from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Waukon High School girls basketball senior Maddie Ahlstrom has been selected as one of 22 Iowa high school senior girls basketball players to be honored as a member of the 2019 Iowa Basketball Coaches Association Academic All-State Girls Basketball Team. That team was selected out of 85 applicants and its members have recorded a combined ACT composite score of 29.8 and a grade point average of 4.0, along with a per game scoring average of 12.5 points. That Academic All-State Team will be recognized during halftime of the Class 1A State Tournament semifinal game to be played at 3:15 p.m. Friday, March 1 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The ninth-rated Waukon girls basketball team (18-3) opened its Class 3A State Tournament in victorious fashion, outlasting seventh-rated Crestwood (15-5), 48-37, in the opening round of the season grand finale Monday, February 25 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The Indians used a strong defensive effort that forced nearly the same number of turnovers (25) as the Cadets had in total shot attempts (29).

That first-round win advances the basketball Tribe to a Thursday, February 28 semifinals contest at 1:30 p.m. against top-rated and top-seeded North Polk (21-2), who defeated unrated and eighth-seeded Estherville-Lincoln Central (14-10) by a 59-47 result in other Monday night action. That Estherville-Lincoln Central team is coached by 1973 Waukon High School graduate Don Martindale, who took over the Lady Midgets’ program last year.

The Waukon Park & Recreation Youth Soccer Program is for boys and girls in Kindergarten through sixth grade. Basic fundamentals of soccer will be taught along with team participation.

Teams will be grouped together as follows: Kindergarten is alone, first and second graders will be together, third and fourth graders will be together, and fifth and sixth graders will be together. Different size fields and balls will be used to accommodate the lower ages and skill levels. All players must wear shin guards and they must be covered by socks or pants. Cleats are optional.

The games will be played Saturday mornings starting April 13 and will run for five weeks. There will not be games April 20 due to Easter weekend. The dates will be as follows: April 13, April 27, May 4, May 11 and May 18. The make-up date will be Tuesday, May 21, if needed.

The ninth-rated Waukon girls basketball team (18-3) has played its way to the Class 3A State Tournament for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, posting a 55-44 victory over 13th-rated Davenport Assumption Saturday, February 16 in a game played at Marion High School. The Indians will play their first State Tournament game Monday, February 25 as the number-five seed in a 6:45 p.m. quarterfinal match-up with fourth-seeded Crestwood (15-5) from their own Northeast Iowa Conference. The Class 3A seventh-rated Cadets are the defending Class 3A State Tournament Champions and are making their third consecutive State Tournament appearance and their fifth in the past six seasons. The two teams split in their pair of regular season match-ups earlier this season, the Indians winning at Crestwood, 42-31, in mid-December but the Cadets handing the Tribe a 56-53 home defeat in late January.

Marty R. Melcher, 52, of rural Lansing died Monday, February 18, 2019 as a result of an automobile accident in rural Lansing. Funeral services were held Monday, February 25 at Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon with Pastor Ken Kimball officiating. Burial was at Old East Paint Creek Cemetery, rural Waterville.

Marty Roger Melcher was born August 12, 1966 in Waukon, the son of Roger and Karen (McCormick) Melcher. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Ann’s-St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry, attended Waterville Elementary School and graduated from Waukon High School in 1984.

After Marty graduated, he worked for three years with the RE Thomason Harvesting combine crew out of Eldorado, OK. Marty moved back to the Waukon area and went to work for Equity Co-op in Waukon, where he perfected his spraying skills and valued the connection he had with the farmers he sprayed for.

Members of the ninth-rated Waukon girls basketball team head toward their fans displaying the State Qualifier banner they were awarded after posting a 55-44 victory over 13th-rated Davenport Assumption in their Class 3A Region 4 championship game played Saturday, February 16 at Marion High School. The Lady Indians jumped to a 5-0 headstart and never looked back, leading the game from start to finish to qualify for the Class 3A State Tournament for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, when the basketball Tribe finished as the Class 3A State Tournament Runner-Up. The Lady Indians (18-3) will now begin their Class 3A State Tournament journey with a first-round game Monday, February 25 against an all too familiar foe, seventh-rated fellow Northeast Iowa Conference squad Crestwood (15-5), beginning at 6:45 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Full coverage of Waukon’s Region 4 championship triumph appears on Pages 15A-16A inside this week’s issue of The Standard.

First public meeting of the Friends group scheduled for March 3 in Harpers Ferry

Those who use and appreciate Yellow River State Forest (YRSF) in rural Harpers Ferry now have a way to directly support this treasure in Allamakee County.

A group of approximately ten area residents started working together late last spring to form a Friends of Yellow River State Forest organization. Now, they are ready for anyone and everyone who is interested to become involved. The new Friends of YRSF organization is holding the first public meeting of the Friends group March 3 at 2 p.m. at the Ethel Robinson Meehan Community Center in Harpers Ferry.

Friend groups are made up of dedicated volunteers who raise funds, make park improvements and otherwise give support, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Across Iowa, these citizen groups work to improve, protect and preserve natural resources.