Thursday, August 17, 2006

SEDALIA, MO – U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent today met with Missouri farmers and ranchers at the annual agriculture advisory lunch at the Missouri State Fair, where the Senators solicit candid comments and updates from farm leaders on their work on behalf of Missouri agriculture.

“Your guidance and counsel over the years has helped me serve the best interests of the Missouri agricultural community,” said Senator Kit Bond. “As Missouri’s senior Senator I will continue to use my position to help Missouri's farmers and ranchers and keep our state on the cutting edge of agriculture research.”

“I want to make certain our producers in Missouri have every opportunity to provide input as work begins on the new Farm bill,” said U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee which is preparing to write the next Farm bill. “In other words, I don’t want Washington deciding what is best for our farmers and ranchers in Missouri. Today’s session is a good opportunity for Sen. Bond and me to talk with, and more importantly, listen to Missouri farmers and ranchers. The best way to produce a successful Farm bill is to start working from the ground-up rather than waiting for Washington to tell our farmers what’s best for them.”

Bond told farm leaders the long-overdue Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) passed the Senate last month. WRDA, which authorizes the nation’s flood control, ecosystem restoration, and navigation projects, authorizes new 1,200 foot Mississippi and Illinois River locks. Bond, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure and a key author of WRDA, stressed that these improvements are critical for farmers. The aging lock and dam system must be improved in order to maintain the Mississippi River shoreline and inland ports, which serve as Missouri’s arteries to world markets, Bond pointed out.

There is good news on the energy front as well, said Talent, a member of the Senate Energy Committee. In July, the Senate passed legislation that will increase domestic supplies of oil and natural gas and reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of energy. Bond and Talent, who have long called for a comprehensive energy policy, praised the passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which will open up 8.3 million acres of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas leasing.

Bond and Talent told farm leaders that they secured money in Senate appropriations for critical projects across the state, including over $10 million for watershed projects to provide safe drinking water to rural Missouri and $7 million for various crop and livestock research projects to assist Missouri farmers in remaining globally competitive and a domestic leader. Bond, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also highlighted $22 million to modernize 7 locks and dams along the Mississippi and $46.6 in federal funds for key road, bridge and transit projects throughout the state.

Unfortunately, not all the news is positive, said the Senators. Once again, the Democrats in the Senate have blocked passage of legislation to end the death tax. Small business owners, farmers and ranchers need to educate Democrats on the importance of this legislation.

Talent and Bond also told agriculture leaders that they will continue to fight the 2007 Spring Rise on the Missouri River and advocate for Congress to provide disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers.