Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee Archives

Missouri’s governor warns that feral hogs are a danger to the state and threaten agriculture (AUDIO)

March 31, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Three Missouri House committees will be heading to the state Department of Conservation headquarters in Jefferson City on Thursday morning, to be briefed on the feral hog issue.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson, State Sen. Jason Bean (left of the governor) and U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (to governor’s right) participate in a Jefferson City briefing about feral hogs on March 29, 2021 (photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s Twitter page)

The briefing will take place at 7:30 a.m.

The Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee, the Conservation and Natural Resources Committee and the Rural Community Development Committee will be briefed by Conservation about successes they’ve had with feral hogs and the challenges they’re facing.

Feral hogs are a major issue in southern Missouri, especially in and near the Mark Twain National Forest. Governor Mike Parson is warning that feral hogs are a danger to the state and pose serious safety risks to residents. The governor met this week in Jefferson City with Missouri Department of Conservation Director Sara Parker-Pauley, U.S.D.A., the U.S. Forest Service and state lawmakers like State Sen. Jason Bean (R-Holcomb).

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem), who represents 30 southern Missouri counties, traveled to Jefferson City to attend Monday’s meeting.

“Those (feral) hogs can do great destruction to the farmers, to the forests and they’ve become a very significant problem. The majority of the feral hogs that in our state are actually in the 8th Congressional District,” Smith tells Missourinet.

A close look at Smith’s sprawling district shows the how much of a presence the Mark Twain National Forest has in his district, from east to west and from north to south. Feral hogs are prevalent in the Mark Twain, which is why the Forest Service participated in Monday’s meeting.

Governor Parson says feral hogs threaten Missouri agriculture and outdoor recreation, and Congressman Smith agrees.

“We hope to have them eradicated one day, they’re awful. The best feral hog is a dead feral hog,” says Smith.

Congressman Smith warns that feral hogs are damaging cropland and forests. Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Chris Chinn has also testified that feral hogs are also a threat to Missouri livestock.

Governor Parson says Missouri will continue its eradication efforts, working alongside federal, state and local partners.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem), which was recorded outside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on March 29, 2021:

Love: Missouri Prime Beef Packers to open beef processing plant in southwest Missouri (AUDIO)

December 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A veteran state lawmaker and cattleman has announced that a company will open a new beef processing plant in January in southwest Missouri’s Pleasant Hope, which is between Springfield and Bolivar.

State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on April 11, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, praises the decision by Missouri Prime Beef Packers, saying the Show-Me State ranks second or third in beef cow numbers.

“We have the potential now for Missourians to start feeding and finishing their cattle here in this state, and that will add more value to the Missouri beef,” Love says.

He says the new plant will open at the end of January, providing great pay and benefits. He says the 100,000 square foot facility previously operated as a pork processor, and that the plant is currently undergoing extensive upgrades to accommodate both fed and non-fed beef cattle.

Representative Love, who serves on the Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee, tells Missourinet that Pleasant Hope is a perfect location for a beef processing plant. The town has about 600 residents.

“If you draw a 60-mile circle from Joplin, which that includes the majority of southwest Missouri, part of southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas, you’ve got a lot of cattle,” says Love.

He says the numbers are there, and that the announcement is good news for the entire state.

He and State Reps. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, and Don Rone, R-Portageville, have been emphasizing Missouri’s efforts to help the meat supply chain overcome interruptions and shutdowns that have happened because of the pandemic.

Love, Shaul and Rone announced in July that the newest modern beef processing plant built in the United States had opened in western Missouri’s Lone Jack, which is southeast of Lee’s Summit. Republic Foods, which has about 175 employees, processes about 250 head of beef cows per day.

As for the Pleasant Hope facility, Love says the plant will have the capacity to process 500 head per day, and will custom process cattle for a variety of niche programs.

“The good news is he’s (the president of Missouri Prime Beef Packers) wanting to open it up and do custom processing for outfits of what I would call labeled meat, that would be in the higher quality grades,” Love says.

He says the top priority for Missouri Prime Beef Packers is food safety. He says the company is emphasizing a connection between the consumer and the producer.

Love says the company is focusing its efforts now on hiring.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, which was recorded on December 22, 2020:

Beef plant that opened in March in western Missouri now has 175 employees

July 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A veteran Missouri lawmaker who serves on the House Agriculture Policy Committee says the newest modern beef processing plant built in the United States now has about 175 employees in western Missouri’s Lone Jack.

The Republic Foods beef facility is located in far western Missouri’s Lone Jack, a town of about 1,000 residents (June 2020 photo courtesy of Rep. Warren Love)

Lone Jack is a small town of about 1,000, and is southeast of Lee’s Summit. It’s located in Jackson County.

State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, tells Missourinet that Republic Foods started operating the plant in March. He says it is processing about 250 head of beef cows per day. Missourinet contacted the company, which confirms the numbers provided by Love.

“These are what you call hamburger cows,” Love says. “They come in, they’re completely deboned, the meat is, then it’s processed into hamburger. They call it lean-trim.”

Love says about 75 percent of the cows are purchased in Missouri.

Love and other state lawmakers toured the plant in June, and were joined by representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA). Love says the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association and Missouri Farm Bureau also participated in the tour.

“I think there were eight legislators, seven of them from the House, all serve on the Ag (House Agriculture Policy) Committee,” says Love. “And then we had one senator, Senator Justin Brown from Rolla.”

Senator Brown co-chairs the Joint Committee on Agriculture.

Love, who’s finishing his eighth and final year in the House because of term limits, is a member of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association. He says it’s possible that the Lone Jack plant could receive some of the $20 million in assistance appropriated by the Legislature this year for meat processors dealing with COVID-19.

The $20 million is for plants with less than 200 employees. It’s designed for support, workforce assistance, equipment and capital improvements.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, which was recorded in June 2020:

State lawmaker and rancher hopeful that Missouri will get cattle slaughter facility (AUDIO)

June 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A veteran state lawmaker who has served on the House Agriculture Policy Committee for eight years says Missouri needs a cow processing plant.

State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, is also a rancher. He notes Missouri is second in the nation in cow numbers.

State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, attends the Joint Committee on Agriculture hearing in Jefferson City on May 28, 2020 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“I don’t know that we can justify what I call a processing plant to justify processing what I call fed-cattle, most of those are further west of us. But we have a lot of cows in Missouri,” Love says.

Love, whose western Missouri district includes Warsaw and Wheatland, attended the recent legislative Joint Committee on Agriculture hearing in Jefferson City. He is pleased to hear the news from State Rep. Don Rone, R-Portageville, that an effort is underway to get a cattle slaughter facility in Missouri.

“And if you draw a 100-mile circle around Joplin, Missouri, you’re going to find a lot of cows. And I believe we can justify a cow processing plant of size big enough to compete,” says Love.

Love, a Missouri Cattlemen’s Association member, says there was a cattle slaughter facility years ago in western Missouri’s Rockville, which is in Bates County. Rockville is west of Osceola.

Love says the Rockville plant was used by cattle producers across southwest Missouri, as well as southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas.

During last week’s hearing, Representative Rone testified that he and State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, met recently with retailers and meat wholesalers.

“This would be a processing plant in Missouri, for Missouri for Missouri-grown cattle and to be sold in Missouri,” Rone says.

Rone emphasizes the effort is in its very early stages, telling Missourinet we’re a “long way from brick-and-mortar.” A specific region hasn’t been selected.

Joint Committee on Agriculture Chairman Mike Haffner, R-Pleasant Hill, supports the plan. Supporters of the proposal hope to form a working group by July.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, which was recorded at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on May 28, 2020: