Missouri

G

Conservation

Missouri’s environmental protection programs are managed by the state department of natural resources. State and federal land-management agencies and private organizations have vigorous programs to protect and restore examples of native ecosystems. Prairie State Park, for example, consists of native bluestem prairie, with bison, that once covered one-third of Missouri. Big Oak Tree State Park preserves a portion of the native swamp forest of southeastern Missouri. The state department of conservation has also been highly successful in rebuilding populations of deer, turkey, otter, and other species.

In 2006 Missouri contained 26 hazardous waste sites given a national priority for cleanup due to their severity or proximity to people. The total toxic chemicals emitted into the environment was reduced by 6 percent in the period 1995–2000.

One of the state’s most notable environmental problems came to light in the early 1980s, when high concentrations of the deadly chemical dioxin were discovered in Times Beach and at some 30 other sites across eastern Missouri. The properties in the entire town were purchased and the residents moved, and Times Beach no longer exists. Work continues to detoxify the site.

Air quality in Missouri has improved since 1970, although some problems remain, especially in the St. Louis and Kansas City urban areas. While air quality is improving, federal standards for carbon monoxide, ozone, and particulates are sometimes exceeded in certain areas, and there are high levels of airborne lead and acids in some areas.

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Severe water quality problems are in the north and the southwest, where streams have been contaminated by acid runoff from abandoned coal mines. Both the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers have been polluted by municipal sewage discharges, agricultural runoff, and industrial chemical releases. Since the 1980s, permits have been required for all discharges into those rivers and standards set, so that in the mid-1990s many discharges exceed the waters of the rivers themselves in water quality.

III

Economic Activities

Missouri is one of the nation’s leading agricultural states. As recently as 1940 more Missourians were employed in agriculture than in manufacturing. After 1940, however, manufacturing, which had been established early at St. Louis, developed rapidly, as did the various services required by the rapidly growing urban areas. Agricultural growth during the same years was substantial, although the role of agriculture in the overall economy underwent a relative reduction. Many farms on the poorer soils of the Ozark Plateau were abandoned, but the region has since become an important tourist attraction. Today Missouri is one of the major manufacturing and commercial states of the Midwest.

In 2006 Missouri’s labor force totaled 3,032,000 people. The largest share of those, some 36 percent, were employed in the diverse service sector, doing jobs such as working in hospitals or restaurants. Another 20 percent were employed in wholesale or retail trade; 11 percent in manufacturing; 16 percent in federal, state, or local government, including those in the military; 18 percent in finance, insurance, or real estate; 20 percent in transportation or public utilities; 5 percent in construction; 3 percent in farming (including agricultural services), forestry, or fishing; and only 0.2 percent in mining. In 2005, 12 percent of Missouri’s workers were unionized.

A

Agriculture

In 2005 there were 105,000 farms in Missouri, the second largest number among the states after Texas. The number of small and part-time farms in Missouri is increasing, as is the number of large farms, including those run by corporations. On the decline is the number of mid-sized farms. Some 45 percent of the farms had annual sales of more than $10,000. Many of the operators of farms in Missouri held additional jobs off their farms. In 2005 farmland occupied 12.2 million hectares (30.1 million acres), or two-thirds of the state’s land area. Crops accounted for 44 percent of Missouri’s land area, while pasture and rangeland occupied another 15 percent.

In 1996 Missouri ranked 16th among the states in income from all farm sales. Livestock and animal products accounted for just more than one-half of farm income. Meat animals such as hogs, beef cattle, broilers (young chickens used for food), and turkeys accounted for one-quarter of all farm sales. Soybeans were the leading crop in terms of sales, accounting for one-fifth of farm income. Corn, hay, cotton lint, winter wheat, alfalfa, and sorghum grain were also important crops.

Much of Missouri’s corn, sorghum grain, and hay is fed to livestock on the farm rather than sold. Corn, for example, is often the leading crop in terms of quantity produced, but because most of it is fed to livestock, it usually ranks behind soybeans in cash sales.

A

1

Patterns of Farming

The Southeastern Lowland is the most productive region of Missouri. All of the state’s cotton and rice and much of its soybeans and wheat come from this area. Many of the farmers in some counties are tenants, and farms tend to be small. The productivity of the land contrasts strikingly with the poverty of many of the people.

The other outstanding agricultural region of the state is the western part of Missouri’s Northern Plains. This belt of river-bordering hills, known as the Loess Hills, parallels the course of the Missouri River from the northwestern corner of the state to the point in central Missouri where the river intersects the Ozark Upland. Despite the rough terrain the loess-derived soils and the adjacent alluvial soils are extremely fertile, and there is more farmed and cultivated land, relative to total area, than in most parts of Missouri. Farms in this area tend to be larger than the state average, and sales and income of the individual farmer also tend to be higher.

Missouri’s two main areas of intermediate agricultural productivity are the Osage Plains and the central and eastern portions of the Northern Plains. In these areas, which are known principally for livestock production, the soils tend to be less suitable for row crops than in the Southeastern Lowlands or in the Loess Hills. Also, parts of the Northern Plains, notably near the Chariton River, are so dissected that the amount of land level enough for cultivation is severely limited. However, such difficulties by no means make these areas unproductive.

Another area that is intermediate in agricultural productivity is the Springfield Plateau in southwestern Missouri. This is the main dairy-farming region of Missouri. Much of Missouri’s dairy production comes from within a 100-km (60-mi) radius of Springfield. Even within this area, however, production of meat animals is almost as important as that of dairy products. The emphasis on dairy farming is a result of the poor soils, which are often better for pasture than for crops. Compared to the meat-producing plains areas, farms on the Springfield Plateau tend to be small, and the average income is lower.

Agricultural productivity is low in the interior of the Ozark Upland. Poor soils are the major handicap, and in some areas steep slopes are another. In most parts of the upland the land is not farmed at all. Where there are farms, only a small proportion of the land is cultivated. Unimproved natural pasture is likely to account for much of the farmland, and woodlands are often used for pasture. Farms in the Ozark Upland are not necessarily small, but production on them is low compared to the areas involved. The main product is feeder cattle, which are sold to farmers for fattening in areas where feed is relatively abundant. Part-time farming is especially common in the Ozarks. The earnings of farmers in the Ozark region are usually meager, although the farms themselves are about average size for the state. In the southern Ozarks large cattle ranches are common. Counties in extreme southwestern Missouri concentrate on poultry, which is even more developed in adjacent northwestern Arkansas.

B

Forestry

Missouri is one of the leading states in the production of charcoal, walnut and red cedar logs and lumber, barrel staves, oak flooring, and wooden pallets. In the thinly populated Ozark Upland, wood industries are a major source of employment and income. There, a host of small sawmills and other plants turn out a great variety of products, including hardwood lumber, flooring, railroad ties, pallets, barrel staves, posts, handles, and charcoal. Many farmers in the Ozarks sell their timber to lumber mills and are employed part-time by the mills. The Ozark forests also contribute to the region’s economy by providing an attractive environment for a profitable recreation and tourist industry. The forests are indirectly important economically for watershed management and for preserving and enhancing biological diversity.

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