The East Buchanan girls volleyball team fought hard through another five set thriller on Thursday evening at Civic Arena, coming up just short against New Covenant Academy in the MSHSAA Class 2 Girls Volleyball tournament third place game.&nbsp;

In their second trip to the state tournament, the Bulldogs finished fourth place for a second time.&nbsp; Not the finish they hoped for, but still a lot to be proud of after taking two good teams to the limit in each match.&nbsp; Head Coach Ryan Horn says he thinks his team proved they belong here.&nbsp;

"You come out here and you play two five setters against two of the best teams in the state, what more could you ask for out of your girls effort?" Horn tells reporters.&nbsp; "We'd have liked to win and everything, but it would have been really easy to show up today and just fold, and we didn't do that, we fought and just didn't quite get what we wanted but we fought and I think that says a lot about our kids."

After the loss to Hermann, Horn had said his team would need to find the motivation to compete in the third place match, and in the first set that motivation showed, East Buchanan battling from behind to take a 19-16 lead before the first timeout was ever called.&nbsp; Out timeout two more points were scored by the Bulldogs, prompting another timeout, this time by the Lady Warriors, before East Buchanan went on to win set one 25-22.&nbsp;

New Covenant Academy breezed through the second set, only allowing East Buchanan to tie things up briefly at one for a moment before pulling away 8-3 and forcing a timeout.&nbsp; After the break, the Lady Warriors extended the lead to 19-9 before another timeout, going on to take the second set 25-16.&nbsp;

In the third set, the Bulldogs started out in control, going up 6-2 before a timeout by New Covenant Academy.&nbsp; The Lady Warriors used the break to their advantage&nbsp; and worked their way back into the set before another timeout, down by one 12-11.&nbsp; Both teams traded blows from there, but New Covenant Academy took the set 25-23, forcing the win or go home set four.&nbsp;

East Buchanan wasn't ready to go home quite yet though, going back and forth all the way with New Covenant Academy through the entire set, neither team ever leading by more than three points, until the Bulldogs sealed victory 25-23, taking things to set five for a second game in a row for them.

In the fifth set, East Buchanan fought back and forth early with the Lady Warriors, pulling ahead eventually by three, but soon after a timeout going back to a tie, where New Covenant Academy took advantage and pulled away to a 15-12 win.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Bulldogs started out the season not playing to their potential, in fact Horn says they weren't even close, but Horn also says he's never had a group make a total 180 and make volleyball a priority the way this team did.&nbsp;

"It's hard to do, it's hard to admit that you're always not working, in life, in volleyball, in anything, it's hard to admit you're wrong, and then it's even harder to fix it, and they did both those things," Horn explains.&nbsp;

East Buchanan graduates four seniors, but returns a group of&nbsp;10 players, at least five of which played significant time during the state tournament.&nbsp; Horn says much like the 2022 Final Four did for his seniors this year, he hopes this experience makes those underclassmen hungry.&nbsp;

"We had a pep assembly the other day on Tuesday, and three years ago I said to our eighth graders hey you've got to want one of these too, and here they were as juniors wanting it, right? And doing it," Horn says.&nbsp; "So I said the same thing to this years eighth grade, like this kind of success has to continue to build, and I think it makes kids they see it now they want it, so hopefully everyone is learning from that."

Brooklynn Johnson finished the match with 11 kills.&nbsp; Kamryn Werle added eight.&nbsp; Kendyl Edwards had 61 assists and 23 digs, while Kaylynn Engnes led the team with 49 digs.

East Buchanan finishes the season 26-12-3.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

Bulldogs fight hard but fall just short in another heartbreaker for 4th place finish

PHELPS COUNTY —The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC) announces criminal charges against Melvin J. Fincher, 39, of Rolla, MO. Fincher has pending charges in other counties which include Phelps, Dent, Polk, and Nodaway Counties.

On October 24, Fincher was arrested after an investigation conducted by the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control Rural Crimes Investigation Unit with the assistance of area law enforcement.

In July of 2024, the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control was made aware of suspicious activity involving the sale of livestock and farm equipment in Phelps County, Missouri.

Texas authorities informed investigators in Missouri of a cattle theft investigation, involving 42 head of cattle from a livestock market in Texas. 

The theft occurred between August 10 and 11, 2024, and the total value of the cattle was $71,078.00.&nbsp; After further investigation, it was determined the cattle were received by Melvin Fincher, a resident of Phelps County, Missouri.

During the investigation, and while searching property associated with Fincher, USDA livestock tags were located in the livestock pens on the premises. Identification numbers indicated the tags were issued to the livestock market in Texas where the cattle were originally stolen. 

