News

Series of Missouri meetings assess mood in agriculture

A series of listening sessions begins Thursday in Mexico, Missouri, to help assess the needs of agriculture in the state.

“What we hope to have is a fairly good idea of what the mood is out in the countryside in Missouri,” said Richard Fordyce, Missouri Director of Agriculture, Wednesday.

Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas will be making similar assessments and will combine that information by the first week in August, said Fordyce.

“We’ll make a report to the secretary of agriculture [Tom Vilsack] about what we think the trends are and maybe where there are needs,” said Fordyce.  “Are there USDA programs that are underutilized, are there USDA programs that maybe we could advocate for that would offer some relief across the board, across all sectors of agriculture?”

Fordyce says nothing quite like this has been done since he’s been director.

“This may be just an opportunity to get out and just have conversations with producers,” said Fordyce, “and just see how they’re feeling”

AUDIO: Richard Fordyce (6 min. MP3)

The listening sessions are in seven Missouri locations over the next several days.

July 7 / 12:00pm – 3:00pm

Audrain County 4-H Center
21509 Hwy D, Mexico

July 7 / 7:00pm – 9:00pm

MU Extension Center in Atchison County
201 Hwy 136 East, Rock Port

July 8 / 10:00am – 12:00pm

Flander Hall
107 W Broadway, Excelsior Springs

July 11 / 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Springfield Livestock Marketing Center
6821 W Independence Dr, Springfield

July 12 / 9:00am – 12:00pm

Miner Convention Center
2610 E. Malone Ave., Miner

July 13 / 6:30pm – 9:00pm

MU Extension Center in St. Charles County
260 Brown Rd., St. Peters

July 14 / 9:30am – 12:00pm

Missouri Department of Conservation Northeast Regional Office
3500 S. Baltimore, Kirksville

Agenda

• Welcome
• Missouri Department of Agriculture
  • Current Situation in Missouri Agriculture
• University of Missouri Extension
  • Commodity and Financial Outlook for Agriculture
• Panel Discussion
  • Local Stakeholders to Discuss Local Agricultural Situation
• Questions/Comments

Closing Comments/Next Steps