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Missouri dairy industry shaken in 2014

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — In the last year, the hope for a strong future for a more thriving Missouri dairy industry may have hit a new low when the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon, and barely fell below the needed votes to be overturned by the Missouri General Assembly. The overturn was supported heavily in the Senate, but suffered one less vote than necessary to be overturned in the House.

House Bill 1326 and Senate Bill 506 combined make up the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act. The collaboration was presented during this year’s legislative session. The bill was crafted over the span of two years, and generated with the support of MU assistant research professor Dr. Scott Brown, as well as substantial bipartisan support.

One of the most controversial portions of the bill lies in the creation of a “dairy producer insurance premium assistance program for producers who participate in the federal margin protection program for dairy producers,” as stated in the literature in SB 506.

Rep. Guernsey
Rep. Guernsey

Rep. Bill Reiboldt (R-Neosho) assures the crop insurance would only be used in the bad years, or when margins of profits are significantly low or disproportionate. Reiboldt helped sponsor the bill, and brought 40 plus years of experience on his own dairy farm to affirm the importance of lending aid to the ailing dairy farms in Missouri.

Currently, Missouri has one-third less dairy farms than it did a decade ago. The state is quickly losing rank as a dairy industry leader.

“The biggest thing we have to lose is quality of product,” Reiboldt said. “We also can’t afford to lose those jobs. We can’t afford to have our milk plants and milk processing close down – those are good paying jobs.”

The bill contains many parts – the marginal insurance program, or the establishment of the Missouri Dairy Industry Revitalization Fund, being only one. A second portion includes an agricultural scholarship program for students participating in agricultural curricula at any Missouri university or college.

“This program shall make available 80 scholarships at $5,000 each toward tuition at any college or university in Missouri for students in agriculture-related degree programs who make a commitment to work in the agriculture industry,” reads SB 506.

Reiboldt has high hopes to fast track the bill this coming session.

Rep. Casey Guernsey (R – Bethany), who spearheaded the bill, spent this last legislative session in the House pushing for financial and economic stability for dairy farmers in Missouri. Although 2014 is his last year in the House, he remains optimistic about the future of agriculturally beneficial legislation to pass in Missouri.

Guernsey has been an advocate for protecting dairy farmers, processors, and the subsequent agricultural economy, but also ensuring the consumers in Missouri are receiving the best product at the best price.

“We now have to ship in up to 60% of our milk supply from out-of-state to meet the demand here in Missouri,” Guernsey said. “And the result of that we see in the grocery store: an insanely high price for a gallon of milk. And it’s not going to get cheaper as we lose more of our processors.”

This past weekend, Guernsey was informed by the Missouri Department of Conservation about their intentions to move forward with pieces of the original bill, including regulations regarding the sale of captive deer and agricultural land fencing and distribution restrictions.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is considered to be a force that helped guide the bill’s failure during the legislative session.

“I find it beyond frustrating to see the Department of Conservation go back to a reasonable position they could have gone back to a year ago,” Guernsey said. “[They] are willing to go to the wall to kill a bill, and then after the legislative process is over, go on to implement parts of the bill.”

According to Guernsey, the last five years have seen hundreds of Missouri dairies close down, and the enactment would have significantly reversed those numbers.

“It’s very frustrating to see a very small group of people at the Department of Conservation tank such a strong agriculture bill,” Guernsey said. “Hopefully we can work together better next year.”