Additional evidence was collected connecting Fincher to the theft of cattle in Texas.

On December 2, 2024, Fincher was formally charged by the Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney with one count of Stealing Livestock/Wildlife - Prior Offense. Fincher later pled guilty to this charge.

On October 27, 2025, Fincher was sentenced to 10 years incarceration with the Missouri Department of Corrections. The sentence was suspended in execution of sentence, and Fincher is currently serving five years of supervised probation.

Fincher is also facing numerous charges in Dent, Polk, and Nodaway Counties for other related criminal offenses including identify theft, livestock theft, and farm equipment theft

&nbsp;The total value of damages involving these cases exceeds $219,000.00.

If you have any further information regarding these cases, please contact DDCC at 573-526-6122.

Man admits to livestock theft, other rural crimes in Missouri

St. Joseph school officials are
celebrating improvements in the state report card even as they vow to keep
pressing to improve scores.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education (DESE) has released its 2025 Annual Performance Report.
Overall, the St. Joseph School District scored 74.7% on the state assessment,
up from 63.2% two years ago.

Assistant Superintendent of Academics and
Education Services, Stacia Studer, says St. Joseph students scored better in
English, but the district wants to see improvements in literacy.

“And so, we did grow in our state assessment
scores. Not the growth that we’d had hope to see. The state has really rallied
around a state initiative called LETRS and that’s professional learning for our
teachers on how students learn to read. And so, we have provided that professional
learning support for our teachers,” Studer tells reporters during a news
conference. “What we realized is that we wanted to ensure that all students are
being taught on grade level.”

St. Joseph did best on Social Studies
with improvement in Math and Science. The school district graduation rate
improved. School officials say that though attendance continues to rebound from
the COVID pandemic years, it needs has room for improvement.

Studer says an emphasis this year is
being placed on reading.

“We want students to be exposed to the
questions that they will face on those state achievement tests,” Studer says. “Really
rally around what those questions look like for our teachers and working on
rigor and depth of knowledge, ensuring that we are teaching at high levels if
questioning, pushing our questioning to get kids to think more critically.”

The St. Joseph School District Missouri
School Improvement Program (MSIP) 6 performance score improved again in the
latest reports, moving from 52.5% in 2023 to 65.3% in 2025. DESE reports St.
Joseph students are approaching state standards in English Language Arts,
Mathematics, and Science. Students are listed as on track with Social Studies.
The test scores of St. Joseph students rose in all subject areas. The
graduation rate rose 2.9% from 2024 to 2025 to 91.9%.

Every high school and middle school
showed improvement. Several elementary schools demonstrated impressive growth,
including a perfect 100% score at Eugene Field Elementary School.

Attendance remains difficult for the St.
Joseph School District with Superintendent, Ashly McGinnis, stating attendance has
not fully recovered from the COVID pandemic, though it has shown improvement.

While acknowledging she wants greater
improvement, McGinnis does say that the overall score is something to
celebrate.

“We haven’t been above 70% since COVD,”
McGinnis notes. “And so, 70% is kind of that mark for accreditation. We’ve gone
through this MSIP 6 cycle, it’s a little complex, but we’ve heard this rumor in
our community we’re going to be at jeopardy of accreditation, we could be losing
accreditation, and that’s just simply not true.”

School officials say they want
instruction in the core subjects to be consistent in all classrooms within the
district.

You can follow&nbsp;Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ

St. Joseph school officials celebrate state test score improvements

KFEQ Morning Sports

KFEQ Morning News 

KANSAS CITY—A former Catholic Charities executive is accused of stealing more than $150,000 by using church-issued credit cards to buy hundreds of gift cards for personal use, according to the United State's Attorney.

Jeremy Lillig, 44, fraudulently obtained and activated 436 Visa gift cards worth $155,050 while serving as executive director of the Bright Futures Fund and director of stewardship for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City–St. Joseph.

The indictment alleges Lillig bought the gift cards between 2017 and 2021 under the pretense of legitimate expenses funded through a Kauffman Foundation grant, then falsified monthly expense reports to conceal the scheme.

Lillig pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of wire fraud.

A trial is scheduled for March 16, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes.

If convicted, Lillig faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Former Catholic Charities executive accused in gift card fraud

ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect wanted in Buchanan County on drug allegations after a traffic stop.

Just before midnight on Tuesday night an officer on patrol stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in the 1500 block South 7th Street in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. The driver of the vehicle, 43-year-old&nbsp; Thomas Nance, was taken into custody on a Buchanan County Missouri warrant for failure to appear in court. 

During the arrest he was found to be in possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the County Jail and is being held on requested charges of&nbsp;failure to appear in court, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Suspect wanted in Buchanan Co. accused of meth possession

United Way of Greater St. Joseph wraps up
its public fundraising campaign Thursday night.

