The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

Recipients of NCC Foundation scholarships

Students at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon were awarded scholarships this fall through the NCC Foundation. The foundation is able to award the scholarship opportunities due to generous support from various businesses, families, organizations and individual donors.

Area recipients are listed by hometown, name, program, scholarship and amount.

Hartley: Dalen Peters, Practical Nursing-Extended, Hartley Community Memorial Health Center Scholarship, $1,000.

Sanborn: Cassie Jones, Practical Nursing-Extended, Hartley Community Memorial Health Center Scholarship, $1,000. Judy Mongera and Marlene Reyes Martinez, Practical Nursing-Extended, Multi-Cultural Scholarship, $500 each.

Primghar: Taya Mason, Associate Degree Nursing, MercyOne Primghar Foundation Scholarship, $1,000.

Planter University set for Feb. 5

Specialists with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are again teaming up with Iowa State Ag and Biosystems Engineering specialists to bring planter equipment expertise to farms across the state, Feb. 5-9.

The workshops are an opportunity for farmers, agricultural service providers, equipment and precision ag dealers, and others to gain insight into how planters function, optimize settings for individual seed, field and equipment needs, and improve understanding of planter wear and calibration.

“Planter University goes far beyond a typical planter clinic and provides attendees direct access to specialists with expertise in planter technology and settings,” said Extension Field Agronomist Meaghan Anderson.

Specialists from the Iowa State Digital Ag group will lead each workshop and focus on small-group, hands-on learning with row units representing a variety of technologies currently available for planters. Meetings will also offer continuing education credits for Certified Crop Advisers.

Training will be offered at five locations. Attendance will be limited to maintain small group sizes and allow for hands-on activities. Registration for each location is $85 and closes seven days ahead of each meeting.

Register online at https://www.aep.iastate.edu/planter/. Registration includes lunch, refreshments, reference materials, seed depth tool, closing wheel hold-up bracket and CCA credits. Each workshop will begin with check-in at 8:30 a.m. and adjourn at approximately 2:30 p.m.

A workshop in this area will be held Feb. 5 at the Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm near Sutherland. Contact local Extension Field Agronomists Gentry Sorenson at (641) 430-6715 or Leah Ten Napel at (712) 541-3493 for more information.

Housing trust fund receives state funding

The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) recently announced the award of more than $11.2 million in grants to 26 Local Housing Trust Funds to support local housing initiatives. The grant awards are made available through the Local Housing Trust Fund program and are expected to assist 2,824 families.

“The 2024 Local Housing Trust Fund awards represent the largest annual amount with the largest projected impact allocated through the program since inception,” said IFA Director Debi Durham in a news release. “[The] awards will support housing initiatives that will ensure that nearly 3,000 families have the ability to live, work and thrive in our communities.”

An award of $501,080 was made to Northwest Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund, Inc., which serves Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto and Sioux counties.

Grant funds will support a range of initiatives aimed at developing or preserving housing for low-income households across the spectrum of housing needs. This includes the development and preservation of housing, infrastructure development, transitional housing, assistance for homeless individuals, rental assistance, homeownership support, bolstering the capacity of local housing organizations and other efforts that directly address local housing needs.

The awards announced on Dec. 6 will leverage an additional $3.3 million in other financing or $.30 for every dollar of Local Housing Trust Fund program funding.

The State Housing Trust Fund helps ensure decent, safe and affordable housing for Iowans through two programs. The Local Housing Trust Fund Program receives at least 60 percent of the SHTF allocation to provide grants for organizations certified by the Iowa Finance Authority as a Local Housing Trust Fund. The remaining funding goes to the Project-Based Housing Program, which aids in the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing.

Commercial manure applicator training scheduled

Commercial manure applicators can attend annual training to meet commercial manure applicator certification requirements on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will conduct commercial manure applicator training from 9 a.m.-noon at 69 locations in Iowa. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

There is no fee for the workshop. Pre-registration is required. No walk-ins are allowed. Applicators must register by Dec. 27, with the county Extension office where they plan to attend. A complete list of workshop locations can be found on the Iowa Manure Management Action Group website.

New this year, 10 locations will offer live workshops for commercial manure applicator certification as part of the confinement site manure applicator training. Attend the two-hour confinement site training and the additional hour to fulfill your three hours of training. If you want the confinement site certification you will be excused after two hours. However, if you want the commercial certification you can stay for the extra hour to earn your three-hour certification.

The dates, counties, workshop locations and phone numbers for two area locations hosting a live commercial manure applicator workshop are as follows:

• Jan. 16, Osceola County, 1:30 p.m., Willow Creek County Recreation, 5945 Highway 9, Ocheyedan; (712) 754-3648.

