Donation of customized cartons will benefit the food bank’s “Food 4 Kids” backpack program for chronically hungry children.

Livestock producers affected by natural disasters need to keep thorough records of their livestock and feed losses.

Hurricane Isaac could offer enough moisture to to germinate and grow emergency fall grains such as oats, rye or wheat in the southeast and as far north as Missouri.

CWT has accepted 14 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America and Foremost Farms.

The denial “has removed all hope for a lot of people,” dairy producer says.

Thunder clapped and rain fell just before Bionce, Sassy and the rest of Mark Argall’s prize-winning dairy herd went up for auction.Had the storm come a few weeks earlier, and if the drought had eased, it might have saved the cows -- some of which were named with a bit of poetic license (“You can spell names however you want,” he said) for pop-culture divas and celebrities.As it was, however, Argall’s pasture was so dry that his cattle had nothing to eat, and the farmer was losing $75 a day just trying to feed them.Five generations of his family have milked dairy cows in this secluded stretch of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, but the inch or so of rain that fell on this recent Thursday was too little, too late. Argall -- a 54-year-old with a wiry, broomstick mustache -- had no choice but to sell nearly all of his cows at a livestock auction.