On top of dealing with harsh winter weather in feeding cows, cattle farmers must guard against too much nitrate in poor-quality hay. “Just from cases we’ve confirmed, I know of 150 cows dying in the last month,” says Tim Evans, head toxicologist at the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. High nitrate, mostly concentrated in […]
Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn says the cold weather has been a danger to new-born calves and other livestock. She says it’s common for farmers to take extraordinary measures to see that calves are kept as comfortable as possible. Chinn says the cold weather is making calving especially difficult for cattlemen if they […]
Winter feeding of forage to beef herds doesn’t rank high as a favored job for herd owners. But there’s a bright side to feeding fescue, whether in hay or grass. Fescue toxins are down. “This is the best fescue will be, now until pastures green up again,” says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension forage […]
Soybean growers from across Missouri are focusing on expanding their markets. Governor Mike Parson tells Brownfield he likes the idea of expanded cattle feeding in Missouri, creating a larger market for soybean meal. Missouri Soybean Association President Brooks Hurst tells Brownfield trade issues have caused growers to focus on biodiesel and soybean meal. […]
Governor Parson says the Panama Canal expansion is an opportunity to make greater use of the Mississippi River for shipping agriculture products. Governor Parson says the Panama Canal expansion can give an edge to Missouri farmers shipping agriculture goods along the Mississippi River. But he says state transportation funding needs attention. […]
Managed grazing makes better use of forage in a year of high-priced hay. After a drought with short grass and little hay, fall pastures grew fast with good rains. Management-intensive grazing (MIG) extends fall grass supplies. Or the grass can be saved for winter grazing, says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension forage specialist. Controlled […]
A Mercer County native has won the Agriculture Educator Lifetime Achievement Award at the Missouri Livestock Symposium. University of Missouri Extension writer Duane Dailey of Columbia received the award, which honors an educator making significant contributions to agriculture in northeastern Missouri. Dailey says he “taught through the media” for 57 years and writes science stories […]
Longtime Trenton educator and author Thomas Virgil Brown died Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in Trenton of natural causes. He was 94. Mr. Brown, Tom to his family and many friends, was born Aug. 9, 1924, on his parents’ farmstead just north of Melbourne in Harrison County, the son of Thomas Armfield Brown, a state legislator, […]
Incoming Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz announced his intention to appoint Senator Dan Hegeman as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The 100th Missouri General Assembly will convene its first regular legislative session on Wednesday, January 9. The Appropriations Committee is tasked with giving preliminary approval to the state operating budget for each fiscal […]
Chillicothe FFA students recently participated in the Area II Fall Speaking Contest in Gallatin. Kaylee Lewis competed in the Missouri Farm Bureau Contest, Madelyn Wilford competed in the Missouri Pork Producers Contest, Sydney Baxter competed in the Missouri Institute of Cooperatives, Rachel Holt competed in the Missouri Teach Ag, Matt Hawkins competed in the Missouri […]
Farmers face tough questions every day and will find answers for marketing and estate planning at the Kirksville Livestock Symposium, Nov. 30 and Dec 1. The Symposium farm management sessions give cutting-edge help, says Garry L. Mathes, event chair. Leading off Saturday sessions will be estate planning with speaker Connie Haden of Haden and Associates […]
At the Kirksville Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer sale, 133 heifers averaged $1,716. It wasn’t the strong sale expected, said Zac Erwin, sale coordinator. A lot of things worked against bidder enthusiasm. “I was hoping for a stronger market,” Erwin said after the sale Friday night, Nov. 16. “But it wasn’t a bust by any means.” The […]
