April 15 , 2016
WHITE
A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation.
In This Issue
AAI IN ACTION
 
AAI Supports House Water Quality Bill

The Agribusiness Association of Iowa signed onto in support of the Water Quality Bill  in the Iowa House which passed on Monday, April 11.
 
The water quality bill appropriates $477.9 million in state funding for water quality between now and 2029. The plan uses money from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure fund and a tax Iowan's pay on metered water.
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FieldWatch Gets Started in Iowa
 
Thank You to Our Donors - Iowa Agriculture Aviation Association, Syngenta Crop Protection, Dow AgroScience, GROWMARK Foundation, Monsanto, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Iowa Wine Growers Association, Crop Production Services, Inc., Helena Chemical, Meridian Agriculture. 

AAI Foundation wants to thank all of its donors to the FieldWatch program - photo above taken during the check award presentation at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship on April 6, 2016. 

Reid Sprenkel, president of FieldWatch says, "[The] end result that it has is to facilitate communication. Communication between growers and applicators and beekeepers. Who all are doing and have their own jobs out there in the agriculture community. But often times are using chemicals, spraying chemicals that at times may affect the other."

Sprenkel says most of 2016 will be spent mapping. This is helped in part because for ten years Iowa has had a sensitive crop registry.

FieldWatch is a nonprofit and works off of donations. At the Wallace Building in Des Moines, they were presented $25,000 from the Agribusiness Association of Iowa for a license fee and signage.

Sprenkel says Iowa had a variety of stakeholders work to get it here, "It really enabled Iowa to adopt FieldWatch because the Agribusiness Association of Iowa stepped up, got their members to help contribute, even got some donors who had already contributed to FieldWatch to contribute more because they knew how important it was here in Iowa."

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IN THE NEWS
 
Permit Amnesty Period for Prepared Feeds Manufacturing Facilities Ending July 1, 2016

All facilities subject to the 7D NESHAP that are currently using the SUE need to submit the required permit applications and fees to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) by July 1, 2016. After July 1 enforcement action may be taken for facilities failing to comply with permitting requirements.

Since the 7D NESHAP was adopted, the DNR and Iowa Air Emissions Assistance Program (IAEAP) at the University of Northern Iowa have been helping facilities comply with 7D and identify permit requirements. Both DNR and IAEAP continue to provide assistance to facilities to ensure compliance by July 1.

Guidance on 7D NESHAP and permitting requirements is available at www.iowadnr.gov/neshap (click on Prepared Feeds). Facilities subject to the 7D NESHAP must submit an Initial Notification (IN) and Notification of Compliance Status (NOCS) to the DNR as soon as possible. (A combined IN/NOCS form for facility use is available on the DNR website.) For more information and assistance, contact the DNR or IAEAP resources listed below.

Iowa DNR Resources:

Michael Hermsen (permit assistance)
Phone: 515-725-9577
Casey Laskowski (7D NESHAP assistance)

IAEAP Resources:

Jennifer Wittenburg
Phone: 319-273-6580

Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is Succeeding

Although record-high levels of nitrates in Iowa's rivers were found during this past year, researchers say the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is making progress, albeit slowly.

"If we had a normal weather year, we would have had less nitrogen in the water than we did five years ago, before we put these practices in place," said Dr. John Lawerence, an associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University

The strategy, implemented in 2013, is attempting to reduce nutrient runoff by 45 percent from several sources, including agriculture.
West Bend Company Purchases Elevators in Northwest Iowa
by: Radio Iowa

A company based in northern Iowa's Kossut h County is buying seven grain elevators in the northwest corner of the state.

MaxYield Cooperative is located in West Bend and already has facilities in 17 Iowa communities with 1,700 members. Spokesman Chad Meyer says the seven new elevators are being bought from the Andersons, a publicly-traded agribusiness company based in Ohio.

"The seven facilities in northwest Iowa were attractive to MaxYield because we already have locations near there," Meyer says. "There's a significant number of farmers in that area that we work with already. It's a great opportunity for many of those farmers to have more access to grain and ag services." Meyer says when the purchase is complete on May 1st, it will be "business as usual" at the new facilities.

Senate Panel Supports Sales Tax Hike

Legislation to raise the state sales tax to fund conservation, recreation and water quality improvements sailed through a Senate subcommittee Thursday but key legislators predicted a short voyage for the bill.

Two Democratic members of a Senate Ways and Means panel sent the full committee a bill that seeks to increase the sales and use tax rate from 6 percent to 6.375 percent effective July 1 with the idea of depositing $180.6 million in the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund after one year.

Iowans who turned out for Thursday's subcommittee meeting generally were supportive of the sales tax increase with Storm Lake Mayor Jon Kruse saying "people are anxious to see something done" about conservation, recreation and water quality improvements. Former legislator Ralph Rosenberg, now head of the Iowa Environmental Council, believes Iowans are "willing to pay a little extra" to see the voter-approved trust fund come to fruition.
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Upcoming Events
& Meeting
Showcase Committee Meeting
May 23
10 AM
AAI Board Room

AAI Services Board Meeting
June 23
10 AM 
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Environment Committee Meeting
June 24
10AM
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AAI Executive Committee Meeting
July 5
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Grain Committee Meeting
July 6
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AAI Board Meeting
July 12
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Golfing Events
Wednesday, July 13
Fox Ridge, Dike

Thursday, July 14
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Event 3 - August 4
TCI, Polk City

Thursday, September 8
Location -TBD

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