Thank a Farmer Week Celebrates Agriculture

(Butler, Mo 2/3/17) – Food, clothing, entertainment, medicine, shelter, transportation and so much more are brought to you by agriculture! So, join the celebration February 5-11, when the Missouri Farm Bureau and County Farm Bureau’s across the state celebrate the importance of agriculture.

A recently completed study commissioned by the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Farm Bureau, found agriculture remains the top industry in our state with a contribution of some $88.4 billion to the economy. The study further revealed that in 2016, agriculture provided 378,000 jobs, $2.2 billion in state/local taxes and $17.5 billion in labor income.

This information drives home the importance of agriculture. The labors of agriculture impact our lives each day. In addition to food, agriculture provides clothing, fuel, medicine, entertainment, sports equipment, personal care products, school supplies and the list goes on.

It is a fact: agriculture is a driving force of communities both rural and urban. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, innovations in agriculture allow one U.S. farmer to provide enough food and fiber for 168 people in the United States and abroad. Consumers in this country spend less than 10 percent of their disposable income on food, according to the USDA. That is less than any other country in the world.

So, join Missouri Farm Bureau as we Celebrate Agriculture and Thank a Farmer.

Look for local events sponsored by the Bates County Farm Bureau. You can enter to win a gift package of local food items displayed in the Bates Farm Bureau office during the week of February 6 -10. Drawing will be held the end of the day on February 10th.

Bates County Farm Bureau also invites you to stop by the office on the East side of the Butler square every Tuesday in February for cookies and coffee to express our appreciation for our members and to encourage you to become part of our organization. If you would like to learn more please stop by the office to get acquainted and check out the benefits of becoming a Farm Bureau member for just $30 per year or go to the Missouri Farm Bureau website at https://www.mofb.org/Membership/BenefitsServices.aspx to access the list of member benefits or go to https://www.mofb.org/Membership/BecomeAMember.aspx to become a member. Help us keep farmers farming by joining today! Farm Bureau is much more than insurance…it is a strong voice for agriculture and rural America.

“Agriculture is a big part of our community, yet many people simply take it for granted,” says Mary Fischer, Bates County Farm Bureau Promotion & Education chairman. “Farmers and the agri-businesses that support them give back in many ways. They deserve a pat on the back.”

Help the Bates County Farm Bureau during Celebrate Agriculture: Thank a Farmer week, February 5-11.

Out of control grass fire endangers structures in Merwin area

The Amsterdam Fire Department along with assistance from the Drexel Fire Department and Adrian Fire Department are in route to a grass fire that has got out of control and has spread to a small shed at this time.

The location of this fire is at a address of 1240 NW State Route Y Highway in Merwin, Missouri. 

A abandon house is also said to be in the path of this fire and may possibly be on fire at this time. 

Mid America Live News will continue to monitor this story and provide a update when one is made available to us.


Copyright Mid America Live News

Harrisonville Benefit Concert and Chili Dinner

Weather Outlook The Next Three Days

What's the weather this weekend going to be like you ask? Well, it should be a quiet weekend weather-wise with increasing temperatures. By Sunday, temperatures will be about 10 degrees above normal!

Obituary - Betty Joyce Riecke

Betty Joyce Riecke

Betty Joyce Riecke, age 84 of Clinton, MO died at Westwood Living Center on February, 2016.

The family will receive friends at 1:00 PM on Saturday, February, 4, 2017 at the Clinton United Methodist Church. 

A funeral service will follow at 2:00 PM. Interment will be at Englewood Cemetery.

Obituay - Vada June Jenkins

Vada June Jenkins

Vada June Jenkins was born on June 3, 1926 to William Henry and Hattie (Leiber) Jenkins in the Valley Center community, St. Clair County, Missouri. She was the seventh of eight children.

She grew up in the Valley Center community, New Harmony, and then in the Pleasant Valley community in St. Clair and Henry counties.

In the times that Vada grew up in a young woman head the choice to marry or to have a career, you couldn’t do both so she followed her heart and chose a career in nursing, one that she faithfully and lovingly carried out even after retiring.

