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Iowa regional news and notes Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Westergard crowned Iowa State Fair Queen
DES MOINES -- Caine Westergard, 17, of Plymouth County is the 2009 Iowa State Fair Queen.
The daughter of Carl and Colleen Westergard of Ireton, Caine was chosen out of 103 contestants.
Shelby Sieren, 18, of Keota County was named first runner-up. She is the daughter of Scott and Renee Sieren of Keota. Second runner-up was Demi Dunn of Cherokee County. She is the daughter of Deb and Doug Dunn of Cherokee. Kelsey Salton, 17, of Clay County was named third runner-up. She is the daughter of Russ and Sue Salton of Ayrshire.
Meghan Cain of Madison County earned both Outstanding Leadership and Personality Plus Awards. She is the daughter of Paul and Kelly Cain of Van Meter.
Queen Caine, who will reign for the next year, receives a $2,500 scholarship and $300 U.S. Savings Bond from the Iowa State Fair in addition to her crown, sash and trophy.
Borlaug Center dedication is Sept. 2 near Nashua
NASHUA, Iowa -- An open house and dedication is planned Sept. 2 for the Northeast Research Farm's Borlaug Learning Center grand opening.
The opening ceremony will start at 5 p.m. and will be led by Mark Mueller, president of the Northeast Iowa Experimental Association. The association owns the farm and works with Iowa State University to conduct research.
Featured speakers will include Kay Connelly, co-chairman of the fundraising committee, ISU president Gregory Geoffroy; ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences dean; and Jack Payne, ISU vice president for Extension and Outreach.
The farm is located is located 1.25 miles west of Nashua on B60, 1 mile south on Windfall Avenue and a quarter-mile east on 290th St.
Web site offers options for hail-damaged crops
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University Extension recently set up a hail damage Web page. The Web page is part of Extension's Disaster Recovery site at www.extension.iastate.edu/disasterrecovery/.
The severe hail storm that hit northeast Iowa July 24 left behind a six-county strip of major crop issues.
Other recent storm events have caused damage to smaller pockets of crops.
Information related to assessing crop damage, emergency forage, salvaging a hail damaged crop, foliar fungicide and hail damage, silage harvest issues, and grain harvest issues are available on the Web page.
Additional information will be posted as harvest approaches.
Rosmann farm will host field day on Aug. 27
HARLAN, Iowa -- Ron and Maria Rosmann, Daniel Rosmann, and Practical Farmers of Iowa will host at field day at the Rosmann farm at 1 p.m. Aug. 27.
Topics that will be covered are: planting cover crops (turnips, red clover and brassicas) in corn at last cultivation, measuring soil carbon, organic swine and beef production with resource saving crop rotations, and an ongoing aphid-resistant soybean trial.
Abe Sandquist of Natural Fertilizer Services in Woodbine will talk about Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans.
Following the field day, Traci Bruckner of The Center for Rural Affairs and NRCS staff will present information on conservation, family farm and value-added agriculture, and beginning farmer and rancher programs in the 2008 farm bill.
Iowa Learning Farm hosts Sioux County field day
HAWARDEN, Iowa -- The Iowa Learning Farm will host a field day at the Nate Ronsiek farm near Hawarden at 6 p.m. Aug. 27. The field day will focus on no-tillage conservation farming for optimum results.
Nate Ronsiek is a cooperator with the Iowa Learning Farm and will offer information about his demonstration site and tell of his experiences in adopting no-till.
The field day includes a complimentary evening meal served by the Sioux County Cattlemen and sponsored by Farmers Elevator Company and Farm Credit Services of America. For more information or to register, call the Sioux County Extension office at (712) 737-4230.
ISU will offer short course at Dairy Expo
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University's Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering is coordinating a short course in conjunction with the World Dairy Expo in September in conjunction on how to produce energy from dairy manure using anaerobic digestion.
The training will be held Sept. 28 and Sept. 29 in the Madison Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wis. The World Dairy Expo runs from Sept. 29-Oct. 3.
The session costs $595 for Expo attendees and $795 for exhibitors. The early registration deadline is Sept. 14 and the hotel registration deadline is Aug. 30.
New Iowa publication on protecting bees
AMES, Iowa -- Honey bees play a key role in Iowa's agroecosystem -- to the tune of an estimated $92 million annually as plant pollinators. Iowa beekeepers manage about 30,000 colonies of honey bees that produce more than 3 million pounds of honey annually.
"Protecting Bees in Iowa: What's Your Role?" is a new Iowa State University Extension publication that lists actions pesticide applicators and beekeepers can take to protect honey bees.
Report documents grain flow in Iowa
DES MOINES -- A major study tracking the movement of grain and co-products from Iowa farms to end users has been completed. The report is titled "The 2007/08 Iowa Grain and Biofuel Flow Study: A Survey Report.''
The report documents how farmers, grain handlers, corn and soybean processors, as well as biofuel manufacturers, move their products to their end users.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship served as the project coordinator. The project was funded by nine sponsors including state agencies, producer associations and processor organizations. The study was conducted by Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.
The report is the latest in a series of studies that have focused on the transportation flow of Iowa's farm commodities, but the first to have included biofuels and selected co-products.
Lawyers want to bar work testimony
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Lawyers for a former Kosher slaughterhouse executive are asking a judge to bar from testifying former plant workers who may have lied to get work in the United States.
About 32 former workers at Agriprocessors Inc. are listed as government witnesses in the prosecution of Sholom Rubashkin, a former manager of the Postville slaughterhouse.
Rubashkin is accused of immigrant harboring, bank fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud. Rubashkin's arrest followed a May 2008 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant.
In a motion filed last week, attorneys for Rubashkin say some government witnesses were "incompetent to testify as a matter of law" because of their desires to return home. Prosecutors kept many of the witnesses in the country despite their wishes to return to Guatemala, Mexico and other homelands. |
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