News
Missouri’s amendment one nears vote
The debate continues about Missouri’s Amendment One ballot issue to be voted on Tuesday. The Missouri Farming Rights Amendment protects a Missourian’s right to farm. A group called Missouri’s Food for America opposes the amendment, saying the language is vague and could result in greater foreign ownership of Missouri farmland, which is currently limited by statute. The group’s treasurer, Wes Shoemyer cites a Chinese company’s purchase of pork producer Smithfield Foods, which has hog farms in Missouri.
“My real fear is that they’ll petition and say, ‘the constitution trumps all, we don’t care about your statutory limitations on us; we’re going to go with our constitutional challenge as a farmer and not be limited by their state statutes,” Shoemyer told Brownfield Ag News, “thereby paving the way for them to own as much land as they certainly would want to in the state.”
Not so, says Mike Deering, Executive Director of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, part of the coalition called Missouri Farmers Care, which favors passage of the amendment.
“The Missouri Constitution doesn’t protect people in Indiana, people in Nebraska, people in Ohio or people in China, for that matter; it has nothing to do with anybody outside the state of Missouri,” said Deering. “It’s for Missouri citizens and it’s for Missouri farmers and ranchers.”
Supporters say the amendment is needed to enshrine producers’ rights to engage in farming practices. The vote is Tuesday.
Add Comment