ISU Extension and Outreach Information and Resources ISU Extension Bremer County 720 7th Ave SW Tripoli, IA 50676 Phone: (319) 882-4275 Fax: (319) 882-4292 www.extension.iastate.edu/bremer Extension Links: Acreage Living Ag Decision Maker Beef Center Corn Production and Nitrogen Usage Dairy Team Iowa Water Quality ISU Horticulture Extension ISU Natural Resources ISU Nutrient Reduction Strategies Manure Management Master Gardener Program-ISU Newsletters from ISU Extension Pesticide Management Plant and Insect Disease Lab Pork Center Soil Fertility Doing your Part in the Management of Iowa's White-tailed Deer and the CWD Threat Adam Janke, Assistant Professor - Natural Resource and Ecology Management, ISU Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD is a neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family. The disease is in a curious class of diseases that scientists still struggle to fully understand called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE). Unlike more common ailments associated with viruses or bacteria, TSEs infect animals with a misfolded protein or prion that, when not misfolded, is benign. Misfolded prions accumulate in an individual animal and erode the function of the central nervous system eventually leading to holes in the animal’s brain. In the case of CWD, these holes eventually lead to a literal wasting away of the animal’s function until death. Of course many diseases can kill deer, and in most cases these disease don’t pose any real threat to populations or people. However, because of the complexity of TSEs, CWD is cause for extra caution. Today, CWD has been documented in three Iowa counties – Wayne, Allamakee and Clayton – as well as in each neighboring state. Experiences in neighboring states has shown that once CWD is present in a deer population, it’s functionally impossible to remove and tends to become more prevalent over time. Once in a deer population, the only management strategy thought effective is to reduce densities of deer to try to discourage movements of sick deer away from the site and minimize transmissions of the disease to healthy deer. What can landowners do to help? Manage deer densities – Reducing deer densities through hunting is one management strategy for addressing the disease. Densities vary widely across the state, depending on the habitat type on a specific property and neighboring properties, weather, and other factors. No prescriptive density could be generalized across the state, but consulting with a professional wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR could help in determining appropriate levels of annual harvest on any given property, especially in areas with CWD. 1. Avoid congregations – Any time deer concentrate on piles of feed or mineral supplements they’re coming into unnatural contact and risking increased exposure to diseases. In light of concerns over CWD, landowners and hunters should avoid any practices that artificially concentrate deer on bait or minerals. Stay informed – Learn where the disease is today and use that to ensure you’re exercising the right amount of management on your land. For the entire article: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/ doing-your-part-management-iowas-white-tailed-deer-and-cwd-threat FARM AND YARD Iowa State University Extension and Outreach does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or status as a U.S. veteran. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all pro- grams.) Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to Ross Wilburn, Diversity Officer, 2150 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, 515-294-1482, [email protected]. FOR RURAL AND URBAN FAMILIES Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Information and Resources
Transcript
ISU Extension and Outreach Information and Resources
ISU Extension Bremer County 720 7th Ave SW
Tripoli, IA 50676
Phone: (319) 882-4275
Fax: (319) 882-4292
www.extension.iastate.edu/bremer
Extension Links: Acreage Living
Ag Decision Maker
Beef Center
Corn Production and Nitrogen
Usage
Dairy Team
Iowa Water Quality
ISU Horticulture Extension
ISU Natural Resources
ISU Nutrient Reduction
Strategies
Manure Management
Master Gardener Program-ISU
Newsletters from ISU Extension
Pesticide Management
Plant and Insect Disease Lab
Pork Center
Soil Fertility
Doing your Part in the Management of Iowa's White-tailed Deer and the CWD Threat Adam Janke, Assistant Professor - Natural Resource and Ecology Management, ISU
Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD is a neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family. The disease is in a curious class of diseases that scientists still struggle to fully understand called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE). Unlike more common ailments associated with viruses or bacteria, TSEs infect animals with a misfolded protein or prion that, when not misfolded, is benign. Misfolded prions accumulate in an individual animal and erode the function of the central nervous system eventually leading to holes in the animal’s brain. In the case of CWD, these holes eventually lead to a literal wasting away of the animal’s function until death. Of course many diseases can kill deer, and in most cases these disease don’t pose any real threat to populations or people. However, because of the complexity of TSEs, CWD is cause for extra caution.
Today, CWD has been documented in three Iowa counties – Wayne, Allamakee and Clayton – as well as in each neighboring state. Experiences in neighboring states has shown that once CWD is present in a deer population, it’s functionally impossible to remove and tends to become more prevalent over time. Once in a deer population, the only management strategy thought effective is to reduce densities of deer to try to discourage movements of sick deer away from the site and minimize transmissions of the disease to healthy deer.
