730AM KWOA serves the AM radio listener area in Southwest Minnesota and Northwest Iowa with area news, sports and weather.
Happy Earth Day! Today, Monday April 22nd, Minnesota Energy Resources is offering all current residential natural gas customers in Worthington FREE Water Conservation Kits. The kits include low-flow showerheads, along with kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators. These items are easy to install so you can begin saving on your home's water heating costs right away.
The free kits can be ordered by visiting www.minnesotaenergyresources.com/waterkits or by calling 1-877-831-...
If you recall, Minnesota Soybean gave the public several opportunities to win a year's worth of free groceries through a fantastic giveaway through March. With April turning a new leaf, the Minnesota Soybean is once more holding another giveaway; in April, you can enter once a day to win a fishing getaway for yourself (and three guests!) at McQuoid's Inn on Lake Mille Lacs!
The sweepstakes officially kicked off April 1st and will run through May 5th. Remember: limit one (1) entry per person per day.
One grand prize winner will win a fishing trip for four guests, two nights...
ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Weather conditions are delaying the onset of corn planting, but wide fluctuations in corn planting progress are not uncommon in Minnesota. By the end of April, about 50 percent or more of Minnesota’s corn acres were planted in 2009, 2010 and 2012, compared to less than 5 percent in 2008 and 2011.
While most growers prefer to get their crops off to an early start, early planting is not a requirement for high yields. In 2008 and 2011, when it was mid-May before half of Minnesota’s corn acres were planted, state-average grain yields ranked third and fifth among Corn...
If you're an area farmer, we want to honor YOU!
Farm 40 on US95 and AM 730 KWOA just wrapped up Thursday night at Hickory Lodge in Worthington. Congratulations to the Farm 40 On Us grand prize corn winner: Vern Bosma!
Congratulations to the Farm 40 On Us runner-up bean winner: Jean Meester!
For area farmers...
Blue Mounds State Park, near Luverne in the southwestern corner of Minnesota, has closed its campground through Sunday, April 21, due to ice-storm damage.
Park Manager Craig Beckman said freezing rain and strong winds have taken down numerous trees and branches in the park’s campground. “With more rain, wind and snow predicted, I can only assume that branches will continue to fall,” he said.
No campers were in the park during the storm and no injuries occurred. No camping reservations had to be canceled.
Once it is safe for park staff to enter the campground area,...
The report of the NW Iowa on-farm research projects conducted during 2012 is available on the web. Find it here. This report not only summarizes data from our original 3 counties in the NW corner of Iowa, it also has data from other counties across Iowa that have started to look at replicated, field length trials on farms. This past year there were 130+ different comparisons! You can also find the report from the 2011 and 2010 trials at this web page.
Rapid snow melt and potential for flooding pose challenges for manure management among the more than 25,000 livestock farms in Minnesota. Many farmers who spread solid manure during winter must ensure that it doesn’t run off with rapid snowmelt flowing to ditches, streams and other waters. Manure-contaminated runoff not only threatens water quality, it reduces the value of manure as a crop nutrient. If possible, farmers should refrain from spreading manure during periods of rapid melt. Minnesota rules require a 300-foot setback from surface waters and open tile intakes for all manure...
Less than a year after expanding the trading day from 17 to 21 hours per day, CME Group, Inc. reduced hours, after approval by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Beginning April 8, trading hours on the CBOT, KC and MGEX exchanges changed to the following:
In a press release yesterday via its home website, Cargill revealed that former Sara Lee execuive, Marcel Smits, is its new chief financial officer, effective as of April 15th.
Smits, a native of the Netherlands, served in a variety of financial management positions for Unilever in Europe, Latin America and Asia throughout the mid-1980s and 1990s, lastly as senior vice president of finance for China. He subsequently served as CFO for two Dutch listed companies, first for Vendex KBB, a retail group, then for KPN, the country’s leading telecommunications service provider. Both Vendex...
Less than an hour past the 11:00 a.m. CST release of two of the largest USDA reports, we are seeing the three main grains taking big hits. The following is the USDA summary for prospective plantings:
Corn growers intend to plant 97.3 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2013, up slightly from last year and 6 percent higher than in 2011. If realized, this will represent the highest planted acreage in the United States since 1936 when an estimated 102 million acres were planted.
Soybean planted area for 2013 is estimated at 77.1 million acres, down slightly from last...
