TILLAGE COST-SHARE
The Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation District is now accepting no till and strip till cost share signups for producers who have land in the Deep Creek-Willow Creek watershed. Watershed project coordinator Shay Kamstra says this program has been going on since 2014.
Cost share is limited, and is available on the first-come, first served basis.
No till or strip till are effective conservation methods.
Most producers sign up or the maximum acres, but some farmers new to the cost share may not apply for as many acres.
Eligible applicants may receive $20.00 per acre for no till corn and/or $10.00 per acre for no till soybeans. The maximum acres an induvial can sign up for cost share is 200 acres. Cost share is limited and is available as first come, first serve.
Applications are accepted until March 31, 2023. This cost share program is only for land located in the Deep Creek-Willow Creek watershed in Plymouth, Sioux, Cherokee and O’Brien County.
T&S TREE FARM
What’s Christmas without Christmas trees? Robin Smith and her brother Adam Muth operate T and S Christmas Tree Farm in rural Ireton. While there’s always great demand for trees, the drought has limited supply.
The drought has limited the availability of the taller trees.
Business was not as good as other years, but considering the drought, it went well. T&S specializes in wreaths. Robin and her brother Adam learned how to make wreaths from their parents, and have 15 years of experience in this specialty.
Smith says her T&s Christmas Tree Farm is not just a business, but a way of preserving her family heritage.
You can find out more about the T&S Christmas Tree Farm on their Facebook page.
UNI EXPANDS PROGRAMS
The University of Northern president Mark Nook says U-N-I’s plan to start a nursing program is part of academic positioning to spur enrollment growth. Just under nine thousand students enrolled at U-N-I for the fall semester, down from a peak enrollment of around 14-thousand 22 years ago. Nook says an accrediting agency recently gave U-N-I the go-ahead to offer accounting classes in the Des Moines area, and school officials are looking at how we might be able to manage that. Nook and other U-N-I officials are looking at how to expand academic programs in applied engineering and what some call “big data” because students are seeking those skills. Nook made his comments this weekend during an appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.
FLU DEATHS
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the first flu-related deaths in the state. The Department says both people were 81 years and over and were from northern Iowa. They also had underlying conditions. The current flu season began on October 3rd. The most recent H-H-S flu report shows the virus at a moderately high level of activity in the state. Iowa hospitals are reporting high patient admission rates. H-H-S says getting a flu vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from severe illness, hospitalization and death.
PROPERTY TAX REFORM
A key lawmaker says Republicans in the Iowa Senate will be laser focused on reforming Iowa’s property tax system in 2023. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, is chairman of the Senate committee that drafts tax policy. He says the property tax system is on auto pilot and it’s time for meaningful reform. Senator Pam Jochum (YOH-kum) of Dubuque, the top-ranking Democrat on the Iowa Senate’s tax-writing committee says she hopes Republicans take a scalpel and not an ax to the system, as cities and counties are already struggling with their budgets. Jochum and Dawson made their comments during the winter meeting of the Iowa Taxpayers Association.
IOWA CAUCUSES
National Democratic Party leaders has voted to eliminate Iowa’s Caucuses from its leading position in the party’s next presidential campaign. President Biden recommended that South Carolina’s Primary be the first voting event for Democrats in 2024. Scott Brennan, a former Iowa Democratic Party chairman, says dumping the Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses sends a clear signal that Democrats have turned their backs on Iowa.
The panel is keeping New Hampshire and Nevada in the group of early voting states — and adding Georgia and Michigan to the mix.
If the Democratic National Committee ratifies this plan early next year, Iowa Democrats would violate party rules if they hold Caucuses before March.
