CHELSEA – As a reporter, you’re often thrust into unfamiliar territory. Whether it’s covering a shooting in a dark alley or stem cell research at a medical institute, you’re expected to know enough to ask the right questions to make sense of the situation. I’m hoping that experience serves me well as we embark on […]
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Category: Agriculture
Monsanto lobbyist hired for Iowa agricul...
The following is from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship: DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that Mike Naig has been hired as the new Deputy Secretary for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. He will start with the Department on September 4. “Mike will be […]
Saving the family farm: next step, the a...
CHELSEA – These past several weeks have been exhausting, heartrending, gut wrenching and occasionally, enlightening. Anyone who has had to prepare an estate auction for a close relative can probably relate. In this case, my uncle, Craig Musel, should be out on his farm, doing what he loves. In past years, that would mean getting […]
Weekend Photo Gallery: Koi for a Cause a...
The first weekend in August was a beautiful one for Iowans to enjoy the outdoors. About 100 people walked through the sensational gardens tended by Monica Morley and her mother, Elena Murillo, in northeast Cedar Rapids during Koi for a Cause, a benefit for the HACAP Food Reservoir. Visitors at Abbe Hills Farm near Mount […]
Farm field day and open house set for Su...
MOUNT VERNON – If you’re a city dweller who wants a first-hand look at how food grows or a landowner interested in improving conservation practices, your opportunity comes this Sunday. Laura Krouse is hosting a farm field day and open house from 4-7 p.m. at Abbe Hills Farm on Sunday, Aug 4, 2013, in rural […]
Iowa moving back to dry mode
After the over-abundance of precipitation earlier this season, I’m amazed that my rain barrel is already running dry. I’m told Ames received a good drenching of rain on Sunday and I had hoped it would make its way to Cedar Rapids. Didn’t happen. Now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed, along with other gardeners, that those […]
Linn County Fair begins this week; celeb...
UPDATE 2:30 p.m. The 4-H/FFA Livestock shows will be moved to the Delaware County Fair grounds. See schedule below. UPDATE 1:40 p.m. June 26: The latest update from the Linn County Fair notes that events are still on for tonight (Wednesday) but grandstand and grounds events after today have been canceled, due to the projected […]
Wet, cool weather delaying farmers; Iowa...
It was nice to see the sun today, after what has been an unusually wet and cool spring. That wet weather is keeping farmers out of their fields, as the following reports from Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and the Iowa Crops and Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service show:
Practical Farmers of Iowa Launches 100 D...
The age of farmers in this country averages in the 60s, so finding new farmers is an important task. Practical Farmers of Iowa has made numerous efforts with mentoring and other programs to forward that goal. The group is now launching a campaign to help with those efforts. Here is more about the campaign from […]
Keys to drought, flooding and climate ch...
CEDAR RAPIDS – Ray Archuleta and David Brandt could hold the keys to solving both drought and flooding issues and even climate change. Their sessions during the June 6 soil seminar at Coe College in Cedar Rapids were nothing short of jaw-dropping. It’s probably not often that ‘soil seminar’ and ‘jaw-dropping’ are used in the […]