The lieutenant governor says the ongoing drought that’s impacted most of Missouri has especially impacted cattle producers. Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri.”
“Which as you know, we’re in our 39th year of beef production at our farm. The row crop guys seem to have gotten out of the ground, got harvested. The dry weather probably helped them a little bit, get things out of the field,” Kehoe says.
Lt. Governor Kehoe predicts this will be a tough winter for Missouri’s livestock producers, especially cow-calf operators.
“The drought is really hurting them. We don’t have fall pasture, if you don’t have fall pasture you’re not going to have winter pasture. So hay has become incredibly short across this state. I’ve actually bought loads out of Nebraska to try to get caught up,” says Kehoe.
The drought has impacted Columbia as well. National Weather Service (NWS) St. Louis meteorologist Lydia JaJa tells 939 the Eagle that Columbia has received just 1.88 inches of rain this month, which is an inch below normal. For the year, Columbia has received 29.53 inches of rain, which Ms. JaJa says is 6.6 inches below normal for the year.
Lieutenant Governor Kehoe was recently awarded the MU Extension’s Gordon Warren land grant award, which is presented to an agricultural leader.