Missouri GOP endorses farming ballot measure

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri Republican Party has endorsed a ballot measure seeking to create a constitutional right to farm.

A proposed amendment scheduled to appear on the November ballot would ask voters whether the right "to engage in farming and ranching" should be "forever guaranteed" in the Missouri Constitution.

The Republican State Committee endorsed the measure by a voice vote Saturday. That will allow the party to promote the measure in its get-out-the-vote efforts for this year's elections.

The proposal was referred to the ballot by the Republican-led state Legislature. But at least some Republicans expressed opposition Saturday. One GOP committee member questioned whether someone could use the amendment to assert a right to grow marijuana.

The amendment is backed by a coalition of agricultural groups called Missouri Farmers Care.