Leadership Northwest Missouri

Leadership Northwest Missouri to once again hold “music jam” as fundraiser

Leadership Northwest Missouri again plans on holding a “music jam” as the event will be raising funds for the organization. This is the program in which community leaders have training and networking opportunities to promote regional growth. Participants are selected from 19 counties. To date, more than 440 persons have taken part in the series […]

Jeffrey Perkins

Trenton man charged with multiple sex crimes in Daviess County including incest, rape, sodomy, child molestation and domestic assault

A Trenton man faces multiple sex-related felony charges in Daviess County stemming from alleged incidents with a blood descendant beginning in 2020 and extending to March 2022. Thirty-four-year-old Jeffery Perkins has been charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of second-degree child molestation. He also has been charged with one count […]

Bird Flu News Graphic (Photo credit Danganhfoto on Pixabay)

University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine tracking the spread of bird flu, one test at a time

Throughout the country, an extremely infectious disease called highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been circulating rapidly among flocks of chicken and turkeys. While the disease poses little risk to humans, it presents a serious threat to infected birds as well as the nation’s poultry industry, which is already facing supply chain disruptions. At the […]

United States Supreme Court (Phot credit Laura Olson - States Newsroom)

Supreme Court to hear case against Proposition 12 by National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation

The U.S. Supreme Court at its Mar. 25 conference agreed to hear a case brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation against California’s Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork from hogs born to sows that weren’t raised according to the state’s “arbitrary” production standards. “We are extremely […]

Avian Flu News Graphic

Audio: Fears that avian influenza outbreak could be worse than 2015

Widespread cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have the poultry industry fearing an outbreak more devastating than 2015.  Minnesota Board of Animal Health senior veterinarian Dr. Shauna Voss says high-path avian flu is being seen in wild birds, commercial poultry, and backyard poultry in many different states. “So now is the time as birds are […]

Typical pen style CAFO ( Photo by Darrell Hoemann - Investigate Midwest)

As CAFO lawsuit heads to Missouri Supreme Court, counties weigh options

(Missouri Independent) – As a fight over who can regulate industrial hog and cattle operations awaits action by the Missouri Supreme Court, counties that sought more stringent protections against them wait in limbo.  The Missouri Supreme Court is expected to hear an appeal by county commissioners who sought to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, […]

National Agriculture Week 2022

Missouri Celebrates National Agriculture Week

This week, the Missouri Department of Agriculture celebrates the state’s position nationally in agriculture production. Missouri is home to 95,000 farms, employs nearly 460,000 people in agriculture, forestry, and related industries, and has an estimated economic impact of $93.7 billion. Agriculture remains the state’s number one economic driver, supporting both rural and urban communities from […]

Avian Flu News Graphic

Avian influenza cases confirmed in four Missouri counties

Federal officials have confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Stoddard, Bates, Jasper, and Lawrence Counties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic influenza in the flocks. Samples are delivered to the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Missouri for testing if […]

Wild duck (waterfowl) (Photo courtesy David Waite on Unsplash)

Waterfowl auctions, shows and swap meets suspended due to avian influenza

To help prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the Missouri Department of Agriculture has suspended all domestic waterfowl and waterfowl egg auctions, shows, and swap meets through the end of May. Federal officials have confirmed cases of HPAI in Stoddard, Bates, Jasper, and Lawrence Counties. HPAI is known to be deadly for […]

Smithfield Food Logo

Missouri fines CAFO, owned by Smithfield Foods, $18,000 for polluting streams with 300,000 gallons of waste

(Missouri Independent) – Regulators ordered an industrial hog farm in northern Missouri to pay more than $18,000 for spilling 300,000 gallons of manure into miles of nearby streams.  An advocate for environmentally responsible agriculture called that “pathetic,” noting the fine amounted to less than $0.04 per gallon of waste spilled.  “You’re talking about a multi-billion […]

Chickens or poultry in a farm yard

Highly pathogenic avian influenza confirmed in Missouri commercial poultry flock

Federal officials have confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial chicken flock in Stoddard County, Missouri. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic influenza (HPAI) in the commercial broiler chicken flock. Samples were delivered to the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Missouri for […]

Screenshot of USDA or United States Department of Agriculture website

USDA extends deadline for spot market hog pandemic program

Hog producers who sold hogs through a spot market sale during the COVID-19 pandemic now have until April 15, 2022, to submit their applications for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program. SMHPP, which is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, originally had a deadline to submit applications by Feb. 25, […]

Chickens or poultry in a farm yard

Poultry virus confirmed in state bordering Missouri

Missouri poultry producers, both commercial and backyard flocks, are encouraged to review and tighten biosecurity protocols in light of the avian influenza virus confirmation in birds east of the Mississippi River. Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 is known to be deadly for domesticated chickens and turkeys. Avian influenza was confirmed in a commercial chicken operation […]

Gallatin Missouri High School FInal

Gallatin Board of Education approves calendar for 2022-2023; board accepts superintendent’s resignation

The Gallatin R-5 Board of Education on February 16th voted to offer the superintendent position to the current Gallatin Middle School principal. Doctor Justin Collins was offered the position with a three-year contract, beginning July 1st. The board accepted the resignation of current Superintendent Doctor Bryan Copple in December. His resignation will become effective June […]

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall spoke at the organization’s 2022 annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia (photo provided by American Farm Bureau Federation)

American Farm Bureau Federation claims it’s the ‘voice of agriculture,’ Others beg to differ

(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]

Feral Hogs (Photo courtesy MDC)

Missouri feral hog elimination partnership removes more than 9,800 feral hogs

The Missouri Feral Hog Elimination Partnership (the Partnership) removed 9,857 feral hogs from the landscape in 2021, making the total number of feral hogs eliminated more than 54,000 since 2016. The Partnership is made up of 13 federal and state agencies along with numerous agriculture and conservations organizations. “I’m really proud of the progress that […]