IOWA

Forum Communications acquires MetroSports TV, launches new media brand

Staff reports — Wed, 07 May 2025 18:35:32 GMT

Forum Communications Company, headquartered in Fargo, N.D., has acquired the Sioux City, Iowa-based MetroSports TV, and will expand its commitment to sports broadcasting in the Upper Midwest.

MetroSports TV will become Midwest Sports+ with a soon-to-launch streaming app and website (midwestsportsplus.com). This new sports media brand aims to connect viewers across all platforms — a destination for fans, families and athletes alike with high-quality sports content and streaming. In addition to digital streaming, games will also be broadcast on KSFL TV in Sioux Falls, KNBN TV in Rapid City, and KCAU in Sioux City, creating a broad regional footprint.

“Our focus will be on high-quality broadcasts so fans can feel close to the action,” said Mary Jo Hotzler, chief content officer for Forum Communications. “We’re excited to be able to showcase our incredible sports reporting and broadcasting talent in this way, too.”

Forum Communications is a family-owned media company with more than 35 newspapers, TV stations, websites and apps across the Upper Midwest. Those include The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and WDAY TV in Fargo, as well as the WDAY+ streaming app.

In South Dakota, the Mitchell Republic, Sioux Falls Live, KSFL-TV in Sioux Falls and KNBN Newscenter 1 in Rapid City are all part of Forum Communications Company and will also contribute the sports broadcasts for Midwest Sports+.

MetroSports TV, founded in 2017 by retired coach and educator Pat Schiltz, has steadily grown into a trusted name in regional sports broadcasting and a leader in high school sports coverage, bolstered in recent years by partnerships with local TV stations in Sioux Falls and Sioux City. Schiltz will remain with Forum Communications as the director of business development for Midwest Sports+.

“MetroSports TV is delighted to join the Forum Communication Company's multi-media platform,” Schiltz said. “Forum's dynamic content team combined with our existing coverage areas is a big win for all the sports viewers in the Upper Midwest.”

The Midwest Sports+ app will go live later this summer and will be available in the app store or through Google Play, Roku, AppleTV and FireTV devices, as well as through Android and IOS mobile devices.

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Sanford opens Virtual Care Center, improving their virtual healthcare footprint in rural communities

Ariana Schumacher — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 13:00:00 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Across the Midwest, many people live in rural areas where healthcare might be limited.

But, thanks to advancements in technology, virtual healthcare has become more mainstream in those small communities.

“Virtual care is really providing care to patients at a distance,” said Susan Berry, vice president of virtual care at Sanford. “We use a lot of different techniques or mechanisms to be able to do that.”

Virtual care can be as simple as a questionnaire on a computer, or it can be video visits and remote patient monitoring.

To date, Sanford has had over 850,000 virtual visits within a 250,000-square-mile radius. With the growth they have seen in virtual care needs, they needed a hub.

On Nov. 19, the Sanford’s Virtual Care Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, opened.

“From this building, it’s not just a state-of-the-art structure, but it is our commitment to reimagine the way we deliver care in rural America,” Berry said. “We have our teams here that can collaborate and set our strategy.”

This facility contains three core areas vital to their virtual care initiative: the Education Institute, the Innovation Center and a home to a virtual primary care team.

“We have an Education Institute where we can train the next generation of our clinicians so that they can deliver care as virtual care as part of their practice,” Berry said.

Virtual care has the large technical component to it, and that’s where the Innovation Center comes in.

“This is an area where we have a maker lab that we can bring our employees into to test out new ideas, make modifications to existing devices, bring in industry partners to co-develop with us,” said Katie Pohlson, vice president of innovation and commercialization at Sanford. “It really is a place to explore what is the best technology for delivering care to our patients and especially our rural population.”

Technology is constantly changing, Pohlson said. This space gives them a place to test new things out in a smaller scale setting.

“This is really kind of a testing space for that,” she said. “We can get physician input. We can get patient input. And we can also work with our industry partners to make sure it’s the best solution for our population.”

There are several different technological devices used to provide virtual care.

“Some of the technology that we’re using today are different devices that can be used just to give the clinicians more of an eye into the patient and what they’re seeing,” Pohlson said. “We can also bring people into the patient experience center to understand kind of what their experience is with the different devices, with their different applications and really understand the patient journey.”

“We do have some diagnostic tools that we can use with patients to look in their ears, take their temperature from a distance, listen to heart and lung sound, so a little more sophisticated than video call,” Berry said.

There are several challenges when it comes to providing healthcare to rural communities.

“As we kind of enter into the winter months, travel can be a barrier for patients receiving care if they have to travel,” Berry said. “Some of our patients in rural South Dakota may have to travel up to three hours one way to receive their care which has barriers of the travel, time, expense.”

Berry said they are also facing a shortage of rural health care workers. Virtual care helps to combat those healthcare challenges.

“We need to ensure access to care for everyone, regardless of their zip code,” Berry said. “Sometimes, that is the only way that we can reach those patients when they’re in need of health care.”

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Could green methanol technology provide an alternative to carbon pipelines?

Kennedy Tesch — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:00:00 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As carbon pipeline projects face growing opposition, some are exploring green methanol as a cleaner, more profitable alternative for the region's ethanol industry. The renewable fuel, made from captured CO2, could reduce emissions and create new economic opportunities without the environmental and legal hurdles of pipeline development.

