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Parson’s tractor ride kicks off FFA week

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National Future Farmers of America Week celebrations are being held across the country, including in Missouri. Governor Mike Parson, a Republican and farmer from southwest Missouri’s Bolivar, found a special way to kick off the week.
On Tuesday, Parson rode a John Deere tractor between the governor’s mansion and the state Capitol in Jefferson City to celebrate Missouri FFA.

“Well, you know, every day you’re on a tractor is a good day for me. I enjoy it. I was on one this weekend but it wasn’t near as nice as this one,” Parson said.

Alongside the governor in that tractor was Missouri FFA president Paxton Dahmer of southwest Missouri’s Nevada.

“It was remarkable – definitely a once in a lifetime experience and awesome for FFA members to see what it’s like to have a farmer in the governor’s mansion,” said Dahmer.

Governor Parson and Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn presented Dahmer with a proclamation, in the Captiol Rotunda, recognizing Missouri FFA during National FFA Week this week.

Parson, a cow-calf producer who continues to work his farm, has advice to young people involved in agriculture – the number one industry in the state.

“Learn as much as you can. Understand where the future of agriculture’s going, through science, through math, through technology,” said Parson. “All of those things are going to play a huge role in how we produce and how we meet the demands of the future. So, if there’s a young kid I’ll be talking out here it’s just tell them how important that role is and remember where they came from. Remember where those roots started.”

The National FFA was first organized in Kansas City in 1928 and is now more than 669,000 members strong. Missouri has 27,104 FFA members.

By Julie Harker of Brownfield Ag News for America

Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus focusing on inclusion and maternal mortality rates

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(UPDATE from reporter Brian Hauswirth: the story has been updated to clarify Representative Pierson’s comments about the testimony before the House Budget Committee)

Members of Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus highlighted accomplishments on Monday at the Capitol in Jefferson City, but they also outlined challenges and key issues they’re focusing on in 2019.

Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, briefs Capitol reporters on February 18, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

State Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, and other members of the caucus briefed the Capitol Press Corps during a Statehouse news conference about Black History Month.

Roberts, who chairs the caucus, tells Missourinet there are currently a record 23 members of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus. All are Democrats, except for State Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin.

Roberts also notes that Black Caucus members hold five of the seven House Democratic leadership positions. He also tells Missourinet that the Black Caucus has monthly meetings with House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield.

A leading Missouri House Democrat wants to see Governor Mike Parson (R) appoint more African-Americans to top state department and agency positions. State Rep. Tommie Pierson Jr., D-St. Louis, the House Minority Caucus Chair, tells reporters that none of the statewide elected officials are African-American.

“And the number that I’ve been trying to keep a tally of is how many African-Americans have presented (during House Budget Committee hearings) this $28 billion Missouri budget, and that number is zero,” Pierson says.

Pierson is referring to testimony before the House Budget Committee.

There is an African-American in a Cabinet position. Chlora Lindley-Myers is the director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration. She’s been in that position since March 2017. She testified this month before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Missouri House Minority Caucus Chair Tommie Pierson Jr., D-St. Louis, briefs Capitol reporters on February 18, 2019 (photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

Pierson says Missouri has a problem with diversity and inclusion, and says he hopes to have a conversation with the governor about the issue.

As for Representative Dogan, he spoke about the importance of criminal justice reform. He’s filed legislation that would require law enforcement agencies to adopt a written investigation policy for officer-involved deaths.

Meantime, a Missouri House committee plans a Tuesday morning hearing on legislation aimed at preventing maternal mortality. During Monday’s news conference, State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, told reporters that African-American mothers in Missouri have a mortality rate twice that of the general population.

“Black women have a high maternal mortality rate in Missouri of 65 deaths per 100,000 live births,” says Bosley.

The Missouri House Children and Families Committee will hear testimony Tuesday on a bill from State Rep. Sarah Unsicker, D-Shrewsbury, to establish the “Healthy Mothers Initiative.”

Unsicker will present House Bill 664, which would create a committee of doctors, nurses and other professionals to study maternal mortality and recommend solutions.

Unsicker says a woman giving birth today is more likely to die in childbirth than her mother was. She told Missourinet earlier this month that “the crisis in worse in St. Louis and in the Bootheel.”

Lawmakers also discussed successes during Monday’s news conference.

A freshman lawmaker from St. Louis County has learned that he is the youngest African-American male to ever be elected to the Missouri House.

25-year-old State Rep. Kevin Windham, D-Hillsdale, spoke to reporters.

“It’s come to my attention that I am the youngest black man to be elected to serve in the Missouri House of Representatives, edging out Representative Walter Lay by just nine days,” Windham says.