• Feb. 8, Clay County, 1:30 p.m., ISU Extension and Outreach office in Spencer; (712) 262-2264.

Commercial manure applicators needing to recertify and those wanting to certify for the first time should attend the statewide showing or one of the live workshops in their area. All certified commercial manure applicator licenses will expire on March 1, 2024. To avoid paying late fees, those wanting to renew must complete training requirements and submit forms and fees to the Department of Natural Resources before March 1. The law requires all commercial manure applicators to attend three hours of training annually to meet certification requirements.

Businesses that primarily truck or haul manure of any type or from any source are also required to meet certification requirements.

Those unable to attend the program on Jan. 4 or attend one of the live workshop locations need to schedule time with their county Extension office to watch the training videos. Due to scheduling conflicts Extension offices will no longer accept walk-in appointments to watch these videos but do offer scheduled dates and times to provide this training.

If you can’t attend training during one of the scheduled reshow dates at your county Extension office, you will be charged a $10 fee to view the training at your convenience. If attending the workshops or watching the three-hour video is not convenient, commercial applicators may contact their local Department of Natural Resources field office to schedule an appointment to take the certification exam. Another option for commercial manure applicators is to take their training online at the DNR MAC eLearning site. The applicator will need to sign in and get an A&A account.

For more information about the commercial manure applicator certification program, contact your county Extension office or visit the Iowa State manure resources online.

Confinement site manure applicator workshops scheduled

Confinement site manure applicators and anyone interested in learning about manure issues should plan to attend a two-hour workshop offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in January or February. These workshops are offered in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Registration is required. No walk-ins are allowed. There is no fee to attend but applicators will need to pay certification fees and send the forms to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to complete certification requirements.

A total of 58 locations will participate in the confinement site manure applicator workshops. In addition, a series of five dry/solid manure applicator certification meetings will be held in February. These meetings are tailored toward dry/solid manure for either commercial or confinement site manure applicators. County Extension offices have a complete list of workshop dates and locations, or view a list on the Iowa Manure Management Action Group website.

The workshops serve as initial certification for those applicators that are not currently certified, recertification for those renewing licenses and continuing education for those applicators in the second or third year of their license.

Due to uniform certification deadlines, applicators are encouraged to attend workshops prior to March 1 to avoid being assessed a late fee of $12.50 for those who are re-certifying. Those unable to attend one of the workshops need to schedule time with their county Extension office to watch the training video. Due to scheduling conflicts Extension offices will no longer accept walk-in appointments to watch these videos but do offer scheduled dates and times to provide this training.

Contact your county Extension office for more information about the Manure Applicator Certification Program.

Good ice nowhere to be found in NWI

Most area water levels are a few inches below crest. Most smaller lakes are covered in a thin layer of ice. Warm conditions during the day have delayed ice production. Some bays have thicker ice; fishing access can be hard to find. Check ice thickness often if you go out on the water.

East Okoboji Lake: The lake was almost entirely ice covered as of last Thursday. Very few areas offer safe ice fishing opportunities.

Black crappie, fair. Use minnows and plastics. Bluegill, fair. Try a small hook and piece of worm. In deeper water, use pilkies with wigglers or a slip bobber setup. Walleye, fair. Yellow perch, fair. Sorting will most likely be needed.

Ingham Lake: The lake is mostly iced up, but has a large open area that has been kept open due to waterfowl. Walleye, fair. Anglers have been successful morning and evening.

Lost Island Lake: The lake is almost entirely iced up. Black crappie, fair. Walleye, fair. Anglers have been successful fishing from shorelines in the evenings.

Minnewashta Lake: Black crappie, fair. Try slowly trolling over vegetation with minnows and plastics. Bluegill, fair. Pumpkinseed, good.

Scharnberg Pond: Rainbow trout were stocked recently. You need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout.

Silver Lake (Dickinson): Black bullhead, good. Walleye, fair. Expect the walleye bite to improve with falling water temperatures.

Spirit Lake: The lake had about 50 percent ice coverage as of last Thursday. The current water level is 9 inches below crest. The crappie bite has been good.

Black crappie, good. Minnows and plastics work well. Many nice-sized fish have been seen lately. Bluegill, good. Try a small hook and a small piece of worm. In deeper water, use pilkies with wigglers or a slip bobber setup. Walleye, good. Minnows work well. Yellow perch, good. Find good numbers; may need to sort for size.

West Okoboji Lake: The lake was mostly open as of last Thursday, but ice has started to form in many bays.

Black crappie, fair. Try small jigs tipped with a minnow. Bluegill, good. Use pilkies with wigglers or a slip bobber setup. Pumpkinseed, good. Walleye, good. Minnows and plastics work well. Yellow perch, fair. Sorting may be needed.