Under new legislation, regulating the labeling, cultivation or use of seeds and fertilizer would be left up to the state.
An omnibus bill sent to the governor's desk Thursday would forbid counties and communities from implementing new legal requirements after Aug. 28 relating to labeling, cultivation, and use of fertilizers and seeds other than rice. The bill also prohibits labeling products as meat that were not produced from livestock or poultry and removed a yield tax on forest croplands, among several other measures.
Senate Bill 627 was sponsored by Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown. Missouri Farm Bureau supported the measure to ensure consistent regulations for farmers and businesses who operate in multiple parts of the state. Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst said he believes the governor will sign the bill into law.
"We can't have a situation where every political subdivision has its own labeling requirements," Hurst said. "It would be a logistical nightmare for grocery stores, food manufacturers, and for the farmers to try and keep all of those different kinds of products separate. We don't want to see any individual municipality be able to have separate rules."
Hurst said the bill does not prohibit regulations relating to unmanipulated manure, which is not considered "fertilizer" under Missouri statute 266.291. He hoped that would pacify clean water advocates like the Missouri Sierra Club and the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, which opposed the bill.
MRCC rural organizer Brian Smith was not swayed. He said the organization had repeatedly requested legislators add clarifying language to allow political subdivisions to regulate manure application, because livestock operations often treat manure with chemicals or enzymes and use it as fertilizer.
"Essentially, we wanted the bill to say that this section does not apply to county health ordinances with manure restrictions," Smith said. "They would reject it every time."
Missouri Sierra Club organizer Michael Berg said the law is an attempt to limit local control of environmental issues, like preventing water contamination, as part of a larger effort to promote agricultural business priorities over environmental well-being.