The Howell County SWCD has had a very productive FY ‘25. The District paid out $980,562.72 on cost-share projects, a new record for the county. The District completed and paid on 142 contracts that included fourteen different practice types in five different resource concern areas.
The District hosted a field day for the Area VII MSWCDEA meeting that consisted of a demonstration on aerial herbicide application via agriculture drones and a hands-on tutorial regarding selecting, properly calibrating, and using equipment to plant native warm-season grasses, agriculture sprayer calibration and usage, and general operation and maintenance of no-till drills and other planting equipment.
The District sponsored a South Central Missouri Cattlemen’s meeting. District staff put on a presentation discussing the selection, establishment, and management of various types of non-native warm-season forages. District staff also discussed cost-share opportunities available to producers in the county through the SWCD.
The District purchased another new Haybuster 107C no-till drill for producers to rent and added an agitator system to the District’s pendulum seeder in order to make it more efficient for planting native grasses and other forages. The District’s fleet of rental equipment now consists of two Haybuster 107C no-till drills, a Haybuster 77C no-till drill with a native seed box, a Great Plains 1006 no-till native-grass drill, a Land Pride 2609 no-till seeder, and a Kubota pendulum seeder. Howell County landowners planted well over 2,000 acres using the District’s rental equipment in FY ’25.
In order to help Howell County landowners better manage their forage production and make smart decisions in regards to fertilizer and lime applications, the District opened up an account with Midwest Laboratories and can now send in soil, litter, forage, feed, and other agriculture samples for testing. The District has also purchased soil sampling kits and a hay probe that we loan out to producers.
Throughout FY ’25, District staff attended and participated in numerous trainings and workshops in order to be better able to assist landowners in the county. District staff also worked with numerous other groups in the county including MU Extension, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Farm Bureau, South Central Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, and area schools on a wide variety of events and projects.
FY ’25 was an outstanding year for the Howell County SWCD and FY ’26 is looking to be even more productive!