Results of the Nov. 5 election showed that South Dakota voters opposed by a margin of 60% to 40% Referred Law 21, a measure that attempted to eliminate local control over carbon dioxide pipeline zoning laws and provide protections for landowners. The South Dakota Supreme Court also ruled Aug. 22 that Summit Carbon Solutions is not a common carrier, and that CO2 is not a commodity, unlike what many proponents of the pipeline have long argued.

Despite setbacks in the state, Summit Carbon Solutions plans to reapply for a permit from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Nov. 19, and continue on with their proposed carbon pipeline project that would capture CO2 from 57 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and carry it to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground.

Doyle Turner, a retired farmer, feeder, and banker from Moville, Iowa, said carbon pipelines are an outdated idea, and he is suggesting alternative technology for the corn and ethanol industries — green methanol.

He says green methanol is a climate-friendly alternative to the conventional process for producing methanol, which uses fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. Methanol is used in many industries, including chemicals, construction, and plastics.

While ethanol plants do not directly produce methanol as a primary product during the standard ethanol fermentation process, some technologies offer to capture carbon dioxide emitted from ethanol plants and convert it to green methanol.

“There is a bigger opportunity. We have the opportunity to produce a whole other industry, and the government is willing to subsidize producing that industry,” Turner said. “Why would we not take that money and build an industry rather than just creating a landfill? Because sequestration is just a landfill, and to believe that you're going to build economic viability and stability off a landfill is about as third-world a notion as you're ever going to get.”

Turner has been advocating for companies such as CarbonLink and CapCO2 Solutions, who have the technology to build out ethanol to green methanol technology right next to partner ethanol companies.

“If they build a methanol plant next to the ethanol plant, it would give our ethanol plants the ability to sell multiple products,” Turner said. “They can sell methanol, if that makes the most sense, or they can add value to both the methanol and the ethanol to sell aviation fuel for both.”

According to CapCO2 Solutions, green methanol can deliver $60 billion in annual revenues to the region and an annual reduction of 50 million metric tons of CO2. It aims to reduce the carbon intensity scores of ethanol plants by 25 points, although that result may vary between each plant.

Jeff Bonar, chief executive officer of CapCO2 Solutions, believes that ethanol plants are “sitting on a gold mine.”

“They have no idea of the opportunity that they haven't yet embraced,” Bonar said. “Green methanol is a green fuel. So no new carbon is released into the atmosphere when you burn it, and it's a great alternate fuel to petroleum. The shipping industry, in particular, has standardized on green methanol as their next generation fuel.”

Bonar said that while conventional methanol technology can take up many acres of land, CapCO2 offers solutions for ethanol plants to build out the technology right next to them.

“Our technology is compact. It fits into shipping containers, and you can easily put them at an ethanol plant,” Bonar said. “We're kind of right-sized for the kind of land that's available in an ethanol plant. Now they have an attractive way to reduce their carbon footprint by capturing and upgrading the CO2 as well as adding a new revenue stream.”

While carbon pipelines have generated the most discussion when it comes to helping ethanol plants reduce their carbon emissions, Bonar said his company is different in almost every dimension.

“We're not planning to throw the CO2 away. We're not taking anyone's farmland. We don't cost $8 billion to build, and we're not based on government subsidies,” Bonar said. “Our business is based on selling green methanol to a world that's very anxious to buy it.”

Although CapCO2 does not have an operating plant yet, they plan to announce the finalists for their first plant within the next month.

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Was a railroad-hopping serial killer responsible for the Midwest's most infamous ax murders?

Tracy Briggs — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 15:35:00 GMT

Editor's note: This archival Vault article was first published Aug. 16, 2022.

VILLISCA, Iowa — The tourist attractions you’ll find in southern Iowa seem to make sense. In the land made famous by Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” painting, it’s fitting to find John Wayne’s birthplace or those pretty covered bridges of Madison County.

But in the middle of the rolling cornfields and silos emblazoned with the Iowa Hawkeyes logo, you wouldn’t expect to find what some have called one of the creepiest places in America — the Villisca Ax Murder House.

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The two-story white house on Second Street is one of the most popular, albeit macabre, tourist attractions in the Midwest. Thousands of visitors, including many people from the Dakotas and Minnesota, come to hear the scary story as they step on the creaky floors once walked by a killer.

Some come for a tour in broad daylight. Others pay the $428 fee to spend the night. The sleepovers are so popular they’re already booked out for a year, with everyone from paranormal investigators and psychics to criminal justice classes and women’s book clubs.

“We might have a random Monday or Tuesday night open here or there. But that's about it," said Johnny Houser, a caretaker and tour guide.

Houser is the first person you’ll meet when you take a tour of the house. He tells the tale with an ease reserved for neighbors sharing stories over cans of Busch Light in the driveway. Maybe that’s because he lives right next door. Houser, and others who grew up here, don't know their town without the horrific story of how the Josiah and Sarah Moore family and their two young houseguests died at the end of an ax.

But he admits after years of thinking he knew exactly who did it, in the last couple of weeks after examining evidence he has never seen before, he changed his mind. More on that later.

First, the details on what happened on June 9-10, 1912, in this quiet Midwestern town.

A trip inside and back in time

The screen door creaks as Houser escorts tourists into what was the Moore kitchen. It looks just like it did in 1912 — so much so that the house earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. There’s an old-style ice box, and a wooden wash basin, and flowered dishes in the cupboard.

