The United States Department of Agriculture provides sustainable agriculture grants so local farmers can find more cost effective and environmentally sound ways to grow their crops. Ashland farmer Diane La Mar used her grant to buy solar panels to pump pond water, eliminating the use of county water. Starting this year, the grants can pay for education.

"There's going to be a segment of money in the pot that's actually going to go towards the youth," said Debi Kelly of the MU Agriculture Engineering department. "So if there are some younger folks out there, some high school kids, who are actually doing some different things in the area of agriculture, and they are looking for grants, these grants would be eligible for them as well."

So far, Missouri farmers have reaped about $500,000 of the grant money, which totals $5 million to be shared among 12 states.