Cash Grain Report - March 23, 2015

(Atlantic)  The City of Atlantic reminds dog owners to have their pets registered by April 1st.

According to Atlantic Animal Shelter Employee, Kris Erickson, registering your dog can save you time and money.

“It makes sure that their animal returns back home safe and sound,” said Erickson.  “If they don’t register by April 1st, there’s a $10 penalty for each dog that’s licensed after that.”

Erickson adds that further failure to comply may result in a heftier fine.

“It can be up to $300 of a citation by the Atlantic Police Department,” said Erickson.

All dogs under six months of age, located within Atlantic’s city limits, must be registered.

Licenses are due the first of January and are good for a year.

Dog owners can register their pet at the Atlantic Animal Shelter.


Atlantic Residents Urged to Register Pets - March 23, 2015

Authorities say a 20-year-old man convicted last week of killing two elderly people in Deloit has tried to escape the Crawford County Jail.

The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office says Jayden Chapman assaulted a jailer on Monday while trying to flee.

Chapman faces two life terms for the slayings of 80-year-old Marvin Huesling and 81-year-old Alice Huisenga in Deloit. Authorities say Chapman and Michael Schenk shot the pair in March 2014 at a trailer home and then set it on fire. Schenk was sentenced in March to two life terms for his role in the slayings.

The new charges facing Chapman are assaulting a jailer and attempting to escape.

Convicted Killer Tried to Escape Jail, Iowa Authorities Say - May 12, 2015

                         ***  Photo from agweb.com. ***

(Bridgewater)  A Southwest Iowa native has been selected to receive the highest honor in the livestock industry.
 
Dave Nichols, of Bridgewater, has been selected as the 2015 inductee into the Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Gallery.

Nichols was raised on his father’s small cattle feeding operation.  Starting as a tenant farm, Nichols Farms grew under Dave’s leadership and now encompasses 5,500 acres, 1,500 head of breeding stock, and a small feedlot.  Nichols Farms also oversees the breeding and marketing of an additional 750 cooperator and franchise cows.

Purchasing his first steer at the age of eight, Nichols describes the challenges and benefits of working for the livestock industry at such young age.

 “Dad had me get a note from the bank,” says Nichols.  “I made some money on the first one, lost a lot on the second two, and I went into the banker and said, ‘Well, I don’t have enough money to pay you off for the first two, but I’d like to borrow enough money for four, so I can make it back.’”  The banker did not want to do that, so he mortgaged my bicycle and let me feed two calves.  So I understood borrowing money and mortgaging early on in life.”

Established in 1903, the Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Gallery recognizes one individual each year for their lifetime of exceptional service to the livestock business, both nationally and internationally.  Nichols says he wouldn’t be receiving this award if it wasn’t for his mom and dad, good people, a great country which allows people to dream and make those dreams come true, and is truly humbled to be receiving such a great honor.

“It’s the most humbling experience that has ever happened to me,” says Nichols.  “I went to the Internet and viewed all the people that had been hung in the Saddle Sirloin Portrait Gallery, which includes three presidents, four secretaries of agriculture, and only two Angus breeders, from the state of Iowa, out of over a hundred years.” 

Dave will be honored by the Saddle & Sirloin Club during a special program and portrait unveiling on November 15th, in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition. 

Anna Hastert 
Feature Story

Bridgewater Native Selected as Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Gallery's 2015 Inductee

(Atlantic)  The FFA Food Stand at the Cass County Fair needs your help.

Due to insufficient funding, plans to build a new FFA Food Stand in time for the 2015 Cass County Fair fell through.

CAM FFA Advisor Gary Miller says the FFA Chapter hopes to reach their goal by the end of the fair.

“We’re closing in on our goal of about 40-some-thousand dollars,” says Miller.  “We’re closing in our raffle here.  It’s probably going to net somewhere around $1,200 towards it (the project), and with the profit from the food stand we should be really close.  And hopefully, somewhere in this world, we’ll have some donations that will help us get to the top.”

The FFA Food Stand will come down two weeks after the fair.

Miller says the FFA Chapter plans to decide on a contractor soon.

“We’ve got two contractors that we’re dealing with right now,” says Miller.  “So we have to get the grade set again and raise it up so water doesn’t run into it.  And hopefully by the first part of September will have the concrete poured and then the building will go up.”

Upon hire, contractors will pour concrete, install a plumbing system underground, and raise the building.

To help support the FFA Food Stand fairgoers may purchase a raffle ticket for the Yeti cooler at the FFA Food Stand before tonight’s beef show.

FFA Food Stand Needs Your Help

(Atlantic)  The East Highway 6 Project continues to be pushed back due to an ongoing battle with Mother Nature.

District Transportation Planner Scott Suhr says recent weather has caused a few setbacks.

“Well, the rain has not helped us at all on this project,” says Suhr.  “The contractors are working as fast as they can, but it’s difficult to get any grading done if the grade’s all wet.  We’re trying to dry that out and we’ve also have issues where you obviously can’t pave in the rain, and if you do, then you risk damaging the pavement.  So we’re trying to work in between rain showers, unfortunately.  Obviously we’ve been set back a few days with the rain, so I don’t have an actual date of when it will be opened up to the public.  But if you count the rain days that we’ve had, those are working days we could’ve used, so we’re set back a few days.”

Suhr says due to the rain last week, crews were only able to work three to four working days.

“To date we’ve probably used, somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-five to twenty-six working days, so about half of the working days have been used,” says Suhr.  “And we have better than fifty percent of the work yet to do.  So, if we get a couple decent weeks where we get some sun and fairly dry conditions, we can get a lot of work done in a hurry.”

Weather permitting, crews plan to lay rock down between Cherry and Plum Street, grade from Cherry to Plum, and remove broken concrete and dirt, as well as prepare for the pouring of driveways, intersections, and sidewalks from Olive to Cherry this week.

Anna Christine Hastert