Intense demand prompts Nixon to announce more water funding for farmers

St. Louis Public Radio | By Marshall Griffin,

Marshall Griffin

Published July 26, 2012 at 11:13 AM CDT

More money is being put into an emergency program to aid farmers and ranchers battling water shortages in Missouri.

Governor Jay Nixon (D) has added $5 million to the $2 million set aside for crop and livestock producers who want to drill new wells or deepen existing ones during the ongoing drought. More than 600 applications have been sent in sincethe program’s announcement on Tuesday.

“Two million dollars is not enough," Nixon said. "We felt that putting additional dollars here because of the immediate need, because of the strength of the network we have out there, because of the very good intelligence that’s coming in already from these local soil and water folks, we thought it was time to push additional dollars there.”

The program covers 90 percent of the cost of a water project and has a maximum cost-sharing cap of $20,000 per recipient. Kelly Forck is a livestock producer from Jefferson City.

“We would like to drill a well on one of our sites, (and) we also have other sites where we’d like to extend some pipelines," Forck said. "We have land-based watering systems where we catch rainfall, and those facilities are depleted.”

Forck says it’s too soon to say how much help the additional $5 million will be. Farmers and ranchers have until August 6th to apply, and applications can be found on the Department of Natural Resources’ website, at dnr.mo.gov/drought-relief. The entire state of Missouri has been declared an agricultural disaster area due to extreme heat and drought conditions.

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Marshall Griffin

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.

See stories by Marshall Griffin

Marshall Griffin

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.