MO Agricultural Committee says Not This Year

The Kansas City Star, January 19, 2006, reported that Missouri House and Senate agriculture committee leaders, Rep. Peter Myers and Sen. Dan Clemens, conducted a joint hearing Wednesday night, January 18, 2006, where they announced that they would not pursue a measure (called "Livestock Enterprise" legislation) that would have barred local governments from enacting restrictions beyond those of the state Department of Natural Resources. Key legislators want to wait at least another year before deciding whether counties should be allowed to place tighter restrictions on livestock feeding operations than those in place for the state.

In the meantime, Rep. Kathy Chinn and Rep. Peter Myers have asked the Food and Agriculture Policy Reserach Institute to provide documentation of economic and environmental opportunities of livestock and grain agriculture within each county of the state of Missouri. The Hannibal Courier Post, January 20, 2006.

Carla Klein, Chapter Director for the Sierra Club said, “This was truly a victory for the democratic process. Citizens put their elected officials on notice, the corporate lobbyists are not who they work for. Missouri communities come before the wishes of corporate donors.” The Joplin Independent, January 29, 2006.