United Way President, Kylee Stough, calls
it a celebration.

“That celebration will be a celebration of
generosity in our community,” Strough tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “We hope to
announce somewhere between $1 ½ and $2 ½ million pledged. We won’t be quite
finished that night. We know that there’s still some campaigns to happen, some
asks out, and some donors who are going to think I want to give and I’m going
to mail something in.”

The United Way conducted the 2025 campaign
under the theme of Give Hope. Campaign co-chairs, Michael and Jennifer Holden,
will share campaign highlights and offer special thanks to those instrumental
in the campaign.

Strough emphasizes is it because of
contributions to the campaign the United Way was able to put together food kits
for those who might lose benefits due to the federal government shutdown.

“United Way has money to purchase these
food kits, to create these volunteer opportunities, to respond to needs in the
community because donors give through the annual campaign and they trust us,”
Stough says. “They trust us to share those dollars with our partner agencies,
but to also hold just a little bit back in a fund to meet emerging and
emergency needs.”

“I never lose sight of trust is the
currency we operate in,” Strough says. “If we don’t have the trust of people in
our community we can’t do anything and be effective at it as United Way. You
need to know that when you give a dollar, we’re doing what we say we’re going
to do with it. We’re staying in touch with community needs and we’re spending
it as frugally, efficiently, and effectively as possible to make it stretch as
far as possible.”

The public is invited to the Hall of Fame
Room at Spratt Stadium on the Missouri Western State University campus,
beginning at five o’clock. A short program begins at 5:45pm.

Tickets for the event costs $20 a person
or $150 for a table of eight.

The United Way campaign supports 17
agencies.

United Way to celebrate St. Joseph campaign

Independence and Hallsville school districts to continue four-day weeks with 62% and 75% voter approval

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ahanshaw/">Annelise Hanshaw</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

When the Independence School District announced it was switching to a four-day week during the 2023-24 school year, it drew questions from local families and statewide officials.

Parents wondered what kind of child care they would have on days without classroom instruction. And&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/08/four-day-school-week-faces-scrutiny-from-missouri-legislature-state-education-board/">lawmakers debated</a>&nbsp;whether the state needed to intervene.

Ultimately, Missouri’s General Assembly passed a law requiring a vote for non–rural school districts to authorize a four-day week.

On Tuesday, the Independence and Hallsville school districts became the first large districts to receive the approval of voters to continue with four-day weeks.

“I knew that the majority of our community supported it,” Hallsville Superintendent Tyler Walker told The Independent. “I was a little bit surprised to see how much support it was.”

In Hallsville, residents had two questions on the ballot related to the school district. One asked about the four-day week and the other was a bond measure previously passed in April&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/06/27/numerous-voter-approved-bonds-in-missouri-in-jeopardy-for-violating-public-notice-law/">but not confirmed by the State Auditor</a>.

The election drew 25% of registered voters,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.showmeboone.com/clerk/elections/results/unofficial.asp" target="_blank">according to the Boone County Clerk</a>, and 75% of those voted in favor of the four-day school week. The vote authorizes the schedule for the next 10 years, when then the district will have to hold another special election.

Walker didn’t think the margin would be that wide. Earlier surveys from the district’s 2022 adoption of the schedule put approval at around 60%.

He believes that the district’s growing success on standardized tests and other publicly available metrics have given families confidence that the four-day week isn’t such a bad thing.

“Our community has grown to appreciate the four day week more after experiencing it for a few years,” he said.

Todd Fuller, director of communications for the Missouri State Teachers Association, told The Independent that voters in districts who have already been operating in a four-day week like Independence and Hallsville have an idea of how it works for their students. The state law, passed in 2024, will require a vote prior to the schedule’s adoption for those who do not already adopt the abbreviated week.

“Anyone who’s a constituent of the district has had time to digest this process, and they’ve been able to decide over a two-year period whether it’s been beneficial or not beneficial for their kids,” Fuller said. “So if they are expressing that feeling with their vote, then we’re going to have a pretty good understanding of what they really want.”

The association doesn’t have an official stance on the four-day week. But Fuller said the teachers it represents have been pleased with the schedule.

Jorjana Pohlman, president of Independence’s branch of the Missouri National Education Association, told The Independent that the overall sentiment is positive from the district’s educators.

Mondays out of the classroom have become a good time for teachers to have doctor’s appointments, spend time with their families and plan for the week ahead, she said.

“In the beginning, it was fear of the unknown for families as well as teachers,” she said. “A lot of teachers had the attitude of, ‘Let’s try it.’ They, I think overall, felt it was a positive thing.”

