Crop Farming

Late harvest, early winter storms leave crops stranded (01/07/10)
Corn still stands in fields in northwest Iowa and nearby states -- and without a winter thaw it will likely remain there until spring. "Right now there's not much you can do. You can't physically get in the field," said Joel DeJong, crops field specialist with Plymouth County Iowa State University Extension...

Racing the elements: Herbst and crew react to heavy autumn rainfall (12/11/09)
When the September harvest rolled around this year Darwin Herbst thought it would be business as usual. But that wasn't the case thanks to a very rainy October. Herbst, of Merrill, has been farming his whole life. This year was different for the Herbst farm and most farmers in the area...

When life was simple: Life on the farm was busy with work and fun times (12/10/09)
Editor's Note: This story is another in a weekly series looking back at life decades ago and remembering a time when people's lifestyle was very different than today. Life on the farm has many memories for Leonard Molzen. "I've lived on the farm all my life in the same township, Johnson Township," Molzen said. He moved to Good Samaritan Society-Le Mars in 2005...

Brunsville grain elevator adds capacity, speed (11/23/09)
Brunsville's Premium Feed and Grain upped the ante this harvest with a new 204,000 bushel storage bin and a new grain dump that can take in grain at the rate of 8,000 bushels per hour. The company's growth also included adding three new full-time jobs. Now Premium Grain and Feed employs 12 people, 10 of which are full-time...

Prehistoric people leave footprints in Loess Hills (11/12/09)
Eight hundred to 900 years ago the first corn farmers dwelled in the northern Loess Hills. Evidence of the prehistoric Mill Creek native people, as archaeologists have deemed them, and their villages and cemetery sites have been found in parts of Plymouth County and northwest Iowa...

China to lift ban, pork industry sighs in relief (11/02/09)
Last week officials from China announced plans to lift a six-month ban on pork imports from the United States -- news that could be a shot in the arm for a suffering pork industry. The ban has yet to be lifted, but National Pork Board president Tim Bierman, of Larrabee, Iowa, has no doubt this will have a widespread positive impact on the pork industry...

Olympic champion returns to roots: Jennie Finch headlines Pink Ribbon Night (10/30/09)
You won't find too many natives of Southern California who enjoy the smell of a cattle farm. But Jennie Finch is not your typical California girl. "It's funny how you appreciate the smell of cows and cornfields," said Finch, a softball pitcher for Team USA and a two-time Olympian, said in Le Mars Thursday. ...

Faber's hobby wine earns high rank (10/28/09)
A Le Mars man's wine, made from grapes grown in his backyard and fermented in his basement, was picked champion in its class last weekend. Wayne Faber entered his dry red wine in the Schleswig Wine and Bier Contest last weekend, an annual event for Schleswig, 45 miles south of Cherokee...

Oh deer! It's that time of year (10/28/09)
With tree leaves turning golden and temperatures cooling, the fall season also brings a greater chance of car-deer accidents on roadways across Plymouth County. "We're starting to see an increase in vehicles hitting deer," said Plymouth County Deputy Paul Betsworth. "Once farmers start getting their crops in, they start chasing the deer out of the fields onto the roadways."...

Neighbors bring combines to recovering farmer's rescue (10/20/09)
Jerry Vaske's bleeding kidney kept him from harvesting his 220 acres of soybeans this fall. But the job still got done Monday. The rural Remsen farmer's friends, neighbors and family members climbed aboard nine combines, hooked up tractors and wagons, drove feed trucks and harvested Vaske's three fields in less than a day...

