Bootheel ⋅ Page 1

Dealing with Drought

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) meets with producers at Wurdack Research Center to hear their concerns about the drought

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) visited Wurdack Research Center Tuesday as part of her statewide tour to 20 rural communities across Missouri. The Center, which sits on 1200 acres in the heart of the Ozarks, is part of a network of research centers across Missouri, extending the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ (CAFNR) research to more than 14,000 acres…

A Delta Homecoming

Trent Haggard returns to his roots to take the helm at the T.E. "Jake" Fisher Delta Research Center

Trent Haggard is coming home to the Bootheel. On July 16, he’ll report to work as the new director of the T.E. “Jake” Fisher Delta Research Center in Portageville, Mo. Haggard grew up on his family’s farm in Pemiscot County, Mo., where he was involved in all aspects of the 3,200-acre operation growing core Bootheel crops: rice, cotton, soybeans, wheat,…

Rumbling in the Soil

From kernels of inspiration to quarterly reports, empowering farmers and ranchers for success

The average age of an American farmer is 57, and has risen for the past several years. An innovative program led by Professor Randy Westgren and Peter Hofherr, assistant director of the McQuinn Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, works to change that trend by leading new farmers and ranchers to entrepreneurial success.