Help Missouri Deer Farmers

Statement: Nixon turns his back on Missouri Farmers; Vetos Bi-Partisan Agriculture Legislation


margin:0px;12px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;(39,39,39)July 08, 2014 / by Guest Reporter / 0 Comment
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margin:0px;background-color:transparentNixon turns his back on Missouri Farmers; Vetos Bi-Partisan Agriculture Legislation

margin:0px;(57,57,57);'Open Sans', margin:0px;background-color:transparentRep. Casey Guernsey R-Bethany
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background-color:transparent margin:0px;background-color:transparent“Today is a dark day for Missouri Farmers and property owners as a result of Governor Nixon’s deliberate decision to ignore Missouri’s number one industry in favor of lobbyists and attorneys in Jefferson City.â€� Said Representative Casey Guernsey, author of HB 1326, the ‘Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act’ and Chairman of the House Agriculture Business Committee. “Its unconscionable for this Governor to completely understand the importance of all ten components of this Bill and deliberately kill the legislation. This is a case once again of Governor Nixon siding with those advocating big government solutions in Missouri over historic revolutionary market-based solutions that would allow an industry to purchase margin protection insurance to relieve farmers from dependence on the federal government’s intense regulation. By not signing this bill it sets an historic precedent to allow a state agency with no accountability to any elected official to take farmers property and regulate them out of business. What more of an anti-farming stance could Nixon possibly take, he’s made a deliberate choice of elevating unelected bureaucrats over Missouri Farmers and empowering them with the ability to make a blatant grab of private property. Its an unconstitutional power grab.â€�
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background-color:transparent margin:0px;background-color:transparent“Governor Nixon is enabling an over-reaching state department to define farmer’s property as the states. This goes far beyond that of deer, its about farmer’s private property rights, he’s giving sweeping new access of Missouri Farms to regulators,â€� said Guernsey upon news of the Governor’s actions. “We in Missouri can’t ever let the blatant power grab of Missouri Citizens private property, especially in farming, occur.  Whats next? The unaccountable conservation commission regulating the Cattle industry? We’ve seen where this discussion has already taken place in testimony during my committee hearings.â€� Guernsey lead the charge to over-ride Governor Nixon’s veto of Agriculture legislation last year and will do so again this year. “Considering this legislation was passed with near unanimous support from the House this session from both parties, I know the General Assembly understands the importance of the Dairy Act. I’m confident once folks understand what all is at stake with the property rights components relative to farmers, we will see a significant number support the over-ride of HB 1326.
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background-color:transparent margin:0px;background-color:transparentMissouri has been hemorrhaging dairy farmers over the course of the last 10 years to the point where the state has begun to lose its processing plants and infrastructure putting the industry at the near point of no return. The Dairy industry employs from farm thru processing plant approximately 15,000 Missourians. If Missouri continues to lose farms that number will be decimated in the next decade. “This is why all 13 Missouri Agriculture strongly advocated to Governor Nixon for his signature of this legislation. This is Agriculture united at its finest and Governor Nixon knows it. He has literally turned his back on these employees, businesses and family farms.�
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background-color:transparent margin:0px;background-color:transparentEarlier last month a strong endorsement and advocacy of HB 1326 was signed by all 13 Missouri Ag groups including: MO Cattlemen Assn, FCS Financial, MO Agribusiness Assn, MO Corn Growers Assn, MO Dairy Assn, MO Deer Assn, MO Egg Council, MO Farm Bureau, MO Federation of Animal Owners, MO Pork Assn, MO Poultry Assn, MO Soybean Assn and MO Farm Equipment Dealers Assn
 




 

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Editorials are coming out.  We need to get people to respond in the comments!


