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Posts Tagged ‘missouri’
Sunday, October 9th, 2011
The Missouri Farm Bureau recently donated $25,000 to the Joplin School District’s agriculture program. The money will go in part towards rebuilding from last year’s devastating tornado as well as funding the Future Farmers of America.
Members of the Future Farmers of America praised the donation, hoping that it will help rebuild Joplin’s agricultural technology building and will help stabilize the agricultural program all while reiterating that “farming is not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.”
The donation demonstrates some of the major challenges facing the agricultural sector today, the first being increasingly fickle weather patterns. The string of tornadoes that devastated the Midwest and the South last year were just one part of a larger struggle against unpredictable weather patterns. Over the last several months, floods, droughts, heavy rain, and tornadoes all did significant damage to the the agricultural sector across the country.
In addition to severe weather, farmers today are facing an increasingly graying profession. The average age of farmers has steadily risen over the past decade, climbing as high as 57. Groups like the Farm Bureau and the Future Farmers of America hope that donations and scholarships can go to interesting more young people in an agricultural career and can help stabilize and shrink the age gap in American agriculture today.
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: farm bureau, Future Farmers of America, missouri
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Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
Five Truman State University students have lost their jobs over a farm odor dispute. The jobs stem from an ongoing dispute between the Missouri government and Premium Standard Farms. For the past twenty years, Premium Standard Farms has been fighting odor complaints. Over those two decades, Premium Standard Farms has lost multiple lawsuits and has paid millions of dollars in judgments and rulings against them.
After the most recent series of judgments, Premium Standard reached an agreement with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. Premium Standard was given two years to fix the odor problems through the installation of odor reducing technologies in hundreds of farms across the state. After two years inspectors would visit the farms to ensure that appropriate measures had been taken to reduce odors.
It was these inspections that led to the job controversy. Like many state agencies across the country, Missouri’s Department of Agriculture has suffered from budget cuts. As a result, it does not have the resources to respond quickly to odor complaints.
In an effort to reduce spending and offset high budgets, the Attorney General’s office approached Truman State University, offering a $20,000 grant to train students. After signing the contract and training the five students in question, Koster informed Premium Standards of the new program. However, after Premium Standard registered their displeasure over the use of university students rather than trained professionals from the Department of Agriculture, the president of the university cancelled the program.
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: Chris Koster, Department of Agriculture, missouri
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Sunday, July 31st, 2011
According to the latest reports, Latino farms are on the decline in Nebraska and Missouri. A report by the Nebraska based Center for Rural Affairs, aided in part by information from the latest agricultural census, revealed a sharp drop in Latino farms from 2002 to 2007.
Overall, Missouri saw a 37 percent drop in Latino farms with Nebraska experiencing a 44 percent decline. While neither state has an enormous number of farms with Latinos as the principal operator, Nebraska has 166 and Missouri 444, the decline is troubling.
Not all Latino farms are disappearing in the two states. Overall small farms saw a substantial increase in Latino principal operators. Nebraska doubled the number of small farms (less than 10 acres) with Latinos as principal operators, while Missouri saw their numbers increase by 18 percent. These increases, however, were not enough to offset the larger demographic shifts.
The decline in Latino farms is troubling for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which in recent months has sought to emphasize diversity in agriculture. The last several years have seen the USDA sued by a number of minority farmers who have advocated discriminatory lending practices. The drop in Latino farms in these two states serves as an indicator that the USDA has a long way to go still.
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: missouri, nebraska, usda
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Friday, June 17th, 2011
An agricultural disaster relief fund has been set up in Missouri. Following on the heels of a series of brutal storms across the Midwest and the Southern United States, Missouri farmers are in dire need of relief. Flooding along the Mississippi river has hit Missouri particularly hard, flooding tens of thousands of acres of valuable farmland and costing millions of dollars in lost revenue and repairs.
At the present, the new relief fund has raised about $150,000. $100,000 came from the agricultural giant Monsanto, while another $50,000 came from international aid sent primarily from Taiwan. The fund is administered by the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority.
Money will be distributed in the following ways. $500 grants will be given to Missouri farmers in the form of immediate need grants. This money can be used for agricultural or household purposes and can only be distributed to families directly impacted by natural disasters. $5,000 grants to non-profit organizations or municipalities will be available for the purposes of rebuilding, reconstruction, or projects that help repair the larger farm community. Finally, grants over $5,000 can be made available in special instances. Any individual or organization can apply for these major disaster grants, but priority will be given to organizations helping large numbers of individuals.
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: disaster relief, missouri, Monsanto
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Sunday, May 8th, 2011
Earlier this week, the Missouri House approved a farm lawsuit bill limiting lawsuits based on odors and environmental damages. The bill alters several lawsuit regulations in the state, but of particular importance is its transformation of nuisance lawsuits. Currently, nuisance lawsuit awards are temporary, meaning that multiple lawsuits can be brought if a farming operation’s practices are not changed. This new law would make awards permanent, meaning that residents could be compensated for lost value in real-estate and possible medical damages, but could not sue more than once.
Major farming companies say this bill is necessary for them to remain in business in Missouri. Premium Standard Farms, one of the state’s largest hog farms and a frequent target of nuisance lawsuits, claimed that it would have to leave the state, taking thousands of jobs with it, if it kept being sued. Rural advocated, on the other hand, claim that the bill is sacrificing the interests of rural Missourians in order to appease major agribusinesses.
