The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced the deadline to apply for the Fiscal Year 2019 funds through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is November 16th. EQIP allows farmers, ranchers, forestland managers, and landowners to conserve natural resources by making financial assistance available to improve soil, water, air, plants, animals, […]
Tag: environmental
Trenton City Council holds heated discussion on electric rates, ends in vote to reduce rates by 5%
The Trenton City Council last night voted to authorize a 5% reduction in electric rates effective with the bills received in November, and the council ultimately voted to have an electric rate study done, but not until after the Mayor vetoed two separate motions. Last week, the utility committee advanced discussion on having a three-month […]
Audio: Missouri to allow state’s third largest regulated utility to move aggressively toward wind power
(Missourinet) – Missouri has given initial approval for the state’s third-largest utility to build a major wind farm to generate power. The plan by Empire District in Joplin is opposed by the state Office of Public Counsel. The Counsel’s Geoff Mark says Empire’s predictions of customer savings is based on unrealistic projections that it’ll be able […]
What’s next after Proposition A defeat?
Local and state leaders will join citizens groups and unions today to establish ways to build on the momentum gained after the defeat of Proposition A. A town hall meeting at Oppenstein Brothers Park in Kansas City will discuss how to increase wages to at least $15 an hour for low-wage workers. Jessica Podhola, director […]
Missouri farmer profits from direct marketing, rotational grazing
Like other livestock farmers trying to make a living in the grasp of a severe drought, Adam Boman was on the road to Kansas City in early August to market some of his cattle. But Boman, owner of Good Life Grass Farms, was only transporting the few cows he direct markets each month. The others […]
Environmentalists step up to oppose “Right To Work”
Voters will decide in less than a week whether Missouri will become a right-to-work state, potentially weakening unions. It isn’t just union members and labor groups opposing Proposition A: Environmentalists are standing against the right-to-work proposition as well. Dennis Roach, a former engineer, and union member and a current member of the Sierra Club said unions […]
Livestock producers in 25 counties now eligible for benefits through Livestock Disaster Forage Program
Producers in 25 Missouri counties are now eligible to apply for benefits through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program and Emergency Assistance for Livestock. Both programs are administered through the Farm Service Agency. Counties now accepting applications include Adair, Andrew, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, Clinton, Daviess, Dekalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Howard, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Mercer, Nodaway, […]
USDA providing $2,000,000 to assist farmers in planting cover crops
The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is helping producers affected by drought. State Conservationist J. R. Flores says the state has two million dollars available to help farmers plant cover crops to address inadequate feed and forage as well as other natural resource concerns. Cover crops established under the emergency initiative […]
Meeting planned to provide input into federal conservation programs
A local working group charged with identifying local priority resource concerns and providing input about program criteria to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service will meet at 1:30 pm, July 26 at the USDA Service Center in Bethany. The working group is comprised primarily of representatives of various local, state and federal agencies with knowledge […]
First report of southern rust in U.S. this season reported in west-central Missouri
The University of Missouri Extension confirmed the growing season’s first case of southern rust corn disease in the U.S. on July 10. The MU Plant Diagnostic Clinic confirmed that southern rust was present in a sample collected from west-central Missouri. This common corn disease usually shows up in neighboring southern states before appearing in Missouri […]
Meeting in Bethany to address local resource concerns
A work group will meet later this month to identify local priority resource concerns and provide input about program criteria to the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Service. The meeting will be held at the USDA Service Center in Bethany on the afternoon of July 26th at 1:30. Grundy County District Conservationist Scott […]
Illness from mosquito, flea, tick bites has tripled since 2004
University of Missouri Extension health and safety specialist Karen Funkenbusch urges Missouri residents to take precautions to ward off mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas this summer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in May that diseases from the bites of these insects tripled from 2004 to 2016. Also, CDC reported that nine new […]
Volatility in Dicamba remains controversial
Of all the factors that led to the off-target movement of dicamba in 2017, volatility remains the most controversial. Older formulations, such as Banvel and Clarity, have long been known to volatilize when sprayed under certain environmental conditions. Engenia, FeXapan, and XtendiMax were all marketed as dicamba formulations substantially lower in volatility than previous formulations. […]