What can landowners do to help?
Manage deer densities – Reducing deer densities through hunting is one management strategy for addressing the disease. Densities vary widely across the state, depending on the habitat type on a specific property and neighboring properties, weather, and other factors. No prescriptive density could be generalized across the state, but consulting with a professional wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR could help in determining appropriate levels of annual harvest on any given property, especially in areas with CWD.
1. Avoid congregations – Any time deer concentrate on piles of feed or mineral supplements they’re coming into unnatural contact and risking increased exposure to diseases. In light of concerns over CWD, landowners and hunters should avoid any practices that artificially concentrate deer on bait or minerals. Stay informed – Learn where the disease is today and use that to ensure you’re exercising the right amount of management on your land. For the entire article: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/doing-your-part-management-iowas-white-tailed-deer-and-cwd-threat
FARM AND YARD
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or status as a U.S. veteran. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all pro-grams.) Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to Ross Wilburn, Diversity Officer, 2150 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, 515-294-1482, [email protected].
FOR RURAL AND URBAN FAMILIES
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Information and Resources
Flexible Farm Lease Agreements For You? Alejandro Plastina, William Edwards, Ann Johanns, ISU Extension Economists
Fluctuating markets and uncertain yields make it difficult to arrive at a fair cash rental rate in advance of each crop year. To address this problem, some owners and tenants use flexible lease agreements in which the rent is not determined until after the crop is harvested. The final rental rate is based on actual prices and/or yields attained each year. The 2017 Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey showed that flexible leases accounted for 18 percent of all cash rent leases in Iowa. Flexible leases have the following advantages:
The actual rent paid adjusts automatically as yields or prices fluctuate. Risks are shared between the owner and the tenant, as are profit opportunities. Owners are paid in cash – they do not have to be involved in decisions about crop inputs or grain
marketing. Example Options: Share of Gross Revenue The most common type of flexible lease calls for the owner to receive cash rent equal to a specified share of the gross revenue of the crop. The value of the crop is determined by multiplying the actual harvested yield by the market price available, usually at harvest time. Under this type of lease both price and yield risks are shared between tenant and owner, in the same proportion as the gross revenue. In this respect, it is similar to a crop share lease. Most of the flexible leases in Iowa specify that the rent will be equal to anywhere from 25-40 percent of the gross crop value or gross crop revenue. Gross crop value is the state average yield times the state average price from October through December. Gross crop revenue includes gross crop value plus all USDA commodity program payments and crop insurance indemnity payments. Sharing Risk Owners and tenants should carefully consider the type and degree of risk they want to assume. Taking on risk means greater losses when prices or yields are low, but can result in larger profits in better years. Owners who wish to receive a fixed income from their farm investments may have to accept a lower longterm rent than those who are willing to share risk. Tenants with substantial financial obligations should consider adopting other means of reducing risk as well, such as purchasing crop revenue insurance. Leases that base the rent on price only or yield only may actually increase the tenant’s risk in some years. This is because prices may be high when yields are low, or prices may be low when yields are high. Thus, adjusting the rent based on only one factor does not always reflect the actual profits received in that year. Adjusting the rent for changes in both price and yield ensures that the actual rent will be closely tied to the tenant’s income each year. Other Issues Some tenants and landlords may want to avoid the possibility of a very high or very low rent in a given year by setting a maximum and/or minimum rent. This keeps the actual rent paid each year within a desirable range. Many leases ask for a portion of the rent to be paid in advance, possibly by March 1. Under a flexible lease, the advance payment may be for a fixed amount while the final payment depends on actual prices and yields. The flexible lease formula to be followed should be tested by using several different price and yield possibilities to illustrate the range of potential cash rents. Regardless of what type of agreement is adopted, it should be described in writing (with an example) and made a part of the written lease contract. The following page can be used as a lease supplement to specify flexible lease terms. For Further information: Iowa State University Extension and Outreach publication Iowa Farm Lease Form (FM 1538/ AgDM C2-12), (https://store.extension.iastate. edu/Product/1786.pdf) contains a standard farm lease form. ISU Extension and Outreach publication Computing a Cropland Cash Rental Rate (FM 1801/AgDM C2-20), (https://store. extension.iastate.edu/Product/1818.pdf) contains information on how to determine a fair cash rent. An interactive spreadsheet to analyze flexible farm lease agreements is available on the Ag Decision Maker website at www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/xls/c2-21flexiblerentanalysis.xlsx. See the Ag Decision Maker Leasing webpage for more on farmland leasing, www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wdleasing.html. The complete article is located at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/pdf/c2-21.pdf
The Deep Wounds of Forest Invasive Green Invaders Adam Janke, Assistant Professor - Natural Resource and Ecology Management, ISU
It is this time of year that our native trees and shrubs downshift into dormancy during cold fall days, first trading the greens of photosynthesis for the brilliant colors of fall and then, in a synchronous ritual formed through millennia of adaptation to Iowa’s climate, drop their leaves and settle in for winter.
