Munzlinger: Thank A Farmer Week

As we recognize this week as “Thank a Farmer Week,” I have some thoughts I want to share.

In rural Missouri, we sometimes take our lifestyle and abundances of material goods for granted. Our Heavenly Father provides many ways for us to provide for our families, neighbors, friends and community members. Just one of those is through farming and the lifestyle it allows. Many of us have chosen farming, as our fathers and grandfathers before us. However, what is different is that we now feed the world. We no longer farm to fill the shelves of the local grocery stores. Missouri’s agriculture industry is the largest revenue generator in our state.

As agriculture has grown, so has the number of decisions that have been taken from our control and placed in the hands of others. As your Missouri senator, I strive to protect and preserve the agriculture industry and our rural way of life. The family farm has been shrinking over the past few decades, but it is the small farms that continue to be the backbone of our state’s economy.

Among the highlights of my new job as Missouri senator is chairing the Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee. This committee hears all legislation that is related to the farming industry in Missouri, and my goal is to see to it that Missouri’s number-one industry is not
ignored. We have some great senators on this committee who feel as passionately about agriculture as I do, and I am confident we will work tirelessly on your
behalf.

So, as we dig out of one of the heaviest snows in state history, we look forward to another safe and profitable spring planting and fall harvesting. When folks buy their groceries, I hope they will stop for a moment and remember how the food got there in the first place. In the days to come, I hope you take the time to thank a farmer. I know I will.

Thoughts on the job MoDOT has done handling the weather? Contact them: (888) 275-6636.