She graduated from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, St. Joseph, MO in 1952 and received her BSN from Drury College in Springfield, MO in 1956.

She was a member of The Audubon Society and various other conservation organizations, as well as several nursing organizations.

She worked as a nurse in several hospitals, the Manor, where her father lived and lastly in the intensive care unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Monett, MO. She also spent time teaching nursing. She always loved working on the holidays; she said it was a special time to be on duty. She would remark that if she worked it gave someone with children a chance to be home with them during this special time of year.

After her retirement from nursing, Vada volunteered her time at Roaring River State Park, a place she grew to love after spending many hours bird watching. She built numerous wildflower beds and maintained them. Vada also loved her family dearly. She spent the first part of her young life caring for her nieces and nephew, making them feel very special. She spent many, many hours researching her family’s legacy and putting together many genealogy books, leaving behind much information for the future generations. She traced her mother’s family back to the Mayflower.

After going back and forth from Monett to Urich to help her sister Lora, she decided to make Urich her home. They spent much time together working on genealogy, gardening and traveling to Oklahoma to visit family. She passed on her love of family, flowers, gardens, birds and reptiles to her great nieces and great-great nephew and nieces. It wasn’t unusual to find her outside with the kids looking for crawdads after a rain, hunting for slugs, or wildflowers, or teaching them how to identify the birds by the sounds they made.

Vada was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Ellis, John, Dolsie, and David Jenkins; sisters, Lora Hilte, and Laphena Davis. She leaves behind one sister Geneva Nafiziger, California and a host of nieces and nephews who love her dearly.

In Vada’s own words, “I am a Christian and I look forward to my new life in Eternity with my Lord, and with all the others that I have known and loved.” Indeed, she is now rejoicing with many family and friends.

The family will receive visitors at 10:00 AM on Monday, February 6, 2017, at Consalus Funeral Home. A Graveside service will be held at Englewood cemetery at 11:00 AM.

Memorial contributions may be made to Roaring River State Park and left in care of the funeral home.

“It is good to have a sense of belonging and to be aware of the continuity of family ties down through the generations. ‘Tis good to know from whence we came.”

Adrian man arrested this morning in Cass County

On 2/2/17 around 11:35am the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Cass County arrested 23 Nathan A. Burris of Adrian, Missouri.

Mr. Burris was arrested for 1.) Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance - Methamphetamine 2.) Unlawful use of drug paraphernalia 3.) Driving While Revoked 4.) No Seatbelt.

He was booked into the Cass County Jail and later bonded out.


Copyright Mid America Live News

Obituary - Maxine Stark

Maxine Stark

Maxine Stark, 77, Nevada, MO passed from this life on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at her home in Nevada following a courageous battle with cancer. Maxine was born May 5, 1939 in Morrilton, AR to Robert Matthew and Annie Laura (Tharpe) Hubbard. She was united in marriage to Gerald A. Stark on November 6, 1976 in San Jose, CA and he survives of the home.

Maxine was raised in Arkansas and attended Morrilton High School graduating with the Class of 1957. Following high school she moved to California and worked at Safeway Grocery for 22 years. Maxine came to Nevada in 1980 and began working at Missouri Public Service retiring in 2001. She also helped her husband Jerry on the farm. Maxine loved gardening, she was a servant at heart helping many people throughout her life, a devoted Christian who lived out her faith daily. She was loved by everyone who ever met her.

In addition to her husband Jerry, survivors include two sons, James D. Zachary, Nevada, Scott Zachary and his wife Dawn, Hollister, MO; three step-daughters, Terri Belsley and her husband Steve, San Jose, CA, Sherri Miguel and her husband Richard, Gilroy, CA, Traci Kuzinich and her husband Michael, Gilroy, CA; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; two sisters; two step-sisters; and one step-brother; several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, February 6, 2017 at Life Church in Nevada. Interment will be held in Green Lawn Cemetery, Schell City, MO at a later date. Friends may call from now and until the hour of service at Ferry Funeral Home in Nevada.

Memorials are suggested in her memory to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, Kansas City, MO, https://donate3.cancer.org/?campaign=hl08kcmo, or Life Church, Nevada in c/o Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada.