Agriculture and Outdoors

Photos courtesy Bootheel Photo BIRD IS THE WORD - Thousands of geese take off from one of the many wetlands at Otter Slough Conservation Area in southern Stoddard County. A great blue heron skims across the water. Otter Slough is open to outdoors enthusiasts for hiking, wildlife viewing, fishing, and hunting, among other things, under special regulation. Lucky visitors may see migrating waterfowl, bald eagles, whitetail deer, the increasingly rare swamp rabbit, and other wildlife...

Bernie family farm earns Governor's Award for Ag Achievement

Teamwork and courage came into play Wednesday afternoon as a dozen volunteers and emergency personnel strived to rescue a rural Malden farmer from a grain bin. The drama began late Wednesday, Jan. 18, on the Flowers farm when Dennis Flowers, his son Dennis Jr. and Matt and Jerry Sparks began removing soybeans from a grain bin adjacent to J Highway, about one and one-half miles west of Malden...

Greg Branum, Missouri State Director for USDA Rural Development, presented an $80,000 Mock Check to the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council to Gary Murphy, President, in a ceremony during the Council's Annual Legislative Meeting. The $80,000 grant funds are part of Rural Development's Rural Business Enterprise Grant program. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Three Rivers Community College hosted the Future Farmers of America Greenhand Conference on Thursday, Jan. 5. FFA members from more than 15 area high schools participated in the event. FFA Greenhands (first-year FFA members) had the opportunity to learn about being positive role models, making sound choices, becoming team members and making a positive difference in the school and community...

Rice Foundation Chairman Gary Sebree announced The selection of Dr. Andy Kendig of the University of Missouri Delta Research Center at Portageville, Mo., to the 2006 Rice Leadership Development class was announced by Gary Sebree, chairman of the Rice Foundation...

Over the years, the owners of 80-year-old Ramsey Creek Farms have been approached often by commercial interests offering to buy their 140 acres of farmland on Cape Girardeau's lucrative fringe. Each time they've given the same curt reply: It's not for sale...

E85 ethanol-based motor fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethyl alcohol made from corn and 15 percent gasoline, is now on sale in Bernie. And officials have hailed the grand opening of the E85 pumps at MFA Oil Co.'s Bernie outlet as a major advance for both area farmers and for national energy independence. "This is a great day for Southeast Missouri," said Greg Branum, state Rural Development director for the federal Department of Agriculture...

When you want to learn something useful, you go to the experts. That's the theory that brought three agribusinessmen from the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan to the Missouri Bootheel on Wednesday. "They are here on a grant from the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] for development of emerging markets," said Greg Yielding, executive director of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association and representative of the US Rice Growers Producers Association...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Neil Rutger, chief scientist at the USDA Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Ark., will discuss new efforts to improve sheath blight resistance and milling quality in rice at the 15th annual Missouri Rice Research Farm Field Day, Aug. 24...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- In their ongoing effort to track the movement of Asian soybean rust, the University of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Agriculture have reported the collection of a single fungal spore that resembles the spores of soybean rust...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- After expressing concerns ranging from the drought Missouri is suffering to encouraging young Missourians to farm, area farmers and representatives of commodity groups were quite pleased with the answers they received from Eighth District Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, at a round table discussion Friday at the Delta Center...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- It's summertime in Missouri and after the barbecue has been washed down with that ice-cold lemonade, there is nothing better than peach cobbler a la mode to top off the meal. But, before they appear on your table, think about where those peaches come from...

Nathan Tutt, a new employee from the Kennett USDA Rural Development office attended recent training in Columbia, Mo. The purpose of the training was to provide an overview on the vast array of programs available to assist rural residents. Specific training was provided on the rural housing, multi-family housing, community facilities, business and industry, and the water and wastewater programs...