It’s probably close to what Josiah Moore’s brother Ross saw the morning of June 10, 1912, when he came to check on the family after neighbors alerted him that the home looked unusually quiet. What he found was beyond words.

All eight people in the home had been brutally murdered in their sleep, bludgeoned by an ax.

“Everybody's in bed just like they went to sleep and hopefully didn't know what happened. As far as the crime scene, an ax had been left downstairs,” Houser said.

Houser said the crime scene was full of other odd clues. Raw bacon wrapped in a dish towel was found on one bedroom floor close to part of a key chain that did not belong to the Moores. Mirrors in the three bedrooms, where the victims slept, had all been covered in sheets. The faces of the victims were covered with bedclothes.

It appeared the killer was in the house for a while as a plate of uneaten food sat on the table next to a bowl of bloody water, where the killer was believed to have rinsed his hands.

Before he left, he had drawn the shades and curtains on the windows. On the windows without coverings, clothing was hung to create near total darkness in the home.

Then the killer disappeared into the early morning hours, seemingly without a trace.

The night before

The hours before the bloodied bodies were discovered appeared to be joyous ones for the Moore family. The family, which included parents Josiah, 43, Sarah, 40, and their children Herman, 11, Katherine, 10, Boyd, 7, and Paul, 5, had attended a “Children’s Day Program” that evening at their Presbyterian church.

When it ended around 9:30 p.m., they walked home with Lena Stillinger, 11, and Ina Stillinger, 8, who were also at the program and were invited by their friend Katherine Moore to sleepover. It’s presumed the group went to bed shortly after getting home.

According to the coroner, the murders probably took place shortly after midnight. The Stillinger sisters were discovered dead in a downstairs bedroom, Josiah and Sarah killed in the master bedroom and the rest of the Moore children killed in the other upstairs room.

Mishandled crime scene

Given the unusual clues at the crime scene, today’s law enforcement officials would probably have a fairly easy time finding a suspect. But back then, fingerprinting was relatively new and DNA testing unimaginable. However, the biggest issue was that the crime scene itself was not secured. Houser said within hours of the murder, curious townspeople made their way to the Moore home where many were allowed in the home to gawk at the victims and trample on any potential evidence.

Houser said before the National Guard was called in to secure the scene, an estimated 1,500 nosy neighbors stopped by.

“I’ve seen one shot of the mob scene and it’s clear up to the school up there. It looks like a rock concert. Thousands of people,” he said.

Interestingly, a local druggist who thought enough to bring a camera into the crime scene was escorted out before he had the chance to take photos that could have been helpful to the investigation.

The early suspects

With everyone and their grandmother visiting the crime scene that day, it’s not surprising that many began to fancy themselves experts in the case. Tongues began wagging over the identity of the ax murderer.

A couple of suspects topped the list right away. The first was a man named Frank Jones, a prominent Villisca resident, Iowa state senator and former boss of Josiah Moore. According to town gossip, Jones was very upset when Moore quit his job at the store two years earlier.

To add fuel to the fire, it was rumored that Moore had had an affair with Jones’ daughter-in-law. Some speculated that Jones, who was 57, hired another man to commit the murders. However, no credible evidence was ever found to connect Jones or the other man to the crime, and they were never arrested or charged.

A more-credible suspect was soon found in the Rev. George Jacklin Kelly, who residents had described as “peculiar.” (Experts today have speculated that he might have been suffering from schizophrenia.) He was a known sexual deviant, who once placed an ad for a secretary with the requirement that she occasionally type in the nude.

But his reputation alone wasn’t enough to cast suspicion his way. That happened when an elderly couple reported seeing him board a train in the early morning hours of June 10. The couple also claimed that he told them of the murders despite the bodies not yet being discovered.

Kelly was interrogated by police and he eventually confessed to all eight ax murders. He was arrested in 1917. But before his trial began, he recanted his confession. To add insult to injury for the prosecution, the couple who claimed to have been on the train with Kelly later changed their story.

With little evidence tying him to the killings, the first grand jury to hear Kelly’s case hung 11-1 in favor of refusing to indict him, and a second panel freed him altogether.

Lingering doubts

Despite Kelly being let go, many residents of Villisca, population 1,162, still believed he was guilty. And it’s been that way for more than 100 years.

The house's tour guide and caretaker, Houser, was one of those who believed in Kelly’s guilt — until, he said, just two weeks ago when he and some friends went through the interrogation transcript. He was shocked when he read it.

“I realized he (Kelly) asked for his attorney 17 times within 10 minutes. And then they’re going, 'You don’t need your attorneys to tell the truth,’” Houser said.

Houser said the police told Kelly, ‘You walked up to the family and did this and this and this.’ At first, Kelly denied it, but later said something along the lines of, 'Well, you guys are high-in-stature people and you wouldn’t lie.’"

Author Bill James, in his book "The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery,” said he does not believe the Rev. Kelly was capable of committing a crime of this nature.

“Whoever committed these murders was a horrible person, but he was also cunning, strong, organized and relentless. Kelly was timid, weak and mentally disorganized at an extremely high level. When people said bad things about him during the trial, (he) would bury his face under his arms and sob uncontrollably. His wife, towering over him in the next chair, would cradle him like a child, and pat him on the head,” wrote James.

A new theory of who did it

The title of James' book (co-authored by Rachel McCarthy James and available on Amazon) gives a clue to who is now suspected of the murders — the man from the train.

