May 25, 2013

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ISU study finds more younger Iowans are buying farmland

May 24, 2013 By

Corn combineIowa’s high land values are having an impact who owns farmland in the state.

Iowa State University agricultural economist Mike Duffy is releasing the results from the 2012 Farmland Ownership Survey and says it appears the economy has been good to Iowa’s young people.

Duffy says, “We’re seeing an increase in the land owned by people under the age of 35 and I think this is a reflection of the boom period.”

Duffy says more young adults see opportunities on the farm and are returning to rural areas of the state after college. But, he says the youngest landowners are also the most likely to be holding mortgages.

Among all pieces of Iowa farmland, 78% are owned free of debt.

On the other side of the coin, Duffy says some farmers are working into their 70s and 80s and the demographics of farmland ownership reflect that.

Duffy says, “We now have 30% of the land, three in every ten acres, is owned by somebody over the age of 75.” He expected that number to be even higher.

Still, he says young people are buying land, while the percentage of land owned by the mid-career age group has declined slightly. Iowa State conducts its farmland ownership survey every five years.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News

Boy Scout camp hits 9-decade landmark, seeks elder campers

May 24, 2013 By

MitigwaSignFall2011sunsetOne of the oldest Boy Scout camps in the Midwest is celebrating its 90th anniversary next month and its leaders are searching for long-ago campers.

Todd Eipperle is director of Camp Mitigwa in central Iowa near Boone. He says the camp’s gone through many changes since first opening to Scouts in 1923.

“We started out with 70 acres and we’re up to almost 500 acres now,” Eipperle says. “Ninety years ago, their aquatics program was done in the Des Moines River. Now, we have two in-ground swimming pools and a lakefront — we have our own manmade lake. We have two large mess halls and we used to only have one very small one.”

The staff has launched a search for Camp Mitigwa’s Oldest Camper and the Oldest Staffer, both of whom will be recognized at a June celebration.

“Something that a lot of Scouters take pride in is belt buckles, believe it or not,” Eipperle says. “We have a special commemorative belt buckle for this year and they will receive a 90th anniversary Scout belt buckle for being the oldest campers.”

The camp hosts between 2,500 and 3,000 Boy Scouts every summer, and has for nine decades. That’s about a quarter-million campers over the years. So far, he says, they’ve heard from several of the old-timers.

“We do have one guy who’s actually 89 and he turns 90 in a few months so he’s just as old as the camp,” Eipperle says. “He served as camp director back in the ’60s. I’ve also heard from a few people who say they were on the camp’s staff in the late ’30s.”

The celebration at the camp is planned for June 15th to kick off camping season. To contact Eipperle, call the Mid-Iowa Council at (515) 266-2135 or email him at: todd.eipperle@scouting.org

 

 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Human Interest, News, Recreation & Entertainment

Senator Harkin “very troubled” by U.S. drone policy

May 23, 2013 By

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says he’s “very disturbed” by the news four Americans have been killed overseas by U.S. drones in counter-terrorism strikes. The Obama administration unveiled the information Wednesday, saying the four terrorist suspects were killed in covert operations since 2009 in Yemen and Pakistan. Harkin says it’s highly distressing.

“I’m very troubled by the drone policy, or lack of, that we’ve had in the past,” Harkin says. “I just don’t think it’s right for a president, any president, this one included, to be able to authorize a drone strike that kills people that may include American citizens.”

The president is expected to give an address on national security this afternoon, during which he’s to outline a new policy that sets parameters for when such lethal action with drones may be taken. “We have to have very careful Congressional oversight and scrutiny on the use of these weapons,” Harkin says.

“I’ve also been dismayed that they’ve been used by the CIA. That’s not their job. That’s the military’s job, not the CIA. Seems like the CIA has taken over military aspects without the kind of checks and balances that a lot of times the military has.” Harkin says he’ll be anxious to hear what President Obama lays out in the new strategies on drone warfare.

“We’ll see what that policy is and Congress either has to modify that policy or give the executive branch the authority to follow that policy,” Harkin says. “Again, I’ve been very disturbed by the use of drones, how they’ve been used and the expansive use of them without a clear policy guidance.”

The mission of the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines is being converted from flying the current F-16 fighter jets to unmanned drones, with the change-over coming this summer. It’s been reported the Predator drones flown remotely from central Iowa will be capable of lethal force for missions in places like Afghanistan, though it’s expected they’ll primarily be used for surveillance.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Iowa gas price ties record high

May 22, 2013 By

The average price for gasoline in Iowa today tied the all-time record high at $4.02 a gallon. Gail Weinholzer, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says for that reason, fewer travelers will be on the road for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday both in Iowa and nationwide, compared to last year.

Weinholzer says, “We expect 34.8-million Americans to journey at least 50 miles or more from home sometime between Thursday and Monday for the Memorial holiday weekend which is about 300,000 fewer people than last year.” Gas prices have bounded in recent weeks with the temporary closure of several refineries.

“No doubt, there’s an impact on gas prices in the upper Midwest,” Weinholzer says. “It is just a regional issue. Most of the rest of the nation is not experiencing it but the average price for fuel today in the United States is $3.66 and in Iowa, it’s $4.02, so obviously, that is a significant increase.”