Amy Beth Dowdy can tell what a rice field needs just by looking at the colors. Dark green spots mean the water isn't holding well, she says, and light green spots mean too much grass is growing in with the crops. When a field has shiny patches, it has to be nutsedge, a pesky weed. For many of the fields she checks on, Dowdy knows exactly what to recommend for whatever ills, mostly because she knows the land so well...

The USDA will soon begin accepting nomination forms for eligible candidates to serve on local Farm Service Agency county committees in Dunklin and Pemiscot counties, Aaron Ivie, Dunklin County executive director, announced. The nomination period is June 15 to Aug. 1, 2005...

Southeast Missouri watermelon growers have a good-looking crop, for the most part. But a few problems have been showing up recently, according to Tim Baker, Southeast Regional Horticulture Specialist for University of Missouri Extension. "A grower called me and described watermelon plants with yellow and dying leaves around the crown of the plant," says Baker. ...

WASHINGTON -- Eleven Missouri farms each received more than $300,000 each in federal farm subsidies last year, according U.S. Department of Agriculture documents. Dale Farming Co. of Ridgeway, Mo., in northwest Missouri, received $547,000 in payments, the most of any farm in the state, records show. The documents were obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act...

During fiscal 2004 USDA Rural Development assisted rural MIssouri with more than $450 million in financial assistance through a variet of loan and grant programs to thousands of individuals, families, businesses and commmunities. The money helped provide housing, jobs, clean drinking water plus reliable essential community facilities and services...

Robby Shrum and Paul Jones, of Senath, visit with state Representative Terry Swinger, D-Caruthersville, who represents House District 162, at the State Capitol on February 22. Shrum and Jones were in the Jefferson City to attend the Farm Bureau meeting. ...

"We're not opposed to the technology, but how will you convince our buyers?" That was one of several responses to a presentation by Ventria chief executive officer and board chair Scott Deete, and prospective Ventria rice grower David Herbst, yesterday morning at the Eagles aerie...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- It's only 150 acres, a small amount by agriculture standards, and right now the land that sits in Scott County's vibrant farm community is bare. But the controversial crop that could be sprouting out of that soil as early as this spring--genetically modified rice--has created passions in equal measure by two groups in heated opposition...

Due to unprecedented heavy rainfall, the Missouri Department of Agriculture, with support from the Missouri Cotton Growers Organization Board, has extended the stalk destruction deadline for cotton producers to Mar. 4. This extension applies to the 2004 crop only...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri farmers had a banner year in 2004, according to the latest state agricultural statistics report. Most Missouri crops set records, thanks to plentiful rain and cool weather during most of the growing season, Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service Director Gene Danekas said Wednesday...

Soybean rust has been confirmed in Missouri. State agriculture officials Tuesday confirmed that Asian soybean rust--a fungus that can hinder plant growth and drastically cut crop production--has been found in Southeast Missouri. Samples were collected by University of Missouri Extension scientists from soybean fields in Pemiscot and New Madrid counties iand tested by the USDA National Plant Germplasm and Biotechnology Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. confirmed the presence of the fungus...

Record Crop Yields for Missouri Projected The Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service published its Crop and Livestock Report on November 18. This report is projecting record yields and production of corn, soybean, cotton, and rice. The forecast for corn is now at 159 bushels per acre, 16 bushels more than the previous record in 2000. ...

One would not ordinarily think of Stoddard County as significant from the standpoint of unusual plants. But a team of botanists from the Chicago Botanical Gardens thought the place unusual enough to come down and collect seeds from two plants the week of Oct. 25. "We were part of a group called the Midwest Plains Collecting Collaborative," said Boyce Tankersley, manager of Living Plant Documentation at the Chicago Botanical Gardens on Monday...

Agri Business students at Pemiscot County Vocational School were among high school students participating in the field Day at the University of Missouri's Delta Center at Portageville. The students participated in field tours and educational presentations. ...

When most people hear the word terrorism, their minds generally shift to a scene akin to that of Sept. 11, 2001. They see skyscrapers burning and cities in chaos. They see urban areas and high human population densities as the major targets. People locked into this metro-centric idea of terrorism don't see a field of corn or a herd of livestock as potential terrorist targets...

