Thursday, May 24, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – When weeds invade your field, pasture, garden or lawn, you want to use the right weapon for fighting back.
Media available: 2 photos
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Most plants in the vegetable garden need just a few square feet of space to grow well. Members of the squash family, called cucurbits, are the exception.Friday, May 18, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Two diseases this spring are making trouble for some tree species around Missouri.
Media available: 2 photos
Friday, May 18, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri’s spring is on track to be the warmest on record.
Media available: 1 photo
Thursday, May 17, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – To help farmers decide how much debt farmland can support, Joe Horner asks them to calculate payments not in dollars but in bushels of corn. That may surprise some on how cheap land has become.Wednesday, May 16, 2012
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – During her 23 years as a University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialist, Pat Miller has answered a lot of questions and looked at a lot of plants. Here are her top 10 horticulture tips.Wednesday, May 16, 2012
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — With above-average temperatures and ideal planting conditions this spring in most of Missouri, widespread soybean seedling diseases are less likely to occur, but farmers should still be on the lookout, says a University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialist.Monday, May 14, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A lawn can be a source of pride when healthy and green, but a front yard full of disease can be an embarrassment.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Just as the “swine flu” misnomer for the H1N1 virus had an economic impact on the swine industry, the pejorative “pink slime” is causing notable impact on the beef industry, said a University of Missouri Extension economist.
Media available: 2 photos
Monday, May 7, 2012
FRUITLAND, Mo. – A record-high price of $3,400 for an individual Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer was set at the spring sale at the Fruitland Livestock Auction, May 5.Friday, May 4, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mike Cook has earned the title hero—a cooperative hero.
Media available: 2 photos
Thursday, May 3, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – You can learn about the birds and the bees June 21 when University of Missouri’s Bradford Research Center hosts a field day on bobwhite quail and native pollinators.Thursday, May 3, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – All bull semen is not created equal, but Peter Sutovsky has found a way to level the bovine-fertility playing field.
Media available: 3 photos
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. –Missouri beef producers learned that how their calves perform in feedlots starts with what happens on their farms—even before breeding time.Friday, April 27, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Dairy programs in the draft 2012 Farm Bill can reduce milk-feed margin volatility, which has plagued milk producers in recent years. Yet the proposed law does not cut milk supplies and continues the U.S. role in milk export markets.Thursday, April 26, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mad cow disease is much less scary to beef consumers than it was when the first case in the U.S. was found almost a decade ago.Thursday, April 26, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – One was shaped like a picnic basket. Another was built to look like a gray Stealth bomber. Still another was constructed to resemble a submarine. Then there was the one with a giant dog head, complete with wagging tail and flapping tongue. They shared one thing – they were all made of cardboard and duct tape and raced in the inaugural Float Your Boat for the Food Bank cardboard boat race April 21 at the A. Perry Philips Lake Park, Columbia.
Monday, April 23, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Home gardeners can finally put their green thumbs back to work on garden mainstays like tomatoes and peppers.Monday, April 23, 2012
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — The greening of pastures and the rising of temperatures have led ruminant-livestock owners to start thinking about the upcoming haying season.Friday, April 20, 2012
PERRYVILLE, Mo.—Homeowners who made repairs after last year’s floods and windstorms may now be finding ghostly shadows—dirty patches of mold and mildew—in parts of the home that got wet. This is a health hazard for people living in the home.
Media available: 1 photo
Friday, April 20, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – True armyworms are on the march this spring, and farmers need to be checking fields to make sure their crops aren’t among the casualties.
Media available: 1 photo
Thursday, April 19, 2012
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — An ideal soil is half solid and half pore space by volume, and that pore space should be equal parts air and water. Gardening practices greatly influence pore space in cultivated soils.
Media available: 1 photo
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – When it comes to improving animal reproduction, the males of most species usually get the short end of the stick.Friday, April 13, 2012
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Asparagus is always a welcome sight in spring as a first opportunity for fresh vegetables straight from the garden. It is important to know how to prepare and store fresh asparagus for the best taste and maximum freshness, says a University of Missouri Extension nutrition and health education specialist.Friday, April 13, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – It’s been known for centuries as nature’s medicine chest, but modern scientists have mostly ignored the elderberry—until recently.
