Voices: Corporate farms

March 16, 2007 11:31 am

— Thank you for reporting so diligently on the environmental impact of corporate farms.
As a life-long resident of Southwest Missouri it angers me that the corporate farm lobby has won over so many of our representatives in Jefferson City.
It angers me more that these bills that favor confined animal feeding operations are being passed straight down the Republican party lines.
Legislation abolishing existing county laws (Senate Bill 364 sponsored by Chris Koster of Independence) regulating CAFOs and replacing them with a statewide standard is prompting a showdown between the bill’s sponsor and a rural Democratic state senator. State Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, said recently he would “probably” filibuster state Sen. Chris Koster’s bill that replaces county ordinances with a statewide standard. The legislation passed out of committee last week by a 6-2 margin. Every Republican — along with state Sen. Frank Barnitz, D-Lake Spring — voted to pass the bill. Shoemyer and Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, voted against it.
“It’s not about” concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. “That bill’s about fundamental belief of whether you believe government is best for the people that you serve or that you would take over and rule from above,” Shoemyer said last week.
In his State of the State speech, Governor Blunt urged the legislature to pass SB 364, deceivingly spun as the “Missouri Farm and Food Preservation Act,” which in reality would end local governments’ authority to protect the health and well-being of citizens.

Brad Hoover
Joplin