FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2007

CONTACT: Becky Grisham, Missouri Corn Growers Association, (573) 893-4181 or (800) 827-4181

FAMILY FARMERS TESTIFY TO KEEP AGRICULTURE IN MISSOURI

Charles Krueger is worried about the future of his family farming operation. He wants to expand his Clark County farm, but a potential county restriction is preventing him from doing this.

Krueger is a family farmer, and he says restrictive county regulations affect his way of life. Recently, he decided to take an off-farm job instead of expanding his swine operation.

"One of the biggest losses I have felt since taking a job in town instead of raising more hogs is the lack of time being spent with family," Krueger, a board member of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, wrote in a statement to Missouri’s legislature.

Supporters of agriculture, family farmers and bringing youth back to the farm made their way to Jefferson City on Wednesday, February 28, to testify at the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee hearing for the Missouri Farm and Food Preservation Act. This legislation serves to defend basic farm-related practices and the right of a farmer of any size operation to conduct business necessary for the viability of the operation so long as it is performed in an authorized manner, without fear of litigation.

Among those present were members of the Missouri Farm and Food Preservation Coalition, which consists of the following farm organizations: Missouri Farm Bureau Federation, Missouri Corn Growers Association, Missouri Soybean Association, Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, Missouri Pork Association, Missouri Dairy Association, MFA Incorporated, Missouri Agribusiness Association, Missouri Egg Council, Missouri Poultry Federation, FCS Financial, Progressive Farm Credit, Macon County Ag Alliance, Friends of Agriculture in Marion County, Missouri Forest Products Association, Missouri Council for Burley Tobacco, Missouri Sheep Producers, and Missouri Equine Council.

One of the coalition’s members, FCS Financial, specializes in agricultural lending, and states that overly restrictive county regulations could hurt the young beginning farmer who wants to return to the farm. According to Daryl Oldvader, FCS Financial CEO, lenders often use state and federal guarantee programs to provide cost-effective financing to the producer with reduced risks to the lending institution.

"The use of these programs is particularly designed to enable young, beginning, or small farmers to enter into production agriculture," Oldvader wrote in a letter to the Senate ag committee. "Enacting potentially 114 different county regulations, which supersede any state or federal regulations or laws, will undoubtedly redirect guaranteed funds away from agriculture to the benefit of other state and federal non-farm programs."

The agriculture organizations who are part of the coalition strongly believe overly strict county regulations could lead to the elimination of agriculture from the state of Missouri, hurting every type of farmer in the state, not just a chosen few.

"Agriculture is an integral part of our daily lives," said Charlie Kruse, Missouri Farm Bureau president. "As consumers, we have become accustomed to a safe and affordable food supply. It has become necessary to seek legislative changes that further protect modern agricultural practices and the increasing interaction between producers and the public. Our future food supply depends on it."