Love note from Jeff City

Greetings, My Fellow Missourians

On Wednesday, I toured a bridge project in northwest Hickory County with Governor Parson, the Missouri Department of Transportation and the County Commissioners from Benton, Hickory and St. Clair Counties. The project will work on re-decking the Missouri Route 82 bridge over Hogles Creek east of Osceola. Route 82 was built in 1966 and an estimate of 465 vehicles with about 70 of those being truck, traveling it each day. The repair estimate is $540,000. The re-decking project is planned for March – May of 2020. During this time, the bridge will be completely closed. Even though a complete closure is inconvenient, it allows the bridge to be repaired more efficiently and use less taxpayer money.

In October, the Basics of Agritourism Conference was held in Warsaw. The conference was put on by the University of Missouri Extension, along with many cooperative partners, and was the first of its kind in the West-Central Region.

Agritourism offers entrepreneurial farms a way to develop other income. This conference covered business plans, liability insurance, social media marketing, and other basics of agritourism. Exploring alternative farm income streams will be needed to double ag’s economic impact by 2030. The meetings were designed with Agritourism beginners in mind. Participants heard from experts on a variety of topics including Tourism Trends, Agritourism Law, Insurance, Marketing/Social Media, Wildlife Leases, Business Plan/Feasibility, Forestry, Missouri Grown, USDA Farm Bill and Missouri Department of Conservation programs, and the Agritourism Value Chain.

“This conference was designed to help interested individuals learn about and understand the basics building blocks of Agritourism, with the goal of helping them get started with an idea and/or increase and improve what they are already doing. While Agritourism exists in several forms in the region already, including pumpkin patches, orchards, corn mazes, U-pick fruit farms, farm/ranch AirBnB rentals, and rural wedding venues, we believe that additional opportunities still exist. Tourism trends include people taking shorter trips and looking for authentic “something they can’t get anywhere else” local experiences. Food and culinary opportunities are important, as is adventure, as well as traveling for that perfect Instagram photo,” said Amie Breshears, Community Engagement Specialist in AgBusiness with University of Missouri Extension in Benton County.  “When you consider the history, natural beauty, wildlife, streams and lakes, small towns, recreation resources, and all the things that those of us who live here enjoy every day, there is plenty of untapped Agritourism potential here in Benton and surrounding counties.”

To get more information, please call the Benton County Extension Office at 660-438-5012 or by emailing bentonco@missouri.edu. Find us on Facebook at MU Extension in Benton County.

Upcoming events: El Dorado Springs – Star Spangled Christmas Parade – Saturday, November 16 at 3pm The Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade is Honoring Our VFW, the oldest Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Missouri, Celebrating 100 Years and all veterans and active-duty. For parade info contact:

Jackson Tough or Peggy Snodgrass El Dorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, 1303 S. Hwy. 32 Chamber Phone: (417) 876-4154.

El Dorado Springs, MO 64744 Email: Director@ElDoradoSpringsChamber.com.