Media available: 3 photos
Thursday, April 12, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The silvered tops of alfalfa around Missouri tell the tale of a bug that just can’t eat enough.
Friday, April 6, 2012
HOLT COUNTY, Mo. – Temporary levees serve as signposts on the road to recovery from floods in northwestern Missouri that brought thousands of acres of farming to a screeching halt in 2011.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With the early spring warm-up, farmers may face two herbicide applications instead of one before they start planting soybeans.Monday, March 26, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Droughts, floods, spring deluges, and late and early frosts are all possibilities that face Missouri farmers—sometimes in a matter of days. While no one can control the weather, you can learn the best ways to prepare for it and adapt to it at CAFNR’s Field Days across the state.
Media available: 3 photos
Monday, March 26, 2012
KINGSTON, Mo. – He’s a different kind of dog for a different sort of farmer.
Friday, March 23, 2012
MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. – Beef feeders can look for continued payment of quality-grid premiums from packing plants, said a University of Missouri Extension economist.Thursday, March 22, 2012
MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. – Beef farmers can improve the quality of their herds—and get paid for it. The technology is proven, ready to use and waiting on the shelf.Tuesday, March 13, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The budding trees and blooming flowers tell the story: This has been a particularly mild winter.Friday, March 9, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Red, ripe tomatoes might be the most common image of gardening, but cool season vegetables are the true bastion of spring.Monday, March 5, 2012
WASHINGTON – United States net farm income is projected at $95 billion for 2012, down from $98 billion in 2011, by a report to Congress today from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI).Friday, March 2, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Less steak may be a new American reality that’s here to stay.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Any way you slice it, bacon appeals to the American palate.Monday, February 27, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If you want locally grown produce in February, you usually don’t have many choices in Missouri other than root vegetables. However, on a chilly February morning at the Columbia Farmers Market, the Thomas family of Share Life Farms is selling not just root veggies but also lettuce, mustard greens and assorted varieties of kale.
Media available: 3 photos
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If your farm has been in your family since Dec. 31, 1912, you can apply to have it recognized as a Missouri Century Farm.Tuesday, January 31, 2012
CLAYTON, Mo. – Gardeners are familiar with the ubiquitous map that graces the back of seed packages and care labels that accompany most perennials.
Media available: 1 photo
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
GALLATIN, Mo. – A shrinking beef-cow herd will drive calf prices higher in 2012, a University of Missouri beef economist told producers at three meetings in northwest Missouri. Farmers were learning about the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program.Tuesday, January 31, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A healthy garden starts from the ground up.Friday, January 27, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Local food isn’t just a thing for those who live near a large city, and University of Missouri Extension is trying to figure out how to make local foods work in rural areas.Tuesday, January 24, 2012
KING CITY, Mo. – Consumers are upgrading their beef buying habits. They prefer steaks of choice and prime U.S. Department of Agriculture quality grades.Thursday, January 19, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With better genetics, Missouri beef producers can help supply the growing demand for high-quality beef, said a University of Missouri Extension beef specialist.Thursday, January 12, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, U.S. agriculture last year stood as a shining example of growth.Monday, January 9, 2012
HIGGINSVILLE, Mo. – Farm income set records in 2011, with estimated total net income for U.S. farms topping $100 billion, according to USDA economic forecasts. With tax season approaching, this is a good time for individual farmers to take a good look at their own operations’ financial performance, says a University of Missouri Extension agriculture business specialist.Tuesday, January 3, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A new, stinkier stink bug may hitchhike into Missouri this year to destroy crops and upset homeowners, says a University of Missouri Extension entomologist.
