JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (WGEM) – As Washington, D.C. continues to debate several impactful pieces of agricultural legislation, farmers are turning their attention to politicians ahead of the election.
Agriculture is Missouri’s biggest industry, and the farm vote is important to candidates vying for the state’s approval. There are two pieces of policy Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins said farmers are watching this election cycle: the Green New Deal and the Farm Bill. Benefits from the Farm Bill will run out at the end of this year if action isn’t taken soon.
“We look for candidates that truly support comprehensive energy policy, a policy that does not put our country at risk, that does not put all of our eggs in one basket,” Hawkins said.
The Farm Bureau and several other state agriculture organizations have endorsed Republican Josh Hawley for U.S. Senate. He rallied at a Jefferson City farm Thursday.
“We’ve got to protect and strengthen the safety net programs, the crop insurance programs and others in that bill. So, it’s vital. It’s absolutely vital,” Hawley said. “And I think the foot dragging that has happened is ridiculous for going on two years now, but we should pass it immediately.”
Democratic candidate Lucas Kunce’s stance on energy policy is very different from what the Missouri Farm Bureau was looking for, but he was recently endorsed by a different agricultural organization: the National Farmers Union.
“I think it’s absolutely critical to invest in the next generation of energy,” Kunce said. “You know, that’s alternative fuels, it’s hydrogen, it’s nuclear, it’s wind, it’s solar, it’s all of those things that come together and make us energy independent.”
With over 100,000 farms in the state, the senator chosen to represent Missouri will speak for farmers in Washington, D.C.
“We are truly in the cross hairs, because we are at the cross section of the country, and folks want to use us as the pass through territory for the Green New Deal,” Hawkins said.
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