It’s also this time of year when plants from the opposite side of the world, innocently introduced into Iowa for landscaping or poorly-conceived ideas of land-improvement, ignore those thousands-of-year-old traditions shared by our native plants. Rather, these exotic plants, including bush honeysuckle, Tartarian honeysuckle, and European buckthorn, take a different route into winter. Invaded woodlands and roadsides throughout the state are lined with a layer of green from one to eight feet above the forest floor. This time of year, exotic highly invasive shrubs take advantage of all the sunlight released from the canopy of trees over head to continue to assert their dominance in the forest. They put all those extra reserves stored during fall to good use in spring, breaking buds well in advance of most native plants, monopolizing sunlight that should have reached the forest floor where native flowers and the next generation of trees need it. Fall is high-time to mount a defense against these unwelcome invaders. Not only are these exotic species easy to spot this time of year thanks to their late-season leaf growth, but they are also in the process of moving nutrients down to their root systems for the winter, making them particularly vulnerable to herbicide. There is cost-share available for landowners to mount a defense against invasions as part of state or federal programs designed to improve forests for timber production and wildlife habitat. A meeting with a local NRCS office or District Forester from the Iowa DNR can provide access to those resources.
The necessary first step in addressing the challenge these invasive shrubs, and all other invasive plants, pests, and pathogens pose to our natural ecosystems, is to develop that fundamental ecological education Aldo Leopold advocated nearly a century ago. With an eye for the wounds in our modern landscapes, we can start to work to find ways to help them heal.
Resources
Find contact information for local NRCS or Iowa DNR district foresters and private lands biologists that can help improve forest habitats for wildlife on private lands with the following link. https://www.nrem.iastate.edu/wildlife/contacts/Wildlife-Habitat-Programs-and-Consultation
Farmland Ownership and Tenure Results Available through ISU Extension Store Wendong Zhang, Alejandro Plastina, Assistant Professor and Extension Economist
AMES, Iowa – An Iowa State University study that shows the age of Iowa’s farmland owners continues to rise is now available through the ISU Extension Store.
A record 35 percent of Iowa farmland owners are aged 75 or older in 2017. Sixty percent were over the age of 65, which is five percentage points higher than 2007 and twice the level recorded in 1982.
Conducted by Iowa State University since the 1940s, the Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey — completed every five years — focuses on forms of ownership, tenancy and transfer of farmland in Iowa, and characteristics of landowners. The latest survey was conducted in July 2017. Aging farmland owners is one of several notable trends found in the latest survey.
“An increasing amount of land is cash rented,” Zhang said. “In 1982, leased farmland was equally divided between cash rent and crop share leases. However, by 2017, 82 percent of leased farmland was under a cash rent arrangement. Two primary reasons for the trend away from crop share and towards cash rent agreements are that landowners have become more dispersed and the number of landowners per tenant has increased. Both these trends make payment in grain and keeping grain differentiated by owner more difficult.”
More farmland is now owned debt free, the researchers said. In 2017, 82 percent of Iowa farmland was debt free, a significant increase from 62 percent in 1982 and 78 percent in 2012. This could be the result of profits earned during good crop years in 2012 and 2014 and profitable livestock production years like 2014.
The survey found that reasons for owning farmland are changing.
“The survey found three primary reasons for owning farmland,” Plastina said. “Almost half — 49 percent — is owned for current income, 19 percent is owned for long-term investment and 29 percent is owned for family or sentimental reasons. The remaining reasons include owning a house with an acreage and for recreation purposes.”
Zhang and Plastina said the data show a trend away from sole ownership and joint tenancy towards institutionalized ownership structures, such as trusts and corporations. Taken together, these major trends have significant implications for when and how farmland is intended to be transferred to the next generation, the Iowa State economists said.
“These recent trends reveal that only 7 percent of Iowa farmland was intended to be sold to a nonfamily member,” said Zhang. “Recent federal and state tax policy changes, especially the reinforcements of stepped-up basis for farmland transition and 1031 exchanges for farmland, will likely continue making the farmland market tight with limited land sales.”
