Agriculture
Locally Sourced Turkeys Flying Off the Shelves for Thanksgiving, Despite Higher Prices
Demand for turkeys, particularly smaller birds, is strong this Thanksgiving season, even thought prices are up about 20% over last year.
‘Highway to Hemp’: Fledgling Industry Struggles to Take Root
Growing industrial hemp has proven riskier and more difficult than many farmers in Kansas and Missouri initially expected.
Great Pumpkins Keep Family Traditions Alive, Even Through A Pandemic
More than 80% of Americans plan to buy at least one pumpkin each fall. Like turkey on Thanksgiving or singing at Christmas, the pumpkin patch has become a family tradition for many.
How a Meatpacking Plant Changed One Kansas Town 40 Years Ago and Left a Colorado Community Behind
Four decades ago, a town in Kansas and a town in Colorado competed to become home to a giant meatpacking plant that, at the time, was the largest of its kind in the world. Here’s what has happened to them since.
Preventing the Next Dust Bowl
Farmers in Kansas, which has the most no-till farm acreage in the nation, are embracing cover crops to support sustainability.
Harvesting a Bumper Crop in Agritourism
Agritourism revenue tripled nationwide from 2002 to 2017, and it’s still on the rise in Kansas and Missouri.
Kansas Farmer Fights to Save Heritage Poultry From Extinction
For 20 years, Frank Reese has been working to build a modern-day Noah’s Ark for poultry. His goal is to save 10 rare breeds of chickens and turkeys by growing the flock to 100,000 by 2025.
Some of Missouri’s Largest CAFOs are Seeking Less Stringent State Regulation
Eleven of Missouri’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations are working to reduce the state’s oversight of their hog facilities, despite a record of manure spills and clean water violations.
Kansas Farmers Find The Only Thing Harder Than Growing Hemp Is Selling It
Growing industrial hemp, the less sexy cousin of the plant associated with getting high and some medicinal uses, has proven riskier and more difficult than many Kansas farmers initially expected.
Missouri Eases Rules for Building CAFOs Despite Outcry About Potential Pollution
Missouri regulators on Tuesday eased the rules governing design of massive industrial hog facilities in a move critics claim was meant to help one controversial facility.