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News from around the Farm World - August 10, 2017
 
USDA farmland values show Iowa is up 1.9 percent
 
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest farm real estate values are out and the USDA
says the average acre of farmland in Iowa rose 1.9 percent from a year ago to $8,000
an acre, returning to the same value posted in 2015.

Iowa is the only state in the five-state region – which also includes Illinois, Indiana,
Missouri and Ohio – to see an increase in value. The USDA’s farm real estate value
includes all land and buildings on farms. The report was released Thursday.
Midwest farmland values fell or leveled off in many states from 2015 to 2016, but Minnesota,

Wisconsin and North Dakota also saw increases this year. Nebraska saw a 1.7
percent decrease to $2,900 an acre. The national average is up 2.3 percent, to $3,080.
U.S. court asked to hold off on decision over fracking rules
DENVER, Colo. (AP) — The Trump administration asked three federal judges from
the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 27 to hold off on a decision regarding
a major federal fracking rule implemented by the Obama administration.

In March, Trump moved to roll back the rule, which was first issued in 2015 by the
Interior Department and required drilling companies to disclose what chemicals they
used within 30 days of any fracking. It was put on hold last year after a federal district
judge in Wyoming said the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had no authority
to set such a rule.

In the court hearing, the government asked judges not to decide on the case and
instead leave the district court’s current ruling in effect until it can replace the rule.
The replacement process could take up to five years, according to Michael Freeman, an
environmental attorney at the hearing, because the government would need to go through a series of legal processes that would include receiving comments from the public.

An American Indian tribe and the states of Colorado, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming
say the rules developed under Obama duplicate state regulations and would
cost jobs. Critics say the process, which uses huge amounts of pressurized water,
sand, and chemicals to make fractures underneath the ground to extract gas and oil
contribute to global warming, water pollution and earthquakes.

Sale offers considered for closed Fort Wayne high school

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Fort Wayne Community Schools officials are working
toward selling the former Elmhurst High School, seven years after it was closed.
The district has received two offers for the property, which went on the market after
the school board voted in February to sell the 23-acre site, along with 12 acres of
vacant farmland next to the property on the city’s southwestern side.

District spokeswoman Krista Stockman told The Journal Gazette details about the
offers can’t be released during negotiations. She says the school board could vote
Aug. 28 on selling the property.

Iowa trial set for January for ‘Bachelor’ star Soules

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Chris Soules, an Iowa farmer who starred on the television show “The Bachelor” two years ago, is scheduled to go on trial in January 2018 for leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

The 35-year-old Soules is accused of driving a truck that struck a farm tractor near his hometown of Aurora in April. Sixty-six-year-old Kenneth Moser died after his tractor rolled into a ditch. Sheriff’s reports say Soules left the scene and was arrested later at his home about 10 miles away. Court documents posted online Friday indicate a jury trial has been set for Jan. 18. It’s expected to last 4-5 days. The charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.
8/10/2017