SEDALIA, Mo. — When it comes to state fairs, the focus is usually on things such as greasy funnel cakes, exceptional barbecue, homemade apple butter, the large cow sculpted from butter, and of course, livestock.

But this year, at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, candidates for public office are making their cases to Missouri voters. Politics was showcased on Thursday for the annual Governor’s Ham Breakfast.

The breakfast — hosted by Gov. Jay Nixon — is billed as a nonpartisan event. All 10 candidates for statewide office were on hand to greet voters. On stage, Nixon was introduced by Jon Hagler, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, as “agriculture’s governor,” a label Nixon accepted in both his political and official capacities.



Drought

On the official side, Nixon has spent the past few weeks touring Missouri touting a state cost-share program to help farmers deal with this year’s crippling drought. At the state fair, he highlighted his administration’s attention to the issue.

Nixon talked about his administration’s approval of more than 4,600 applications for assistance in securing water, whether it be drilling a new well or installing new piping to tap into city water supplies.

The drought — one of the worst in nearly a century — hit Southwest Missouri hard this summer. Just last week, the U.S. Drought Monitor, in a report released by the National Climatic Data Center, reported that much of Southwest and western Missouri are experiencing an “exceptional” drought.

Nixon’s Republican rival, former St. Louis businessman Dave Spence, criticized Nixon’s approach during a campaign stop in Joplin on Wednesday.

“If we do go out with a drought relief program, we’ll go out with something that actually works, not this one that the governor has concocted,” Spence said. “It looks like politics to me.”

Nixon, speaking to reporters at the state fair, said he believes the state “responded aggressively,” noting that “the projects that they approved are being built.”

Last week, Nixon visited a dairy farm owned by Darren and Pam Wilson in Seneca. The family, standing with Nixon in front of a drilling rig, praised the program, which also has been lauded by agriculture groups across the state.



Senate race

In the state’s important U.S. Senate contest, where Democrat Claire McCaskill is defending her seat and fighting for a Democratic majority in the Senate, the focus of the conversation was also on agriculture issues. McCaskill embarked on a 20-stop tour this week, which landed her at the state fair.

While McCaskill glad-handed with supporters, her newly crowned Republican rival, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R.Mo., defended his opposition to the federal farm bill. During his 12 years in congress, Akin has never supported a farm bill, which includes funding for such things as crop insurance, drought assistance, food assistance and even school lunches.

Akin suggested the nutritional assistance programs — such as food stamps and school lunches — be separated from programs that pertain directly to farms.

“They’re separate things and each should set on its own base logically,” he said in an interview. “If you do, you’ll end up with two better bills than when you smash them together.”

Akin also said he opposes federal involvement in school lunches and favors letting states handle the program.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 646,000 Missouri students take advantage of the $11 billion school lunch program. Akin was one of four lawmakers to vote against legislation reauthorizing the school lunch program in 2004, and one of only a handful to oppose it in 2010. Similar legislation passed the U.S. Senate unanimously in 2010.

McCaskill, who denounces Akin as “extreme,” said she was vehemently opposed to revoking federal funding for school lunches.

“The notion that the federal government should stop giving support to help feed children is a nonstarter with me,” she said. “It is not like our schools are sitting on piles of cash right now.”

McCaskill and Nixon, both Democrats in a state turning increasingly Republican, are mindful of the importance of rural Missouri to their campaigns. The two have spent significant time campaigning in rural parts of the state, including visits to Southwest Missouri.

The strategy, which helped Nixon in 2008 and McCaskill in 2006, is clear: Every vote a Democrat wins in Southwest Missouri or other Republican strongholds is a vote a Republican doesn’t have, which chips away at the Republican potential for statewide margins that offset the Democrat-leaning population centers of St. Louis and Kansas City.

Nixon has received the endorsement of the Missouri Corn Growers Association and the Missouri Soybean Association this year — the first time either group endorsed a Democrat for governor.

The Missouri Farm Bureau, an influential agricultural stakeholders group, endorsed Akin and Spence earlier this month.