Emerson Farm Tour

Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson, standing, speaks to a group of interested individuals about farm legislation at Strother's Sod Farm at Bragg City, Mo., on Wednesday, kicking off her 2009 Farm Tour. Staff photos by George Anderson

BRAGG CITY, Mo. - Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) made two stops in the area on Wednesday, kicking off the start of her 2009 Farm Tour.

The first stop on the tour was at Strother's Sod Farm in Bragg City, where the representative visited with the Strother family and local citizens, toured the farm's shop and equipment, and spoke before the crowd.

Jim Strother, left, and Representative Jo Ann Emerson, right, discuss the art of farming sod.

"I've learned a lot about agriculture by listening to you all, who are the experts," Emerson said, noting that she did not grow up in an agricultural family. "I think, generally speaking, that the 2008 Farm Bill was a very good product, under the circumstances of which it was being written.

"Collin Peterson, from Minnesota, who heads up the Ag Committee, really did listen to producers from this area and tried to do his best against extraordinarily difficult circumstances and having an administration who wasn't necessarily always on our side."

Emerson then spoke briefly about the Cap and Trade Bill, saying that if the bill is passed, it could seriously impact the American agricultural community.

Emerson, center, speaks to the local Agricultural Commodity Groups at Strawberry's Restaurant at Holcomb, the second stop on her 2009 Farm Tour.

Cap and trade is an environmental policy tool that delivers results with a mandatory cap on emissions while providing sources flexibility in how they comply, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the representative, the countries who do not have the cap and trade type policy will not have to regulate their emissions, making an unfair market for the American agriculture community to compete in.

Emerson closed by urging the farmers in attendance to let all of their representatives know that they are not for the Cap and Trade Bill.

From Bragg City, Emerson traveled to Holcomb, Mo., where she had lunch with local Ag Commodity Groups at Strawberry's Restaurant.

A group of approximately 30 individuals attended the lunch meeting, including Senator Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, Representative Terry Swinger, D-Caruthersville, and Representative Gayle Kingery, District 154, Republican.

"[This lunch] does remind me that the food we eat, the food that so many of you all grow, produce, [and] add to the production of, is so taken for granted by the world, even by our constituents who aren't in agriculture," Emerson said. "Unless we were going without, we probably wouldn't be as grateful as we should be. We are not as grateful as we should be for the food, as well as the fiber, that you all risk every single minute of your lives trying to produce for us. So I thank you for that.

"It is really very depressing to think that all of the major legislation is being written by my colleague Henry Waxman, from Beverly Hills, Calif., and my colleague George Miller, from somewhere up near San Francisco, Calif., our speaker who is from San Francisco, and the head of our Ways-and-Means Committee and the Tax Committee whop is from New York City. The point of this story is not that they are of an opposite party of me, so much as they are from regions of the country who have no clue what it is like to live in the middle west, or the mid-south, and that it is a constant struggle to level the playing field for those of us in rural America.

Emerson said the thing she is most worried about with agriculture is the "crazy Cap and Trade Bill."

"[The bill] would in essence increase your production costs by 15 percent, at minimum, over the next 10 years," Emerson said. "With the economy as bad as it is, and energy costs and input costs already far too high, trying to make our colleagues from the coasts understand that Missouri is a coal producing state, 85 percent of all of our energy comes from coal, [and] you just can't, overnight, do all of these things you want to do without penalizing the very breadbasket of our country."

Emerson said she would never vote for the Cap and Trade Bill because "the premise on which it is based, in my opinion, is flawed."

"Particularly flawed when you consider that we are being asked to increase our energy costs by 15 percent, just on the agriculture front," Emerson said.

The representative again noted that the increase would create an unfair market, "Particularly when large competitors of ours, China and India, are not going to do anything."

Emerson again urged the attendees to let their representatives know that they are not for the Cap and Trade Bill, before ending her local visit by thanking the Ag commodities for their time. She then continued her tour, heading in the direction of Stoddard County.