Amendment 1 important for future of farming

By Blake Hurst

Panelists at a recent Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) event covered in a front-page story by the Southeast Missourian concluded that agriculture is a failure and harms consumers. Consequently, they opposed passage of the Missouri Right to Farm amendment, or Constitutional Amendment 1. As the old saying goes, we all get to have our own opinions, but we don't get our own facts.

Panelist Wes Shoemyer is worried the amendment will give foreign corporations the same rights as "humans." Shoemyer's argument is with the U.S. Supreme Court, not the amendment, which makes no changes whatsoever to laws pertaining to foreign corporations. In the famous 1819 case known as Dartmouth Trustees, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have rights as a person. Just like the future he sees for farming, Shoemyer is a couple of centuries behind the curve.

Surely Dr. Ikerd has checked some sort of reference materials since the last century, but you wouldn't know it from his comments. Nope, more people are not getting sick from the food they eat. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four of the five most common causes of food-borne illnesses have decreased over the past 20 years. The only increase was seen in a pathogen found in fish. Surely Missouri farmers aren't responsible for that; although I'm sure the good professor could find a way to blame us. And no, there aren't more hungry people, as Ikerd claims. In fact, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the total number of undernourished worldwide has decreased by 17 percent since 1992.

Agriculture has been a huge success for American consumers over the past century, increasing food production and making food more affordable for everyone. We've cut soil erosion, increased production per pound of fertilizer, gallon of water, and acre of land. We've seen the overall health of Americans improve because of better nutrition, and we've helped in no small way to feed the rest of the world as well. Almost all Missouri farmers are proud of what we've done, and know that we must pass Constitutional Amendment 1 for future generations to be able to continue that success.

Blake Hurst is president of the Missouri Farm Bureau.