Farm Help

According to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, the industry of agriculture has the second highest fatality rate among youth workers at 21.3 per 100,000 and an estimated 3,600 youth are injured each year while performing farm work.

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and their big brothers, utility-type vehicles (UTVs), are fun and practical. But if misused they can be dangerous, and even deadly. The Consumer Products Safety Commission said in 2006, the last full year of verified reporting, there were an estimated 903 deaths in the U.S. related to ATV use, and 146,600 emergency-room treated injuries. The CPSC said as of 2008 the risk of death every year was a startling 70 for every 100,000 four-wheelers in use.

In the years since Missouri law mandated blending ethanol with gasoline, the debate has raged in coffee shops around the Ozarks. Many farmers are happy for the blend requirements as the higher demand for their crops helps their bottomline, but ranchers fear higher feed prices. Once that argument fades, then the efficiency debate begins. The debate is strongest when small engines are discussed.

Though most ranchers no longer rely on horses to do their chores with, the old saying “rode hard and put away wet” often still applies. Producers often use their ATVs for all sorts of jobs, regardless of the weather. The 4-wheeler does the jobs that a pickup can’t. It crosses rocky ravines, muddy ditches and takes you anywhere you need to go. The problem comes when we don’t take our trusted steed where it needs to go – the repair shop.

Mares in late gestation (nine to eleven months) experience increased nutritional needs. Consistently meeting a broodmare's energy and nutrition needs positively influences their reproductive abilities long term.

Arguably, one of the least enjoyable aspects of raising livestock is caring for them in inclement weather. In the Ozarks, it seems like we are constantly battling mud, snow, or rain, or else, it is 100 degrees and dusty.

Currently, the USDA youth loan is for kids ages 10-20 years old with a cap of $5,000. “The youth loan program is project based and isn’t meant to be used as a regular operating loan,” said Janet Bollinger, Missouri USDA Farm Loan Specialist. “It’s typically used for youth involved in an FFA or 4-H project.”

Producers facing flooding and tornado damage need to be on guard for symptoms that cattle have ingested metal storm debris, or for the development of the bacterial infection blackleg.

In the world today, technology has grown by leaps and bounds. This is true in all aspects of daily life for almost everyone. Yes, even the cattle producers are learning to use the benefits of this technology.

A small-scale poultry operator could be alarmed by a barrage of feathers in the coop or around the hen lot. But, as Dr. Dustan Clark, University of Arkansas Extension poultry science vet noted, more often than not, feather loss is all just part of the natural process for chickens.