Pheasants' habitat dwindles by millions of acres each year (09/18/09)
Hunters may face a challenge this season -- the pheasant population is on a downward spiral in Plymouth County and throughout Iowa. Last year Iowa had 100,000 hunters and 383,000 birds, which is four birds per person in the field. Other years there have been 1.5 million pheasants, said John Linquist, Pheasants Forever regional representative. "From the early 2000s to now there has been a steady decline because of weather and habitat," Linquist said. The cold, damp spring this year affected pheasants' nesting habits, said Mike Slota, Pheasants Forever chairman for Plymouth County youth programs. "The weather has to be somewhat warm to produce the insects for the chicks when they're hatched," Slota said. "The hens can't keep the chicks adequately warm and they just die from exposure." The loss of habitat also affects pheasants' nesting because hens have less area to hide from predators, Slota said. Pheasant habitats, which usually require 5 to 10 acres, are areas with a mixture of tall and short grasses and flowering plants that attract insects, Slota said. A major reason that habitat is dwindling is that millions of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres are going away each year, Linquist said. Last year alone 1.1 million CRP acres expired, according to www.pheasantsforever.org. With the price of grain, farmers are finding they can make more money planting their land than putting it into CRP acres, Slota said. "With this economy you can't blame any farmer for squeezing every dollar out of the ground they can," Slota said. "Their job is to produce grain and make money off the ground. We understand that." Farmers began enrolling their qualified land into CRPs to be planted into habitats 10 to 15 years ago and receiving federal compensation, Linquist said. "A lot of people's acres are expiring and there are no new signups," he said. Another 3.8 million CRP acres will expire this fall and 4.4 million acres next September for a total of 21 million acres gone from the program by the end of 2012 without a new signup. The USDA does not have a signup scheduled, according to the Pheasants Forever website. "It's hard to maintain a bird population when we're constantly taking conservation acres out of play," Linquist said. Pheasants Forever hopes to turn that around with its program, Reload Iowa. The intent of Reload Iowa is to establish 1 million acres of new habitat on Iowa landscape. That means $11.5 million will need to be raised and 50 employees hired to go door-to-door to work with landowners to create the habitat, Linquist said. "That program is going to have to pay enough money out to entice the farmer to want to do this," Slota said. "The farmer has to look at the bottom line." There are also national programs like Conservation Practice 38 or State Acres For wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) working to help conserve and create new habitat. SAFE started last year with 200,000 CRP acres that were divided among states. "We had 27,700 acres," Linquist said. "All of those acres have been used up and all within a year." The loss of habitat and dwindling pheasant population in Plymouth County and throughout the state has a trickle-down effect on economy and recreation, Linquist said. "When the population of the birds down so does the population of the hunters," he said. That means less dollars spent shopping, eating and staying locally by nonresident hunters. Fewer hunters also leads to a loss of revenue on licenses, which means less money to help support county and state parks, Linquist said. "That's what buys the land and sees to the upkeep," he said. "We're hurting ourselves by people not going out and hunting." A declining pheasant and hunter population is also detrimental for the next generation of would-be hunters, but Slota's optimistic Reload Iowa and similar programs will turn the numbers around. "I hope we start seeing an increase in the next couple of years," Slota said. "I would love to see it start going back the other way and hopefully we are doing the right things to make it start going the other way."

Time to go? Canada Geese movement hints at season change (09/15/09)
On an average day at the Le Mars Municipal Park around 100 Canada Geese are mingling with other waterfowl. But lately they've been leaving the water and taking to the air in their famous V-formation. The geese are preparing for a change -- fall. Canada Geese (Canadian Geese is actually the informal term) migrate generally in September and October, but they'll probably be around for a while, according to Jeremy Kettmann, a park technician at Hillview Park in Hinton who studies birds' migratory patterns.. ...

Sweet corn stand goes back 20 years (08/04/09)
Under an ash tree, the worn black pickup truck owned by Lynn Buss sits in the shade, the bed piled high with ears of sweet corn. Buss, with the help of his children and grandchildren, bring their sweet corn to this hot spot by Bob's Drive-In, owned by the Kass family, each day during the hot months of summer...

Judge emphasizes design, gain in swine winners (08/03/09)
The term "design" came into play frequently Saturday as exhibitors in the Fair's Swine Show maneuvered their entries before Show Judge Dr. Tom Baas, Ph.D. Baas, a professor in the Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, explained that while the design of a pig "has always been very important" the design of the pig -- its structure and "how it's put together" -- is receiving added emphasis today in light of modern-day options for pork production...

Filmmaker turns Westfield into the Bible's ancient lands (07/22/09)
Last week, Noah was cutting down trees near Westfield to build his ark. And David, not yet a king, was tending his sheep in a nearby pasture. It's not time travel, it's the makings of a movie. Rural Westfield native Josh Martyn was back in his neighborhood 5 miles south of Westfield to film scenes for "The Greatest Gift Ever," a 20-minute Christian film to be released before Christmas...

Ethanol plant garners grain dealer license (06/16/09)
Plymouth Energy is back in the grain dealing business. On June 10, Plymouth Energy Grain, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plymouth Energy, obtained a grain dealer license, which gives it the ability to purchase corn for the Plymouth Energy ethanol plant just north of Merrill...

Doing dairy differently: Robinsons go with goat milk (06/11/09)
Jocelyn and Dan Robinson drink fresh milk on their farm every day. And they use it to make butter, yogurt and ice cream. But it's not from a cow. It's from a goat. Jocelyn milks Daisy, an Overhasli dairy goat, twice a day on the Robinson farm about 15 miles southeast of Le Mars...

