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Waiting for spring
Crimea lawmakers say secession would create independent nation
The deep frost may help farmers, but planting is still a month away ■
By JAKE WADDINGHAM
CNA associate editor jwaddingham@crestonnews.com
Dry conditions during the fall and frigid temperatures this winter led to a deep freeze in Iowa’s soil. Some farms are still experiencing frost more than three feet deep because cold air was able to travel through cracks in the soil from a dry finish to the 2013 harvest season. But the deep freeze may provide some benefits for farmers if they can practice patience and wait for warmer temperatures to return before Hillaker starting the 2014 planting season. “This time of year our temperatures are extremely variable,” said State Climatologist Harry Hillaker. “It is characteristic of the season to go between both extremes (warm and cold temperatures).” The frost helps fracture the soil, breaking up any compaction as it freezes and thaws with the spring temperature. “For the most part, it is a good thing,” said Iowa State University Extension field agronomist Aaron Saeugling. “Frost is one of the best tools we have to break up soil compaction.” Less compaction allows the soil to absorb water deeper into the subsoil and makes it easier on seeds as they germinate and break through the topsoil. “Until that frost is gone, the topsoil is going to be ex-
cracks (in the soil),” Ross said. “The ponds are still low.” The soil in southwest Iowa is averaging in the lowto mid-30s. Optimal growth temperature of the soil for corn is above 50 degrees and soybeans are above 54 degrees. At Iowa State’s research sites in Greenfield and Lewis, Saeugling said the temperature is 33 to 35 degrees about four feet below the surface. Ross agreed that the frost will not delay when farmers should be in the field planting based on soil temperatures and initial plant dates
MOSCOW (MCT) — Ukraine’s Crimea region would become an independent country if voters approve secession in a hastily organized referendum Sunday, the Russian-controlled regional parliament declared Tuesday in a shift away from plans for immediate annexation to Russia. The change appeared to mark a change in strategy by Moscow to shield itself from accusations that it has orchestrated an illegal seizure of another country’s territory. European Union and U.S. officials have threatened trade and travel sanctions against Russia if it persists in encouraging the predominantly ethnic Russian-populated Crimean peninsula to vote for cleaving itself from Ukraine. A tense international standoff has ensued after Russia sent troops into Crimea. Moscow and Crimean nationalists contend that the interim leaders in Kiev pose a threat to Ukraine’s ethnic Russian minority, which accounts for about 17 percent of its population of 46 million. Ukraine’s interim government leader, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, was headed to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama on Wednesday. Yatsenyuk complained to Ukrainian lawmakers Tuesday that he was unable to get in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin or Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to discuss ways to avert an escalation of the crisis, as United Nations and Western diplomats have urged since Russian troops seized the peninsula two weeks ago. International law experts have noted that the Ukrainian constitution requires any changes in territory or borders to be voted on by the entire country. A 1994 agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine under international brokerage also suggests Western powers protect Ukraine from aggression by its nuclear-armed neighbor. Putin and Kremlin-controlled media have cast the ouster of pro-Russia Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich as an illegal overthrow by “fascists” and “criminals.” A three-month protest drove Yanukovich to flee the country on Feb. 21. The Crimean parliament voted Tuesday to
Please see PLANTING, Page 2
Please see UKRAINE, Page 2
Contributed image from U.S. Department of Agriculture
Iowa is still dry coming into the 2014 growing season. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker said the extended forecast does not predict excessive moisture and that this March is slightly cooler and drier than average. Soil temperatures at the research sites in Greenfield and Lewis are between 33 and 35 degrees, four feet below the surface. Dry conditions and cold temperatures led to a deep frost during the winter. Iowa State University Extention image
tremely wet and saturated,” said Hillaker. “Any moisture has nowhere to go until the frost is out of the ground.”
Air, soil temperature On average, this March is 10 degrees cooler than years past. Unlike 2013 when the temperatures were consistently low, this March started with record-low temperatures before quickly climbing to near-record highs less than a week later. Hillaker said average temperatures for mid-March in southwest Iowa is typically in the upper 40s. Besides temperature, the total amount of moisture for this March is below average, as well. “It looks to stay that
way,” Hillaker said. “It doesn’t look like any tremendous amount of moisture is expected across the area in the extended forecast.” Saeugling said if the area did get a warm rain or high temperatures, the frost could leave the soil quickly. “If we have a prolonged, slow warm up, obviously it is going to take longer to warm up the soil,” Saeugling said. Wayde Ross, Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist for Union and Ringgold counties, said the area is still on the dry side according to drought monitor maps. “What little runoff we are getting, it is running into the
Branstad approval rating, lead over Hatch narrows (MCT) — Iowans approve of the job he’s doing, but Gov. Terry Branstad’s lead over his Democratic challenger has shrunk since late 2013. A Quinnipiac University Poll released this morning found Iowans approve of the job the five-term Republican governor is doing by a 55 percent to 35 percent margin – a slightly thinner margin than the last Quinnipiac Poll in mid-December. Then Iowans gave Branstad thumbs up by a 58 to 32 percent margin. A key finding of the poll, however, is that Branstad’s lead in a headto-head matchup with presumptive Democratic challenger Sen. Jack Hatch of Des Moines is slightly less than three months ago.
In the poll of 1,411 registered voters done March 5-10, Branstad’s lead was 46 to 35 percent over Hatch – down from 49 to 33 percent Branstad lead in December. The poll done by live interviewers calling land lines and cellphones found: • Branstad leads 86 to 4 percent among Republicans and 46 to 28 percent among independent voters • Hatch takes Democrats 77 to 10 percent • Branstad also leads 50 to 31 percent among men
• Women go 43 percent Republican and 39 percent Democrat Overall, the numbers are good for Branstad, who is seeking a sixth term, according to Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Iowans are quite happy with the way things are going in their state,” he said. “History doesn’t have a lot of examples of voters firing their governor when they are so satisfied with the status quo.” Hatch, Brown added, “can take solace in Branstad not crossing the magic 50 percent threshold in the horse race.” On the downside for Hatch, “the governor does much better than that when voters are asked if he is a strong leader, if he is honest and
if he understands the problems of average folks.” Perhaps a bigger challenge for the Hatch, a 22-year lawmaker, is the fact three in four voters don’t even know enough about Hatch to have an opinion of him, Brown said. In the eyes of Democrats, that may present an opportunity, “but probably more a sign of how much work he still has before him,” Brown added. The Quinnipiac poll seems consistent with a recent Public Policy Polling poll showing Branstad led Hatch 48 to 36 percent despite Hatch having only 31 percent name recognition among Iowa voters. Undecideds in that late February poll skewed Democratic, PPP said.
Another key Quinnipiac finding for the Branstad campaign is that the Quinnipiac poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent, found that 71 percent of Iowa voters are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the way things are going in the state, and a total of 70 percent say the state’s economy is “excellent” or “good.” That’s the highest satisfaction and economy score of any of the states in which Quinnipiac University asks these questions. In an open-ended question, 27 percent of Iowa voters list the economy or jobs as the top priority for the governor and state legislature, Please see BRANSTAD, Page 2
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Contents
Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Deaths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Farm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Heloise Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Thursday weather High 39 Low 27 Full weather report, 3A