A more restrictive bill originally passed both the Missouri House and Senate, only to be vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon. The original bill not only limited nuisance lawsuits, but block punitive damages in agricultural lawsuits, something the Governor criticized as “turn[ing] back decades of Missouri common law.” The current bill represents a compromise between the Governor and the legislature, limiting the number of lawsuits without forbidding punitive damages for individuals who have been hurt by agricultural businesses. Once the bill passes the Senate it will return to the Governor’s desk where he is expected to sign it.
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: Jay Nixon, missouri, nuisance lawsuits
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Friday, May 6th, 2011
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is demonstrating its commitment to biofuels and ethanol, recently announcing the establishment of up to 50,000 acres of land in Missouri devoted to the production of biofuel crops. The announcement is part of the USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). The program offers financial assistance to farmers who commit to growing and producing biomass feedstocks.
The total area, 39 contiguous counties in Missouri and Kansas, is the first BCAP project area. Producers who sign up with the program would receive financial assistance from the USDA, in order to offset the costs of redirecting their farm production entirely to biofuel crops, and could be reimbursed for up to 75% of their production costs. In exchange, the 50,000 acres proposed would be dedicated entirely to the perennial production of biomass crops (largely native plants and grasses which can be used for power and heat generation).
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack hopes that the BCAP project could revolutionize American energy and would serve as a major step on the path to energy independence. In addition, Vilsack hoped that the biomass program could reinvigorate the economy, producing needed jobs in a bad economic climate. In a statement, Vilsack linked the future of the American economy to renewable energy, claiming, “By encouraging production of feedstocks that can be converted into next-generation biofuels we are boosting the rural economy, creating jobs, contributing to America’s energy security and protecting our planet. Investments like this spark creation of new industries and is a key part of our effort to keep America competitive and win the future.”
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: biofuel, missouri, usda
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Friday, April 29th, 2011
Severe spring weather is currently threatening prime agricultural land in Missouri, as the rain swollen Mississippi River appears likely to overspill its banks. The heavy rains of the past few weeks have led to severe flooding throughout the Midwest, hitting Missouri particularly hard. The Missouri River has already reached flood stage and several towns in Missouri have been flooded and countless residents left homeless.
Particularly problematic is the threat to Cairo, Illinois and farmland in Southeastern Missouri. Threatened by the rising Mississippi River, the Army Corps of Engineers revealed a plan to breach several levees in Missouri, in order to protect Cairo. The rapidness of both the flooding and the Corps’ decision threatens many farmers in Missouri, who have farm equipment on fields that could be flooded in the next few days. Also threatened is prime Missouri farmland, some of the best in the state, which would be deliberately flooded in order to control the Mississippi River’s flooding.
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill urged the Corps to reconsider, stating, “We may do additional significant harm to the agricultural economy of the region that will last well after the flood waters recede.” Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster sued in federal court, hoping to block the Corps of Engineers from blowing the levees, but a ruling Friday morning allowed for the planned breach.
Engineers are currently watching the situation and stress that the decision is not arbitrary or capricious.
To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer
Tags: Army Corps of Engineers, flooding, missouri
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Thursday, February 25th, 2010
The Missouri Farm Service Agency has loans available for women and minorities who wish to start family-farms.
These low-rate loans are available to applicants who are U.S. citizens, have good credit and are unable to get credit through other lenders. Applicants must also have business or farming training and education as well.
Money can be used to purchase land, equipment and supplies to operate a small farm. For more information visit the FSA’s website.
Federal Reserve stated interest rates likely to rise. Refinance your farm loan before rates go up. Call a representative by dialing 866-929-5585 or visit us online.
Tags: missouri, Socially Disadvantaged, usda
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Thursday, February 25th, 2010
The United States Department of Agriculture is awarding $310 million to improve or install broad-band Internet in 14 rural counties.
The high-speed Internet will be put in counties in Alaska, Missouri, Alabama and Iowa. The USDA plans for Internet access to bring jobs to the counties as well as training for employment.
The money will be used on specific proposed projects. Those interested in receiving money should apply by March 15 to their local Farm Service Agency office.
Inflation fears? Refinance with Farm Plus before farm loan rates rise. Farm loan rates starting at 2.99% with 25 year terms. See our rate sheet here or call, toll free, 866-929-5585.
Tags: alabama, Alaska, iowa, missouri, usda, Utilities
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Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
At the Craig Evans family farm Tom Vilsack unveiled federal assistance that may be helpful for young farmers. Near Lathrop, Missouri Vilsack announced that there is $17 million available in grants for beginning farmers or ranchers.
Vilsack said, “Generation, after generation, after generation pass on not just the farm, not just the farmstead, but the value system of hard work, of dedication to family and community,†said Vilsack, surrounded by two young farm families. “That’s what Rural America is all about, and it’s important to preserve it.â€
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program is part of the 2008 Farm Bill. The grants are available for farmers and ranchers that have been in the industry for fewer than 10 years. An additional $19 million will be available in 2010.
If you are looking to join the agriculture industry contact Farm Plus today. Low rate farm loans are available and Farm Plus works alongside government agencies to obtain the loans you need. Call 866-929-5585 or visit online for more information about farm loans and ranch loans.
Tags: federal assistance, missouri, vilsack
Posted in General, Missouri Farm Loans | No Comments »
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