A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.primecenter.org/education-reports-database/4dsw-case-study" target="_blank">study by Missouri State University researchers</a>&nbsp;looked at recent applicants to teaching positions in Independence, finding that the four-day week was a key part of the district’s recruitment.

In particular, 63% of applicants rated the four-day schedule as a top-three reason for applying, and 27% said it was their top priority.

The study also looked at the value of the four-day week for applicants, asking how much they would sacrifice in salary to work at a district with the schedule. On average, applicants were willing to sacrifice $2267 annually for the four-day week.

Walker said the schedule has also improved recruitment in Hallsville, with a dramatic uptick in veteran teachers applying to positions.

With teachers coming to Independence schools particularly for their schedule, some worried that returning to a five-day week would have large consequences for staffing. But Pohlman said a survey showed that the loss of educators is less than many would think.

“The educators, they care deeply about their students, and they want what’s best for students and for the community, whether it’s four day week or five day week,” she said. “They are still going to be committed.”

Almost&nbsp;<a href="https://www.primecenter.org/prime-blog/4dsw-summary" target="_blank">a third of Missouri districts have adopted a four-day week</a>, with around 91% of those districts in rural settings. Only districts in cities with at least 30,000 residents, or those located in Jackson, Clay, St. Louis, Jefferson and St. Charles counties, must call for a vote before moving to a four-day week.

Missouri voters approve 4-day school week in two districts, showing rising support

Over the next four days, high school girls' volleyball teams from across Missouri that earned their way here will compete for a state title at the Civic Arena.  

The St. Joseph Sports Commission found out three years ago the event would be coming and are now excited to welcome 20 teams from all five classes to St. Joseph to compete.  

Executive Director Brett Esely says when they first started the Sports Commission back up in 2022, they began looking at events that could fit here 

"Right about then we received several bid packages from the state high school activities association, one of which was volleyball, and looking at the specs, looking at what they needed, looking at who was playing well around the area, we quickly went to work on that bid,” Esely says on the KFEQmunnity show.  “We had an opportunity to entertain some folks from the MSHSAA office that summer and walk them through the facility, walk them through some plans on how we though the championship would be great here.”  

Esely says in September of that year they were lucky enough to get the call that Civic Arena had been selected to host the championship for three years, beginning today. 

Esely says those that come to the Civic Arena are in for watching a high level of competition 

"We’ve got six teams in this field that won more than 30 games this year, it used to be a pinnacle of your season to win 20, let alone win 30, and five teams have done that,” Esely explains.  “And I always say this to, I’ve had people ask me who are the favorites, you know I’ll be honest other than record and noting teams on paper I don’t know a lot about these teams, but I do know this if you get to this level of competition you can win it.” 

All tickets to the event must be bought ahead of time through the Missouri State High School Activities Association's website.  No tickets will be available at the arena. 

Esely credits the city of St. Joseph for its commitment to upgrading the arena and making it more modernized.  Esely says while it's a misconception things were not happening at the arena prior to improvements, he points out now event owners want modernized facilities 

"Does Division One women’s college basketball come to this venue without these improvements? Absolutely not.  Does state volleyball come to this venue without these improvements? Absolutely not.” Esely says.  “Does this venue continue to be sought after for major college events, MIAA volleyball that we’ve been fortunate now to host, this will be year four, absolutely not, do we have an opportunity to bring a new tournament to town in the Great Lakes Valley basketball championship that will begin March 27th? Absolutely not.” 

Esely says the renovations and improvements were vital, but now it's about keeping up with it, because things events are looking for will continue to evolve. 

The tournament gets started at noon today and runs through Saturday.  Locally, at 2pm today East Buchanan will face Hermann for a trip to the championship.  

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

Missouri volleyball high school state championships happening at Civic Arena

December corn closed down 6 1/2 cents and March corn was down 6 1/2 cents. January soybeans closed down 26 3/4 cents and March soybeans were down 24 1/2 cents. December KC wheat closed down 17 3/4 cents, December Chicago wheat was down 19 1/4 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was up 3/4 cents.

Both financial and agricultural markets faced widespread selling pressure on Thursday with several moving parts to point to as a source of general nervousness across the trade. First, row-crop futures had become very overbought in the short term from a technical perspective with momentum based indicators likely piling into sales as prices turned lower throughout Thursday morning. Second, futures traders tend to want answers now rather than later and with the government shutdown it is very difficult to gauge if China has been buying U.S. soybeans and to what degree and the rapid growing expense of U.S. soybeans on an FOB port basis may have at last caught up with the futures market on Thursday. In other news, Wednesday's hearing by the Supreme Court regarding the legality of the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs has added a layer of volatility to the market, although a decision is still pending in regard to that.

