Agriculture
Quick Summary:
- I will support programs to keep farm kids on the farms with loan and education incentives.
- We need to keep large corporations from buying up all our farm land and operations, so local people can continue to proved produce and food for Missourians and keep local citizens employed.
- We need to address the drought problems that have been an issue for the last few years to see how best we can help our agriculture industry.
- We need to help local farms and agriculture businesses remain profitable through innovative programs for wholesale and retail sales, raising livestock and produce, loan support and educational opportunities.
Details:
- The barrier to getting young people in into agriculture for the next generation continues to be primarily capital investment. Commodity leaders put their heads together to address specific scenarios to allow next-generation farmers to launch a profit and keep farming operations in the family.
This is an issue not only for Missouri, but also our entire nation, as many farmers and ranchers leave the lifestyle. Their children are moving off the land to take other jobs elsewhere because of the difficulty in the work load, long hours and ability to make a living. We must address this problem before it’s too late.
- One of the most important environmental, economic and social issues confronting agricultural communities is the future structure and practices of the livestock industry.
- The issue is whether livestock will be dispersed across the countryside on a variety of farms typified by local family ownership managing diversified farm operations, or produced in large, energy and capital-intensive confinement facilities that concentrate the animals and their wastes in vast quantities and concentrate economic power, wealth and control in the hands of a few absentee and foreign corporations.
More corporate farms are not the answer Missouri needs. We need family farms and ranches. We must help our farmers and ranchers increase their profit margins through innovative approaches and programs. We need to move from genetically modified products to higher revenue organic produce and products that are healthier for Missouri consumers.