Gary


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Editorial: Let's just keep calling deer what they are: wildlife

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18 hours ago  â€¢  By the Editorial Board
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;inheritThere used to be a place in Texas where you could hunt big game without ever setting foot near those icky woods where deer, elk, boar and other exotic animals roam.
;inheritInstead, you could sit at your computer in the confines of your mansion, in Dallas or Ladue or even Monaco, and for a hefty fee (of course), remotely direct a high-powered rifle on a swivel to shoot the “wild� animal lured into the right place by your big game guide. The guide would then do all the messy cleanup work, including mounting your trophy, which would then be mailed to you.
;inherit“Nice rack,� the UPS guy might say upon delivery, at which point you could brag about being a crack shot, without having to mention that you never set foot within a thousand miles of the beast.
;inheritThanks in part to the Humane Society of the United States, and real hunters who were offended by the lack of “fair chase,â€� such Internet hunting is now illegal in Texas and most other states, including Missouri.
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;inheritBut if you still would rather have a hunting experience where you don’t actually have to . . . you know, hunt . . . and when the trophy is all but guaranteed, there is a growing industry in Missouri in which captive deer, elk, buffalo and other animals are available for your “hunting� pleasure.
;inheritWherever Daniel Boone is buried (there’s a dispute between Missouri and Kentucky on this subject) he’s rolling over in his grave.
;inheritThanks to vetoes by Gov. Jay Nixon this week, however, those private businesses raising “captive cervidsâ€� will not be getting a free pass from Department of Conservation regulations. Since 1934, it has been a national leader in managing fish and wildlife so that future generations can continue to hunt and fish.
;inheritThe experts at Conservation are trying to head off chronic wasting disease in the state’s wild populations of deer and elk by making sure the ranches offering fenced-in “huntingâ€� opportunities don’t import unhealthy animals to the state. Nor do the Conservation experts want sick animals escaping and possibly infecting healthy wild animals.
;inheritHunters and taxpayers should be grateful.
;inheritThe Legislature, doing the bidding of a few greedy business owners, instead tried to spin this issue into one of freedom for farmers. They passed two bills, Senate Bill 506 and House Bill 1326, turning over management of the deer, elk and other animals on captive ranches to the Department of Agriculture. Big game would have become livestock.
;inheritHad the bills become law, the folks over at High Adventure Ranch near Steelville might have had to change some of their promotional material to comply with the new law. Changing references to “big gameâ€� to “livestock,â€� which could have spoiled the effect:
;inherit“Whether you desire a 10-point whitetail mount for your livestock trophy room or simply the thrill and challenge of taking down one of our many fenced-in livestock, High Adventure Ranch guarantees memories of an unparalleled livestock-tracking experience that will bring you back again and again.�
;inheritLawmakers should stand down and recognize that most hunters have some pride. They want the Department of Conservation to continue to do the award-winning job protecting wildlife it has done for decades.
;inheritLet Mr. Nixon’s vetoes of the captive cervid bills stand.



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margin-left:55pxCaptive Cervid, Deer, Department Of Conservation, Missouri Legislature, Humane Society Of The United States, Jay Nixon, Hunting

 
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Another one.  We need comments on.


Gary


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Missouri governor vetoes bills intended to change oversight of deer farms

 
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BY BRENT FRAZEE


THE KANSAS CITY STAR

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class="" (136,136,136)A white-tailed buck searching for a doe during the fall season at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge near Mound City.PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION


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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has ended the “great deer debate� — for now anyway.


Nixon vetoed two bills Tuesday that would have designated captive deer as livestock instead of wildlife while shifting management of the whitetails from the Department of Conservation to the Department of Agriculture.


In doing so, he brought temporary closure to a heated debate between Missouri deer farmers, who said they were fighting to stay in business, and the Department of Conservation, which maintained it should manage all wildlife, wild and captive.

 
 
 
 
 



At issue is the threat of chronic wasting disease, a fatal disease that was found in 10 deer in recent years in high-fence hunting preserves in Macon and Linn counties in north-central Missouri. The disease was later found in 11 wild deer.


Though there was no proof of where the disease originated, the Department of Conservation proposed tough regulations on deer farms to reduce the threat of the disease. Deer farmers reacted by lobbying hard to get management of their facilities transferred solely to the Department of Agriculture.