The live cattle complex traded mixed into Thursday's noon hour, and then went to the downside by the closing bell. As traders would like to trade the contracts higher and successfully did so in the deferred months, but the nearby contracts remained under light pressure as there was still some uncertainty milling throughout the marketplace, and ended up getting the better of the market. No new cash cattle trade has developed today, but packers will need to secure more inventory before the week's over. So far this week Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $360, which is $2.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $232, which is $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average.

The live cattle complex was able to shake the doggishness of the marketplace for a short time, but the feeder cattle complex wasn't as confident as all of its contracts are trading lower into Thursday's closing bell. Unfortunately, feeder cattle sales could likely soften a tick in the countryside as buyers react to the board.

Again today, the lean hog complex&nbsp;was adding another downward leg to its chart as the market lacks support. Yes, cash demand was strong this week, but without consumer demand improving, traders aren't willing to show the complex much interest or support.

<a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/356/2025/11/06143006/web-closing-markets.mp3">Click HERE for audio</a>

Commodity market daily recap

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. isn’t ready to open its border once again to cattle imports from Mexico. Despite that, Rollins said Mexico’s efforts to contain the flesh-eating New World Screwworm are progressing well. The border has been largely closed to imports of Mexican livestock since May. Rollins recently traveled to Mexico City to meet with officials, including President Claudia Sheinbaum, to tell them that the White House is focused on reopening the border. 

“We’re still not in a spot where I’m comfortable opening up the ports, but I think with every day that goes by, we’re getting a little closer,” Rollins said. She wants to know for sure that both countries have overturned every stone, that every nuance is understood, and they’ve deployed every tool in each country’s toolkits. Rollins didn’t give a specific timeline for reopening the southern U.S. border to Mexican cattle imports.

No plan yet to open U.S. to Mexican cattle imports 

After leaders between the two countries met last week, China will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, including duties on some farm goods. While Beijing confirmed that this week, U.S. soybeans still face a 13 percent tariff. Reports said China’s tariff commission of the State Council is eliminating duties of up to 15 percent imposed on some U.S. agricultural goods on November 10. Tariffs of ten percent introduced in response to President Trump’s “Liberation Day” duties will stay in place. 

Traders say that despite the tariff cut, importers looking at U.S. soybeans still face a tariff of 13 percent, which makes U.S. shipments more expensive for commercial buyers compared to Brazil soybean shipments. “We don’t expect any demand from China to return to the U.S. market with this change,” one trader at an international company. “Brazil is cheaper than the U.S., and even non-Chinese buyers are taking Brazilian cargoes.” 

China buys more Brazilian soybeans

December corn closed up 3 3/4 cents and March corn was up 4 3/4 cents. January soybeans closed up 12 3/4 cents and March soybeans were up 14 1/4 cents. December KC wheat closed up 3 1/2 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 4 1/2 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was down 1 cent.

Crop futures recovered from Tuesday's profit-taking session to trade moderately higher, fueled by confirmation out of Beijing that tariffs will in fact be greatly reduced. Though reports that U.S. soybeans will remain subject to a 13% duty caused a bit of a stir in analyst circles, the market largely ignored this caveat for Wednesday's session, discussed in further detail below. In outside markets, softer energy markets were a bit of a headwind for grain and oilseed futures, while the U.S. Dollar Index has shown signs of a potential top near 3-month highs after five consecutive days higher. Equity markets were firm, snapping a 2-day skid after ADP reported strong payroll totals in a Wednesday morning report.

The live cattle complex continues to dive frantically lower, as yet another level of confidence has eroded from the market. Even though US Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins has indicated that the border isn't going to reopen anytime soon, the live cattle contracts are trading limit lower as there seems to still be some concern around the matter. Some light trade has also developed in the countryside as Northern dressed deals are being marked at $360, which is $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average, but Southern live cattle are trading at $232, which is $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average. But upon seeing the board drift sharply lower, bids have been knocked lower as packers are now just offering $357 to $358 for dressed cattle and $225 for live.

And following in the same manner, the feeder cattle contracts were also trading limit lower into Wednesday's noon hour. Unfortunately, this bearish onset has again pushed the market well below its 100-day moving average, and will likely affect feeder cattle sales in the countryside.

Without enough fundamental support helping the lean hog complex, it comes as little surprise that the market is again trading and finishing no better than mixed. Yes, midday pork cutout values may have been a tick higher this morning, but traders need more reassurance than that.

