The two leading candidates for US Senate agree the Freedom to Farm Act is flawed, but they disagree on how to fix it. Democrat Mel Carnahan wants a safety net. Republican incumbent John Ashcroft wants to further remove restrictions.Both outlined their thoughts to the Missouri Farm Bureau political action committee meeting in Jefferson City. Carnahan calls for measures such as increased marketing loan assistance and compares Ashcroft’s approach to the approach Herbert Hoover used in the Great Depression. Ashcroft claims the act has never been allowed to reach its potential with market interference at home and closed markets abroad. Ashcroft also decries bureaucratic interference in farm decisions and high inheritance and capital gains taxes as hurting Freedom to Farm’s effectiveness.
