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Speaker plans agriculture listening tour

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — “Speaker’s Tour 3.0” planning is complete as House Speaker Tim Jones plans for an agriculture listening tour across parts of northern and central Missouri, ending in Kansas City.

This is the third tour the Speaker has taken this year — which is why it’s dubbed 3.0 — during which Jones says a significant amount of the state has been covered, but none so far have focused on issues within agriculture, as this one will.

House Speaker Tim Jones
House Speaker Tim Jones

“I needed to emphasize the importance of Missouri’s agriculture and agribusiness areas because they are the number one industry in the state,” Jones says.

During the trip, the House Speaker plans to bring copies of Senate Bill 9, an agriculture-related bill, to each place he visits to “highlight the fact that a group of bipartisan legislators voted to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto.”

“I didn’t even have to tell farmers about that bill, they told me about it this summer when I visited the State Fair,” he says. “Every commodity told me that overriding Senate Bill 9 was their priority.”

Many of the main state agriculture associations will be present during the event, including the Cattlemen’s Association, Soybean Association, Corn Growers Association, Pork Association and the Poultry Association.

An additional goal of the tour is to hear what the priorities are for these industries for the coming legislative session. This goal is why Jones is calling this another “listening tour.”

Jones says his family has agricultural roots in the state with a five-generation family farm he grew up on part-time and still works on when there is time.

“I understand how hard farming is,” he says. “Working the land is very difficult, and in Missouri we are very diverse. Everybody doesn’t just grow soybeans or raise cattle — we have a large variety of things going on in our state.”

Jones’ tour is set for next Tuesday through Thursday.

October 15

  • 8 a.m. – Poet Biorefining Plant in Laddonia, Mo.
  • 11 a.m. — Chinn Family Farm in Shelbina, Mo.
  • 3 p.m. – Reynolds Herefords in Huntsville, Mo.

October 16

  • 8 a.m. – Cargill Turkey Products Plant in California, Mo.
  • 10:30 a.m. – Tyson Foods Plant in Sedalia, Mo.
  • 3 p.m. – Cook Family Farm in Garden City, Mo.

October 17

  • 8 a.m. – Paseo Cargill Energy in Kansas City, Mo.