Agriculture

A ag-tech company is investing $7 million dollars and relocating innovation centers to the Hazelwood, Missouri area which will bring 40 new jobs to the St. Louis region.

Few would argue against the concept that agriculture has always been at the heart of life in Illinois. If that is accurate, Illinois has heart trouble as there's proof the state has lost more farmland in the past 23 years than any other state in America.

This is one of those situations where you hope no one inadvertently ends up with fire ants and takes them on a trip. A new map shows that they wouldn't have to travel far to become a problem for Missouri as they're right across the border right now.

There's a brand new alert in Missouri for a very destructive beetle that is bad news for virtually all plants and crops. Officials have confirmed its presence in at least one Missouri county now.

There's now reason to be seriously concerned about recent cases of the bird flu as the state of Missouri has now issued a warning about this highly contagious sickness that has now been detected in a farm worker.

It's hard to fathom the numbers involved in this mess. A report says that there was a fertilizer spill that happened in Iowa that made it's way into a major river and resulted in the death of 750,000 Missouri fish.

I predict that this new data claiming that Illinois farmland is more valuable than what you'll find in Missouri will start more than one argument. I have friends on both sides of the issue, but there is some math involved that shows the claim just might be true.

If you need proof that agriculture is still the king of Illinois, consider this exhibit A. If you think the most expensive land in Illinois is a mansion, guess again. It's a more than 248 acre farm in Hebron.

It's no secret that most of Missouri has been suffering through a horrible drought for the past several years, but how much rainfall would it take for the state to be back to average? The actual number is truly staggering.

In case you didn't know, there's already a big problem with feral pigs in Missouri. A new report says that an even larger version of these swine is headed toward Missouri if something isn't done to stop them.