The authors say the murderer was likely a serial killer who traveled the railroad as early as 1900 looking for victims. They point out that it's interesting to note that the Villisca murders happened the exact same summer, in the same state, that "The Music Man" was set. Not only does it give a clue to the way the people might have looked or dressed, but the opening scene of the traveling salesmen on the train illustrates how trains connected small towns to the world and how strangers were eager to hop off and on.

The "serial killer" theory goes as far back as 1913, but 21st century technology has made it easier to compare each of what the Jameses speculate is 100 murders committed in the immediate years surrounding the Villisca murders. In one case, a couple in Paola, Kan., just three hours from Villisca, was killed by an ax murderer five days before the Villisca murders took place.

Many of the murders had similarities: They took place in a town with a railroad stop. They happened on a Sunday night. Often entire families were victimized. The killer used an ax, which he left at the scene. The victims' faces were covered after they were killed. The killer washed his hands at the scene. The killer appeared to linger at the murder scene before leaving.

A man named Henry Lee Moore (no relation to the Moore family) is one of those suspected of being the serial killer. He was convicted in Missouri of the ax murder of his mother and grandmother several months after the Villisca crimes. However, he was never charged for the crimes.

The Jameses wrote that the serial killer was a German immigrant named Paul Mueller. Crime writer Harold Schecter said he believes "The Man From the Train" offers the most probable solution yet for the Villisca murders.

Even so, the case is still unofficially unsolved. Whoever brutally murdered the Moore family and the Stillinger sisters has long since died — never punished for the sins he committed on earth. He got away with it, but left a mark on this tiny town in southwestern Iowa where the name “Villisca” is likely to forever be synonymous with “ax murder."

If you have a historical true crime story you'd like Forum Communications to investigate, contact Tracy Briggs at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com.
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State departments, chicken growers seek to care for, cull 1.3 million chickens left without feed

Michael Johnson — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 23:15:00 GMT

About 1.3 million chickens and the growers caring for them were left in a crisis following a bankruptcy filing in Minnesota and closure of a chicken processing plant in Iowa. Many of those birds are expected to be euthanized.

After filing for bankruptcy and having the request dismissed, Pure Prairie Poultry Inc., of Fairfax, Minnesota, made the decision to no longer pay for feed for about 1.3 million chickens they owned that were being raised by growers across Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to farmers contracted to grow their birds. They also closed their processing facility in Charles City, Iowa, leaving nowhere for the mature birds to go.

On Oct. 2, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship released a statement that they were taking “care, custody and control of the birds” in Iowa under Iowa Code Chapter 717 authority. They first sought to find a remedy in working with state, federal and industry partners, but no immediate solution was found.

The Department said they were working with farmers to provide feed and care for the animals. There are 14 Iowa farms growing the chickens for Pure Prairie Poultry, according to the Department.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has also stepped in to feed and handle about 300,000 of the chickens being raised in Minnesota on five sites.

“It is unfortunate that many of the Minnesota chickens owned by Pure Prairie Poultry Inc. were not able to enter the food supply as intended,” MDA communications director Allen Sommerfield said in a statement. “Since the company announced they were closing its Iowa-based processing plant last week and would be unable to process the chickens, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, along with state and federal partners, worked to ensure the chickens were fed and sought a processing solution for the animals. The MDA, farmers and partners were able process some birds, and that work continues.

"While the chickens do not pose a health or safety risk, the MDA will be utilizing emergency resources to ensure the remaining chickens are humanely depopulated according to American Veterinary Medication Association standards and overseen by experts from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health," Sommerfield added.

One farmer near Pierz, Minnesota, who was being contracted to grow the birds resorted to offering the birds for free, about 39,000 of them, on Facebook Marketplace. They noted in their post that they wanted to get the chickens to people who could use them before they were euthanized on Thursday, Oct. 10.

“Whoever wants chickens come and get them our barn is getting euthanized on Thursday please come get what you want … tell anyone you know it’s horrible what they are doing we have 39000 chickens please help us.”

Sommerfield said the number of birds being processed versus the number that would be euthanized was in flux as of Tuesday, Oct. 8. They were still working to get more of the birds processed. He added that the department was exploring options to recuperate costs incurred by the state.

The Iowa Department of Ag said “the Department will seek reimbursement of the taxpayers’ costs from responsible parties, including through possible legal remedies. The Department has also notified relevant local law enforcement of the situation.”

A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Ag said they could not comment further on the case as it was a pending legal matter.

Pure Prairie Poultry began operations in Charles City, Iowa, in 2021. The company closed its processing facility on Oct. 2 and let go of about 80 employees, according to Jon Austin, a spokesperson for Pure Prairie Poultry, as reported by Charles City Press on Oct. 3.

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Iowa Utilities Commission issues pipeline permit to Summit Carbon Solutions

Kennedy Tesch — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:00:00 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Utilities Commission on Aug. 28 issued a pipeline permit to Summit Carbon Solutions for their proposed 688-mile carbon dioxide pipeline that is slated to cut through 29 Iowa counties to transport liquefied carbon dioxide en route to North Dakota, where it will be permanently sequestered underground.

The IUC found that Summit Carbon Solutions “has substantially complied with the requirements of the IUC’s June 25, 2024, order regarding the company's application for a hazardous liquid pipeline permit.”