A gloomy Monday morning with a cold rain greeted Matt Blunt as he brought his two-day statewide campaign tour for governor to the farm shop at the Otto Bean farm in Peach Orchard. Blunt, now Missouri Secretary of State is the Republican candidate for governor. He spoke to a crowd of farmers, supporters and Republican politicians including U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and state Rep. Rob Mayer, as well as Charles Kruse, Missouri Farm Bureau president and Joe Sorrells, Missouri Soybean Association...

Jonathan Young, of Deering, Mo. was one of 35 students participating in a the Annual ASU College of Agriculture Student Leadership Conference on September 11, at the ASU Convocation Center, Jonesboro, Ark. The conference is designed to help new and returning student leaders prepare for activities in their student organizations and to give them some basis leadership skills that will help them throughout life. ...

"Yes, U.S. cotton farmers lost a round in an international trade dispute; but don't panic," said Pat Westhoff, policy analyst with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri. "Don't panic, but do pay attention," Westhoff repeated in a seminar for MU agricultural economists...

The Dunklin County Farm Bureau announced that Representative Otto Bean Jr. is the recipient of the 2004 Farm Bureau Friend of Agriculture Award. Bean talked about the good cotton crop this year before receiving the award. He said area farmers are enjoying the good cotton crop this year, but are dismayed with the prices...

Representatives of the state Boll Weevil Eradication Program gathered at the Courier News office Friday to discuss the benefits of what they say is a very successful program. Ritter Arnold, chairman of the Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Board, said the program has been completed in a number of states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. ...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- The rising cost of cottonseed has led some Missouri cotton producers to use seed too sparingly, with unfortunate results, a University of Missouri state extension cotton specialist said. Bobby Phipps of MU Delta Research Center will talk about cotton planting dates, replanting and populations at the Delta Center Field Day on Sept. 2. His main message: "Don't plan on replanting; be sure you get a good stand the first time."...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- In response to concerns that Missouri's rice crop will mature early and all at once, an afternoon workshop on proper on-farm rice drying and storage techniques has been added to the traditional morning wagon tours of research plots at the 14th annual Missouri Rice Research Farm Field Day, Aug. 24...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- With the lowest July temperatures in 37 years, this summer is on pace to be one of the coolest on record in Missouri, a University of Missouri climatologist said. "We had the coolest July since 1967," said Pat Guinan, Extension climatologist with the MU Commercial Agriculture Program. "Across the state, July temperatures averaged 2 to 5 degrees below normal."...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a $32,000 grant to the University of Missouri to market Missouri rice, according to U.S. Senator Jim Talent, R-Mo. The money will be used to identify marketing, transportation an pricing strategies for rice produced by Mid-South Missouri growers...

COLUMBIA, MO - Farmers in select southeast Missouri counties have an immediate opportunity for multi-year conservation payments through the new USDA Conservation Security Program. The program, which has a July 6-30 sign-up period, is specifically aimed at the Little River Ditches watershed area, according to Rob Myers, adjunct associate professor of agronomy at the University of Missouri and director of the Jefferson Institute...

Nominations are now being accepted for candidates to run in the upcoming county committee election, according to Aaron Ivie, executive director for the Dunklin County Farm Service Agency. The annual election for the Dunklin County FSA County Committee will take place in November by mail-in ballot. The deadline to return nomination forms to the FSA county office is Sept. 3, 2004...

Farmers and ranchers having a majority of their land in the Little River Ditches Watershed in Southeastern Missouri and northern Arkansas may now signup for the Conservation Security Program. However, they must first complete self-assessment workbooks which are available at the USDA service center on the North By-Pass in Kennett, or online at www.nrcs.usda.gov...

Although a widespread outbreak of wheat scab across Missouri this year has dashed some producers' hopes of repeating the record-breaking soft red winter wheat harvest of 2003, there is a silver lining to such outbreaks, a University of Missouri wheat geneticist said...

