From county to county, MU Extension specialists such as Justin Keay carry the university’s promise into fields and families, planting knowledge that lasts.
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Justin Keay is a field specialist in horticulture for University of Missouri Extension in Pike County.
Writer: Tony Rehagen
Photos: Nicholas Andrusisian
Originally published on Show Me Mizzou
A small farming family in Warren County, just west of St. Louis, had a growing problem. They had developed a reputation among local consumers for their organically grown lettuce, and they generated significant revenue selling the leafy greens at area markets. Every year, the farmers would plant their lettuce on the same acre-and-a-half patch of their 10-acre property.
The problem? They couldn’t afford to rotate the crop or leave the land fallow. So with each passing year, the population of plant diseases increased as yields decreased. Because the farm was organic, the farmers couldn’t use soil fumigants of synthetic pesticides to keep pathogens at bay. They needed help. They called Justin Keay.
Keay is a horticulture field specialist for University of Missouri Extension in nearby Pike County, where he provides research-based education and resources to farmers throughout a nine-county district.
The horticulturist is one of hundreds of specialists embedded in communities across Missouri through MU Extension, a statewide network that reaches all 114 counties and the City of St. Louis. Each year, MU Extension programs serve more than one million Missourians with guidance on everything from agriculture and health care to small business, disaster preparedness and youth development.
Together, these experts form a responsive, science- and data-driven infrastructure dedicated to improving lives and strengthening communities, turning that reach into relevance.
“How do we use this behemoth university to address local challenges?” says Chad Higgins, vice chancellor of extension and engagement at Mizzou. “You have to know what those challenges are. We ask. Then we match those challenges with academic expertise. Extension makes it the University for Missouri, not just the University of Missouri.”
Upon hearing the lettuce-grower’s problem, Keay remembered a report he had read recently about a process called anaerobic soil disinfestation. Essentially, the farmer tills a carbon source, such as wheat or rice bran, into the soil, saturating it and creating an oxygen-free environment, then sealing it up beneath a tarp.
The microbes that thrive on those anaerobic conditions break down that organic material and release different acids into the soil that kill the pathogens. “It’s not something I created, but I had heard about it,” Keay says. “So, when they came to me getting this disease pressure, I was like ‘This could be an option for you, if you can find a way to fit it into your system. It could be the thing that is make-or-break for you to be able to keep doing what you’re doing.’”
The farmers were interested, so Keay called a researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Together, they worked through the particulars and formulated a plan that the lettuce farmers could implement to try and salvage their business.
Small farms, big stakes
Thirty percent of Missouri farms are smaller than 50 acres in size, according to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture. Roughly 20% of those are 10 acres or less. Because of increasing demand for fresh, locally grown food at restaurants, supermarkets, farmers markets and roadside stands, small farmers are finding a foothold with their produce, as well as a substantial secondary revenue stream — and in some instances, a significant primary income — from as little as one or two acres of land.
Large row-crop farms have built-in support from suppliers, co-ops, consultants, and seed and pesticide reps who constantly pitch new technology and research to boost yields. That kind of infrastructure doesn’t exist for small fruit and vegetable growers. “There are no consultants, crop scouters or company reps knocking on the vegetable grower’s door with solutions,” Keay says. “And Google can’t give them the answers they need.”
That’s where MU Extension comes in, connecting the university’s expertise with farmers, growers and agricultural communities throughout the state.
“We work with farms of all sizes, but we also know that food is medicine,” says Higgins. “We can help producers be more profitable and still take care of the land, air and water. If they say they want to be profitable at the farmers market, Justin can open those doors. If they want to be better gardeners, they can sign up for our Master Gardener program. If they just want to be better in tune with nature, we can help people make better decisions on their farms.”
More than just sharing the latest agricultural science, techniques, and philosophy, Keay also serves as a conduit through which these entrepreneurs can gain business insights that help improve the financial and environmental sustainability of their farms. He often directs these farmers to grant and funding opportunities. And unlike Google, all Keay’s information is backed by research.
