Missouri

Growers in Kansas and Missouri, which produce more than 10 percent of the U.S. soybean crop, have planted less than half as much of the soybean land as usual for the first week in June, says the weekly Crop Progress report.

The highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza was confirmed in two turkey flocks in Missouri, the Agriculture Department announced, five days after the same virus was identified in a turkey flock in western Minnesota.

The Missouri Supreme Court is to hear arguments today on whether to strike from the state constitution a "right to farm" amendment that was approved by voters in August by a narrow margin, says Missourinet.

Migrant worker Veronica Jarmillo starts work at 7 a.m., picking apples during the two-month harvest season in Missouri, says Harvest Public Media in a story about farm laborers and their vital role in agriculture.

The just-adopted constitutional amendment guaranteeing a "right to farm" in Missouri is under challenge before the state Supreme Court. The amendment was approved by voters in August by a 2,375-vote margin out of nearly 1 million cast.

A recount showed the "right to farm" constitutional amendment was approved by Missouri voters last month, although by a slightly smaller margin. "The final results of the recount confirmed the passage of Amendment 1," said the secretary of state's office in a statement. The winning margin was 2,375 votes, compared to the 2,490 votes initially announced, out of nearly 1 million ballots. The amendment was popular in rural counties and opposed in urban areas.

Missouri voters narrowly approved a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to farm, said the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch.

In Missouri, the top agriculture issue is a constitutional amendment to create a "right to farm." Says the New York Times, "The debate over the proposed amendment has roiled Missouri for more than a year, with supporters saying it would end what they see as meddling by outsiders in its business practices.

In the Aug 5 primary election, Missouri will decide whether to add the "right to farm" to its state constitution. Backers say it will shield cash-short family farmers from zealous activists with impractical ideas about livestock and crop production, reports public radio station KWMU in St Louis.

California growers are curtailing rice plantings by 18 percent due to drought but larger plantings in the Delta will offset much of the downturn for the sticky rice used in sushi. "The decline in California medium-grain plantings due to drought and water restrictions have attracted more acres of medium-grain rice in the Delta where plantings in 2014 are projected up 39 percent," says USDA. In the end, medium-grain area will drop 6 percent.