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Missouri CAFO bill advances to House

The Missouri Senate passed SB 391 Thursday. Missouri Cattlemen’s Executive Vice President Mike Deering says the measure blocks county governments from regulating concentrated animal feeding operations – CAFOs – beyond what state regulators do.

“So making sure that at the end of the day, that there’s a consistent regulatory framework for farm and ranch families to follow,” Deering told Brownfield Ag News at the Capitol Thursday, “that ensures that the land and the environment and the water and everything else is protected.”

There’s no room for bad actors, Deering added, saying they should be put out of business, but he also adds that livestock enterprises should be encouraged. Deering cites University of Missouri economic analysis showing $30 billion is left on the table partly because Missouri exports 92 percent of its calves out of the state to be fed and finished.

“One of the top hinderances to growth that [the analysts] listed was county health ordinances and the regulatory uncertainty and the bureaucratic burdens that we put on farm and ranch families for absolutely no reason,” Deering said.

Opponents argued that the law takes local control from counties. Tim Gibbons of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center says the state should be standing up for Missouri’s nearly 100,000 family farms, not the roughly 500 CAFOs.

The vote sending the bill to the Missouri House was 23 to 11.

AUDIO: Mike Deering

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