Keay says he often helps farmers identify tough problems, and when he doesn’t know the answer, he can call the researchers who do. “I can start with a question from a grower and go down the line to get the best answer they could get from anybody.”
“I have growers that I’ve worked with over the years, and I’ve seen their farms grow,” he adds. “The fact that I get to play a role in that growth is really rewarding.”
Roots and routes
Keay has marveled at watching things grow since he was a child. His great grandfather ran a produce wholesale business. At his Spanish Lake home just north of St. Louis, he had a truck-patch garden where he grew vegetables, some of which he sold from a little roadside stand. The rest he cooked in the Sicilian tradition of his ancestors.
The time spent outdoors instilled in Keay a keen sense of stewardship. After attending St. Louis Community College for two years, he transferred to Washington University in St. Louis and earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies. Focusing on ecology and environmental policy but without a clear career trajectory, Keay started working for natural foods grocers, including Whole Foods and Wild Oats Market in the St. Louis metro area. He also had a friend who gardened a lot, and Keay often ended up in the dirt helping him.
This was around 2007, when a local food movement was taking root across the country, especially in urban areas, where people were planting gardens, keeping bees and raising chickens. Those who couldn’t grow their own packed farmers markets and joined Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. Keay and a friend saw an opportunity.
They rented land in Ferguson, bought a beat-up pickup and a tiller, and planted organic vegetables — carrots, peppers, eggplant, kale, collard greens, broccoli and beets — to sell at the local market. After he and his wife bought a house with land in Florissant, Keay expanded with his own CSA, where he sold shares of his harvest and distributed them to members through the season. He quickly fell in love with farming.
“I love learning, and with farming, you’re learning every day just through observation,” he says. “I was turning to university publications, and my bookshelf was insanely filled with different farming books; there’s something extremely rewarding about growing food in sync with nature and providing people with a freshness and quality they’d never experienced before.”
Keay’s pursuit of farming knowledge led him to Lincoln University Extension in Jefferson City, where he attended events, conferences and training workshops. He saw how academic research and networks could make a meaningful difference in the lives of small farmers like himself. He earned a master’s degree in sustainable agriculture from Lincoln and worked as a research technician on one of the university’s farms until the commute from St. Louis became too much.
In 2018, one of MU Extension’s horticulture positions opened in St. Louis. He took the role, then transferred in 2022 to Pike County. His St. Louis work focused on home gardeners and MU Extension volunteer groups, while his new position put him in the middle of Missouri farming country, where he helps commercial growers—some generational, others new—solve real-world problems.
The land-grant promise
The University of Missouri was founded as a land-grant institution with the mission of improving lives, communities and economies through, in part, extension services. The state’s farmers face different problems than those in the 19th century.
Keay says one of the biggest challenges is competition from unreliable online sources and modern “farm influencers” on social media. He reminds growers that the information he and MU Extension provide is backed by research and expertise, with no agenda beyond the university’s land-grant mission to improve the stability of their farms.
He also uses technology to reach farmers. Sometimes that means corralling 180 growers into a Zoom class about a new method, other times sending regulatory updates or pointing them toward grants and funding opportunities. He created the Missouri Produce Growers Video Newsletter to connect farmers to education and resources. “Many growers don’t have other produce growers in their area,” Keay says. “MU Extension creates networking opportunities that no one else can.”
Still, he prefers being in the field. His favorite part of the job is running on-farm workshops on topics such as pest management, climate-smart practices and soil health. He also values one-on-one visits, where he can hear growers’ goals and help them build knowledge and confidence. For Keay, it’s another way to watch seeds he’s planted flourish.
“Mizzou is everywhere — we take the programs to where they are,” Higgins says. “One of the main reasons we are so successful is that we’re not just distributing unbiased scientific information, but that our faculty and staff also live in these communities. They raise their families there, go to church there. They are invested in helping their neighbors.”