Ethanol plant grand opening draws curiosity, praise (06/05/09)
Hundreds of visitors donned hard hats Thursday to watch a plant just north of Merrill do its thing: produce ethanol at the rate of 103 gallons per minute. "You read about these things, but you don't actually get to see them up close," said one Le Mars woman, waiting in line for a tour of the Plymouth Energy Ethanol plant during its grand opening...

A Hinton vintage: Couple opens winery (06/02/09)
The bundle of 400 grape vines that arrived at Barry and Brenda Dittmer's door nearly six years ago have come to fruit. This weekend, the rural Hinton couple opened the doors to Tucker Hill Winery, complete with seven varieties of wine. Around 300 people visited the winery and vineyard during the weekend grand opening to taste the fruit of the Dittmer's labor...

The prairie returns: Pheasants Forever seeds Remsen habitat (05/20/09)
Seed by seed, row by row, a field just north of Remsen was transformed Tuesday. Land used to grow field corn last year has a new purpose: to provide habitat and help keep Remsen water clean. About 60 acres near the Remsen wells were tilled under and seeded as prairie Tuesday, thanks to a joint effort between the City of Remsen and Pheasants Forever. Local farmers donated time and equipment to help plant the seed...

It's a boy... we think (04/23/09)
It's been more than 150 years since a bison was born in Iowa. History was made last weekend when the first calf made his appearance in the bison herd roaming about 500 acres in The Nature Conservancy's Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve. Scott Moats, preserve manager, is pretty sure the new calf is a male based on what he's seen, but that won't be confirmed until the shaggy beasts are rounded up this fall...

Expert to introduce aronia berry crop to area (04/14/09)
Aronia berries and high tunnel gardening are the wave of the future in Iowa, one expert says. Dr. Eldon Everhart, horticulture specialist with Iowa State University (ISU), will lead an educational program on those topics Saturday, April 25. The event, sponsored by ISU Extension and Floyd Valley Hospital, will be from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m...

Legislators challenge proposed tax changes: Who wins and who loses? (04/06/09)
A new tax law that would mean a tax cut for about one-half of Iowans and an increase or no change for the rest is at the center of legislative debate this week. Rep. Chuck Soderberg and Sen. Randy Feenstra visited with area residents in an open forum in Le Mars on that proposed tax bill and others Saturday...

'A Time to Remember' features West Coast winemakers (03/30/09)
Six winemakers will be represented at the Le Mars Wine and Roses event, "A Time to Remember," this Thursday evening at the Willow Creek Country Club in Le Mars. "A Time to Remember" will benefit Alzheimer's Association programming in Plymouth County and features wine tasting with prestigious winemakers from across the United States...

Vaske plea taking today (03/30/09)
A rural Remsen man whose cattle were seized earlier this month was slated for a plea taking today (Monday) regarding his animal neglect charge. Andrew Vaske, 28, of rural Remsen, faced the charge after the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office investigated complaints in mid-March of neglected cows and calves on the Vaske farm about two miles southwest of Remsen...

Sheriff seizes cattle, owner charged with neglect (03/16/09)
A man charged with neglecting his cattle turned himself in to the sheriff after 29 of his livestock were confiscated Friday. Andrew Vaske, 28, of rural Remsen, faced the charge after the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office investigated complaints of neglected cows and calves on the Vaske farm about two miles southwest of Remsen...

Ethanol debate: Is your car ready for E-15? (03/12/09)
Currently, government rules allow non-flex-fuel vehicles to use only 10 percent ethanol in their gasoline. Politicians from Iowa are pushing for that to change. Earlier this week, newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, spoke in support of allowing higher blends -- 15 percent...

New veterinarian has a passion for horses (03/05/09)
A love of horses brings a new veterinarian to Le Mars. Dr. Angela M. Marthaler started working part-time with Dr. John Conley in the Town and Country Veterinary Clinic in October 2008 and has been full-time since the end of January. Marthaler said her desire to locate in the Le Mars/Sioux City area and Conley's reputation as a veterinarian, plus his work with horses, made the job a good fit...

The harvest was plenty, and the workers were too (11/21/08)
Buck Pick was back in the field for harvest. The survivor of a tractor accident a little more than a month ago, Buck (Danny) Pick wasn't in his combine yet, but the 26-year-old rural Merrill man was surrounded by 40 friends, family members and neighbors getting the job done...

Supervisors give stamp of a approval to Merrill urban renewal (11/19/08)
An urban renewal area around and in Merrill became a reality Tuesday. Following a public hearing, the Plymouth County Supervisors approved an urban renewal district to encompass the entire city of Merrill and around Plymouth Energy ethanol plant, Plymouth Oil, a food-grade oil plant and Midwest PMS, the liquid cattle feed mill...

