Issue Position: Growing Missouri to #1 Agricultural Economy in the Nation

Issue Position

Agriculture and Agribusiness are a natural strength for our state. While Missouri does not have a coast or oil fields, we do have fertile soil, navigable sections of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and access to railroads like Kansas City Southern that can take our goods to markets from Canada to Mexico. We also have some of the most talented and experienced farmers in the world and some of the most brilliant agricultural scientists in the world, many working within the Danforth Plant Science Corridor in the east of the state, the Animal Health Corridor in the west, and at cutting edge laboratories and research facilities at our state universities. Missouri's 99,000 farms and 28 million farmed acres of land are well positioned to lead the nation in producing the food needed to feed a growing world population--it's no wonder that Missouri has more farms than any other state in the union other than Texas and that Missouri is the third largest producer of cattle in the country. My dream is to make Missouri the #1 Agribusiness state in nation. We can do this by integrating Missouri's farms with its scientists, attracting Ag related business and building on the success we have had in developing plant science and animal health businesses and institutions in our state.

As Governor, I will work to make Missouri as friendly to agriculture and agribusiness as possible, and be a salesman for our state's most important economic sector. People everywhere need to learn about how Missouri farmers produce some of the best crops and livestock in the world. And companies everywhere need to know that, if they want to make an impact in the agribusiness world, Missouri is where they need to put down roots.

Action Plan:
*Relentlessly promote Missouri's farmers and agribusiness sector, to secure new markets for our products and encourage businesses to move to our state;

*Fight against President Obama and the EPA's proposed Waters of United States (WOTUS) regulation that is so broad that it even covers 98% of dry land all over our state, making it impossible for farmers to farm without worrying about the possibility of an arbitrary EPA attack on their rights;

*Fight against President Obama and the EPA's attempt to implement the so-called Clean Power Plan, which would act as a tax on hardworking Missourians by dramatically increasing the cost of electricity that they pay to light their homes;

*Cut down on state regulations and permitting processes that make farming or raising livestock more expensive than it needs to be;

*Rein in the trial lawyers by passing punitive damages caps on nuisance lawsuits to make sure that the
Right to Farm amendment that we passed is more than just a slogan or empty words;

*Fight against regulatory delays that prevent us from responsibly developing our state's natural resources;

*End the practice of using the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as an enforcement agency of the EPA.

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