United States Department of Agriculture ⋅ Page 1

Empowering Future Leaders

CAFNR student attends USDA Future Leaders in Agriculture Program

Eager to make an impact on the world through agriculture, Holly Enowski attended the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Future Leaders in Agriculture Program in Washington, D.C. this February. “It’s a really great opportunity to meet people who are just as interested in making the world better through agriculture as you are,” said Enowski, a senior studying science and agricultural journalism.…

Triple Play

MU's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute starts new year off with three awards for collaborative, communicative work

A farm economist’s work is never done. But despite their ongoing projects, faculty and staff at the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute never abandon their above-and-beyond approach. The institute kicked off 2016 by bringing in a slew of awards for outstanding policy efforts — highlighting its long-term initiatives in creating baseline projections for the farm economy and…

South Farm Showcase

Research farm open house set for Sept. 22

One of the University of Missouri’s most important research centers, South Farm, will host a day of science and discovery for the entire family. A tornado tracking truck, cockroach races, tethered hot air balloon rides and prize pepper tasting are just a few of the myriad interactive attractions at the event.The sixth annual South Farm Showcase will take place from…

Battling a Soy Pest

Researchers receive grant to continue fight against cyst nematodes

University of Missouri plant pathologist Melissa Mitchum and colleagues at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University recently received a $466,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue their research on protecting soybeans from nematode parasites, which cause $1.3 billion annually in soybean crop losses in the U.S.

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.

Little Bug, Big Stink

New pest may soon invade Missouri farms and homes

A new stinkier stinkbug may hitchhike into Missouri this year to destroy crops and upset homeowners, says a University of Missouri entomologist.

Training program jumpstarts entrepreneurship in Missouri

They came all over Missouri–from Humansville, Fayette and Villa Ridge. Some, like Ana Boatman and her daughter Natalie from Independence, are growing vegetables and raising chickens on just 1.5 acres of land, while others, such as Cathy Johnmeyer of Fayette, are raising cattle on 225 acres. Whether their operations are small, medium or somewhere in between, all of the participants came to CAFNR’s Entrepreneurship Project to learn how to transform their ideas into entrepreneurial successes.

Executive-in-Residence: David White

An Ag- Conservation Partnership

MU alumni returns as CAFNR Executive-in-Residence to talk about progress David White, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, has seen positive changes in conservation since his graduation from the University of Missouri in 1980. Most important, he said, is the realization that agriculture and conservation can work in partnership for the benefit of both. White spoke to MU conservation,…