In June, the IUC approved Summit’s application for a permit but required the company to submit numerous revised exhibits as compliance filings for the board’s review, prior to the board issuing the permit or Summit Carbon commencing construction. Summit was also granted the right to use eminent domain because the Board found that the public benefits of the pipeline outweigh the public and private costs of the project.

However, several conditions were established during the approval of the application and will be attached to the permit as well, including but not limited to requiring Summit to obtain and maintain at least a $100 million insurance policy, complying with certain construction methods, and ensuring landowners and tenants are compensated for damages that may result from the construction of Summit Carbon’s hazardous liquid pipeline.

As part of another stipulation upon issuing the permit, the project cannot begin construction in the state until it has obtained agency-level approval for a route and sequestration site in North Dakota and a route in South Dakota.

On Aug. 5, Summit Carbon Solutions submitted the compliance filings required by the IUC. The Board said “issuing the permit does not modify the conditions Summit Carbon must establish in order to start construction.”

“The Iowa Utilities Commission issued Summit Carbon Solutions’ base pipeline permit, marking a major milestone for Summit along with farmers and ethanol producers as we seek access to new markets like sustainable aviation fuel by lowering ethanol’s carbon intensity score,” said a spokesperson from Summit Carbon Solutions. “With corn prices below production costs, farmers are facing tough times. This pipeline will grow markets and work with ethanol partners to drive economic growth, supporting the long-term viability of our farmers and rural communities.”

Status of Summit in other states

In 2021, Summit announced proposal plans for their Midwest Carbon Express, a pipeline that would capture carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and carry it to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground.

While Summit is making headway on their proposed pipeline project in Iowa, the South Dakota Supreme Court issued a ruling on Aug. 22 which determined that Summit Carbon Solutions has not proven that it is a common carrier and cannot at this time use eminent domain to survey land. Additionally, the Court ruled that CO2 is not a commodity, unlike what many proponents of the pipeline have long argued.

A spokesperson from Summit told Agweek they will evaluate the South Dakota Supreme Court's decision and "look forward to providing the information requested to the District Court that reaffirms their role as a common carrier, and that CO2 is a commodity."

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is taking comments on a route through Wilkin and Otter Tail counties in Minnesota through Sept. 11. Comments may also be submitted online at https://mn.gov/puc/consumers/public-comments or by email at consumer.puc@state.mn.us. Comments can be mailed to the Consumer Affairs Office Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, 121 7th Place East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101.

Briefs in the route case were due July 22, and the PSC has not yet released its decision. The North Dakota Industrial Commission will decide on the permit for the sequestration sites.

The state of Nebraska in February 2024 denied Summit's application there, and the company has not begun the reapplication process.

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South Dakotans will vote on carbon pipeline bill that could determine future of Summit pipeline

Kennedy Tesch — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 13:00:00 GMT

MELLETTE, S.D. — Ed Fischbach and other South Dakota landowners opposed to the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project have described South Dakota Senate Bill 201 as the “Summit Bill of Rights.”

“They put a misleading title on it to fool people, calling it the 'Landowner Bill of Rights,' which is the furthest thing from the truth,” said Fischbach, a fourth-generation farmer in northern Spink County, who played a pivotal role in organizing the movement in opposition to the carbon pipeline.

Now, voters in South Dakota will decide whether the bill — one of three bills that made up the "Landowner Bill of Rights" — will become law. SB201 would regulate carbon pipelines and require payments to landowners and counties but also would allow South Dakota Public Utilities Commission decisions in pipeline permits to automatically overrule local setback rules.

South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson announced July 10 that the petition to refer SB201 was validated to a statewide vote. The law was slated to go into effect July 1 but now will instead be added as the seventh question on South Dakota's general election ballot in November.

The other two bills considered part of the "Landowner Bill of Rights" — House Bills 1185 and 1186, which set out rules for surveys and easements — will not be on the ballot and instead went into effect on July 1.

The vote on SB201 could be a determining factor in the future of Summit's Midwest Carbon Express, a pipeline that would capture carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and carry it to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground.

South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in September 2023 denied the company’s permit application because it would be in non-compliance with county ordinances already set in place. SB201 would, to an extent, take away the PUC's need to consider local ordinances, giving Summit a potentially clearer path to a permit.

Lee Blank, chief executive officer for Summit Carbon Solutions, said the company plans to reapply for a permit in South Dakota in the “near future” and has remained committed to working with and being as transparent as possible with landowners, even planning to reroute the pipeline throughout the state to only work with voluntary landowners.

A growing low-carbon market and growing opposition

Summit Carbon Solutions in 2021 announced the Midwest Carbon Express project. Now, three years later, Blank said Summit remains committed to the pipeline project as an investment to United States agriculture.

“We have to find ways to open new markets to United States farmers, South Dakota included, to consume this corn crop, whether that be through export markets that have been opened up for years previously or now through a growing and increasing ethanol marketplace that can deliver more value to the United States farmer,” Blank said. “That's really, really the the impetus behind what we're trying to accomplish at Summit Carbon.”

The idea behind the pipeline is to remove carbon from the atmosphere, thus giving the ethanol coming out of the involved plants a lower carbon score, which could open up ethanol plants to new markets and higher prices. Those markets could include countries like Canada or states like California that require lower carbon fuel products or could include relatively new markets like sustainable aviation fuel.

Fischbach initially entered the conversation about the pipeline when he received a letter in the mail in July 2021 from the company stating that they would be surveying his property for an easement. At a meeting held by Summit in Aberdeen, South Dakota, that year, he learned the company planned to use eminent domain to secure the land needed to build the pipeline, something he says should not be allowed for private companies to use.

