The Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee chairman is praising Governor Eric Greitens (R) for releasing the $4 million budget restriction on biodiesel.

About 100 Missouri soybean and corn growers attended Governor Eric Greitens’ biodiesel announcement on May 17, 2018 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Christine Tew at the Missouri Soybean Association)

State Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, says this highlights the importance of value-added agriculture.

“This is just one great example of what we can do here in Missouri, and that’s add value to our agricultural crops,” Munzlinger says. “Our agricultural industry, you know, is the largest we have in the state.”

The state Department of Agriculture released a detailed report in January 2017, which notes that ag is an $88 billion industry in Missouri.

That 2017 report says Missouri agriculture employs nearly 400,000 people statewide.

Chairman Munzlinger tells Missourinet the governor’s announcement is big for his sprawling northeast Missouri district.

“Whether you actually deliver to a crush plant to get the biodiesel out of the soybeans, you still benefit from the price of soybeans and if you’re a livestock feeder, you benefit from all of the meal that’s coming out of that plant,” says Munzlinger.

Munzlinger represents 14 counties in the Senate.

Governor Greitens says Missouri produces about 200 million gallons of biodiesel, in eight production facilities.

Missouri and Texas are the second-largest biodiesel producers in the nation, behind Iowa.

Munzlinger says row crop and livestock go hand-in-hand.

“The livestock industry couldn’t function without the grains, and really without the livestock industry the grain crop industry wouldn’t function either,” Munzlinger says.

About 100 Missouri soybean and corn growers traveled to Jefferson City last week for Greitens’ announcement.

The governor says biodiesel has supported about 2,500 Missouri jobs, since 2007.

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, which was recorded on May 17, 2018 in Jefferson City:

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