2016 Corn Belt Crop Tour: Missouri

Jul 04, 2016

Fourth state in a 12-state tour

By Andrea Gal
Managing Editor, Integrated Media
Farms.com

The Farms.com Risk Management team stopped in Missouri as the fifth annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour continues across the American Midwest.

Moe Agostino, Farms.com Risk Management chief commodity strategist, recently said the corn in Missouri is “pretty good. It is some of the most mature corn” they’ve seen so far on the tour.

The corn is in tassel and the soybeans are in flower.

Farmer Kevin Otto of Jerico Springs, Missouri said “up until this last week we really hadn’t been dry (and crops) hadn’t been showing signs of heat stress.” But now, with “a couple of days with 105 degree heat index (and) 20 mile per hour winds,” it’s a bit different.

Agostino echoed Otto’s comments. “It’s a little dry but there is some rain in the forecast over the next five to 10 days. They are talking about five inches of rain. That would definitely help this crop and continue to help it finish,” said Agostino.

Agostino ranked the Missouri crops at a 7.5 to 8 out of 10.

Be sure to check back daily as more videos from the tour are posted. The next stop on the tour is Kansas.

Use the hashtag #cornbelt16 to follow the tour on social media.

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.