The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Mary Aschenbrenner, of Tama County, noticed ditches mowed and hayed in the summer while driving on Iowa Highway 21. Aschenbrenner wondered whether a permit and fee is required to harvest hay. “It certainly makes the roadway neat! And makes good feed for some farmer’s livestock,” Aschenbrenner wrote to Curious Iowa , a Gazette series that answers readers’ questions about our state and how it works.

Mowing the roadside vegetation on the rights of way or medians on Iowa highways, interstates or secondary roads before July 15 is prohibited, per Iowa Code 314.17 .

The Gazette spoke with experts from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Linn County Secondary Roadside Department abou

See Full Page