Missouri

On Friday, Representative Dan Newhouse, chair of the Western Caucus, joined Missouri Republican Billy Long, as well as Democrats Jimmy Panetta and Mike Levin, both of California, to reintroduce the Agricultural Fairs Rescue Act. Supporters of the legislation say it will help preserve Ag fairs across the country and offset the devastating financial losses they have experienced due to COVID-19 ...

Earlier this week, the USDA announced investments to modernize and improve rural electric grids through 11 projects under the Electric Loan Program. The funding will benefit 460,000 rural residents and businesses in 7 Arizona, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia ...

Missouri Farm Bureau Federation members elected Garrett Hawkins as its next President, taking the reins from long-time outgoing president Blake Hurst. At 40 years of age, Hawkins becomes the youngest state farm bureau president. Over the weekend, the organization elected Hawkins over Vice President Todd Hays and USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce ...

The Agricultural Fairs Rescue Act was introduced in Congress late last week to help preserve agricultural fairs across the country. The legislation from Democrat Jimmy Panetta of California and Republican Billy Long of Missouri is also designed to help fairs recover from large financial losses they’ve suffered because of COVID-19. A la ...

Legislation regarding U.S. investments in locks and dams and other inland waterways investments passed out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week. The Water Resources Development Act of 2020 authorizes construction on 34 pending water infrastructure projects ...

USDA continues to expand its SNAP online pilot program with the addition of Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas "We’ve expanded new flexibilities innovative programs to make sure Americans across the country have access to safe and nutritious food during this national emergency," said Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue. ...

Smithfield Foods announced late last week it’s closing plants in Wisconsin and Missouri because of the coronavirus pandemic. The plant in Wisconsin will be closed for two weeks while the Missouri facility is closed indefinitely. According to the associated Press report the Missouri plant gets its raw materials from the plant in Sioux Falls, SD, which is also closed. ...

Increasing consumer education of industrial hemp and the many potential products that can be derived from it. Several supporters of hemp say that will be a major part of the creation of demand for their commodity and building their industry ...

Over the weekend, a seven member jury awarded a Missouri peach farmer $265 million in a case against Bayer and BASF.  Bill Bader alleges the herbicide Dicamba ruined thousands of his trees back in 2015 and 2016, when the chemical drifted from a neighboring cotton field.  ...

The EPA announced Thursday it has wrapped up its regulatory review of glyphosate and found that the most widely use weed killed in the U.S. is not carcinogenic.  The announcement comes despite U.S. juries determining the weed killer is responsible for cancer in some trials.  ...