State Rep. Walter Victor Lay, D-St. Louis, was elected to the Missouri House in 1948. Lay served in the military for almost three years and also founded the St. Louis Central Democratic organization’s youth division.

Other lawmakers mentioned George Washington Carver, who was born in southwest Missouri’s Diamond in about 1864.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Chinn: Cold weather is a challenge for Missouri cattlemen and calves

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Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn says the cold weather has been a danger to new-born calves and other livestock. She says it’s common for farmers to take extraordinary measures to see that calves are kept as comfortable as possible.

Chris Chinn

“I’ve seen many pictures on social media here in the last two weeks of farmers bringing those new-born calves into their houses and into their bathtubs,” Chinn tells Brownfield Ag News.

Some cattlemen who are calving now find it especially hard if they don’t have barns or other livestock shelters, says Chinn.

“They have to use their hay that they’re hoping to use for feed to lay out for bedding for them to try and help keep them warm and give them a comfortable place,” she says. “So, it’s a huge challenge.”

The other challenge, according to Chinn, is driving on ice-covered roads to get feed to livestock.

By Tom Steever of Brownfield Ag News for America

Nikodim: The future is bright for Missouri’s pork industry (AUDIO)

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The longtime Missouri Pork Association (MPA) leader says things are good in the pork industry. MPA Executive Vice President Don Nikodim spoke to Missourinet at this week’s Pork Expo in Columbia.

The Pork Place restaurant at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia (2017 file photo courtesy of the Missouri Pork Association)

He says the future is bright for Missouri’s pork industry.

“We’re in a growth mode, we’ve been adding a considerable number of sows to the Missouri herd and we have several underway right now,” Nikodim says. “Market prices aren’t as good as we’d like them.”

Nikodim is optimistic trade deals with Mexico and China will come to fruition, saying it would help bolster their markets considerably.

More than 800 people attended Tuesday’s Pork Expo lunch, and Nikodim says they had record attendance at the dinner and breakfast. He says the trade show sold out early this year.

Nikodim also notes more than 200 Missouri youth are involved in a show pig program. A Missourinet reporter interviewing Nikodim at the Expo saw several high school students wearing FFA jackets.

Hundreds of pork producers from across Missouri heard directly from Governor Mike Parson (R) at this week’s dinner banquet. Nikodim praises the governor.

“Great guy, I mean we supported Mike ever since he first ran for the (Missouri) House (in 2004),” says Nikodim. “I mean he’s just a down-to-earth solid kind of guy, and just proud to have somebody like that in the governor’s chair.”

Governor Parson still owns and operates a cow and calf operation near southwest Missouri’s Bolivar. Nikodim also notes Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe farms. Kehoe has a family farm in Phelps County, near I-44.

Meantime, the winter weather has been impacting Missouri’s pork producers. Nikodim notes pork producers dealt with last summer’s drought, and have been dealing with snow and ice in many parts of the state.

“They deal with weather, that’s part of the reality of being in the business,” Nikodim says. “We went from dry summer to wet fall, so it’s a challenge but it’s something these guys, they’re good at,” Nikodim says.

Nikodim has noted that the pork industry contributes $1 billion annually to the state’s economy. Governor Parson says Missouri pork producers raise more than 3.4 million hogs in the state.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Pork Association (MPA) Executive Vice President Don Nikodim, which was recorded on February 12, 2019 at Columbia’s Holiday Inn Executive Center:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri agriculture groups back Rone bill to increase MDA fees

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(Audio is courtesy of Brownfield reporter Tom Steever)

Legislation to increase fees for several programs and licenses within the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) plant industries division is scheduled to be voted on by a House committee on Wednesday in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Don Rone (R) speaks on the Missouri House floor in March 2018 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

MDA legislative liaison Emily LeRoy testifies the fees the department charges for some services are not enough to sustain its finances.

“We project the plant industries ag protection fund will be unable to cash-flow its needs by fiscal year 2020, unless additional revenue is generated to cover costs,” LeRoy says.

Missouri pesticide registration fees have remained the same since 2010, and MDA’s fees for grain elevator inspections have stayed the same since 1992.

MDA’s plant industries division registers pesticides and works to prevent the spread of plant diseases.

House Agriculture Policy Committee Chairman Don Rone, R-Portageville, is sponsoring the legislation to increase some MDA fees.

MDA Director Chris Chinn tells Brownfield the extra revenue is needed for the department to maintain its services.

“As technology continues to change, the department needs to be able to keep up with it,” says Chinn. “So having some more funding in the department that will allow us to buy new software that’s more user-friendly for the end user is very important to us.”

