There’s disagreement among farmers over the Clean Missouri ballot measure to redraw voting districts. The Missouri Farm Bureau opposes the proposal, claiming it would weaken the power of rural voters.
Mid-Missouri cattle rancher Susan Williams says Cooper County where she lives is already disenfranchised because it’s divided into four legislative districts.
Former Missouri Farmers Union President Rick Oswald favors the measure, saying it would curb the influence of big money which he thinks led to a poor decision by lawmakers in 2013.
The legislature loosened the restriction on foreign land ownership a week before a Chinese meat-processing conglomerate Smithfield Foods, which had significant assets in Missouri.
