By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

The Iowa State University farmland survey shows the upward run of land prices stalled out this year. ISU extension economist Rabail Chandio revealed the 2024 survey results today..

“This year we have ended a streak of five consecutive years of increases in land values in Iowa with a decline of three-point-one percent,” she says. “This brings us to $11,467  an acre.” That is a drop of 369 dollars an acre from last year’s record high. “The nominal value of farmland fell from our record high from last year, but it is still higher than the nominal value in 2020-2022. And if we adjust for inflation, our inflation-adjusted average value for 2024 is only 2.5% lower than the 2013 peak, which was the previous peak before the pandemic highs that we just saw,” Chandio says.

Chandio says the south-central land district was the only one to see an increase in land values, while the west-central district saw the largest decline in prices. “Seventy-five of the 99 counties reported decreases in their nominal values, and 88 counties reported a decrease in inflation-adjusted values. Despite that, 20 counties still report their highest nominal values since 1950,” she says.

Chandio says this year appears to be a correction after land values had gone up 29% in 2021 and 17% in 2022 coming out of the pandemic. “That naturally leads to somewhat of a resetting or balancing in the market, and sort of the similar trend we saw for after the previous peak in 2013,” she says.

Chandio says the drop in farm income was the top issue for lower land values. “The most commonly cited negative factor by our respondents this year was lowering commodity prices, 34 percent of the responses mentioned this,” she says. High interest rates were a close second to the commodity prices in responses about the impact on land values.

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds has chosen a state senator from Le Claire to be her lieutenant governor.

“She takes responsibility, she gets her hands dirty and she does the work,” Reynolds said, “and the people of Iowa couldn’t ask for more in a lieutenant governor and neither can I.”

Chris Cournoyer took the oath of office in a ceremony at the statehouse this morning. “It’s an honor and somewhat surreal to be standing at this podium as Iowa’s lieutenant governor,” Cournoyer said.

Cournoyer has served in the Iowa Senate since 2019. Iowa has not had a lieutenant governor since September 2 when Adam Gregg resigned to become CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association. Reynolds waited until after the election to begin interviewing candidates for the position. The governor said Cournoyer will support a wide range of policy priorities.

“First and foremost she’s someone that Iowans could trust to serve as governor if I were ever unable to,” Reynolds said. “I have complete confidence in her character, her judgement and her ability.”

Reynolds, who was a state senator in 2010 when Governor Terry Branstad chose her as his running mate, said Cournoyer is ideally suited to join her administration. “Chris has been a state senator, a reserve deputy and a long time leader and volunteer in her rural community of Le Claire. She’s also a small business owner and an expert in technology and A.I. and what I know she considers her most important job — a mom to four children,” Reynolds said. “Even on paper, the depth of her experience stands out.”

Cournoyer, who is 54, graduated from the University of Texas with a computer science degree and worked as a consultant in a Fortune 500 firm before becoming an independent website developer. The governor said Cournoyer’s firsthand experience — including her work teaching robotics and coding to elementary and junior high students — are major assets.

“It’s exciting to think about all of the ways that we can utilize Chris’s experience in her new role,” Reynolds said. “Here’s a working mother who has known the joys and challenges of raising children while being in the workforce and owning a business.”

Cournoyer has been chairman of the Iowa Senate Technology Committee since its creation. “Growing up in the ’80s, I had a subscription to PC Magazine and a treasured dot matrix printer,” Cournoyer said. “I even did an 8th grade science fair project on Artificial Intellience, so basically I was a computer nerd before it was cool and not much has changed.”

Cournoyer first met the governor in 2015, back when Reynolds was lieutenant governor, at a Davenport event focused on encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

“She isn’t afraid to tackle tough problems from tax reform to education freedom to mental health and so much more,” Cournoyer said. “She also has a rare gift for getting stakeholders to the table and a tenacity to championing a cause to completion.”

The ceremony for Cournoyer’s ascention to the role of lieutenant governor was held in Reynolds’ formal office. Cournoyer’s parents, three other statewide elected officials and the Republican leader of the state senate entered the room before the event began. Cournoyer who spoke briefly after the governor explained her choice, said she’s ready to advance the governor’s agenda in any way that she can.

“I never planned on entering public office, let alone imagine that I would be second in line to Iowa’s succession,” Cournoyer said. “In other words, this is a humbling responsibility for me and Iowans can be confident that I will always approach it with the seriousness that it deserves.”

Cournoyer’s first campaign was for the Pleasant Valley School Board after she had raised a safety concern — and didn’t get a response from the board. Cournoyer won her seat in the Iowa Senate in 2018. A special election will be scheduled next year to fill the vacancy in the Iowa Senate, where Republicans will hold a super majority in 2025.

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its federal partners have been monitoring for the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Iowa’s wild birds since early 2022. After nearly a year without detections in sick or dead birds, Iowa has seen a sharp jump in affected waterfowl across the state mostly, north of Interstate 80 since early December, spurred on by the stress of migration and the severe cold.

Avian influenza is a highly transmissible, naturally occurring virus found in certain waterfowl and shorebirds. There are various subtypes and strains, most of which cause limited harm to domestic poultry (low pathogenic) but some of which are lethal (highly pathogenic).

The H5N1 strain that has been circulating since 2022 is the first time HPAI has affected wild birds in North America at such a large scale.

“We’ve learned a lot about how this virus behaves in the intervening years. Dabbling ducks are a great indicator species, and we started seeing the number of HPAI detections in apparently healthy hunter harvests ramp up in mid-November. Just a couple weeks later we started responding to sick and dead geese,” said Dr. Rachel Ruden, state wildlife veterinarian with the Iowa DNR.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has an online database tracking HPAI detections in wild birds and other species by state at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections.

HPAI can also affect animals that consume infected carcasses, including other birds like eagles, and mammals, like red fox. Ruden said those who find five or more sick or dead flocking birds within a week should report their findings to their local wildlife biologist or state conservation officer. They are also interested in reports of solitary birds or mammals. Contact information is available online at www.iowadnr.gov under the About DNR tab on the homepage. (https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/contacts/wildlife_management.pdf) (https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Law%20Enforcement/dnrlemap.pdf)

The virus can remain viable in a deceased bird for several weeks, depending upon environmental conditions.

“We are encouraging the public to stay away from sick birds, especially waterfowl. We have seen some shift in their clinical presentation – some are still developing the ‘classical’ signs like twisting their heads and necks or swimming in tight circles. However, some are just quiet and seem unable or unaware to fly away when approached,” said Dr. Ruden.

She also cautioned against bringing these birds to licensed wildlife rehabilitators to limit further spread.

At this point, she said, backyard birdfeeders are not of concern unless actively attended by waterfowl. Impact on upland birds, like wild turkeys, has also been rare given their behaviors and preferred habitats, which make them less likely to encounter the disease in the wild.

Waterfowl hunters can use these simple precautions to limit their exposure while field dressing and consuming wild game: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fsc_hpai_hunters.pdf. Cooking meat to an internal temperature of 165° F can kill the virus, if present.

While there is some inherent risk to hunting dogs given the nature of their interaction with carcasses, sick birds often become poor, uncoordinated flyers and so are less likely to be harvested. Hunters should prevent dogs from interacting with unknown carcasses, and avoid feeding them raw meat from harvested birds. More information is available online at https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/waterfowl-hunters-and-the-avian-flu-what-you-need-to-know.

If poultry producers or those with backyard flocks suspect signs of H5N1 HPAI, they should contact their veterinarian immediately. Possible cases must also be reported to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at (515) 281-5305.