Agriculture

Governor Mike Parson has issued a drought alert for more than half of the state. More than 60% of Missouri counties are experiencing some level of dryness, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Extreme drought remains in central Missouri. The alert re-activates the Missouri Drought Assessment Committee, which is made up of several state agencies, including the Missouri Ag Department and Department of Natural Resources. The committee supports those affected […]

A cattle producer in southwest Missouri says fescue is making about half of the tonnage of a normal year. Adam Whitesell from Dade and Greene Counties has been baling hay in the last week and says the weather extremes are confusing the forage. “In September and October, we didn’t hardly get any rain. Then, we started getting rain in late October and November and we didn’t get much snow in […]

Canola-oil derived renewable diesel and other related biofuels now qualify as “advanced biofuels” under the Renewable Fuel Standard thanks to a determination by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency late last year. In this episode of Fueling Conversations, U.S. Canola Association Director Tom Hance explains how the new pathway can benefit canola growers, renewable fuel producers, consumers, and the environment.   Visit www.uscanola.com or cleanfuels.org for more information. ...

Sawflies-Photo: Josh-Kamps-@UWMadisonEx A University of Wisconsin entomologist says she is getting more reports from farmers about crop pests. Emily Bick researches crop pests and collects insect reports from farmers.  She tells Brownfield farmers are reporting sawfly problems in many of their forage crops. “It seems to be behaving very similarly to what cutworm would do in terms of topping the crop really early on, and I’ve heard that in a […]