Missouri Farm Bureau Spearheads Energy Discussion At National Convention

Missouri Farm Bureau Pres. Garrett Hawkins prepares to open a forum featuring four candidates for Missouri governor, held Dec. 3, 2023 at the Margaritaville Lake Resort in Osage Beach. (Photo by Kyle Hill, Alpha Ag Network)

Energy policy and its impact on property rights was a top priority for Missouri Farm Bureau’s delegates to the recently concluded 105th Annual Convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation this week in Utah. Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins…

Central MO Info · 24 0126 Missouri Farm Bureau Pres. Garrett Hawkins on Energy Policy cut 1

Hawkins expressed concern about prime farmland being converted into solar energy farms, permanently taking rowcrop and pasture acreage out of production.

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Balancing property rights with economic opportunity for farmers has also played out in the past year with efforts by ethanol producers and biofuel groups to install pipelines transporting carbon dioxide from plants to underground sequestration sites. Hawkins says landowners leery of the use of eminent domain are hoping to see different carbon capture technologies emerge.

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Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins says the state’s delegates also provided input on Farm Bureau’s policy calling for increasing flexibility in USDA Risk Management Agency’s Pasture, Rangeland and Forage program.