Ranchers battle suffocating drought
It’s hot and dry out in western Kansas in a good year. South of Dodge City, the native grass is tough. So are the ranchers. But this year is not a good year.
View ArticleMU professor: grazing drought-damaged crops and pasture can harm livestock
A University of Missouri veterinary professor says farmers need to be careful when feeding drought-damaged corn to their livestock.
View ArticleDrought could edge livestock producers out of business
Brandt Dairy sits on Swan Creek at the end of a meandering gravel road in Linn, Missouri. The farm is bucolic with its twin silos, red barn and black-and-white Holstein cows. But the brown pastures,...
View ArticleHelp us map out the drought in the Midwest
Parts of the Midwest got a reprieve from the drought this week, according to the latest US Drought Monitor report released on Thursday. The report found that last weekend’s cold front brought up to...
View ArticleHigher percentage: ethanol in gas, hogs sent to market
There’s a new kind of gas on the market, with more ethanol in it than the gas we usually put in our cars. That’s beneficial for corn farmers who grow the corn that ethanol is made from and want more of...
View ArticleHere's the short story on cow tails
Many people who haven’t stepped foot on a dairy might think milking a cow is a sort of Emersonian back-to-the land moment, where a milker bonds with his or her cow while communing with nature. Just...
View ArticleResearcher tests heating system at Mo. turkey farm
A researcher is testing a geothermal heating system at a turkey farm in central Missouri that could help trim utility costs.The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that an engineering professor at the...
View ArticleIncreasingly, Holstein beef is what’s for dinner
This blog is part of ongoing coverage from Harvest Public Media, a public radio reporting project in the Midwest that focuses on important issues related to food production and agriculture.When I dig...
View ArticleBoonville livestock auction barn to re-open next week
Boonville’s livestock auction barn will re-open as the Missouri Valley Commission Company Tuesday, Oct. 23, under new ownership.Jon Angell of Centralia owns the soon-to-be opened auction farm with his...
View ArticleField Notes: Antibiotics in meat and why Congress can't pass a farm bill
This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes
View ArticleFDA challenging the use of antibiotics in animals
The Food and Drug Administration is publishing an order this month that limits the way farmers can use certain antibiotics to treat animals, and eggs.
View ArticleMissouri still dealing with last year's drought
In 2011, Missouri experienced its worst drought season since the 1950s, causing a shortage of grains and lowering the quality of feed for livestock.
View ArticleNixon seeks to allow Mo. farmers to graze animals
Gov. Jay Nixon is urging Missouri soil and water districts to allow farmers to briefly graze their animals on livestock exclusion areas.
View ArticleLivestock farmers seek safety net, while Washington politics delay aid
Farmers growing crops have insurance to ward off the financial failure of their season during this terrible drought. But there’s no safety net like that in place for livestock producers. And any...
View Article