Let’s Talk No-till Mahdi Al-Kaisi, ISU Agronomy Professor and Soil & Water Specialist
Late harvest and the rush to get grains out of the fields may present an opportunity to rethink the need for tilling fields this fall or not. The question to ask is, “Do I need to till this fall?” Given the economic and environ-mental challenges farmers are facing, the answer in most cases is no. With harvest under way, now is a good time to start thinking about this decision. Take into consideration your specific situation, and whether tillage will provide economic and environmental benefits. Be sure to consider the costs associated with tillage and the impact tillage has on soil health and water quality. Even though you may think tillage may be needed in certain situations and field conditions, a well-managed field and proper crop rotation may not call for tillage.
Two main considerations for making any tillage decisions: 1. Soil conditions: It is important to take into consideration natural drainage, top soil depth, soil slope, organic matter, and soil texture. These factors have significant effects on how tillage affects soil health, productivity, and water quality. 2. Management considerations: These include residue management, crop rotation, equipment availability
and efficiency (planter suitability for different tillage systems, calibration of combine to ensure uniform
residue distribution, etc.), drainage tiles for managing excess soil water, soil test and fertilizer
management, suitable varieties for your area, and insect and disease control. These management
decisions are equally important to determine the success of crop production.
Think long-term Over the past 16 years, long-term tillage and crop rotation studies were conducted across Iowa. The studies document the most effective tillage and crop rotation combination for each region. Results showed a wide range of yield responses in corn and soybean for different regions, which reflect soil and climate conditions across the state. Also, the research shows that tillage systems did not affect soybean yields after corn. Soy-bean in no-till performed as good as or better than conventional tillage systems. Also, the research shows a reduction of $15-30/acre in input costs with no-till compared to conventional tillage systems (chisel plow, deep rip, and moldboard plow).
The choice of tillage for corn is more complex; careful consideration should be given to the soil’s long-term health and productivity as decisions are made. Research demonstrated that no-till and strip-till are as com-petitive as any conventional tillage system in well-drained soils or where field drainage is available to remove excess water in poorly-drained soils with corn after soybean (C-S) or continuous corn (C-C) rotation.
Figure 1. No-till field after corn harvest
Benefits of No-till Agricultural row cropping systems places significant stress on soil functions through tillage, chemical applications, and mono-cropping systems (i.e. continu-ous corn). Conservation practices, including no-till, cover crops, and extended crop rotations can mitigate the negative effects on soil health and productivity. A
no-till system can restore soil health over time by improving soil infiltration, organic matter, microbial diversity, and soil structure. Extended crop rotations that include small grains, legumes, and cover crops will equally increase soil biodiversity, protect the soil surface physically during the off season, and provide organic carbon input.
There may be some challenges in managing corn residue, but tillage is not the answer. Modification of the planter to include residue cleaners, heavier down-pressure springs, or other residue management attach-ments are far more cost effective given the environmental cost and economic expense associated with con-ventional tillage.
The extended period of time when the soil has no living cover or residue in Iowa, presents a major environ-
mental challenge that needs consideration when deciding on a tillage practice for this fall. Tillage can contrib-
ute to the acceleration of soil and nutrient loss given the uncertainty of weather events and their variability, as
demonstrated yearly and most particularly this year from early wet season to late wet-fall.
Bremer County Extension Staff Regional Director Ron Lenth County Education Program Coordinator County Youth Coordinator Tammy Curley Office Manager/Bookkeeper Jeannette Mukayisire Family Finance Specialist
Nov 19 - Finance of Caregiving, 1-3pm, Sumner Library Nov 20 - Women Marketing Grain, 5:30-8:30pm, Borlaug Learning Center, Nashua Nov 22 & 23 – Extension Office Closed for Holiday Nov 26 - Finance of Caregiving, 1-3pm, Sumner Library Nov 27 - Women Marketing Grain, 5:30-8:30pm, Borlaug Learning Center, Nashua Nov 27 - Finance of Caregiving, 1-3pm, Sumner Library Dec 1 - Seasonal Wreath Making, 9:30-11am, Readlyn Library Dec 4 - Women Marketing Grain, 5:30-8:30pm, Borlaug Learning Center, Nashua Dec 6 – Pest Control Training, 9 am, Extension Office, Tripoli Dec 6 - Advanced Calving Clinic, 10am-3pm, NICC Dairy Center, Calmar Dec 7 - “Fall Crop and Conservation Roundup”, 1-2pm, Bremer ISU Extension, Tripoli Dec 12 – Extension Council Meeting, 7 pm, Extension Office, Tripoli Dec 15 – 4-H/FFA Beef Weigh-In, 7:30-9:30 am, Waverly Sales Barn, Waverly Dec 24, 25 & Jan 1 – Extension Office closed for the holidays