"Eminent domain is the main issue here — the abuse of eminent domain and allowing a private, for-profit individual or company to take our land to so they can make more money and put it in their pockets," he said. "Eminent domain has a place as a purpose for public-use projects like water systems, electrical lines and highways."

Safety is another key point for opponents. Summit has said it will ensure the safety of the pipeline through monitoring and using only highly rated materials. Opponents say there can be no guarantee the pipeline won't leak or destruct.

"This is a toxic material, and if it leaks, it's going to endanger people's lives, and you're going to transport that 2,000 miles up in North Dakota just to bury it in the ground," Fischbach said. "It serves no public purpose for anybody other than the people that are behind this project that's coming out of Iowa, and now they've got the ethanol industry conned into thinking this is going to be lifesaving for them."

Spink, Brown, McPherson and Minnehaha counties passed ordinances to keep the Summit and now-defunct Navigator carbon pipeline projects out of their counties due to safety concerns for people living along pipeline routes.

Another issue opponents of the pipeline argue is that Summit and those involved will receive billions of dollars in federal tax credits.

"Taxpayers should be really concerned about this," Fischbach said. "We're giving our tax dollars away to private individuals and letting them make millions and billions off the backs of our United States taxpayers."

Groups in opposition to the pipeline hosted rallies and met with representatives in Pierre during the 2024 legislative session. Despite the resistance, which included ranchers and the farmers who Summit has courted as potentially benefiting from the pipeline, the Legislature passed the "Landowner Bill of Rights" package of bills, all three of which were signed by Gov. Kristi Noem.

Under SB201, Summit Carbon Solutions would be required to pay landowners 50 cents per linear foot of pipeline through their property in the form of property tax relief and would allow counties to collect $1 per linear foot of pipeline that runs through their county. At least 50% of the surcharge must be used for property tax relief for landowners on the route. The remaining revenue can be spent by counties at their discretion.

The new legislation would also give the state’s Public Utilities Commission more power to automatically overrule counties' pipeline rules. Opponents see it as an infringement on their right to local control.

“Our Legislature changed this law for this one company because they didn't get their way, and that's what angered people,” Fischbach said.

The opposition to the pipeline didn't stop once the Legislature wrapped up. The grassroots efforts about SB201 banded together to collect 35,000 signatures — well over the requirement of 17,500 signatures — in 90 days to get the referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. Johnson, the secretary of state, said a random sample found 92% of the signatures were valid, deeming 31,432 valid signatures.

Although getting the vote on the ballot was the goal of the groups organizing against the pipeline, Fischbach said the battle is not over yet as they want to ensure South Dakota voters know exactly what they are voting for or against come November.

The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office released July 10 the final explanation of what will now be called “Referred Bill 21.” State law requires the attorney general to draft titles and explanations for measures and amendments that appear on election ballots. The explanations are meant to provide an “objective, clear and simple summary” intended to “educate the voters of the purpose and effect of the proposed” measure, as well as identify the “legal consequences” of each measure.”

But Fischbach said the Referred Bill 21 explanation falls short of the requirement, because it does not include wording about the law's changes to the power the PUC has to overrule local ordinances.

“The Attorney General's opinion came out and completely eliminated the whole objection of the bill — didn't mention anything at all about removing local control,” Fischbach said. “You're taking away local control from our governing local bodies and putting it in the hands of state bureaucrats, but he mentioned nothing about that.”

South Dakota voters will have the option of voting “yes” to allow the legislation to become law on Jan. 1 or to vote “no” to reject the legislation from becoming law.

Summit continues plans to build

Despite some setbacks, including permit denials in some states, Summit has continued planning and working toward building the pipeline, including in South Dakota.

“We want to accommodate landowners, county stakeholders throughout the state of South Dakota to the best of our ability. Ultimately, we will never make everyone happy with the route, but we are working really hard to find the most accommodating route that we can have and we can use,” Blank said. “We will then establish a more confident route in South Dakota and then go ahead and file that route with the Public Utilities Commission.”

As has been the case in South Dakota, Summit has received mixed reactions in other states.

The Iowa Utilities Board on June 25 unanimously approved Summit Carbon Solutions' application to construct, maintain and operate a carbon dioxide pipeline in Iowa. However, the ruling also said Summit cannot begin construction in Iowa until the necessary permits are secured in South Dakota and North Dakota.

The Board decided “the service to be provided by Summit Carbon will promote the public convenience and necessity,” allowing the company to obtain a pipeline permit and be vested in the power of eminent domain. Blank said the company will need to reapply for a second round of permits in Iowa because of “the additional volumes brought on to the project” since the company's previous filings. Blank said this process is already underway.

In North Dakota, two types of permits are required — one for the construction of the pipeline and the other for the sequestration facility. The state Public Service Commission in August 2023 denied Summit's first attempt at a route permit. The company applied again with a new route and also applied for the sequestration permit. The hearing process is complete for both permits. Blank said briefs in the route case are due July 22, and the PSC will make its decision sometime after that. The North Dakota Industrial Commission will decide on the permit for the sequestration sites.

Summit has filed an application in Minnesota to build a 28.1 mile pipeline from the North Dakota border to the Green Plains Ethanol Plant in Otter Tail County. A Minnesota Public Utilities Commission filing lists public hearing dates of Aug. 20 and 21, followed by evidentiary hearing dates of Aug. 22 and 23 for that application.