<a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/356/2025/11/05140220/web-closing-markets.mp3">Click HERE for audio</a>

Commodity markets daily recap

Three people familiar with the issue say the Trump administration still intends to roll out an initial payment of up to $12 billion for farmers struggling because of the president’s tariff policies. North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said that a program similar to the $28 billion farmer bailout that Trump released during his first term is “all teed up and good to go.” Hoeven did add that it’s being held up by the ongoing government shutdown. 

There is already a great deal of pressure on lawmakers and the White House, who’ve been trying for months to pull together some financial help for farmers while opening up additional trade markets. Farmers are stuck trying to plan for 2026 while facing tariff uncertainty, high production costs for fertilizer and machinery, rising inflation pressure, and other economic challenges. The USDA recently moved $13 billion into an account designed to provide emergency relief for farmers.

White House still planning billions in farmer trade aid

October saw a modest rise in U.S. farmer sentiment as the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer Index of 129 was three points higher than September’s reading. The slight rise in the barometer was fueled primarily by an increase in the Index of Current Conditions to 130, which was eight points above September’s level. Meanwhile, the Index of Future Expectations rose a single point to 129. Farmers’ appraisal of current conditions on their farms continues to be fueled by record-high profitability in the beef sector. 

At the same time, poor profit margins across all major crop enterprises lead crop producers to provide a more pessimistic view of the current situation on U.S. farms. The Farm Financial Performance Index fell 10 points from September to 78. Despite weakening financial expectations, the Farm Capital Investment Index rose nine points during the month to 62, thanks to the more optimistic outlook from livestock producers. 

A modest rise in farmer sentiment

December corn closed down 2 3/4 cents and March corn was down 2 cents. January soybeans closed down 12 3/4 cents and March soybeans were down 12 1/2 cents. December KC wheat closed up 4 3/4 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 6 3/4 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was down 1 1/4 cents.

It was an all-around risk-off session for row crops Tuesday with the exception of wheat futures, which continued to ride Monday's wave of trade optimism. Soybean futures led the way lower in the first significant corrective price action in what has been an almost vertical move higher between soybeans and soybean meal since the middle of October. It is likely traders and possibly producers looked to reward the rally following Monday's surge higher. Traders may also be feeling some nervousness ahead of the next USDA update in the middle of the month, which may still find large U.S. crops with harvest coming to an end. Outside markets were also mostly negative influence on ag markets Tuesday, with the U.S. Dollar Index firmer for a fifth straight session and directly below 3-month highs. Energy markets were mixed but stalled against topside resistance, while equities were lower, continuing the recent pullback from last week's record levels.

The live cattle complex was back to trading lower, despite Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins saying the U.S. is not ready for the border to reopen just yet; she's also mentioned in other interviews that President Trump is "very focused" on reopening the border. Although the industry knew that at some point the border was going to be reopened, the cat and mouse game of trying to pinpoint when that is going to happen has a negative impact on the market, as one can see in today's trade action. Unfortunately, this headline has once again pulled the spot December live cattle contract back below the market's 100-day moving average. Still no developments have surfaced in the fed cash cattle market, and no bids or asking prices have surfaced quite yet.

The feeder cattle complex took the morning's rumors with the biggest hit as the market has successfully seen prices never reached before, largely because of limited supplies and excellent demand. Cattle producers and traders alike both know that allowing for Mexican cattle imports won't completely end the market's rally and historical prices, but the degree to which it will affect prices is unknown, and that's what scares the market.

The lean hog complex was again sinking lower, as traders are sickened to see demand simply not performing. If the market trades much lower, it commits to trading below the support place at $80.00 in the December contract. The next level of technical support can be found at around $70.00.

<a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/356/2025/11/04141200/web-closing-markets.mp3">Click HERE for audio</a>

The National Corn Growers Association called on the Environmental Protection Agency to reallocate 100 percent of its waivers for small refineries through a supplemental rule-making process. “A strong, transparent, and balanced Renewable Fuel Standard remains a cornerstone of America’s agricultural and energy success,” said NCGA CEO Neil Caskey. The statement was included in stakeholder comments submitted to EPA at the agency’s request. 

Under the RFS, the EPA sets the renewable volume obligations each year, specifying the amount of renewable fuel that refiners and importers of petroleum products must blend into the nation’s fuel supply. The EPA has the authority to issue Small Refinery Exemptions to refiners that can demonstrate “disproportionate economic harm” from compliance. NCGA has long argued that a dependable Renewable Fuel Standard is critical to unlocking America’s domestic energy potential, promoting ethanol growth, and driving corn demand. For years, the NCGA has also discouraged the overuse of RFS exemptions. 

