Planting Updates from Iowa Corn Leaders – Thurs., May 23, 2013

“I only got rained out of the fields twice yesterday,” Kevin Rempp says with a laugh. Rempp farms near Montezuma in Poweshiek County and is chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.

“We have all of our corn planted and it’s been sprayed. We started planting soybeans this week. If we had nice weather all week, I think we could’ve been done by Friday night, but that is not going to be the case,” Rempp says.

They received a little rain from the storms that moved through on Monday night.  There was building damage about five miles east of them but they did not have any damage.

“There are a lot of neighbors who are looking for a dry place to plant,” he says. “We just can’t seem to get a long enough window of dry days so we can finish planting.” 
           

Jim Greif of Monticello is hoping to complete his corn and soybean planting this week in eastern Iowa. He received some light rain on Wednesday but avoided precipitation in some of the storms that blew through a few days ago.

“The storm earlier this week brought some wind damage to farms in this area but not a lot of rain,” Greif says. “We didn’t have damage but a few people did.”

“Overall, most of the planting in this area is wrapping up,” he adds. “We made a lot of progress in the past week.”

Maizall, The Alliance of the Leading Corn Producing Countries

From a small town in Southern Iowa to a similar looking town in North Central Iowa corn grows with rich soils, technology, and careful planting. It is in these same small towns that the planting of a much larger global partnership began. "We are competitors," says Julius Schaaf, a corn farmer from Shenandoah, past chair of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the current Vice President of the US Grains Council.  "And we will remain competitors. But we grow the same crop, we serve the same customers, and we face the same problems on market access issues. We have a common interest in working together to open markets and improve food security around the world.” Simply put, the new partnership is called MAIZALL.  It is an alliance of the leading corn producing countries; the United States, Brazil, and Argentina. A formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed May 14 by the presidents/chairmen of the U.S. Grains Council, the National Corn Growers Association, ABRAMHILO (Brazil), and MAIZAR (Argentina).

Pam Johnson from Floyd in North Central Iowa, who is also a past chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the current National Corn Growers Association President said, "MAIZALL is a farmer-to-farmer alliance, and in every instance we have had a meeting of the minds about the key challenges we face in opening markets. Food Security is a priority for every country. Countries can be food secure without being self-sufficient by establishing relationships and building trust with exporting countries to be long-term, reliable suppliers of quality feed and food supplies."

Following the signing of the MOU, the MAIZALL partners met for two days to establish organizational details and meet with agricultural, scientific, and government leaders in Buenos Aires. A tentative agreement was reached on many key issues including the structure of the MAIZALL Board of Directors, officers, preliminary funding targets, and next steps. Over the next several weeks, the proposed organizational structure will be presented for approval to the Boards of the four participating organizations.

The primary focus of this new alliance is emphasize the need for better consumer understanding of production agriculture, including the benefits of biotechnology and advancing the global acceptance on the capacity to produce maize for feed, food and fuel. MAIZALL will also conduct outreach to governments and stakeholders on the need for trade-enabling biotechnology policies and regulatory procedures.

For more information on the partnership visit: www.grains.org/index.php/2012-04-30-15-22-26/4195-north-south-american-maize-growers-form-international-alliance

For photos visit: www.flickr.com/photos/usgc/sets/72157633480797361/

Mindy Williamson is the communications and public relations director for Iowa Corn. She grew up on an acreage, raising various 4-H livestock projects and tormenting her younger siblings. Mindy has a degree from Iowa State University in BPMI with an emphasis on botany and has worked in ag communications for almost 15 years. Mindy, her husband, Kevin, and their two children, live close to his families’ farming operation where they get in the way whenever possible.

Planting Updates from Iowa Corn Leaders – Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Rain has halted planting progress by Bruce Rohwer of Paullina, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Rohwer says planting is at all stages in northwest Iowa and he still has some corn acres left to plant. Some farmers also have corn left to plant, while others are planting soybeans or even finished planting soybeans.

“At the end of last week we had three-quarters of an inch of rain and over the weekend we had three-tenths of an inch of rain,” Rohwer says. “The ground was just getting dry enough to go back in and then we had lightening and some storms the other night and received another three-tenths of rain which has prevented us from getting much done.”

Rohwer is hoping for a few dry days so he can finish corn but the forecast for this week doesn’t look great.

“The weather is being obstinate with us this year,” Rohwer says.

Don Hunerdosse was moving cows to the pasture this morning near Milo. Corn planting is nearly completed in his area. He is 90 percent finished with corn planting and has 40 percent of his soybeans planted.

“I would estimate that soybean planting is about 70 percent complete in this area,” Hunderdosse says.

Rainfall was spotty from the recent storms on Sunday and Monday. It ranged from one-half-inch to about one-inch and a half in some areas of south-central Iowa.

“We hope to be back in the fields later today,” he says.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer dough to prepared loaf pans. Be sure the loaf pans are about 2/3 full.
3. Bake 50 minutes if they are large loaf pans otherwise for mini loaf pans only bake 25-30 minutes.  Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and spread a little butter on top of the loaf. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

If you like blueberries and zucchini you will truly enjoy this recipe. 