Summit also has potential plans to build approximately 200 additional miles of carbon pipelines in southern Minnesota, in the counties of Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Martin, Redwood, Renville, and Yellow Medicine. The company has not applied for a permit in those counties.

The state of Nebraska in February 2024 denied Summit's application there, and the company has not begun the reapplication process.

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Western Corn Belt flooding brings back memories of 1993

Ann Bailey — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 10:30:00 GMT

Except for a handful of drought years in the late 1980s and 2000s, most of my weather-related stories as an agricultural reporter have been about flooding.

The stories detailed how excessive rains destroyed and damaged fields and pastures, and the emotional and economic toll that took on the farm and ranch families who owned them.

One excessively wet summer in particular — 1993 — has always stood out in my mind because that year Eric Hylden, a Grand Forks (North Dakota) photographer, and I took a three-day trip covering flooding from South Dakota to southern Minnesota to northern Iowa.

Eric and I chronicled the trip with photos and stories that we got by talking to dozens of farmers and ranchers in the three states.

The headlines of the stories included “The Deluge; The flood of 1993 is taking a toll on the farms and small towns caught in its path.”

More than 30 years later, Agweek reporters Kennedy Tesch and Ariana Schumacher are covering similar flooding, some of it within 50 miles of where Hylden and I interviewed farmers for their flood story.

Kevin Crisp, one of the farmers we talked to, lived near Dell Rapids, South Dakota, in Minnehaha County, 40 miles from Salem South Dakota, which is in McCook County. Tesch and Schumacher’s story in the July 1, 2024, issue of Agweek said that Kurt Stiefvater’s farm had seen 10.61 inches of rain from June 1 to June 24. Flooding had affected around 70% of his pasture and cropland.

My story in the July 18,1993, Agweek reported that in mid-July 1993, Crisp still had 30 acres of the previous year’s corn in the field. He had to leave the crop in the field in the fall of 1992 because it was too wet and had hoped to harvest it in the spring of 1993.

Not only was it still too wet to harvest those 30 acres, but the rains had stunted his 1993 corn crop and he had to delay his first round of cultivating until July 12, a date he typically would have finished his second trip through the field.

The story quotes Crisp saying, “Too much rain is worse than not enough. When there’s not enough, you don’t feel so helpless. When there’s too much you can’t do anything. You can't hook up a planter, you can’t hook up to a cultivator, you can’t do anything.”

Conditions were even more grim across the border in southwest Minnesota in 1993 where 30 inches of rain fell between April and mid-July. That amount was 6 more inches than the county typically gets in a year.

That year rains prevented farmers from planting 7% of the county’s 350,000 acres and damaged the rest, my July 18, 1993, story reported. One of the reasons the stories Eric and I covered about the summer of 1993 Midwest flooding have stuck with me was because we viewed it and the people it affected, first-hand. I have never forgotten how a farming couple, Eric and I climbed a 110-feet high Harvestore silo for a birds-eye view of the water surrounding their farm.

More accurately, the former three climbed to the top and I stopped about three-quarters of the way up to the top because I broke the “never look down” rule and got scared. I never knew I was afraid of heights until that experience. Eric, who grew up on a dairy farm climbed to the top carrying his camera gear.

When the highest thing I’d climbed was a 15-foot ladder, it had been easy to believe that heights didn’t faze me, but I realized my limits that day.

Another thing I learned from the flood coverage is that farmers and ranchers are resilient and that no matter how bad things are, most of them have faith it will get better — and it does, some way or another.

In an ideal farming world, a new generation of Agweek reporters wouldn’t be writing stories describing flooding conditions that mirror the ones that I wrote about 31 years ago.

I’m certain that in June and July 2024 Tesch and Schumacher, like me in July 1993, wished they could have been reporting on good growing conditions yielding potential for great crops. But flooding, drought and other weather challenges will always be the realism of farming.

In the midst of that, most farmers and ranchers dig deep into whatever helps them to weather the weather and keep moving forward.

That “things will be better next year” attitude is what has kept and will keep generations of them on the land.

Ann Bailey lives on a farmstead near Larimore, North Dakota, that has been in her family since 1911. You can reach her at anntbailey58@gmail.com.]]>

Iowa Utilities Board approves Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project

Kennedy Tesch — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 18:28:17 GMT

DES MOINES, IOWA — The Iowa Utilities Board on Tuesday, June 25, announced the approval of Summit Carbon Solutions application for a permit to build a 688-mile carbon dioxide pipeline that will cut through 29 Iowa counties and will transport liquefied carbon dioxide through the state and into North Dakota where it will be permanently sequestered underground.

Summit Carbon Solutions initially filed a permit application in Iowa in January 2022. The Tuesday decision followed a 32-month long process in which the board heard tens of thousands of pages of testimony and exhibits, heard testimony from more than 200 witnesses, and admitted approximately 4,180 comments, objections, and letters of support filed in the docket, including approximately 600 comments filed after the deadline set by Iowa law.

According to the Board, “the service to be provided by Summit Carbon will promote the public convenience and necessity.” Because it was found that the public benefits outweigh the public and private costs of the project, it was then determined that Summit Carbon Solutions were granted permission to use the right of eminent domain to complete the project.

