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Cost-share funding available to assist produce growers in paying for Good Agricultural Practices certification

Cost-share funding is available to help produce growers pay for USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification. “These funds are available for Missouri farmers who are applying for USDA GAP certification for the first time or for farms who are reapplying for USDA GAP certification,” said Londa Nwadike, state food safety specialist for the University of […]

Dairy Cows

USDA announces new decision tool for new Dairy Margin Coverage Program

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced today the availability of a new web-based tool – developed in partnership with the University of Wisconsin – to help dairy producers evaluate various scenarios using different coverage levels through the new Dairy Margin Coverage program. The 2018 Farm Bill authorized DMC, a voluntary risk management program that offers financial protection […]

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USDA extends deadline for producers to certify 2018 crop production for Market Facilitation Program payments

USDA extended the deadline to May 17 from May 1 for agricultural producers to certify 2018 crop production for payments through the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), which helps producers who have been significantly affected by foreign tariffs, resulting in the loss of traditional exports. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) extended the deadline because heavy rainfall […]

Smithfield Food Website

Smithfield Foods & RAE launch joint venture to create renewable energy, wildlife habitat

Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE) have formed a joint venture called Monarch Bioenergy to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) across Smithfield’s hog farms in Missouri. This partnership converts manure collected from Smithfield farms into RNG, while simultaneously delivering ecological services and developing wildlife habitat. Once complete, all Smithfield company-owned finishing farms in […]

Scollar Website

Animal health startup chooses Missouri for headquarters

Animal health tech company Scollar, Inc., has announced plans to relocate its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Kansas City, Missouri, to launch its suite of products and expand the company in the Animal Health Corridor. Scollar will scale its administrative, customer success, sales, and marketing teams in Kansas City. Designed for everything from cats to […]

Gary Riedel

Missouri farmer inducted into Missouri Soybean Hall of Fame

Missouri Soybean Hall of Fame 2019 inductee Gary Riedel says demand for soybean increased greatly since farmers approved checkoff dollars to fund research and promotion. Riedel served as head of Missouri Soybean Association in the early 1980s and was president of the American Soybean Association when the national soybean checkoff went into effect. This year, […]

Kids posing for photo

Missouri foster kids flourish in families

Despite a nationwide increase in the number of kids in foster care, Missouri has made inroads in placing more kids who would otherwise remain in institutional or group settings with families.  A nationwide Annie E. Casey Foundation report looked at foster-child placement data over a 10-year period. Missouri reported about 12,000 kids in the child welfare system, […]

Missouri livestock symposium

Livestock Person of the Year applications due May 1, 2019

Applications are being accepted for the 2019 Northeast Missouri Livestock Person of the Year award. Applications are open to residents from the following counties in northeast Missouri: Adair, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Macon, Marion, Monroe, Pike, Putnam, Randolph, Ralls, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, or Sullivan. The individual receiving this award must have made a significant contribution […]

Tyson Buffalo Chicken Strips

Tyson recalls chicken strips due to metal fears

Tyson Foods, Inc., a Rogers, Arkansas establishment, is recalling approximately 69,093 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip items were produced on November 30, 2018. The […]

Improving cattle grazing fescue pastures with legumes

Cattle producers see more profit when they add legumes to fescue pastures and manage grazing systems properly, says Patrick Davis, University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist. Fescue remains the hardy mainstay of southwestern Missouri pastures. Adding legumes gives fescue fields more nutritional punch and profit, Davis says.  Proper management is key to making grasses and […]