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Drought will remain a challenge for MO in 2023

Missouri’s drought isn’t letting up anytime soon. Governor Mike Parson told Missouri Farm Bureau members the winter will be a challenge, but the state is doing what it can to help.  He tells Brownfield he’s extended an executive order to renew a drought alert through next spring.

“It frees up some opportunities to use state owned lands to get hay or use it for pasture. We can go into water resoures and lift some weight limits to move hay.”

Missouri Ag Director Chris Chinn says the biggest challenge for farmers and ranchers heading into 2023 is a lack of rain.

“Whether you’ve got livestock or row crops, we need moisture in the ground. These low river levels are scary. We’re not able to ship our product, making it hard to market our grain.”

And she says water supplies are dire.

“We have a lot of farmers worried about their ponds freezing up, but we’ve been through this before. We always get rain, but it doesn’t always come when we want it.”

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor says 81% of Missouri remains in a drought.