Planting Updates from Iowa Corn Leaders – Thurs., May 16, 2013

Kevin Rempp, chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board who farms near Montezuma in Poweshiek County, started planting on Monday of this week.

“We’ve hit it pretty hard and are hoping we can finish planting corn by the end of this week,” Rempp says. “I estimate that corn planting is 70 percent complete in this area.

“There are a few farmers who have started planting soybeans but just a few. There may only be 10 percent of soybeans planted around here,” he notes. “There’s also a lot of spraying left to do.”

He says soil conditions are really good with the warm, dry weather this week. 
     

Jim Greif of Monticello says a lot of corn has been planted in his area as well. Many farmers began planting corn over the weekend but Jim started planting during this week.

“Most of the anhydrous has been applied and I would estimate that 50 percent of the corn crop has been planted in this area,” Greif says.  “A few farmers have started planting soybeans but for the most part farmers are working hard to get the corn in.”

He is hoping the warm, dry weather continues so planting can continue.

ICGA hosts Governor and Lt. Governor to Support Nutrient Reduction

On Tuesday, the Iowa Corn Growers Association partnered with the Iowa Land Improvement Contractors Association (LICA) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to host a conservation demonstration field day.  The goal was to inform the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and legislators about conservation practices that farmers use.  The event was held at LICA’s demonstration farm near Melbourne.

Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds
get a close view of a bioreactor’s water
control structure.

Over 60 people attended the event, which focused on nutrient reduction practices like bioreactors and denitrifying wetlands.  Educational displays were available inside the machine shed, and tours of the farm were given so participants could see the conservation practices up close.

“It’s important that we all work together on the nutrient reduction strategy,” said Governor Branstad.  The State of Iowa is currently finishing work on a nutrient reduction strategy to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies by 45 percent.  Farmers will be asked to voluntarily implement conservation practices that reduce the loss of nitrogen and phosphorus on their farms.

A recent Des Moines Register story, “Record Nitrate Levels in Raccoon, Des Moines Threaten Des Moines-area Tap Water” talked about nitrogen levels in water bodies.  Record temperatures have caused record nitrate levels in the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers.  Last year’s drought limited plant growth and nitrogen utilization, and unused nitrogen was flushed from the system by April’s record rainfall.

This temporary spike in nitrates supports the need for aggressive implementation of the nutrient reduction strategy.  Patience is needed because the lag time to see water quality improvements from conservation practices can be decades.

Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said, “Voluntary measures are the best bet for action because they avoid one size fits all solutions.”  With over 90,000 farms in Iowa, there is not any easy solution, especially as demand for Iowa’s agricultural products increase.

Nitrogen fertilizer application is necessary to replace nitrogen removed via grain harvest.  If fertilizer application is inadequate, plants will strip nutrients from the soil reducing future productivity.  America’s farmers have greatly improved nitrogen efficiency, which decreases the amount of nitrogen required to harvest a bushel of corn.  From 1980 to 2010, corn production increased from 6.6 billion bushels to 12.45 billion bushels while nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) per bushel decreased from 3.9 pounds to 1.6 pounds per bushel.  This is an 87.5 percent increase in production using 4 percent fewer nutrients (USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service).

The LICA farm’s wetland removes nitrogen as 

water flows through it.

The unprecedented science assessment that was conducted as part of the nutrient reduction strategy has received great praise from the Environmental Protection Agency and others.  The assessment has shown that 45 percent reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus are possible by implementing a wide range of practices.  Many of these practices involve newer technology like bioreactors and denitrifying wetlands that have only recently been included in our voluntary conservation programs.  New technology will be an important part of reaching the strategies goals and farmers will embrace this technology.

Ben Gleason is the Sustainable Program Manager at Iowa Corn where he works on a range of environmental projects affecting Iowa corn growers.  Soil and water conservation issues are a priority, and Ben works closely with government agencies and other organizations to address these issues.  Previously, Ben worked for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship as a project coordinator for multiple watershed projects addressing sediment and nutrients in lakes and streams.  Ben grew up in Charles City, IA near his family’s farm on the Little Cedar River.  He resides in Ankeny and his hobbies include hunting, fishing, boating and attending Iowa State athletic events.

Planting Updates from Iowa Corn Leaders – Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Bruce Rohwer of Paullina, who is president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, started planting late Saturday afternoon.

“It’s pretty frantic in our area as everyone is pushing hard to get as much planted before the next round of precipitation,” Rohwer says.  “It’s warm and dry today.  The forecast is for rain later in the week. Hopefully we can get a lot done prior to any more rain.”

Rohwer says soil conditions in northwest Iowa are good in many areas but still wet in low-lying areas.

Don Hunerdosse of Milo was filling the planter this morning in between rounds. He planted corn yesterday and continues today. 

“Soil conditions are ideal. We need about 10 more days of this weather so we can get everything planted,” he says.  “A year ago at this time we were finished with planting.”

The delays this spring have made farmers anxious but the moisture was needed throughout the state.

“We’re happy to finally be in the fields and rolling along,” he adds.