Saving and Investing Go Hand-in-Hand

Photo by Simon Stratford

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Every family has its own unique financial goals. Those goals could be saving for retirement, putting money aside for a college education or buying a house. Whatever your goals, you should seriously consider investing, says a University of Missouri associate professor of personal financial planning.

Three things can help you become a successful investor: discipline, diversification and time, says Robert Weagley, chair of the Department of Personal Financial Planning at MU.

Feb. 20-26 is Missouri Saves Week - Events will encourage saving and asset-building for all Missourians

Photo by Sufi Zawaz

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Saving is a great tool that can help you control your money, rather than letting money control you.

With the U.S. savings rate at half what it was in the late 1950s, University of Missouri Extension is joining forces with America Saves to encourage Missourians to set aside funds for the future.

Money: It's a family affair - Making money talk safe

Photo by David Siqueira

MARSHALL, Mo. – If money makes the world go around, then not having enough of it can bring your smoothly spinning world to a screeching halt.

Money is the No. 1 issue that families fight over, notes Cynthia Crawford, a University of Missouri Extension professional and family financial education specialist. Living hand-to-mouth is stressful, and money problems can embroil your family in continual arguments and disagreements.

Healthy After School Snacks

Learning is hungry work.  Most children have lunch around 11:30, and then classes all afternoon.  Add an after school activity or two and by the time they get home they’re running on empty.  It’s small wonder that they head straight to the kitchen to devour whatever they can get their hands on.  So, how can you make sure that they’re choosing snacks that are good for them?  It’s easy, just think “inside” the box.

Missouri Drought More Than Skin Deep

Photo by Jessica Salmond

COLUMBIA, Mo. – It may not look it, but many Missouri fields are hiding a deep, dry secret.

University of Missouri soil scientist Randy Miles said dried-out subsoil at depths of 3 feet or more could trouble next year’s crops in Missouri even if there is plenty of moisture in the topsoil.

“For crops like corn it’s not uncommon for roots to extend down 5-6 feet, and it’s the soil moisture there that sustains the crop in the latter part of the growing season,” Miles said. “When we have this deficit of moisture at that depth, we may not get grain fill to the extent of the plant’s potential to perform.”

This moisture shortfall isn’t likely to change soon.

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Up and Down Ladder Safety

Photo by Antonio Jiménez Alonso

MARSHFIELD, Mo. – Holiday decorating season is here, and that means hauling out ladders to place holiday cheer throughout the home and yard.

A ladder seems like such a simple tool, but ladder accidents are far too common and can happen in the blink of an eye.

“Most people’s reaction time is somewhere between a half and three-quarters of a second, so by the time they can react to something, they’re already well into a problem,” said Bob Schultheis, University of Missouri Extension natural resource engineering specialist.

Avoiding Holiday Meltdown

Columbia, Mo. – We expect the winter holidays to be full of happiness and good will. Just like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, we want a fairytale ending where troubles disappear and everyone basks in the glow of holiday spirit. But, A Tale of Two Cities might better represent typical holiday madness for many.

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the season of light; it was the season of darkness … It was the spring of hope; it was the winter of despair … ”

The ABZzzzs: Set child’s routine for healthy sleep

Photo by Luiz Farias

HIGGINSVILLE, Mo. - Sleep is as important to a child’s growth and development as nutritious food and exercise.

A set routine for bedtime and wake-up time will help children set their circadian rhythm, or their sleep/wake cycle. Kathy Bondy, University of Missouri Extension 4-H youth specialist, said routine helps children prepare for sleep.

Are you a skip-breakfast sinner?

Photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert

If hitting the snooze button three times is more appealing than having a bowl of cereal, you might be a skip-breakfast sinner.

While 93 percent of Americans know that breakfast is important, only 44 percent regularly eat something before walking out the door in the morning, according to a 2009 survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation.

Success in School is a Family Affair

Photo by Tiffany Szerpicki

Teachers have children in the classroom for about seven hours a day, but what happens during the other 17 hours can make or break your child’s success in school.

Attitude can make all the difference, says a University of Missouri Extension human development specialist.

Fun Ideas for After-School Snacks

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Learning is hungry work.

Schoolchildren typically eat lunch around 11:30 and then have classes all afternoon. Add an after-school activity or two and by the time they get home they’re running on empty. It’s small wonder that many kids head straight to the kitchen to devour whatever they can get their hands on.

How can you make sure that they’re choosing snacks that are good for them? Just think “inside the box.”

Plant now for a successful fall garden

Roger Meissen/MU Cooperative Media Group

I know it's not spring, but now is the time to prepare your garden. Fall gardens offer a healthy outlet for the body and mind without the grueling heat that gardeners endure during the summer months. The right type of plants need to be selected to endure the colder fall temperatures and possible early frost.

