Thousands of volunteers in Missouri are trying to get enough signatures to force a statewide vote on a congressional map, which state lawmakers recently gerrymandered to favor Republicans. But state officials aren't making it easy for them. Plus: U.S. farmers are experimenting with short corn. It's corn, but shorter!

Missouri lawmakers recently gerrymandered the state’s congressional map after President Donald Trump set off a nationwide redistricting battle to try to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms. Volunteers are spreading across Missouri to try to get enough signatures for a statewide referendum. KCUR’s Savannah-Hawley Bates reports.

Change might be on the horizon for the Midwest’s most iconic crop. The U.S. produces more than a third of the world’s corn, and most of that grain comes from a swath of the central U.S. called the corn belt. Harvest Public Media’s Kate Grumke reports some Midwestern farmers are planting a new variety of corn that might be an improvement over what’s in fields now.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

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