Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2018

Ag Bytes
Watershed and flood
resiliency focus of Upper
Mississippi River Conference
More than 200 stakeholders who represent
interests that range from agriculture,
manufacturing, energy and navigation to
tourism, the environment and flood control
will convene in the Quad Cities Oct. 24-25
at Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center
in Moline. They will discuss improving
flood resiliency in the Upper Mississippi
River region.
The 11th annual Upper Mississippi
River Conference — Our Watershed:
Working Together for Healthy Waters and
Flood-Resilient Communities — will focus
on floodplain issues facing the Mississippi
River watershed, which covers all or part
of 31 states in the nation. Presentations
will follow two tracks, floodplain/flood risk
management and water quality/biodiversity.
Speakers include Dr. Gerald Galloway,
University of Maryland; Chad Berginnis,
Association of State Flood Plain Managers;
Michael Sutfin, building and zoning
official in Ottawa, Illinois; Col. Bryan
Sizemore, St. Louis District Commander,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Mary
Miss, artist and founder, City as Living
Laboratory.
The conference is hosted by River
Action, a non-profit organization that
works to protect and restore the upper
Mississippi River in the Quad City area,
foster cultural and economic river-related
activities and raise awareness of sustainable
practices that enhance the river.
Attendees can register for one or both
days of the conference, and discounted
fees are available for students.
For further details and registration, visit
riveraction.org.
Survey shows low prices,
tariffs could shift acres
to corn and wheat
Farmers starting to pencil out options
for 2019 crops don’t have many obvious
choices in a year dominated by trade
disputes, good yields and low prices. But
like it or not, growers are starting to place
their bets for the coming year, according
to Farm Futures first survey of 2019 planting
intentions. Results of the survey were
released in late August at the Farm Progress
Show, the nation’s largest outdoor
farm show, in Boone, Iowa.
China’s 25 percent tariff on imports of
U.S. soybeans helped pummel prices
headed into harvest, and a record crop
didn’t help the market, either. So, growers
said they plan to trim seedings by 2 million
acres next spring. That would take soybean
acreage to 87.5 million, compared to
the 89.6 million put in the ground this year,
a decrease of 2.3 percent.
Many of those acres would shift to corn,
helping realign rotations after soybean
plantings topped corn for the first time in
a generation
in 2018. Corn
could face
brighter price prospects headed into 2019,
too, giving growers faith to raise corn
seedings by 1.7 million to 90.8 million
acres. That would be an increase of just
under 2 percent compared to this spring.
Global corn stocks are tightening due
to weather problems overseas that also
hurt wheat production in other exporting
countries. Winter wheat futures led a brief
price rebound this summer, which appears
to be bringing more land into production
as growers seed fields this fall.
The survey found farmers ready to
put in 33.6 million acres of winter wheat,
up nearly 850,000 from a year ago, an
increase of 2.6 percent. Farmers indicated
they would seed around 4 percent more
hard red and soft red winter wheat, while
reducing white wheat acreage.
Over the past 11 years the average
difference between Farm Futures August
intentions and USDA’s Prospective Plantings
the following March is 1.5 percent for
corn and 2.5 percent for soybeans.
Farm Futures surveyed 924 growers
July 20 to August 2. Farmers were invited
by email to complete an on-line questionnaire.
Practical Farmers of Iowa
sets annual conference
The 2019 Practical Farmers of Iowa
Annual Conference will be held Jan. 17-19
at the Scheman Building
in Ames.
For more information
about being a sponsor
or exhibitor, please email
Kathy Eastman at keastman33@gmail.com.
The conference is
open to everyone and
attracts farmers of all
sorts, sizes, systems and enterprises, as
well as non-farmers interested in knowing
more about how their food is grown and
building relationships between those who
work the land and those who rely on their
labors.
The conference allows time for networking
and interacting with sponsors.
Practical Farmers represents a diverse
network of farmers, including those who
raise corn and soybeans, hay, livestock
large and small, horticultural crops from
fruits and vegetables to cut flowers and
herbs. The organization formed in 1985.
For more information, visit practicalfarmers.org.
New initiative formed
to empower rural Iowa
Iowa recently launched the Empower
Rural Iowa Initiative bringing the Governor’s
office together with the Rural Development
Council to identify legislative,
regulatory and policy changes that could
benefit small towns and rural areas.
Empower Rural Iowa has 66 appointed
members from across the state, each of
whom sought the opportunity to serve,
according to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Recommendations will be provided by
an executive committee and three task
forces: Investing in Rural Iowa, Growing
Rural Iowa, and Connecting Rural Iowa.
The Investing in Rural Iowa task force
will focus on improving access to quality
housing in rural Iowa. The Growing
Rural Iowa task force will identify ways to
encourage leadership development and
strategic development in rural communities.
The Connecting Rural Iowa task
force will look into effectively and sustainably
financing broadband connectivity.
The task forces will begin meeting this
fall. Initial recommendations will be due by
the end of the year so they can be considered
during the 2019 legislative session.
Eerie Adventures Day
Camp set for kids
The ISU Extension Office will hold an
Eerie Adventures Day Camp from 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Clinton County
Fairgrounds Auditorium. Kids will enjoy
Ooey, Gooey Frankenstein snot (slime),
Jumping Spider Rockets, Monster Trick
or Treat Box, Pumpkin Bowling and more.
This program is for kids in kindergarten
through third grade. Cost is $40 for 4-H
members and $45 for nonmembers. Morning
and afternoon snack are provided participants
should bring a lunch. Registration
and payment are due at the extension
office by Wednesday, Oct. 17.
132 EASTERN IOWA FARMER | FALL 2018 eifarmer.com