Southeast Missouri State University's horticulture program had its roots decades ago in fruit and vegetable production. Today, the program is branching out to appeal to students interested in greenhouse management, landscape planting and design, turfgrass, and the burgeoning bio-engineering field. That's why Southeast's Department of Agriculture is building a new greenhouse complex, the first phase of which is expected to be completed when the fall 2004 semester begins...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., is now home to four young peregrine falcons--nature's fastest flyers. AECI is participating in the restoration of falcons along the Mississippi River. Four young chicks were banded June 9 at the New Madrid Power Plant in Southeast Missouri. The Missouri Department of Conservation assisted in the banding and will help monitor the young falcons as they learn to fly...

Wesley Mueller walked across a muddy patch of ground Friday that will soon be home to a new 11,000-square-foot greenhouse at Southeast Missouri State University with enough room to advance the growing field of biotechnology research. Mueller ignored the mud, envisioning the benefits of an expanded horticulture program that will be possible with a glass greenhouse that will be twice the size of the existing facility and also have an 1,800-square-foot work building -- or "head house," as it's called in the greenhouse business -- a 20-space parking lot and an entrance road.. ...

Greg Branum, Missouri state director for USDA Rural Development presented a mock check for $45,300 to the Pemiscot County Port Authority March 19. The money will be used to build and install a barge access safety device. "I am pleased to present these federal funds as a partner for such a worthwhile project," Branum said. ...

Great River Soy Processing Cooperative (GRC) continued to move forward in February with its plans to go into production this year with the election of its first official board of directors and officers and the sale of memberships. Contractors are being invited to submit bids for the construction of the facility on a site adjoining State Route U and the Burlington Northern Railroad in Lilbourn. A large mural depicting former historic markers in the host city presently is on the site...

Proceedings in the legal action against the forced implementation of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program in Mississippi and eastern Craighead counties have been continued, according to Allen Gates of the Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates and Woodyard law firm of Little Rock...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Many a million-dollar idea has been discarded for the lack of a few thousand dollars to put it into practice. "Sooner or later, almost every farmer is hit with a brilliant idea," said Jennifer Robison of the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCS-SARE) program. "Brilliant ideas can be expensive, time consuming and labor intensive. The idea might have been a great one, but it never made it from the seat of the tractor to the drawing board."...

Earlier during the season, almost everyone estimating the Missouri cotton crop was expecting an average crop at best, which would be about 660 pounds. The August USDA prediction estimate was at 726 pounds per acre and most of us thought that this was much too high. The second estimate a month later was 689 and most of us thought that this figure was too high also. So you can imagine our surprise last month when the crop was estimated to be 738 pounds per acre...

Some of the personnel at the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Dunklin County has changed over the course of the past year. New to the office are Jeremy Allgood, Jack Lewis and Stephen "Steve" Watson. Watson, of Dexter, Mo., is district conservationist for Dunklin County. He succeeds Phil Gurley who retired...

"The Mike Strother family of Pemiscot County was honored at the 2003 Missouri State Fair on Farm Family Day, August 11. Selected by their local County Extension Office, families from all over Missouri were recognized at a dinner in the Director's Tent on the fairgrounds in Sedalia. Pictured from left are State Fair Commission Chairman Lowell Mohler, Carrie and Mike Strother with their children Casidy, Collin, and Carson, and State Fair Queen Staci Holland."...

GLENNONVILLE, Mo. -- Wednesday provided a unique opportunity for area rice farmers as the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council held its 13th Annual Missouri Rice Farm Field Day. The day's program featured 11 speakers including research professors from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Southeast Missouri State University. ...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.) will be a speaker at the Delta Center Field Day breakfast and help present a grant check to a farmer-owned business in Missouri's Bootheel at two morning events on Tuesday, September 2. The breakfast will be held at 7 a.m. ...