Additionally, as part of the order, Summit Carbon will be required to submit numerous revised exhibits as compliance filings for the board’s review, prior to the board issuing the permit or Summit Carbon commencing construction. Several conditions will be attached to the permit as well, including but not limited to requiring Summit Carbon to obtain and maintain at least a $100 million insurance policy, comply with certain construction methods, and ensure landowners and tenants are compensated for damages that may result from the construction of Summit Carbon’s hazardous liquid pipeline.

As part of another stipulation on the ruling, the project cannot begin construction in the state until it has obtained agency-level approval for a route and sequestration site in North Dakota and a route in South Dakota.

This comes on the heels of successful reapplication hearings for Summit’s North Dakota pipeline permit in front of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. The North Dakota Supreme Court also ruled in May that the company has the right to enter private lands to conduct surveys and examinations in preparation for the construction of the pipeline.

After South Dakota denied a permit last fall, the company looks to refile for an application.

“The momentum will continue as we prepare to file our South Dakota permit application in early July,” said Lee Blank, chief executive officer of Summit Carbon Solutions, in a statement. “We look forward to engaging with the state throughout this process and are confident in a successful outcome.”

Summit Carbon Solutions is partnering with 57 ethanol plants across five states including Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. The company said they have signed voluntary easement agreements with 75% of Iowa landowners along this route.

“Today’s decision creates monumental opportunities for Iowa farmers faced with falling prices and growing stockpiles,” said Monte Shaw, the executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. “Whether you think it’s smart or silly, the world’s largest airlines want to decarbonize their fuel. Carbon capture and sequestration gets Iowa ethanol into that market, potentially providing a generational boost to Iowa’s economy. This is just one of several potential new markets.”

According to a January 2024 study conducted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, the carbon pipeline will provide key economic benefits for the state including:

770 million bushels of new corn grind per year in Iowa. Nearly 36,000 construction jobs adding over $3 billion to Iowa’s GDP and $2.2 billion in income. More than 22,000 permanent new jobs. About $950 million in new household income. $2.7 billion added to Iowa’s gross domestic product. For a typical 1,000-acre Iowa farm, $13,000 additional farm income per year.

“Today’s decision was the first formal step forward,” said Shaw. “We hope and expect to see positive news in South Dakota and North Dakota in the near future. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and so are the prospects for boosting Iowa’s farm economy.”

While Summit remains optimistic about their plans to break ground on the pipeline next year and begin operations in 2026, opponents of the pipeline say there are still hurdles for the company to jump.

Jim Walsh, policy director for Food and Water Watch, believes that the proposed pipeline poses substantial risks to public safety.

“While the company has won this round in Iowa, this is not the end of the line. There are still decisions at the federal and state levels that will determine whether this dangerous pipeline is ever built,” he said. “The Iowa Utilities Board approval of this dangerous project underscores the urgent need for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to update the outdated regulations for carbon dioxide pipelines before any other authorizations are issued.”

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USDA announces $83 million for fertilizer plant projects, including in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota

Jenny Schlecht — Thu, 23 May 2024 20:19:56 GMT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday, May 23, announced that fertilizer projects in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota were among the projects to receive a total of nearly $83 million in funding.

A news release from USDA said the funding in support of fertilizer projects through the Fertilizer Production and Expansion Program is meant to "strengthen competition for U.S. farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers." The USDA under the Biden administration created FPEP in response to rising fertilizer prices. The administration committed up to $900 million through the Commodity Credit Corporation for the program.

In Iowa, Return LLC, a fertilizer manufacturer in Northwood, plans to use a $3.92 million grant to expand its current facility, to improve existing compost/fermenting site infrastructure and to purchase necessary equipment to transport materials and manufacture the finished product. Return's current products include compost made from "locally-harvested, southern Minnesota turkey litter," fertilizer listed for use in lawns, gardens and for perennials and annuals, potting mix and "Worm Poop" for use in gardens, raised beds, potted plants and lawns.

In Minnesota, Sustane Natural Fertilizer Inc. — a family-owned natural fertilizer manufacturer in Cannon Falls — plans to use a $2,397,792 grant to enhance and expand the current facility and purchase new equipment to increase fertilizer production. The company makes a variety of agricultural and home-use fertilizer and innoculant products.

In North Dakota, the Ray Farmers Union Elevator Company plans to use a $1,491,859 grant to assist with a dry fertilizer expansion. This project will increase dry fertilizer capacity by 7,025 tons, to a total of 11,425 tons. The company says the expansion will benefit new and existing customers in the North Dakota counties of Williams, Divide, Mountrail, Burke, and McKenzie, as well as improve fertilizer supply logistics.

Fertilizer prices began rising sharply in 2021, with Producer Price Index industry data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing April 2022 at the second highest level in two decades. Prices remained high throughout 2022 and began dropping throughout 2023, though they generally remain elevated compared to the years before the 2021 spike. Blame for the spike was placed on the war in Ukraine and Russia, as well as lack of competition in the fertilizer industry.

Other projects announced as receiving funding on Thursday were in California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington. The total awards announced Thursday were in the amount of $82,746,447. The projects announced Thursday put total FPEP funding at $251 million in 57 projects across 29 states.

“The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are committed to bolstering the economy and increasing competition for our nation’s farmers, ranchers and small business owners,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “The investments announced today, made possible through the Commodity Credit Corporation, will increase domestic fertilizer production and strengthen our supply chain, all while creating good-paying jobs that will benefit everyone.”

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