Opinion

Voters should say yes to Missouri farming amendment

Friday, June 13, 2014

Take a moment and ask yourself who the last person in your family to farm was. Was it Dad? Grandpa? Great-grandpa? How many generations has it been? While the vast majority of the population today is not involved in agriculture, we all depend on it for basic needs.

On August 5, Missouri voters will have the opportunity to vote for Constitutional Amendment #1. In its simplest form, Amendment #1 will be a tool among several that will help ensure all farmers in Missouri -- northern or southern, large or small, conventional or organic, row crop or animal production, or any combination of these -- have the ability make the best decisions for their farm based on the situations and challenges they face. It will help ensure they can use legal methods and technologies to grow and raise food, their businesses and their families, and give them recourse should they be challenged. With rights come responsibilities, and nothing in Amendment #1 will protect bad actors.

When you look at those who support the amendment, you will see farm organizations made up of members who are family farmers. You will find Missouri farmers who own large farms and small farms, who farm their land in different ways.

With ambitious plans, organizations and interest groups have come into Missouri to change the way farmers do things, without fundamental knowledge of the unique set of circumstances that exist on every farm. They use broad strokes, deep pockets and emotion, not necessarily science or experience, to influence those in the state who do not have firsthand knowledge of Missouri's farms. They create fear in consumers and then use that fear to further their agendas through various avenues, including the political and legal process.

The challenges farmers and ranchers face in the plains of southeast Missouri vary greatly from those faced by the ranchers and farmers of southwest Missouri where the Ozark Plateau sits. While the climate is similar, the terrain and soil are vastly different. Compare those two regions to northern Missouri, where farmers face a different set of challenges. Mid-Missouri, caught between these regions, might have a bit of both depending on where you are on the east-west continuum. These challenges are only the physical land characteristics. Add in financial capabilities, labor needs and any number of business variables and you begin to recognize the unique dynamic that exists on each farm. So, naturally, farmers are concerned with farming methods, with the ability to use technology in a way that benefits both farms and consumers.

Opponents to the amendment would have you believe there is a hidden agenda, driven by foreign entities and large corporations, which is interesting, given that one of their main supporters is a large national activist group, the Humane Society of the United States. But this time we're not talking about puppies, we're talking about Missouri's number one industry and economic driver, and the choices you have when you go to the grocery store.

Farmers are the "boots on the ground" when it comes to this issue. They are on the front lines. They know what works and what doesn't. They are the solvers of the challenges faced in feeding and clothing all of us, today, tomorrow and 50 years from now. And they're asking you to say "yes" On Amendment #1 on August 5th.