‘A Graves omission’

Regardless of what some from the coasts may think, our rural farmers have had to adapt over and over throughout the time of this nation. In the ’30s, many farmers fought with the Dust Bowl. Windbreaks were planted to reduce soil loss from wind. Farmers started planting to the contour of the land, used crop rotation to change nutrients of the land, and added terraces to reduce loss of soil through downpours. Farmers adapt to the world because that’s what they need to do to succeed. Regardless of what some may think, our world is changing and unfortunately our farmers will again be left to carry the burden.

Recently our House Representative put out a piece titled “We Need Fertilizer, Not Solar Panels”

The current political representative for Missouri’s 6th Congressional district was ranting about how little the Inflation Reduction Act will benefit our farmers with high fertilizer prices. What our Representative failed to mention is that this bill includes 19.5 billion in nutrient management programs for our hard-working farmers. Farmers probably want cheaper fertilizer, but if these nutrient management programs work as expected, they could save up to $30 per acre. Our food producers could also become less reliant on fertilizer companies for their yields and perhaps cut runoff into streams, which has been shown to impact regions as far away as the Gulf of Mexico.

I know this is asking a lot, but I hope our farmers take advantage of these programs and loosen the grip from fertilizer companies.

Michael Baumli

Maryville