The Big Picture

The latest addition to the MFA Oil Petro-Card 24 network, a new location in Dadeville, Mo., provides a glimpse of upcoming improvements to the company’s more than 180 unattended fueling sites. Both the Dadeville and the newly upgraded Versailles location are equipped with new pumps and payment technology, making refueling […]

A withering drought has crippled one of the world’s most crucial maritime trade routes. Ships hoping to cross the Panama Canal have experienced significant delays since August 2023, when an unprecedented dry spell forced canal officials to limit traffic on the waterway. The Panama Canal requires 52 million gallons of […]

Construction is underway on a Break Time truck stop in Jefferson City, Mo. The convenience store and travel plaza will be located at 207 Militia Drive, just off Highway 50 on the city’s east side. The new location is expected to open in November. The 6,500-square-foot store will be Break […]

A major upgrade to the credit card readers at MFA Oil Petro-Card 24 locations is nearing completion. The company has activated chip card readers and pin pads at more than 75% of its Petro-Card 24 fueling sites. The MFA Oil maintenance team is visiting each site to verify that the […]

Weeds today aren’t like “what Mom used to make,” says University of Missouri Extension weed scientist Kevin Bradley. Today’s weeds know how to fight back against long-used herbicides and adapt in ways that spell trouble in production agriculture, says Bradley. Officially, Missouri already has 11 different herbicide-resistant weed species. Waterhemp […]

When migratory geese and other waterfowl fly south this fall from their Canadian breeding grounds, they will bring with them an uncharacteristic specter of dread. There’s a chance that the migration may reignite a wave of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks that spread across the North American continent earlier […]

Missouri farm income appears on pace for another record year, according to John Kruse, associate research and extension professor in agricultural and applied economics at the University of Missouri. “It’s not often when there are back-to-back record years for Missouri farm income, but the data suggests 2021 set a new […]

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by federal legislators in November 2021 is set to deliver a $1.2 trillion investment in the nation’s infrastructure over the next five years. The bill represents a historic, once-in-a-generation reinvestment in America’s roads, bridges, water and wastewater networks, ports, electric grid, dams, […]

For millions of years, there has been a night shift at work pollinating flowering plants and fruit trees. But only recently have these workers started to get a little credit for their contributions to agriculture. Moths may not produce a sweet treat like their daytime counterparts, the honeybees, but pollination […]

In Washington, policy focus is shifting to building for the future. On the rural front, agriculture has its swagger back. Anticipation of a return to normal is in the air. But for the economy and rural industries, there will be no going back to pre-COVID conditions. The combination of trillions […]

The tree dominates the Boone County river bottom, almost 100 feet tall with a canopy even wider and a nearly 24-foot-wide trunk.  This is the U.S. co-champion bur oak, aka the Big Tree. It has survived earthquakes, lightning strikes, floods and droughts in its nearly four centuries. It seems impossible […]

In spite of tight profit margins and challenging market conditions, farmland values are up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2019 Land Values report revealed the average value of agricultural cropland was $4,100 per acre in 2019, up $50 per acre or 1.2% from 2018. The average value of pastureland was […]