Students use five senses on area farm tour (09/23/08)
They came by the busload. Students from area schools experienced fun on the farm last week during the annual Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Tour. Children from Le Mars Community, Gehlen Catholic, Remsen-Union and Remsen St. Mary's had a chance to visit four farms to learn about agriculture in Plymouth County. The students were from the third or fourth grades, depending on which school they attend. They were divided into four groups that traveled from one farm to the next...

Vintage harvest: Dittmers' vineyard produces juicy crop (09/22/08)
With a juicy plop, a bunch of grapes falls into a heaping pail of the purple fruit. All around, people are talking, laughing, and clipping away at loaded branches of grape vines. It's Sunday and it's harvest time at Barry and Brenda Dittmers' vineyard in Hinton...

Farm Bureau honors Conley with Service to Ag award (09/03/08)
A longtime Le Mars area veterinarian was honored with the Plymouth County Farm Bureau's "Service to Agriculture" award Tuesday evening at the organization's 90th annual meeting. Dr. John Conley and his wife, Barbara, of rural Merrill, were called to the stage by President Mark Loutsch, who explained the award is given to those in Plymouth County who have contributed much of their lives toward the helping and development of agriculture...

Branching out: Hinton couple goes vintage with planned winery (07/31/08)
Tuscany. Napa Valley. Hinton? If Barry and Brenda Dittmer have their way, yes -- their sloping vineyard on a Plymouth County hillside will be not only an agricultural plot but a destination winery. An Iowa winery isn't as surprising as people think, Barry pointed out...

Local Pork Producers will donate to flooded hog farmers (07/23/08)
A group of northwest Iowa pork producers are coming to the aid of southeast Iowa pork producers who were hit hard by the June floods. The Plymouth County Pork Producers Association will once again operate its Grandstand Pork food stand during the Plymouth County Fair. The producers have decided to donate the entire day's proceeds from the stand on Friday, July 25, to help their flooded brethren in southeast Iowa...

Ahlers anticipate upcoming Plymouth County Fair (07/22/08)
As the prize hopeful pumpkin bread bakes in the oven and the sheep are led around the farm one last time, John and Debra Ahlers' four children Jill, Rebecca, Kristen, and Daniel, are busy putting the finishing touches on livestock entries and 4-H exhibits for the upcoming Plymouth County Fair...

From field to shelf: Local stores sell local foods (07/21/08)
Right now, Le Mars' grocery stores boast a few shelves of ripe red tomatoes grown only a couple dozen miles away. Later in the summer, shoppers might be able to fill their carts with sweet corn, green beans and other produce that were grown locally...

Galles recovering from Alton fire explosion (07/18/08)
The Remsen farmer that was burned when a blast started the Alton grain elevator on fire is on the mend. Matt Galles, who was rushed to a medical center in Lincoln, Neb. to be treated for burns July 9 said his skin is healing well. "In a week's time it can change a lot," he said...

Remsen man injured in grain explosion in Alton (07/10/08)
ALTON, Iowa (AP) -- One person has been injured in a fiery explosion at a grain elevator in Alton in northwest Iowa. Officials say Matthew Galles, 31, of Remsen, was unloading grain at the Midwest Farmers Cooperative on Wednesday when the explosion occurred about 3:15 p.m...

Feller's hard work yields promising future (06/05/08)
This is the third story in a series looking at what plans and dreams local members of the graduating class of 2008 hope to pursue. At 6:30 in the morning, most high school graduates are only concerned with one thing -- sleep. While they study the inside of their eyelids, Brandon Feller is hitting his alarm clock and getting dressed for a full day of work on the farm. ...

Reining training: Manthe develops new techniques (06/02/08)
Brette Manthe shows reining horses, something she's done since fourth grade. To hone her skills Manthe, 18, of Merrill, participated in a Reining Working Cow Horse Clinic Saturday and Sunday sponsored by Pam and Greg Wells, owners of Windy Hill Ranch, Le Mars...

Group looks at making Le Mars healthier (05/05/08)
A garden where people from the community can come grow their own vegetables and fruit. More bike racks around town. A website that lists recreation options and local food venders around the area. These were just three of the ideas a community group is throwing around as possible additions to Le Mars through a program called Iowa Fit for Life...

Pearson predicts bright future for agriculture (03/20/08)
Things are changing in agriculture and the long-term outlook is good, according to the host of a nationally syndicated farm program. Mark Pearson is host of "Market to Market," which is broadcast on public television stations across the United States. He brought his message about what's ahead in agriculture to Le Mars on Tuesday for the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Agri-Business luncheon...

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