NCGA calls for a Full SRE reallocation

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will release several key agriculture reports in November, including a monthly crop supply and demand report that wasn’t issued last month because of the government shutdown. According to a post on its website, NASS will release the crop production and world ag supply and demand estimates on November 14.  The report had been scheduled for November 10 and will provide the government’s first estimate of U.S. corn and soybean production since September, when most of the Midwestern harvest hadn’t begun. 

Multiple social media posts by U.S. farmers have said that the USDA’s yield forecast was much too high. The USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report will be released as scheduled on November 21, after the October report didn’t take place. Allan Featherstone of Kansas State University said that the markets rely on those reports to figure out what’s really taking place.

NASS reports returning this month

The next student leaders of National FFA were elected to help guide this premier youth leadership organization during the coming year. The new team was announced on Saturday during the final session of the 98th annual National FFA Convention &amp; Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana. Members from Delaware, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Tennessee were elected by the National FFA Delegates and will lead the organization over the next year. 

Trey Myers of Oklahoma was elected national president, and Lily Nyland of Michigan was elected national secretary. The members were selected from 37 candidates vying for the honor. Candidates participated in an extensive interview process with the National FFA Officer Nominating Committee before the selection. The new officers will interact with business and industry leaders, FFA members, instructors, and many other people to help guide the future of FFA. A complete list of the new officers is available at <a href="https://www.ffa.org/">ffa.org.</a>

National FFA elects new officer team

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reported another deadly strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

Hegseth wrote on social media, "As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their the poisoning of the American people stops."

":On Thursday. at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization."

"The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters. No U.S. forces were harmed in the strike, and three male narco-terrorists — who were aboard the vessel — were killed."

"To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you keep trafficking deadly drugs—we will kill you."

🎥US military kills 3 in new strike on drug-running boat

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a>

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pay roughly $9 billion for a full month of nutrition assistance benefits by the next day.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama, said the administration blew its chance to choose to pay only partial benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, when it failed to release funds by a Wednesday deadline.

He said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/defiant-trump-vows-no-snap-payments-until-democrats-cave-shutdown" target="_blank">a social media post</a>&nbsp;by President Donald Trump showed the president sought to use hunger for political leverage during the government shutdown, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-talks-continue-end-37-day-shutdown-final-deal-elusive" target="_blank">stretched into day 37</a>&nbsp;on Thursday.

Earlier, in a Friday oral order that he expanded in a Saturday written order, McConnell had said the government must either pay full benefits by Monday or partial benefits from a contingency fund by Wednesday.&nbsp;

The government did neither, he said Thursday.

The administration had argued it was impossible to pay the benefits, which go to 42 million Americans, within a few days, saying that the USDA had never calculated partial benefits and that coordinating new payments for SNAP, a federally funded program administered by the states, was difficult.&nbsp;

But McConnell said the department created the problem, in part by failing to prepare for it far earlier. USDA was obligated to spend from a contingency fund to ensure SNAP benefits flowed into November uninterrupted, he said.&nbsp;

“USDA did not do so,” he said. “Even when Nov. 1 came, USDA refused to use the congressionally mandated contingency funds. USDA cannot now cry that it cannot get timely payments to beneficiaries for weeks or months because states are not prepared to make partial payments.

“USDA arbitrarily and capriciously created this problem by ignoring the congressionally mandated contingency funds and failing to timely notify the states.”

McConnell also pointed to Trump’s post on Truth Social on Tuesday that indicated he would not authorize payments consistent with the judge’s order until Democrats agreed to his terms to end the government shutdown.

“The day before the compliance was ordered, the president stated his intent to defy the court order when he said, ‘SNAP payments will be given only when the government opens,’” McConnell said Thursday.

The USDA had said it would pay only partial November benefits from a contingency fund holding about $4.5 billion, rather than tap into other money at its disposal, including a $23 billion fund for child nutrition programs.

The coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations that sued to force the administration to pay SNAP benefits for November has argued the court should force USDA to pay full benefits for November.&nbsp;

In addition to the missed Wednesday deadline, the move violated a fundamental administrative law requiring federal agencies not to make arbitrary and capricious decisions, Kristin Bateman of the Democracy Forward Foundation, which is representing the groups, said Thursday.

The child nutrition program would not need its billions of dollars until June, she said, meaning that transferring funds for SNAP would only actually hurt the child nutrition program if the shutdown persists until then.

“A decision on such a highly unlikely set of events is not reasoned decision-making,” Bateman said. “It’s particularly unreasonable because the defendants have not explained why they would choose to let 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, go hungry now in order to guard against the extreme outside chance that come June, there won’t be enough money to fund child nutrition programs.”

McConnell agreed that invoking the child nutrition fund was “entirely pretextual,” which was demonstrated in part by Trump’s post and other statements by administration officials.

