STRICTLY BUSINESS: JUST THE FACTS: MISSOURI FARM SURVEY STARTS THIS WEEK

Representatives of the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service will start calling on Missouri farmers this week to gather objective information about the health of the state's agricultural industry.

"The survey provides the first indications of the potential production of major commodities for 2001," said Lowell Mohler, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The state figures are provided to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Services.

Each new crop season brings speculation, said Mohler. The survey will reveal how many acres of corn and soybeans will be planted and how much livestock is on the farm. The answers to these and other questions help reduce uncertainty in the agricultural marketplace.

Producers rely on the data to reach valid production, marketing and investment decisions. Industry analysts, extension agents, and farm organizations use the information in a variety of ways that benefit farmers.

"Producers do not need to worry about providing information because we safeguard the confidentiality of all survey responses," said Missouri state statistician Gene Danekas.

Farmers will be contacted in person.

Worm woes subsiding

The army worm scourge in Southeast Missouri has started to subside.

"These pests have been reported eating everything from lawns to insulation," said Ray Nabors, of the University of Missouri Delta Center at Portageville. "There are pastures and lawns where bare soil is exposed because all of the vegetation was eaten by worms."

The army worm infestation should be a reminder about the potential for insect pest populations to get out control quickly, Nabors said. It is also a reminder that people need insecticides to protect their crops, gardens, animals and themselves.

Army worms came on like gangbusters earlier this month, as they were on the march across much of southern Missouri and Southern Illinois. This problem is unusual. The cold, dry weather favored the army worm, while killing its natural enemies.

Gerald Bryan, of the Jackson, Mo., extension office, said it looked like millions of them were crossing blacktops and paths. He said it was the worst he has seen.

The Missouri State Department of Agriculture secured an emergency-use label for Confirm 2F, a growth regulator that halts development of the worms, from the Environmental Protection Agency. The label is good for 15 days.

Army worms prefer fescue and other grass, then they move into wheat fields. It's unusual for them to move into cornfields, but there have been reports of that this year. In wheat, if they just eat the leaves, the heads can be harvested. But if they eat all of the leaves or start clipping heads, then the grain is lost.

Young army worms are small, about a half-inch in length and are light green. Full-grown worms are dull green to brown, with light and dark stripes running the length of the body, and reach 1.5 inches in length before turning into moths.

Some good news here

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce is introducing a program to help small business provide health insurance coverage to their employees.

According to a Missouri Chamber survey, one out of three small employers in Missouri can't afford to offer their employees health insurance. The Chamber plans to change that by introducing Missouri Chamber Care, a cost-management program that allows employers to stabilize health insurance costs by combining benefits of self-insurance and traditional health care coverage in one customized package.

Care stands for "customized approach for responsive employers."

The state chamber will take its program on the road next month, conducting informational meetings at seven sites, including Cape Girardeau June 13 at 9 a.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

"We're not that familiar with the plan yet," said John Mehner, of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. "We want to hear more about the plan. At this time, we're not offering any comments on it."

More information about Missouri Chamber Care and reservation for the Cape Girardeau meeting is available by calling Ann Kleffner, Missouri Chamber vice president of marketing, at (573) 634-3511, or by going to the state chamber's Web site at www.mochamber.org.

Heard on the street

* Two more restaurants are looking at locations in the Cape Girardeau area. More later.

* The Doll Maker is coming to downtown Cape Girardeau. More later.

* The River Explorer of RiverBarge Excursions will dock at Riverfront Park Tuesday if the rivers don't rise. The River Explorer will dock at about 6 a.m. and depart at 2 p.m. This is the first of seven stops here for the Explorer this summer and fall. The Explorer is the only hotel barge traveling America's inland waterways.

The Explorer will overnight here Friday, arriving about 6 p.m. Friday and leaving at 6 a.m. Saturday.

* Missouri's unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a point to 3.8 percent in April. Total employment increased by nearly 16,000 to more than 2.85 million jobs in April. Construction employment picked up, as it usually does in the spring, gaining 4,000 jobs from the previous month. Other industries experiencing gains included retail trade, amusement and recreation services and agricultural services.