USDA Clear 30 program news graphic

USDA’s CLEAR30 offers producers with expiring conservation contracts rental incentives and longer term options

Agricultural producers and landowners with certain expiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts can receive additional rental incentives and extend that land’s role in conservation for another 30 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened the signup period for its Clean Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers enrollment (CLEAR30) now through July 31, 2023. CLEAR30 is a part of […]

Feeding cattle (cows, livestock)

University of Missouri Extension tools help cattle producers with on-farm finishing budgets

Many consumers want to buy locally produced beef, and University of Missouri Extension economists can help producers deliver. Beef producers who want to finish their cattle on their farms now have access to new resources from MU Extension beef specialists to determine their finishing budgets. The On-Farm Finishing Budget publication and spreadsheet tools released during […]

USDA or United States Department of Agriculture News Graphic

USDA announces Grassland Conservation Reserve Program signup for 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can begin signing up for the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program which runs through May 26, 2023. Among CRP enrollment opportunities, Grassland CRP is a unique working lands program, allowing producers and landowners to continue grazing and haying practices while conserving grasslands and promoting […]

Landscape of United States farmland (Photo via Envato Elements)

Missouri farm income projected to decline in 2023

Missouri’s net farm income is predicted to fall in 2023 following a record-setting 2022, according to the spring 2023 Missouri Farm Income Outlook report. The report, released by the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center at the University of Missouri, provides comprehensive insights that can equip industry stakeholders and policymakers with information to understand the […]

Construction workers installing solar panels

Biden-Harris administration announces availability of $1 billion to help farmers, ranchers invest in renewable energy systems

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is accepting applications starting on April 1 for $1 billion in grants to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses invest in renewable energy systems and make energy-efficiency improvements. USDA is making the $1 billion in grants available under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), […]

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USDA announces additional assistance for distressed farmers facing financial risk

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that beginning in April it will provide approximately $123 million in additional, automatic financial assistance for qualifying farm loan program borrowers who are facing financial risk, as part of the $3.1 billion to help distressed farm loan borrowers that was provided through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act […]

Large bales of hay in a field (Photo by Federico Faccipieri on Unsplash)

MU Extension Hay School set for March 31 in Schuyler County

Hay producers can learn strategies to grow, harvest, and store high quality hay at the University of Missouri Extension’s upcoming Hay Production School, 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Schuyler County Community Center. MU Extension specialists will teach how to get more quality and quantity hay production during this one-day workshop, says Darla Campbell, […]