Media available: 2 photos
Thursday, December 29, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri weather in 2011 was anything but boring.Thursday, December 8, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – It may not look it, but many Missouri fields are hiding a deep, dry secret.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With freshly sprouted cover crops of cereal rye and hairy vetch, the University of Missouri’s Bradford Research and Extension Center is embarking on the university's first nationally funded organic farming research project.Friday, November 18, 2011
Columbia, Mo. – What do you get when you put hundreds of baby pigs in a building in winter? A big heating bill.Friday, November 11, 2011
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo.–Recent weather conditions and unprecedented volatility in crop prices and input costs are encouraging many farmers to find new ways of managing risk, notes a University of Missouri Extension agriculture business specialist.Thursday, November 10, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Americans eat 5.6 billion pounds of turkey each year, and all those Thanksgiving meals and other turkey dinners add up to a mountain of feed for fattening out those birds.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Where can you find conversations about pasture-raised chicken and organic farming next to talks on soil and social media? Online.Thursday, October 27, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Has drought affected your farm, business or community? Missourians can help scientists and decision-makers assess, plan for and respond to droughts by using a simple online tool to report local conditions, said a University of Missouri Extension climatologist.Monday, October 24, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Bacchus would be proud as Missourians use autumn as an excuse to revel in wine-filled times with good friends.
Friday, October 21, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Moles have been extra busy this autumn, and you can almost see the resentment rise in homeowners as they survey their spoiled yards.Wednesday, October 19, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Flower beds and porch fronts need not languish as summer flowers succumb to fall’s cold touch.Wednesday, October 19, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Now is the time to prepare for some of the earliest arrivals of spring: flowers borne by Dutch bulbs.Thursday, October 6, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Many tropical plants thrive in the heat and humidity of a typical Missouri summer and can make great outdoor patio plants. But as temperatures drop in the fall, conditions can quickly become deadly.Wednesday, October 5, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Rick Boudreau’s deliveries may seem ordinary, but the boxes of local produce he carries into Columbia elementary schools help students eat healthier.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Feeding hay will come sooner than normal for some cattle farmers this fall.Tuesday, October 4, 2011
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo.–Curbside leaf and brush removal dates will be here before we know it. If you dread filling sacks with fallen leaves, a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist suggests a less agonizing and more rewarding alternative.
Media available: 1 photo
Monday, October 3, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Food, health, energy and the environment are among the most vital concerns when it comes to human survival and quality of life. A new report from the Battelle Institute says agriculture and agricultural bioscience (“agbioscience”) provide wide-ranging opportunities to address those concerns and serve as powerful engines for economic growth and job creation in the U.S.—especially the nation’s 12-state north-central region, which includes Missouri.
Media available: 1 photo
Friday, September 30, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Every garden needs tender, loving care, and the same goes for the program that helps Missourians learn vital skills to tend those gardens.Friday, September 23, 2011
MEXICO, Mo. – Kenny Roth used to leave the lights on in his shop all the time. The aging metal-halide lights took 20 minutes to get up and running, and time is money in farming.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Some call it the smell of money, but Teng Teeh Lim thinks that smell does not have to be so bad.
Media available: 1 photo
Thursday, September 15, 2011
In this video news story, learn about food science graduate student Elizabeth Fenner’s creation: ice cream that changes flavor while in your mouth.
Monday, September 12, 2011
KANSAS CITY, Mo.– In this video news story, learn about MU Extension’s “Food From the Farm” program.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Farmers face an age-old problem when rains fail to come.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
GALENA, Mo. — Repair may be in order to keep storm-damaged trees healthy and less susceptible to disease and insects, says a University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialist.Thursday, August 11, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. — More corn will fuel U.S. gas tanks in the coming year than will feed U.S. livestock and poultry.Thursday, August 11, 2011
NOVELTY, Mo. – Summer heat stress in cow herds may not show up until much later—at calving time, a University of Missouri Extension specialist told the crowd at the MU Greenley Center field day, Aug. 9.Friday, July 22, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A new herbicide may be taking the green out of many evergreens.
Monday, July 18, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Chili peppers get all the attention these days, but don’t overlook humble horseradish if you’re looking for ways to spice up a dish, says a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist. It might even help you cope with the heat.Friday, July 15, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Some might consider it a milestone in a losing battle against weed resistance.