“The defendants’ stated desire to conserve funding for the child nutrition programs is entirely pretextual, given the numerous statements made in recent weeks by the president and his administration officials who admit to withholding full SNAP benefits for political reasons,” he said.

McConnell also noted that the case should be resolved as soon as possible to help provide food to hungry people or “needless suffering will occur.”

Tyler Becker, who argued on behalf of the USDA, said the department had done its part by making available to states a table showing how they should allocate partial November benefits for households of differing circumstances.

SNAP is a complex program, requiring coordination between the federal government and all 50 states, each of which has a different system for distributing benefits.

“The government did make the payments, is making the payments to the states,” he said. “That’s all the government does in the SNAP program.”

He added that the government had shown earlier in the case some of the administrative difficulties of paying partial benefits.

In a separate case in Massachusetts federal court, some states said they could process the benefits immediately, while others cannot.

But McConnell cut him off shortly after, saying the federal government was responsible for ensuring people got their SNAP benefits.

“The problem that the government identified needed to be resolved one way or the other by Wednesday,” he said. “And if it wasn’t resolved by Wednesday, then you had to make the full payments, because that’s the only way we could get money to people immediately and alleviate the irreparable harm, whether you could or couldn’t do anything about that.”

In a Sept. 30 contingency plan about how to proceed during a government shutdown, the USDA itself said it would pay for continuing benefits through the contingency fund, which at the time held $6 billion. The administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/usda-wont-shuffle-funds-extend-snap-during-shutdown-about-face-earlier-plan" target="_blank">later reversed that plan</a>&nbsp;and said it could not tap the contingency fund.

In the Massachusetts case, which was brought by 25 Democratic states and the District of Columbia, the states argued Thursday that confusion stemming from a miscalculation the USDA made in determining November partial benefits was a reason to force the administration to pay for a full month.

The hearing followed a late Wednesday night filing from the USDA correcting an error it made in calculating the amounts beneficiaries would receive under its plan for partial payments.&nbsp;

The department said it will reduce the largest monthly food assistance payments by about 35% in November, down from a 50% cut the department initially estimated.

USDA miscalculated how to adjust benefit payments for SNAP to account for a lack of full funding during the government shutdown, a department official said in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26218472-usdadocnov5/" target="_blank">a filing</a>&nbsp;to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island.&nbsp;

The formula the government initially used and sent to states Tuesday would have resulted in about a 50% cut to the maximum monthly benefits, and left some households without benefits.&nbsp;

SNAP pays benefits on a sliding scale depending on the size of a household, the household’s income and other expenses such as housing. By cutting the maximum benefit by one-half, the department would have spent about $3 billion from a SNAP contingency fund instead of the full $4.65 billion in the fund, which is what the court ordered it to spend.

The mixup created confusion for state administrators, the states in the Massachusetts litigation said.

“The fact they have been asked to suddenly shift on a dime yet again as a result of these entirely new tables, causing further chaos and delay, underscores that USDA’s approach here is untenable and unlawful,” the states wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mass.gov/doc/snap-reply-brief/download" target="_blank">a Thursday brief</a>.

The error was first reported to McConnell by the coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations that sued to force the government to pay SNAP benefits this month.&nbsp;

An analysis submitted by Sharon Parrott, a former White House budget officer who now leads the left-leaning think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, showed that the table the department submitted to the court and sent to states on Tuesday would fall short of the court’s order to spend the entire contingency fund.

The groups said the department’s error was another reason the court should compel the government to transfer funds to pay out full benefits for November.

“Defendants’ approach means that only around $3 billion—out of the $4.65 billion Defendants have said is available—will be spent on SNAP benefits in November, leaving more than $1.5 billion in contingency funds unspent,” they wrote in a Wednesday brief. “Defendants opted for partial (and delayed) SNAP payments, but even then, did not manage to do that correctly.”

The department said in its filing later Wednesday that it independently discovered its miscalculation and worked to fix it before Parrott’s declaration hit the court docket.

“Defendants realized this error and worked to issue new guidance and tables as soon as it was discovered, not in response to Plaintiffs’ notice filed earlier this evening,” USDA’s brief said.

Trump admin. ordered to pay full $9B in November SNAP benefits amid shutdown

State education commissioner lauds improvement but notes there is ‘work to do’

Missouri public schools showed continued improvement in annual performance reports released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Thursday, with 56% of districts and charter schools raising their scores.

The state is in its fourth year of the Missouri School Improvement Program 6, which education officials deem “more rigorous” than the previous iteration of the program. In 2022, the system’s pilot year, 112 school districts and charters scored lower than 70% — the score required to be fully accredited by the education department.

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