An upcoming meeting for row crop producers will be held next Thursday evening, January 28th on Zoom. The meeting will provide updates from State Specialists and is free of charge. The meeting will be held from 6-8 pm. Dr. Kevin Bradley, State Extension Weed Scientist, will start the meeting with an update on weed management […]
Tag: crop
Public interest groups sue EPA for re-approving controversial herbicide dicamba
Public-interest groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency over the agency’s re-approval of products containing dicamba, a herbicide controversial for its tendency to drift into neighboring fields and damage farmers’ crops and homeowners’ gardens. Last fall, the EPA green-lighted dicamba use for five years, the third time the agency registered dicamba products. George Kimbrell, legal director at […]
Never say never to nitrogen
Sometimes it pays to be late. Nitrogen application is one of those times, says University of Missouri Extension nutrient management specialist Peter Scharf. Scharf, who has researched nitrogen application in corn, wheat, and other crops for 35 years, continues to favor spring nitrogen application over fall-applied application, especially during wet years, which are becoming more […]
Audio: University of Missouri releases report on 2020 survey regarding crop and pasture land
University of Missouri extension has a report on the 2020 survey regarding crop and pasture land. MU Specialist in agriculture and the environment, Jackie Spainhauer, reports the average cropland values for eight area counties. Jackie Spainhauer noted the average 2020 land values are based on surveys among ag lenders and others in the […]
Crop review for December 2020
Grain bids surged throughout December. Overseas feed demand, the worker strike in Argentina, and weather conditions in South America were significant factors in soybean and corn prices gaining so much ground. Dry conditions in key growing areas in South America have put yield potential into question, however, the true range of crop loss is still […]
Five-day virtual workshop on industrial hemp begins January 11, 2021
The University of Missouri Extension offers a virtual workshop about industrial hemp from 12:30-2:00 p.m. January 11 through the 15th. Topics include a legislative summary and regulatory update, agronomic practices, and pests, uses for hemp, crop enterprise budgets, and processing and contracts. Presenters include MU Extension specialists, CBD-hemp growers, and processors, processors from the Tiger […]
USDA Announces Commodity Credit Corporation lending rates for January 2021
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation announced interest rates for January 2021, which are effective January 4-January 31. These rates are used for a variety of farm credit options available through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). The CCC’s borrowing rate-based charge is 0.125%, the same as December. The interest rate for crop year commodity […]
Grundy County Commission approves employee classification change and accepts resignation
The Grundy County Commission approved an employee classification change and accepted a resignation involving Grundy County Ambulance on December 29th. The employee classification change involved Sarah Crosson. She completed her paramedic training/certification to allow for the change. The resignation was from Emergency Medical Technician Lilly Simmons. Ambulance Director Steve Tracy and Billing Clerk Beth Leeper […]
University of Missouri Research looks at technology to kill weeds
If it’s a weed, spray it. That’s the mindset that most in the agriculture industry held for years, however, that thinking no longer works as more weeds become resistant to herbicides, says Kevin Bradley, University of Missouri Extension weed scientist. Bradley uses waterhemp as an example. Waterhemp is one of 14 herbicide-resistant weed species in […]
University of Missouri Extension entomologist lists pests farmers should watch for in 2021
University of Missouri Extension field crop entomologist Kevin Rice says Missouri soybean and corn growers should be on the lookout for growing populations of yield-robbing insects in 2021. Soybean gall midge MU Extension found soybean gall midge in two northwestern Missouri counties in 2019. Soybean gall midge larvae feed internally in the base of soybean […]
Tar spot found in northeast Missouri cornfields
Missouri corn growers should scout for an emerging crop disease, tar spot, in 2021, says University of Missouri Extension plant pathologist Kaitlyn Bissonnette. She identified tar spot in four far northeastern Missouri counties: Scotland, Lewis, and Clark in 2019 and Marion in 2020. She expects it to spread in the northern half of Missouri and […]
Adoption of farming technology, or precision ag, varies across generations
Farmers who fear they are falling behind in farm technology might not be as behind as they think. Kansas State University cropping system economist Terry Griffin explains that a recent Kansas Farm Management Association study of farm technologies dispels the myth that all farmers use all of the latest technology. Griffin was one of the […]
Research shows heavier drift damage from dicamba and 2,4-D more likely when sprayed in stable air.
Research findings from the University of Missouri show heavier drift damage from dicamba and 2,4-D is more likely when those herbicides are sprayed in stable air. MU Extension weed scientist Mandy Bish says those synthetic auxins tend to hang in the air when there’s no wind, “So what happens is, when you get these herbicides […]
EPA releases draft biological evaluation for Glyphosate
EPA is taking the next step in its regulatory review of glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the United States, which is used to control a variety of grasses and broadleaf weeds. Glyphosate is used on about 298 million acres of agricultural cropland every year and is effective and affordable. Building on EPA’s January […]
NCMC agriculture students participate in state conference; elected PAS President and Vice President
Eight agriculture students from North Central Missouri College participated in the Missouri Postsecondary Agriculture Student Organization (PAS) State Conference November 9-11, 2020. The conference was hosted virtually by State Fair Community College in Sedalia, MO. Over 100 students from seven Missouri community colleges and universities participated in the conference. Calvin Basham, an NCMC student, concluded […]
Audio: United Cooperative President talking with northwest Missouri farmers about growing hemp
Tiger Fiber is breaking ground on a hemp processing plant near St. Louis and is looking at possible locations for a processing plant in northwest Missouri. Selby says hemp could become a great new cash crop for northwest Missouri farmers. United Cooperatives of Plattsburg and Osborn has made an investment in Tiger Fiber, […]
Strong bred heifer demand at Kirksville Show-Me-Select replacement heifer sale
At the recent Kirksville Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer sale, 135 heifers averaged $1,952. Despite the current volatility in the cattle market, buyers were willing to invest in the future, said Zac Erwin, sale coordinator. “I had a feeling the demand was out there but wasn’t quite sure how all the outside factors would affect the market […]
USDA to open signup for the Conservation Reserve Program and CRP Grasslands in early 2021
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the signup periods for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the CRP Grasslands in 2021. Signup for general CRP will be open from January 4, 2021, to February 12, 2021, and signup for CRP Grasslands runs from March 15, 2021, to April 23, 2021. Both programs are competitive and […]
University of Missouri online crop conference set for December 1st and 2nd
Farmers and crop specialists can hear updates from some of the nation’s leading agricultural researchers Dec. 1-2 at the 2020 University of Missouri Crop Management Conference. Due to Missouri COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s conference is offered live online, said MU Extension weed scientist Kevin Bradley. Technology discussions lead the conference. Bradley tells about MU research […]
GEC Community Foundation awards 13 grants to area schools
The GEC Community Foundation, Incorporated Trustees have awarded 13 grants totaling $6,868.64. Education grants went to several schools: Grundy County R-5 of Humphreys and Laredo R-7 each for $600 to purchase Chromebooks; Rissler Elementary School of Trenton for $580 for playground equipment; Spickard R-2 for $664 for phonics spelling kits; Princeton R-5 for $500 for […]