A bipartisan Missouri legislative committee was created last year to examine the agency’s funding levels. MDA testified in September that its plant industries division was “in dire need” of better computer software to track inspections, investigations and enforcement work.

Rone’s bill also requires MDA to convene a working group every five years to review all fees charged by the department, and to submit a report to the Legislature on any recommended changes to fees.

Rone’s bill also says that every pesticide distributed or sold in Missouri must be registered with MDA and pay an annual fee for product registered. Chinn would be allowed to deposit up to seven percent of the fee into a pesticide education fund, under Rone’s bill.

That funding would be used for pesticide education programs and pesticide waste disposal programs.

No one testified against the bill at last week’s hearing. Several commodity groups, including the Missouri Soybean Association, testified for the bill.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Hartzler discusses opioid epidemic, transportation and broadband with Missouri lawmakers (AUDIO)

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A congresswoman who represents a large portion of central and western Missouri traveled to Jefferson City this week to meet with state lawmakers from her district.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, meets with Missouri lawmakers on February 4, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Congresswoman Hartzler’s office)

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, says it makes sense to join forces with state lawmakers, since they both serve the same constituents.

“And I feel so honored that so many of our state reps and senators from the Fourth District came to spend a little time discussing issues that impact both at the federal level and state levels,” Hartzler says.

More than a dozen state lawmakers from across the sprawling Fourth Congressional District met this week in Jefferson City with Congresswoman Hartzler. She says numerous topics were discussed during the “Working Together for Missouri Summit.”

“Such as the opioid crisis, the need for rural broadband, need for affordable, accessible health care, transportation, infrastructure,” says Hartzler.

Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, says about ten Missouri school districts currently lack access to high-speed broadband. The governor calls that “unacceptable.” Hartzler says broadband continues to be a big issue in rural areas.

Governor Parson has also proposed a $350 million infrastructure plan, aimed at repairing or replacing 250 bridges across the state. The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says more than 900 Missouri bridges are in poor condition.

Congresswoman Hartzler’s district includes Columbia, Moberly, Sedalia and Fort Leonard Wood. She represents all or parts of 24 counties. Hartzler, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, supports GOP President Donald Trump’s border wall.

“Because 90 percent of the heroin that is ending up in our districts and people are overdosing and dying, is coming across the southern border,” Hartzler says.

She tells Missourinet the overwhelming majority of her constituents favor the wall.

Hartzler says 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017 and adds that Congress has approved $10 billion in funding for states to fight the opioid epidemic.

State Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, and State Reps. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, Robert Ross, R-Yukon, Glen Kolkmeyer, R-Odessa and Donna Pfautsch, R-Harrisonville, were among the lawmakers who participated in Monday’s meeting.

Click here to listen to Missourinet news director Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, which was recorded on February 4, 2019 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Parson is concerned about redistricting component of “Clean Missouri” (AUDIO)

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Missouri’s governor is expressing concerns with the “Clean Missouri” measure approved by voters in November, specifically the provision to require a state demographer to draw state legislative maps.

Attorney Chuck Hatfield (standing at right), who represents Clean Missouri Incorporated, addresses Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on August 31, 2018 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Mark Wilson/News Tribune)

Governor Mike Parson (R) addressed the issue with reporters during Thursday’s Missouri Press Association and Associated Press (AP) day in Jefferson City.

“But I think we all know in this room that the bottom line to that (Amendment One) was the redistricting portion of it is what we was trying to change,” Parson says. “Do I have concerns about that, yes I do.”

62 percent of Missouri voters approved Amendment One, which passed by more than 500,000 votes in November. Parson says any changes should have to go back to voters.

Amendment One also bans gifts worth more than $5 from lobbyists to lawmakers and lowers the campaign contribution limits for state legislative candidates.

“I don’t think it (Clean Missouri) had anything to do with the money side of it because I don’t think there was hardly any changes to that myself, personally, I don’t,” says Parson. “But I think that was part of the sales pitch.”

Amendment One backers note a citizen commission would review the legislative maps drawn by the state demographer. Former State Sen. Bob Johnson, R-Lee’s Summit, supported Amendment One and supports the requirement of a state demographer.

Johnson spoke to Missourinet outside the Cole County Courthouse on August 31, after a 90-minute court hearing in Jefferson City.

“I think they (districts) should be compact, contiguous, and competitive,” Johnson said that afternoon. “No longer do we want to see a group of voters on one side, three blocks separating for a mile or so and pick up another group of voters. No, we want them squares and rectangles and that kind of thing.”

Amendment One opponents included the Missouri Farm Bureau, which said Amendment One “would mandate extensive gerrymandering” in an effort to balance each district with an equal number of Democratic and Republican voters.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce also opposed the measure. Chamber President Dan Mehan called it “a solution searching for a problem.”