Iowa’s gas prices have risen more than 60-cents a gallon in the past month. On the plus side, she believes prices have peaked and will now start to gradually drop. “The problem was with refineries that had closed for extended maintenance, a couple in the Chicago area, one in Kansas and one in Oklahoma,” Weinholzer says.

“We do expect those to come back online after Memorial Day. We do expect a slight decline (in prices) to start after Memorial Day but nothing significant until mid to late June.” Today’s statewide average gas price of $4.02 per gallon ties the all-time state record high set in July of 2008.

Technically, Weinholzer says that 2008 record still stands, as the statewide average price reached then was half-a-cent higher ($4.026) than today’s price ($4.021).

Filed Under: Business, Featured Story, News Tagged With:

Two of 3 flood guages shut off by budget cuts are back on

May 22, 2013 By

Federal budget cuts are forcing three flood gauges along three Iowa rivers to be switched off, but officials now say two of the gauges are being rescued.  Jeff Zogg, senior hydrologist at the National Weather Service, says they’ll be able to at least temporarily save gauges on the West Fork of the Cedar River at Finchford, just north of Waterloo, and on the Des Moines River at Humboldt, upstream from Fort Dodge.

“The Iowa Department of Natural Resources came forward as a funding partner for the gauges at Finchford and Humboldt,” Zogg says, “so those gauges will stay open through the end of this fiscal year, which ends in September.” There are about 75 flood gauges on Iowa’s waterways and Zogg says about 30 of them were eligible to be cut due to sequestration.

Now, it appears two of the three that were slated to be switched off have been saved. “To totally fund a single flood gauge was about $15,000 per year,” Zogg says. “The Iowa DNR has come forward to at least cost share on those gauges through the end of this fiscal year. It’s important to note, beyond September, their fate is still uncertain.”

The two gauges, he says, were key to the DNR’s effort to monitor water quality. The flood gauge on the East Fork of the 102 River at Bedford was turned off last week and Zogg admits, flooding there has been relatively infrequent.

“The impacts in the Bedford area from flood events on the 102 River are definitely minimal when you compare those to the impacts that may occur along the Des Moines River in the Humboldt area and also along the Cedar River up there in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area,” Zogg says.

“However, (the gauges) are still important in some areas. We definitely don’t ever want to lose a stream gauge.” The gauges are used to monitor both streamflow and water levels. The gauge near Waterloo/Cedar Falls has been taking readings for more than 60 years.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News, Weather

Dandelions flourishing after drought thins lawns

May 22, 2013 By

Dandelion-003There is nothing dandy about them. Iowans who want a picture-perfect lawn are having to do battle with dandelions this spring.

Horticulturist John Fech says we can blame last summer’s drought for this year’s healthy, plentiful crop of pesky weeds with yellow flowers.

It may seem like there’s many more of them, but Fech says no. “What we’re seeing is the same number of dandelions but we’re noticing them more because the lawns tend to be thinner as a result of going through the drought,” Fech says.

“We’ve had the perfect conditions for dandelions, really, thin lawns and now a spring condition where dandelion seed that was in the ground has had good conditions to germinate.” While your lawn may look hopeless, as the yellow flowers appear to be in every square foot, it’s possible to make a significant dent in their numbers.

“You would want to apply a combination broadleaf weed killer,” Fech says. “You may need two applications about ten days apart but you should be able to reduce the population, not as effectively as you would in the fall, but at least to some degree.” If your lawn has already been taken over by the weeds, trying to fight them now could be a long battle.

Dandelion-001“The best time to control dandelions is in the fall,” Fech says.

“Probably, the second-best time is now. You can have some degree of control but you’ve got to lower your expectations a bit. You want to increase the surface area, so you want to apply a material like Trimec, Weed Free Zone, something like that, half way between your mowing cycle.”

Double-check that you have the correct weed killer for dandelions and mix it according to the directions on the package.

Fech says there’s also nothing wrong with getting rid of them the old fashioned way — with a dandelion digger — just be sure to go deep enough to get all of the root.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News

Senator Grassley to question former IRS leader

May 21, 2013 By

The man who resigned amidst scandal as the head of the Internal Revenue Service last week will appear this morning before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley wants Steven Miller to explain how the tax collection agency ended up targeting conservative political groups for such close scrutiny.

“I want records of communication on the issue between the Internal Revenue Service and the White House or any other organization in government,” Grassley says. “It’s part of getting to the bottom of how targeting came about and how it was handled inside the administration.”

The IRS is the focus of a Congressional investigation after it was revealed the agency was inappropriately singling out conservative organizations, including tea party activists and anti-abortion groups, for special probes about their tax-exempt status.

“The IRS is the most-feared federal agency and this situation builds on public mistrust,” Grassley says, “especially as the IRS will have even more power starting in January because a big part of its job is going to be enforcing the new health care law.” Grassley, a Republican, says he also wants to question Miller and others to learn what President Obama knew about the situation and when.

“The president might not have been well-served by his aides who didn’t tell him about the situation right away,” Grassley says. “That also then raises questions of what else the White House chief of staff and counsel are keeping from the president and why the president is running the White House in the way that allows this sort of non-communication to happen.”

Grassley says members of Congress have been asking about the IRS’ targeting for more than a year and got no response.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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