Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program with higher payment rates, new incentives, and a more targeted focus on the program’s role in climate change mitigation. Additionally, USDA is announcing investments in partnerships to increase climate-smart agriculture, including $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership Program […]
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Missouri Acting State Director D Clark Thomas announced the agency is investing $35,046,000 in critical infrastructure that will help rural Missouri communities build back better and stronger while prioritizing climate-smart solutions and environmental stewardship. USDA is making the investments under the Water and Environmental Program, the Rural Energy for […]
In recognition of the Missouri Bicentennial, University of Missouri Extension will extend this year’s Century Farm application deadline to June 1. “With our partners the Missouri Farm Bureau and the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, we want to be sure every eligible farm family has an opportunity to apply in this special […]
Business groups and construction companies from across the state have testified for legislation to increase Missouri’s gasoline tax by 12-point-five cents per gallon by 2025. Schatz testified last (Wednesday) night before a Missouri House committee. The GOP-controlled Missouri Senate has already given final approval to the bill. Schatz is urging lawmakers to increase […]
The Grain Belt Express project plans to run wind power transmission lines across eight rural counties in northern Missouri—from Buchanan through Ralls. Though the Public Service Commission has approved it and the commission’s approval won a court challenge, agricultural opponents have once again found support in the Legislature. The Missouri House passed HB 527 to stop utility […]
Two Northwest Missouri drivers were injured when their vehicles met head-on Tuesday morning on a rural route in Nodaway County. Taken by EMS to Mosiac Life Care in Maryville were 37-year-old Elizabeth Shelley of Albany and 63-year-old Derri Wandfluh of St. Joseph. Both vehicles were demolished in the accident at 10:20 am on Route VV […]
The Biden administration has taken the first steps in the regulatory process to eliminate the domestic gag rule, which forced more than 900 reproductive-health clinics nationwide to leave the Title X family-planning program and lose major amounts of funding. Rachel Fey, vice president for policy and strategic partnerships at the contraceptive-access advocacy group Power to Decide, said the […]
Voters in Missouri approved a ballot initiative expanding Medicaid. If the state funds it, Missouri will be on track to receive more than $1 billion in federal incentives. As lawmakers continue their debate on whether to fund voter-approved Medicaid expansion in Missouri, pediatricians say lack of access to high-quality health care can lead to long-lasting […]
Mercer County Public Water Supply District has issued a precautionary boil water advisory following repairs made Monday to a water main break. Affected are the rural water customers on both sides of Highway 136. The advisory area extends from Princeton (at 65 and 136) east to the intersection of Highway 136 and Fireworks Avenue. The […]
(Missouri Independent) – On the heels of a historic cold snap that left thousands across the Midwest without power, Kansas and Missouri residents could soon reap the benefits of a massive high-powered transmission line delivering renewable energy. Grain Belt Express, a project a decade in the making, is starting to acquire land along its route spanning […]
Legislation establishing a Second Amendment Preservation Act is expected to hit the Missouri Senate floor either this week or next week, according to Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz. Schatz spoke to Missourinet Sullivan affiliate KTUI Radio. Battlefield GOP State Senator Eric Burlison’s bill declares that it’s the duty of the courts and […]
Missouri Director of Agriculture, Chris Chinn and Dr. Davin Turner, Chief Medical Officer and President of Mosaic Life Care Medical Center in St. Joseph will give the commencement addresses at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Missouri on May 8, 2021. Director Chinn will speak at the 9:00 a.m. morning ceremony and Dr. Turner will […]
(Missouri Independent) – As bills expanding charter schools and creating new scholarship accounts for private school tuition make their way through the process, one piece of legislation is trying to give students more options within the public schools that already exist. House Bill 543, sponsored by Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, would establish the “Public School […]
A Chillicothe man was recently presented a life-saving commendation following his actions in February. Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox reports Eugene Meyer drove down a rural county road he seldom travels the morning of February 14th when the temperature was around 0. Meyer noticed a two-year-old standing in a ditch, stopped, and placed the child […]
The Missouri Corn Scholarship Committee is pleased to award a 2021 Missouri Corn Scholarship to Brett Montgomery of Brookfield. Montgomery will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Missouri Corn Growers Association and the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council to help pay for his continuing education. Brett is the son of Ryan and Valerie Montgomery. He is […]
Mercer County Public Water Supply District reports a precautionary boil water advisory for rural areas just northwest of Princeton following a water main repair made on Monday. According to the water district office, the boil advisory affects rural water customers on Derby Road, Emblem Road, Route FF, and Fernwood Place. The advisory extends until further […]
Missouri pharmacists could be allowed to give HIV preexposure and postexposure medication without a prescription. The state House has unanimously passed a bill that would allow them to provide customers with a 30-day supply once every two years. Representative Phil Christofanelli, a Republican from St. Peters, is sponsoring the bill. Christofanelli, who is openly gay, […]
A state lawmaker who represents four northern Missouri counties is warning about the lack of gas stations near the Missouri-Iowa border. Newtown State Representative Danny Busick, the Missouri House Special Committee on Small Business vice chair, says regulations make it difficult to operate small gas stations. But Busick tells our Moberly affiliate KWIX […]
Erica Williams, the founder of a nonprofit urban agriculture program in North St. Louis County, had a vision of how to reclaim a community that had suffered through disinvestment and neglect. Across the state in Clay County, Smithville’s mayor hoped amenities like a farmers market would help reinvigorate the small city 20 miles north of […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency announces the availability of $2 million to establish partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The funding was made possible by USDA’s new Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, an effort to distribute resources more broadly and to put greater […]
