Producers across the state say tariffs and weather volatility are reshaping decisions from seed selection to equipment purchases.
Missouri farmers are heading into one of the most uncertain planting seasons in recent memory, with corn and soybean futures swinging sharply on tariff news and unsettled weather already complicating early-spring fieldwork.
Producers across the state told the Missouri Dispatch they are reworking seed orders, scaling back equipment purchases and in some cases delaying acreage decisions until commodity markets show clearer direction.
University of Missouri Extension economists said the price volatility is the highest they have tracked since 2020, driven by a combination of trade-policy uncertainty, lower export demand from key Asian buyers and unpredictable spring rainfall across the Midwest.
Farm-credit lenders in central and northern Missouri said loan demand is up sharply as growers seek operating capital to absorb the higher costs of seed, fertilizer and crop insurance. Several reported tightening underwriting standards in response.
Despite the headwinds, many farmers said they still plan to plant near-record acreage. The next major signal will come with the USDA's Prospective Plantings report, due at the end of the month.
A decade in the making, the proposal would link downtown to the Mississippi with new parks, transit and a redesigned approach to the national monument.
The compromise restores funding for rural broadband and shifts hundreds of millions toward public schools and infrastructure.
The long-awaited southern extension adds sixteen stops and is projected to carry more than 8,000 daily riders by year’s end.
