Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 5

MISSOURI
RURAL
Volume 76 | OCTOBER 2023 | Number 10
EDITORIAL STAFF:
Sara Schafer, editor
sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop
Jim McCarty, editor emeritus
jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
Paul Newton, managing editor
pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop
Megan Backes, creative director
mbackes@ruralmissouri.coop
Angie Jones-Wheeler, associate editor
ajones@ruralmissouri.coop
Mike Sutherland, VP communications
msutherland@amec.coop
ADVERTISING:
Mary Davis, production manager
mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop
CONTACT:
Rural Missouri
2722 E. McCarty St., Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-659-3423 info@ruralmissouri.coop
ostmasters end address changes to Rural Missouri,
 . carty t. efferson ity 
. ubscribers eport change of address to
your local cooperative. o not send change of address
to Rural Missouri.
dvertising standards dvertising published in
Rural Missouri is accepted on the premise that
the merchandise and services offered are accurately
described and sold to customers at the advertised
price. Rural Missouri and issouri's electric
cooperatives do not endorse any products or
services advertised herein. dvertising that does
not conform to these standards or that is deceptive
or misleading is never knoingly accepted by
this publication. he acceptance of all advertising
shall be in the sole discretion of the editor.
Rural Missouri  -  
is published monthly by the ssociation
of issouri lectric ooperatives  .
carty treet efferson ity   aleb
ones eecutive vice president. ndividual
subscription rate: $12 per year or $25 for three
years taes and postage included. roup rate for
members of participating s . plus taes
and postage paid from euity accruing to the
member. elivery as specified by subscriber. f not
specified delivery ill be by periodical class mail
at subscriber's epense. eriodical lass postage
paid at efferson ity  and additional mailing
offices. opyright  ssociation of issouri
lectric ooperatives. all for reprint rights.
T
RM | PERSPECTIVES
Empty fields and blackouts
photo courtesy California Democrat
In the early 2000s, the Jones brothers were back-to-back hay hauling
champions at the local county fair. After I won, my brother Clayton (in the
white T-shirt) felt obligated to try to outdo me.
by Caleb Jones | cjones@amec.coop
here is nothing more stressful
to a farmer than a field
of suare hay bales all lined
up in ros ith dark storm
clouds in the sky. roing up 
spent many hours chasing square
balers through fields and all too
often spent hat felt like days suirreled
aay in some loft shoving hay
bales in beteen rafters.
t takes a certain skill set not usually
taught in schools to load that
truck bed full of hay so you don't have
to come back ith another trailer.
ach bale had a very specific place
it had to go in the truck bed to make
sure you eren't reloading it halfay
home. or my brother and  this as a
science. t one point the ones brothers
ere back-to-back hay hauling
champions at the local fair.
his year the drought in many
Circulation of this issue: 584,339
areas caused a hay shortage. mpty
barns forced folks to ship in hay
from other counties and states. ll
too often the talk around the local
coffee shops as focused on important
uestions o  have enough hay
to feed through inter re there
enough hay fields for everyone
imilar discussions are going on
ith the electric grid. cross the
country we are seeing utilities shutting
don coal and gas plants and
building solar farms. his looks like a
great opportunity but hat happens
hen the sun isn't shining
he anser is scary. tilities all
around us are sending out arnings
to their customers preparing them
for blackouts. ust last eek a friend
told me his electric company shut
off his air conditioner for a couple of
hours in the middle of the day e
can talk about ho a utility shuts off
air conditioners later. We live in the
greatest country in the orld  ho
did e get to a place here poer for
some can't be taken for granted
The right explanation is often the
simplest. We have more cos than
ever but are getting rid of hay fields
expecting someone else to supply us
ith hay. ikeise hy ould large
parts of the nation shut don reliable
generators and hope someone else
can help them through crisis times
he good nes is issouri's electric
cooperatives kno hy electricity
is vital. ather than shutting don
poer plants and replacing them ith
something that only orks hen it's
sunny e are building to ne gas
generation plants to provide you our
member-oners reliable electricity.
ood farmers do hatever it takes
to make sure their cos eat. ikeise
your local electric cooperative is doing
everything it takes to make sure you
have the electricity you need  on
sunny and cloudy days.
Caleb is the executive vice president
and CEO of the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives and a member of
Boone Electric Cooperative.
OCTOBER 2023 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 5

https://www.facebook.com/RuralMissouri/ http://www.instagram.com/RuralMissouri http://www.youtube.com/RuralMOMag http://www.pinterest.com/RuralMissouri http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Rural Missouri - October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - October 2023