Missouri Agriculture Updates: MASBDA Grants, FFA Week, Cover Crop Payments

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Ag Market News MORE Initiative Economic Impact Missouri State Fair Missouri Grown Missouri Agriculture Updates Feb. 25, 2022 MASBDA Grants Available The Missouri Agricultural & Small Business Development Authority has two funding opportunities currently open for producers. The Missouri Value-Added Agriculture "Farm to Table" Grant Program and the Missouri Value-Added Grant Program. The Missouri Value-Added Agriculture "Farm to Table" Grant Program provides funding for Missouri businesses to access and process locally grown agricultural products for use in institutions within the state. The Missouri Value-Added Agriculture Grant Program provides grants for projects that add value to Missouri agricultural products and aid the economy of a rural community. Contact Missouri Agricultural & Small Business Development Authority with questions at masbda@mda.mo.gov.  Governor Celebrates FFA Week This week, on behalf of nearly 26,000 members of Missouri FFA, Governor Mike Parson proclaimed February 19-26, 2022, to be National FFA Week in Missouri. Missouri FFA President Kaitlin Kleiboeker of Pierce City received the proclamation on behalf of the 2021-2022 Missouri FFA State Officer team. Nearly 300 Missouri FFA members joined the Governor on the steps of the Missouri Capitol to celebrate. "Every year it is a pleasure to get to recognize National FFA Week in the Show-Me State and to take the opportunity to demonstrate our agricultural roots by driving a tractor to work," Governor Parson said. "The First Lady and I both come from farm families and truly believe our state's future leaders are part of this exceptional group of young people in the Missouri FFA. We are always impressed by their determination, work ethic, and innovative outlook, and it is an honor to stand with them today." For the fourth consecutive year, Governor Parson drove a John Deere tractor to the Capitol in honor of the FFA tradition of students driving their tractor to school during National FFA Week. Along with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe joined in on the tradition again this year, demonstrating their ties to agriculture and commitment to FFA students.  In 1928, 33 young men met at the Baltimore Hotel in Kansas City and began the National Future Farmers of America Organization (FFA). Today, the organization's official name is the National FFA Organization and now, 94 years later, is represented locally by 8,700 FFA chapters and 760,000 members nationwide. Missouri is home to more than 350 chapters and nearly 26,000 members. "Every time I see students in their FFA jackets, I am excited for the future of agriculture," Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said. "These future leaders will feed, clothe, and fuel a growing world. They will be leaders in their communities, innovators of technology and the generation who drive the next great wave of agriculture production. It is a privilege to recognize these students and the hardworking advisors who lead them each day."  FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. To learn more about the Missouri FFA Association, visit MissouriFFA.org. USDA Cover Crop Payments Farmers who plant cover crops will be eligible for crop insurance premium subsidies worth $5 an acre for the second year in a row. To qualify for the payments from USDA, farmers must report their cover crop acreage to the Farm Service Agency by March 15. Last year, USDA made payments totaling $59.5 million for 12.2 million acres of cover crops.  "Cultivating cover crops requires a sustained, long-term investment, and the economic challenges of the pandemic made it financially challenging for many producers to maintain cover crop systems," said Marcia Bunger, administrator of the Risk Management Agency. "Producers use cover crops to improve soil health and gain other agronomic benefits, and this program will reduce producers' overall premium bill to help ensure producers can continue this climate-smart agricultural practice."  All cover crops reportable to FSA are eligible for the crop insurance subsidies, including cereals and other grasses, legumes, brassicas and other non-legume broadleaves, and mixtures of species. The payments can't exceed a farmer's insurance premium if it's less than $5 an acre. Farmers who receive the subsidies would still be eligible to receive payments for cover crops through projects funded by the new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative, Robert Bonnie, USDA's undersecretary for farm production and conservation, said in an interview with Agri-Pulse. Rules for the projects bar them from compensating farmers for practices already covered by other USDA programs. But the projects could cover the cost of cover crops above the $5-an-acre RMA payment, he said. Photo of the Week In honor of National FFA Week, Governor Mike Parson and Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe drove tractors to work! As farmers themselves, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor support the Missouri FFA Association and the future of Missouri agriculture.

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