Missouri’s five gubernatorial candidates will participate in a forum this afternoon during Missouri Farm Bureau’s annual meeting at Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks. The event is for Farm Bureau members attending that meeting but will be streamed live at Missourinet.com and BrownfieldAgNews.com.
Missouri’s 2016 candidates for governor: Chris Koster (D), Catherine Hanaway (R), Peter Kinder (R), Eric Greitens (R), and John Brunner (R)
The Republican candidates, former Missouri House Speaker and U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, businessman and former Marine John Brunner, and former Navy SEAL and author Eric Greitens, have participated in several forums in recent weeks. This will be the first event to also include Attorney General Chris Koster, the lone Democrat in the race.
This page is where you can find that live stream today at 3.
The candidates will address the audience once at a time, making individual comments and answering questions about issues important to agriculture and rural Missouri.
All the candidates told Missourinet a key issue for agriculture is regulation by EPA, and attempts by non-government groups to change how farmers operate.
“For agriculture, we need to work to reign in the EPA’s assault on production and help develop a DNR that wishes to help people, not stall growth,” said Lieutenant Governor Kinder.
Hanaway said the Humane Society of the United States and trial attorneys also need to be kept, “out of Missouri farmers’ barns and fields. As Governor, I will order the Department of Natural Resources to not comply with EPA regulations that infringe on Missouri farmers and will support legislation to cap punitive damages against farmers.”
Greitens told Missourinet, “The Obama administration, the EPA, and the USDA think without a bureaucrat on our farms, we’ll ruin our land, kill our livestock, and destroy our crops. The animal rights activists like HSUSA and PETA want to target our way of life in Missouri.”
Brunner’s campaign said EPA policies on water, dust, and other regulations, “could require farmers undergo expensive and intrusive environmental assessments just to continue operation. Some regulation required permits could cost more than $60,000 and would threaten the livelihood of virtually all small farmers in Missouri.”
Koster, the only Democrat speaking to what is considered a mostly conservative voting body in Farm Bureau, will continue to tout his efforts while Attorney General regarding EPA restrictions. “Whether it was his aggressive campaigning on behalf of the right-to-farm ballot initiative or taking action against federal overreach by the EPA, he has a long record of standing up for Missouri’s farmers,” his campaign said.
The candidates also cited the importance of agriculture in Missouri’s economy and promoting that globally.
“I will sell Missouri as the number one agribusiness state in the nation to businesses and job creators,” said Hanaway.
“Agriculture is Missouri’s largest industry, and its product is the finest to come from anywhere on the planet. As Governor, I will be proud to tout that at every opportunity,” Kinder told Missourinet.
Greitens said, “Our farmers feed our state and the world. When you’re talking about farmers and ranchers, you’re talking about families. When you’re talking about agribusiness, you’re talking about technology that has allowed us to feed more people at a lower cost than ever before.”
Koster’s campaign said the state can continue to promote growth in its number one industry. “This includes expanding the capacity for cattle finishing in the state and infrastructure improvements to get goods to market more efficiently.”
Brunner’s campaign said, “Farming is a way of life in Missouri, representing a $9 billion a year industry and providing the livelihood for more than 300,000 hardworking Missourians.”
