Agriculture

RED OAK — Montgomery County will offer the Commercial Ag Weed, Insect and Plant Disease Management Con-tinuing Instructional Course (CIC) for commercial pesticide applicators Feb. 8.

The program will be shown at locations across Iowa through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Pest Management and the Environment (PME) program.

The local attendance site is the Montgomery County Extension  Office. Registrat-ion begins at 8:30 a.m., and the course runs from 9-11:30 a.m. The registration fee is $45 after Feb. 1.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will again be making grants available to help enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in Iowa.

The Department is eligible to receive about $271,000 in grant funding through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program which is run by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. This is the last of five Specialty Crop Block Grants authorized through the Farm Bill (Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008).

Selecting seeds is one of the first steps in planting a home garden – along with preparing the seedbed and deciding when to plant. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach horticulturists share information that will guide gardeners as they select vegetable seeds.

To have additional plant and garden questions answered, contact the ISU Hortline at 515-294-3108 or hortline@iastate.edu.

I have some leftover vegetable seeds from last year. Will they germinate and grow this spring?

DES MOINES —  John R. Whitaker, State Executive Director for the Iowa Farm Service Agency, reminds producers sign up for the 2011 livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish losses ends on Jan. 30, 2012, under the Farm Service Agency’s Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP). In addition to submitting a notice of loss, producers must file an application for payment by this date.