News

Disagreements apparent over proposal for elected ag director

The Missouri Farm Bureau is against a proposed constitutional change that would shift the Missouri Director of Agriculture from a governor’s appointee to an elected position.  State legislative affairs director Ashley McDonald says Missouri’s 73 to 27 percent split between urban and rural voters is hard to overcome to elect someone who best represents farmers.

“If you look at all those facts, you can see that the risks of us having to fight the Humane Society of the United States again, and again and again just to have a secretary of agriculture that represents Missouri farmers and ranchers, we might lose that fight,” McDonald told Brownfield Ag News.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Jay Houghton, says he understands that argument, but says other more urban states manage to elect good directors.

“Florida has a 91.2 percent urban population versus 9 percent rural, and they continue to elect a good director of agriculture,” Houghton told Brownfield Ag News, “and Texas has an 84 percent urban/rural divide and they continue to elect good directors as well.”

Houghton adds that electing an agriculture director keeps that person beholden to the electorate.

“With an elected director of agriculture, he would be responsible to the people and not to the governor,” said Houghton.

Twelve other states elect directors of agriculture.

AUDIO: Ashley McDonald (2 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Rep. Jay Houghton (6 min. MP3)