Amendment One also requires state lawmakers to wait two years before becoming lobbyists. It had previously been one year.

 

Click here to listen to Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s comments about “Clean Missouri”. The comments came on January 31, 2019, during the Missouri Press Association and AP day in Jefferson City:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missourians to help with projected chicken wing record-eating weekend

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Some upset Kansas City Chiefs football fans will play a role in eating a potential record 1.3 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl parties this weekend. Tom Super of the National Chicken Council tells Missourinet affiliate KDKD in Clinton wings and football have gone together for many years.

Photo courtesy of Brownfield Ag News

“Back in the 60s and 70s, folks cooked the whole bird at home,” Super says. “In the 80s, you as consumers, started preferring boneless, skinless breast meat. Wings really became an inexpensive biproduct for chicken producers. Restaurants and bars realized that they could charge low prices for this relatively inexpensive protein. Due to the spicy, salty nature of the sauce and the wings, beer sales would go through the roof.”

Super says the wings would not be possible without the hard work of about 25,000 poultry producers, including those in Missouri. He says about nine billion chickens are raised each year for their meat.

Super says chicken wings remain the perfect party food this weekend, even if you refuse to watch the game.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri’s Blunt and Clay see federal government shutdown differently

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Key members in Missouri’s congressional delegation have different perspectives on the end of a 35-day federal government shutdown, and their perspectives are divided along party lines.

Congressman Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis)

President Donald Trump (R) announced Friday afternoon that a compromise deal had been reached to re-open the federal government, adding that furloughed federal employees would receive their back pay as soon as possible.

“I want to thank all of the incredible federal workers and their amazing families, who have shown such extraordinary devotion in the face of this recent hardship,” Trump said Friday in the Rose Garden.

The “Washington Post” reports the U.S. Senate and House approved the plan by voice vote, and both chambers then adjourned. The newspaper says the plan will impact about 800,000 federal employees who had missed two consecutive paychecks.

A Democratic congressman who represents a large portion of the St. Louis region on Capitol Hill is blaming President Trump for the shutdown.

“For 35 days, the President inflicted needless suffering, pain and real damage on federal employees and our nation for absolutely no good reason. The Trump shutdown was never about border security. It was about the President’s ego and his ridiculous campaign promise,” U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay (D) says in a statement. He represents St. Louis City and a large portion of St. Louis County.

Clay, who’s in his tenth term on Capitol Hill and is a senior member of the state’s delegation, also says that “real leaders don’t build walls, they build bridges.”

Congressman Clay had been calling on the president to open the government first, before negotiating about border security. About 100 laid-off and furloughed federal employees met Friday morning at Congressman Clay’s St. Louis office on Gravois.

Clay says more than 12,000 federal employees in Missouri were impacted by the federal government shutdown.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R), sees it differently. Blunt, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, says it’s time for Democrats to come to the negotiating table.

“Shutdowns are bad politics and even worse government. Democrats say they’re for stronger border security. It’s time for them to get to the table. And then this process should be done through the normal structure. The president has a clear responsibility to secure the border and if Democrats cooperate we won’t end up in a place where this is done through declaring an emergency. That precedent could create real problems in the future on other issues,” Blunt says in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R), who was elected in November, tweeted Friday “After (the) President’s announcement, Democrats now have chance to demonstrate that they are truly serious about securing the border. Democrat members of Congress have said over and over that they support border security. Now it’s time to prove it.”

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, also tweeted Friday about the issue. “I’m pleased that the President has come to his senses and decided to reopen the government,” Cleaver tweeted.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Parson says Panama Canal expansion is quite the deal for Missouri

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Gov. Mike Parson says the Panama Canal expansion is an opportunity to make greater use of the Mississippi River for shipping agriculture products. During the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association Convention in Columbia on Saturday, Parson says the two-and-a-half-year-old expansion can give an edge to Missouri farmers.

Gov. Mike Parson

“No matter what part of the state you’re in, in agriculture, that’s going to play a huge role of how we get our products out of this state and the opportunities we’re going to have for that,” he says. “I think that’s definitely an area we’ve got to focus on.”

Parson, a Republican, says alternatives must be found for state transportation funding, since Missouri voters have rejected a fuel tax increase more than once.

“The problem does not go away and we have to figure out a way to be able to meet the demands of the future for this state,” Parson says.

In November, Missouri voters rejected a gas tax increase to help maintain roads. The ballot measure would have boosted the fuel tax by 2.5 cents annually over four years.

Parson spoke to a crowd of about 700 people at the event.

By Tom Steever of Brownfield Ag News