To the Editor:

As a family farmer here in Missouri, I’ve seen first-hand how complicated politics surrounding agriculture policy can get, and the way things interconnect, even when, at first glance, they look unrelated.  

For example, take the seemingly separate issues of Amendment 3 on the November ballot and foreign corporate ownership of Missouri farmland. On the face of it, you might miss the connection, but there definitely is one.

If you talk to almost anyone about foreign corporate ownership of Missouri farmland, they'll tell you it’s a bad idea, regardless of party lines and demographics. Honestly, you’d be hard pressed to find people that say they are for it. 

Yet when the Missouri General Assembly took up the issue, the majority of our elected “representatives” voted to lift Missouri’s long standing ban on the practice and opened up hundreds of thousands of acres of Missouri farmland to foreign corporate ownership while touting the new “cap” as if there weren’t a ban already in place. 

So, how are they able to so blatantly go against the will of Missouri voters and their constituents? Aren’t they worried that people will see their bait and switch? 

One major problem is our former redistricting process which was written by the very politicians and corporations that benefit. Under the old gerrymandering system, politicians rarely had to worry about having their records examined or what their voters wanted because they sit in intentionally created safe seats that rarely see a serious challenger. This lack of accountability affects every piece of policy drafted and every vote that is cast. 

Missouri voted resoundingly to fix this system when we passed Clean Missouri in 2018. But, politicians are attempting to reverse the will of the voters by putting Amendment 3 on the November ballot. 

Are they worried that members of both parties say that this 5,000 word monstrosity is riddled with errors that if passed, would be written into our Constitution? Are they worried about two separate Missouri courts ruling that the ballot language is misleading, unfair, and insufficient, and therefore in violation of Missouri law? No, they aren’t worried because if Amendment 3 passes, Missouri gets an even more blatant gerrymandering system and their seats stay safe. 

Vote NO on Amendment 3, and demand our elected representatives truly represent us, not foreign corporate interests.

Nancy Shepherd

Rocheport, Mo