The Missouri Department of Agriculture is now accepting proposals for anticipated funding through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Interested individuals, community organizations, and research institutions working to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in Missouri should submit their application by March 8, 2021. “Specialty Crop Grants are one of the many financial assistance options […]
GRM Networks has received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service and is preparing to begin fiber-to-the-premise construction this spring in the rural Bethany and rural Princeton exchanges. Customers can anticipate construction crews and equipment in their area over the next several months once construction begins. This project’s funding stems from […]
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is looking for non-profit organizations throughout the state to help feed thousands of children who would otherwise go without meals during the summer months and during times of public emergencies when children do not have access to free or reduced-price meals at school. The Summer Food Service […]
All classes of Missouri land values grew steadily in the past year, according to the University of Missouri Extension’s annual survey of farmers, rural appraisers, and agricultural lenders. Ray Massey, MU Extension agricultural economics professor, heads the survey efforts. No governmental or public agencies in Missouri require the reporting of land values, said Massey. Despite […]
Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn announced that 14 youth groups from across Missouri were awarded grants from the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s 2021 Building Our American Communities grant program. Six local chapters of the National FFA Organization and eight Missouri 4-H clubs statewide have been awarded funds for their community service projects this year. “It’s […]
January is typically the coldest month of the year in north Missouri, however, that’s not the case thus far in 2021. Over the first 20 days, the minimum temperature in Trenton has averaged 25 degrees. The coldest was 10 degrees on the morning of January 3rd. In fact, Trenton has had only one single-digit minimum […]
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Missouri released a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) recently for the East Locust Creek Watershed Plan. The plan involves the construction of a proposed multiple-purpose reservoir in Sullivan County. The supplement addresses changes since NRCS prepared the East Locust Creek Watershed Plan and Environmental Impact Statement in 2006. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation announced interest rates for January 2021, which are effective January 4-January 31. These rates are used for a variety of farm credit options available through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). The CCC’s borrowing rate-based charge is 0.125%, the same as December. The interest rate for crop year commodity […]
As of December 1, there were 77.5 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, down 1 percent from December 2019 and down 1 percent from September 1, 2020, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Other key findings in the report were: Of […]
Missouri’s rural counties lack mental health services despite growing financial stress and suicide rates with all of Missouri’s 99 rural counties facing a shortage of mental health professionals; 57 of them have none. The University of Missouri Extension hopes to change that through a multistate project to help farmers, ranchers, and farm families find affordable […]
Farmers who fear they are falling behind in farm technology might not be as behind as they think. Kansas State University cropping system economist Terry Griffin explains that a recent Kansas Farm Management Association study of farm technologies dispels the myth that all farmers use all of the latest technology. Griffin was one of the […]
The Grundy County Nursing Home District Board of Directors heard about various topics at its meeting on December 15th. It was announced the United States Department of Agriculture approved the energy project. Administrator Jerry Doerhoff explained the project involves replacing the boiler and putting in mini-split units in each resident room. Each of those units […]
The USDA is calling for ag exports to increase by nearly eight percent for the 2021 fiscal year largely because of Chinese demand. USDA’s November ag export forecast increased by $11.5 billion from August to $152 billion. If realized it would be the second-highest export total on record with China accounting for most of the increase, […]
Market analyst Clayton Pope takes issue with the contention that current higher soybean prices are demand-driven. Pope concedes that USDA’s 75-million-bushel jump in soybean exports is significant for the market, but he says the August to November soybean supply dropped 346 million bushels. “Calling this a demand market is a little bit of a misnomer, […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the signup periods for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the CRP Grasslands in 2021. Signup for general CRP will be open from January 4, 2021, to February 12, 2021, and signup for CRP Grasslands runs from March 15, 2021, to April 23, 2021. Both programs are competitive and […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reminds dairy producers that the deadline to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) for the calendar year 2021 is Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) opened DMC signup in October to help producers manage economic risk brought on by milk price and feed cost disparities. “2020 has been […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has invested an additional $25 million in the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. “This investment in the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project is great news for families, farmers, and local businesses,” said Senator Roy Blunt. “These additional resources will get us one step closer to finishing the project and bringing […]
Due to COVID-19, many are choosing to celebrate Thanksgiving in smaller groups this year. That could mean a lot of people will be preparing a turkey and all the trimmings on their own for the first time. “I remember the first time that I prepared a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and all the side […]
Missouri has the first state chapter of Heroes to Hives, a program that supports veterans who want to learn beekeeping. New sessions of the free program begin on March 2021, says Karen Funkenbusch, state director of the Missouri AgrAbility Project, which provides education and assistance to farmers and ranchers with disabilities. Enroll at www.heroestohives.com. Army […]
The Missouri Small Business Development Center at Northwest Missouri State University, the Missouri Small Business Development Center for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, and University Missouri Extension are partnering to host a Food Safety for Food Processors and Small Businesses webinar on Nov. 17, 2020, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There is no fee to […]