Media available: 1 photo
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If the leaves of your roses, shrubs or soybeans look like swiss cheese, the culprit could be Japanese beetles.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Cutting direct payments to farmers appears to save $4.9 billion per year in the federal budget. However, cutting that USDA program could boost farmer participation in ACRE, a program that offsets losses in farm income.Monday, June 27, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Extending the current ethanol tax credit and tariff would boost corn-based fuel production -- and corn prices, report University of Missouri economists.Thursday, June 23, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. --- First yields from winter wheat harvests are coming in, says Bill Wiebold, University of Missouri Extension agronomist.Monday, June 20, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Potential crop value lost when the Birds Point levee was blown in southeast Missouri totaled $85.2 million, according to a report by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
MT. VERNON, Mo. — The real impact of the May 22 tornadoes in Joplin and rural Stone County on area livestock and producers may not be known for several months.Friday, May 27, 2011
MARSHFIELD, Mo. — Homeowners and disaster-recovery volunteers who use chain saws should use extreme caution to prevent injuries.Thursday, May 26, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo.—Nothing is quite like sinking your teeth into this year’s first ears of sweet corn.Tuesday, May 24, 2011
MT. VERNON, Mo. –Rural landowners in southwest Missouri have begun cleanup after the severe tornadoes and thunderstorms on May 22. Many agricultural producers are left to also deal with the remains of livestock that were killed during the series of storms that passed through the area.Tuesday, May 24, 2011
MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- Agriculture and livestock specialists with University of Missouri Extension have been getting questions from southwest Missouri cattle producers wondering about the danger fiberglass insulation in fields can pose to cattle.Wednesday, May 18, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Noland Bartley sat with a dilemma.
Media available: 1 photo
Friday, May 6, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A new website from the University of Missouri Weed Science Program can help you identify weeds that might be invading your field, pasture, garden or lawn.
Media available: 1 photo
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo.–Does the farmland you rent need tiling, limestone, conservation structures or other long-term improvements? When landlords are reluctant to pay for an improvement, some tenants will pay for it themselves. A tenant who chooses to make a long-term improvement should be very cautious, warns a University of Missouri Extension agriculture business specialist.Thursday, April 28, 2011
BENTON, Mo. – Farmers with flood-damaged fields should contact their crop insurance agent while waiting for waters to recede and fields to dry, said a University of Missouri Extension agriculture business specialist.Friday, April 8, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Brett Craigmyle snipped off shoots of brown and wilted waterhemp one at a time, weighing the plants to determine how dead they really are.
Friday, February 11, 2011
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The local food movement is going back to school.Friday, November 19, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo.– When allergy season comes, plants don’t sneeze and their eyes don’t water, but their immune systems can similarly overreact when they encounter malicious bacteria.Thursday, November 11, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Protecting their hearing might be the farthest thing from the minds of most farmers as they drive tractors, operate chainsaws or check grain drying in their bins, but not being cautious around these loud noises produces irreparable damage.Friday, October 29, 2010
JONESBURG, Mo. – Justin Knoll strolled underneath the sunscreen netting that sheltered the potted flowers, grasses and other plants that are staples of Seven Cedars Farm.
Monday, August 16, 2010
More and more urbanites are getting interested in the Earth.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Rock Port, Mo. – As its field day approaches, researchers and specialists at the Graves-Chapple Farm are excited to address some of the most pressing ag issues that farmers in the area face.Thursday, August 12, 2010
LINNEUS & NOVELTY, Mo. – Byproduct feeds from ethanol plants offer beef herd owners a way to supplement bad hay being baled for winter feed this year.Thursday, August 5, 2010
LINNEUS, Mo. – Cow chemistry keeps revealing secrets as Dale Blevins delves deeper into the causes of grass tetany, a nutritional disorder than kills cows.Thursday, August 5, 2010
ST. LOUIS – It used to require a car trip or a bus ride, but now shopping for fresh produce in the inner city only requires a short walk for Nadia Russell and her children.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Small Missouri farms can take steps to reduce energy usage through a program that offers energy audits, loans and rebates to retrofit equipment and improve operations.