MU Extension Horticulturalist David Trinklein explains how to prepare a fall garden that will put produce on your table well into fall.

Story by Roger Meissen.

Soybean podworms threaten yields

Wayne Bailey/University of Missouri Plant Sciences

With insects, you are what you eat.

That's no more apparent than with soybean podworm, a.k.a. corn earworm. Farmers battle the pest in July and August when it chews away at the tips of corn ears, but in late August and early September it moves to a more green, lush meal of soybeans.

This crawling menace can eat away all the profit in a soybean field. It loves to chew holes in soybean pods, eating the bean then clipping the pod off the plant. In the worst cases, a field can lose 100 percent of its yield.

MU Extension Entomologist Wayne Bailey encourages farmers to scout their fields now to stop soybean podworms from devastating your field.

Print story by Roger Meissen. Listen to a related audio story by Debbie Johnson.

Dry weather can lead to a lethal lunch

Victor Iglesias

When it comes to pastures and hay, most farmers know that fescue can give cattle problems due to endophyte buildup. What many don't realize is that very hot, dry weather like Missouri had in July and the beginning of August can lead other harmful substances to build to toxic levels in warm-season annuals like johnsongrass and sorghum-sudan hybrids.

Find out more about the way prussic acid and nitrates in forages can poison your cattle.

Story by Roger Meissen.

USDA crop reports brings a few surprises

Eran Chesnutt

A week ago the USDA downgraded expected crop yields as expected. Much of this has been due to exceptional summer heat and drought, which puts a damper on pollination and development in corn ears and soybeans.

What took some by surprise was a change in where corn goes after harvest. MU Extension Economist Ron Plain explains how next year more corn will go to ethanol than to feed cattle.

Story by Roger Meissen.

New herbicide suspect as evergreen deaths pile up

Roger Meissen/MU Cooperative Media Group

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A new herbicide may be taking the green out of many evergreens.
Thousands of eastern white pines and Norway spruces across the country began dying and showing damage this year, and a key suspect in the mystery is Imprelis, a weed killer many lawn companies and landscapers started using this spring.

Chris Starbuck, a University of Missouri Extension state woody ornamentals specialist, said this problem will leave holes in many landscapes.

“Every tip on this tree is affected, and to produce new growth it would have to produce new shoots from the two-year growth, so it’s not likely this tree will recover,” Starbuck said as he surveyed damage to white pines in a Columbia lawn. “It’s been a surprise to everyone involved how extensive the damage appears to be. I think there will be lots of trees that have to be replaced in landscapes and it’s going to cost somebody some money.”

Read more in a recent article by Roger Meissen.

Make a Splash but Don't Get Sick

By Debbie Johnson

OSCEOLA, Mo. –The chance of a swimmer in the U.S. being attacked by a shark is close to zero. But dangerous creatures do lurk in our waters, including lakes, ponds and even concrete swimming pools.

Microbes such as cryptosporidium, shigella, giardia and E. coli frequently live in public swimming areas. All three cause diarrhea if ingested.

“Accidentally swallowing contaminated water, or even getting it in your mouth, can make you ill,” said Saralee Bury Jamieson, human development specialist for University of Missouri Extension. “You can also get infections in eyes, ears and nose, as well as in cuts and scrapes.” Public health professionals call swimming-related sicknesses “recreational water illness.”

N to the rescue - Missouri farmers still have time for rescue nitrogen to bolster fall corn yields.

Podcast produced by Debbie Johnson

By Roger Meissen

COLUMBIA, Mo.– No farmer wants to turn down 30 extra bushels of corn per acre at harvest, yet in many fields farmers will be doing just that if they don't apply more nitrogen.

Periodical cicadas invade state

Periodical cicadas began invading my life this weekend in Columbia, Mo. Soon most of the state will once again know the swarms of insects that emerge by the billions throughout 15 states, including Missouri.
This grouping, designated Brood 19 by entomologists, last graced us with their presence in 1998 and will once again fill our ears with their love songs that seem more like a shrill shriek to our ears than music.

Read more about their interesting life in Roger Meissen's story.
Listen to their song in this audio story by Debbie Johnson.

The difference between a healthy lawn and a sick one is just a few inches

Mowing the yard can be a pain, but your solution shouldn't be dropping the height of your lawn mower deck.

Brad Fresenburg, a University of Missouri state turfgrass specialist, makes a few recommendations to ensure the health of your lawn throughout the growing season.

Tips that lead to a healthy lawn

Story by Roger Meissen
Audio by Debbie Johnson
Video by Kent Faddis