Deer farmers won the first two rounds, getting bills passed in both the Missouri Senate and House. But Nixon ended their quest when he vetoed both bills Tuesday.


“For more than 75 years, our Department of Conservation has been held up as a model for wildlife management agencies across the country because of its incredible success,� Nixon said. “Redefining our deer as livestock to remove the regulatory role of the department defies both its clear record of achievement as well as common sense.


“White-tailed deer are wildlife and also game animals — no matter if they’re roaming free or enclosed in a fenced area.�


In a special meeting of the Missouri Conservation Commission on Tuesday, Nixon also cited the exclusive authority the commission has to manage wildlife under the state constitution.


“It is unfortunate that the legislature insisted on amending this unconstitutional provision to two pieces of legislation that otherwise contain worthy provisions advancing Missouri agriculture,� he said.


Brandon Butler, executive director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the largest citizens’ conservation organization in the state, applauded the governor’s action.


“We’re very proud of the governor’s decision to protect Missouri wildlife,� Butler said. “We felt that the bills were only beneficial to a very small special-interest group.


“The governor made a strong statement that these bills weren’t in the best interest of Missouri wildlife.�


Sam Jones, president of the Missouri Whitetail Breeders and Hunting Ranch Association, found fault with Nixon’s actions. And he said the issue isn’t dead.


He and fellow deer farmers are hoping the General Assembly will override Nixon’s veto. And if that doesn’t happen, he hinted that the issue might end up in court.


“There’s no doubt in my mind that they (the Department of Conservation) are trying to put us out of business,� said Jones, who owns two hunting ranches and one deer-breeding facility in Callaway County. “They’re trying to regulate us out of the picture.


“We’ve maintained all along that we’re not the problem. I’ve run one of my hunting operations for 20 years and I’ve never had any problem with disease. We test regularly and meet all the requirements. And most of the hunting ranches in Missouri are the same way.


“But because of one incident (in which chronic wasting disease was discovered in hunting operations in north-central Missouri), we’re the bad guys. We’re being targeted, and that isn’t right.�


Aaron Jeffries, assistant director of the Department of Conservation, denies that the state agency is targeting the deer farms. Instead, he said, the department is taking proper steps to prevent the spread of a disease that could cripple Missouri’s wild deer herd and hunting industry.


“This legislation (was) concerning because we feel it is a dangerous road to go down, designating one species of wildlife as livestock,� Jeffries said. “Our job is to protect deer, whether they are inside or outside the fence.


“(Chronic wasting disease) is a big threat and we have to deal with it.�
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To reach Brent Frazee, The Star’s outdoors editor, call 816-234-4319 or send email to[email protected].
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Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/outdoors/article693243.html#storylink=cpy


 










 

I received two email from Missouri DNR today about open house using CWD to close down the deer industry by closed boarder and better fencing and more CWD rules.  The only question I would have is how can any deer industry grow under a regulatory agency that wants the industry shut down and uses all their power to close us down.  That alone should be why the deer industry wants the animal disease people to regulate them.


What is wrong with having the department of animal health regulate this industry?  The bottom line is all deer health and movement is governed by animal health.  Sure the heck isn't the DNR doing any of the animal health work.   It is the animal health agencies.


They learned all this stuff from actions they took in Montana in 2000.  They closed down whitetail imports because of some worm.  At that time CWD was not a issue in Montana.  Then they closed the harvest facilities.  The results were deer and elk farms in Montana were just starved out of business.  We have gone from 160 farms to about 20 farms in Montana.  Most just figure they have a nice hobby cause that is all we are in Montana. Guess the DNR figures we will all die sooner or later so the industry in Montana never is in the news.  The DNR never bothers anyone now in Montana nor are there any public meeting about deer or elk farms.  We need to help Missouri because if they get screwed all the other State will do the same thing and we will all have hobbies and not businesses.