News

State Ag Dept. funding among Mo. Farm Bureau priorities

Missouri Farm Bureau legislative priorities include funding the state’s agriculture department. Farm Bureau Members heard from legislators and the Missouri Director of Agriculture about a proposal to do that.

Missouri House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Hannah Kelly (R – Mountain Grove) tells Brownfield it’s important that the Missouri Department of Agriculture is adequately funded. She says a measure raising fees charged by the department is the right way to do that.

“I would rather raise the fee on that one permit, than raise the fee on the income that comes off the crop that we gave the permit for,” Kelly told Brownfield Ag News Thursday, “because that’s still taking less taxpayer dollars at the end of the day, and that’s always what we should be about.”

Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn reinforced that. She tells Brownfield difficult decisions will have to be made if a current bill setting department fees fails.

“What can we continue to do in the state of Missouri on the funds that we have available and what are we going to have to release back to the federal government to come in and do for us,” said Chinn.

That bill has passed out of committee and is about a week away from floor debate.

Chinn and Kelly talked to Brownfield Ag News following addresses at the Missouri Farm Bureau Legislative Day.