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 […]

FFA

Eighteen from Chillicothe to receive State FFA Degree

Eighteen members of the Chillicothe FFA will be receiving their State FFA Degree, in Columbia on April 26, 2019. Before receiving this degree students had to meet a number of qualifications and fill out an application that followed their SAE and leadership skills. The Chillicothe FFA chapter had the highest number of State FFA Degrees […]

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

Audio: Controversial agriculture bill could resurface today in Missouri Senate

A controversial agriculture bill could resurface today in the Missouri Senate.     The state Senate could debate today whether to ban Missouri counties from enforcing rules stricter than state regulations required for large animal feeding operations. Jefferson City Republican Mike Bernskoetter’s bill would bar counties from limiting where the farming operations, known as CAFOs, […]

Unemployment Rate

Unemployment rates remain fairly steady in northern Missouri

Grundy County’s latest unemployment rate changed only slightly from the January figure. Statistics from the Division of Employment Security show Grundy County has 174 unemployed out of a civilian labor force of 4,400.  That’s a percentage of three-point-nine percent for February (the latest month available). In January, Grundy County had a rate of four percent, […]

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 […]

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS)

Audio: NRCS issues disaster declaration for five north Missouri counties

The state Natural Resources Conservation Service has issued a local disaster declaration for five northwest Missouri counties affected by recent Missouri River flooding. Conservation Engineer Marty Comstock says the eligible counties for Emergency Watershed Protection Program aid are Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt, and Platte.     Governor Parson says he expects to request a federal […]

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, […]

Title IX

Audio: Controversial Title IX bill hung up in Missouri Senate

A contentious bill has stalled in the Missouri Senate that would significantly change the way Missouri colleges and universities handle sexual assault and harassment complaints. During a six-hour filibuster into Wednesday morning, Farmington Republican Gary Romine, says he wants to require an administrative commission to hear such cases, students involved could have an attorney and […]

Governor Mike Parson

Governor Parson requests Army Corps of Engineers manage Missouri River for flood control, navigation

Governor Mike Parson has submitted written testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.  The committee field hearing in Glenwood, Iowa, will focus on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers river management following devastating flooding in the region. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley will participate. Witnesses will include officials from the Army Corps as well […]

Farm Field

Funding available to farmers interested in installing edge-of-field monitoring stations

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is making $2 million available to interested farmers to help install voluntary edge-of-field monitoring stations on agricultural land in five states, including Missouri.  “Edge-of-field water quality monitoring provides quantifiable data that supports voluntary-based conservation efforts aimed at reducing the movement of sediment and nutrients off Missouri farms,” State Conservationist […]