KBIA Local
(2009-11-19)
Listen Now:
COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
The Missouri Farm Family Agriculture Alliance launched this week. It aims to educate Missourians about agriculture business and the benefits of farming as well as raise awareness about the responsibilities farmers face when taking care of land and animals. Alliance spokesperson Sharon Oetting says the group wants to assure people that farmers are responsible both environmentally and fiscally.
null
"Well I think there's a lot of lack of knowledge about what agriculture actually does, there are lots of programs out there where by we preserve lands and streams, we put in buffer strips we plant trees we're very judicious in our use of manure nutrients when we apply them to the grounds and environmentally many are stating we are not being environmentally responsible, and that's absolutely, not the case."
Oetting says the alliance hopes to create an environment in Missouri that will protect the state's agricultural heritage and ensure that farming operations are supported and allowed to thrive in a responsible manner.
"This is important to everybody, because everybody eats, I mean that's the bottom line, everyone relies on farmers to feed them. One farmer feeds 155 people. And people in the United States today enjoy the most abundant safest food supply in the world."
Mid-Missouri farmers organized The Missouri Farm Family Agriculture Alliance to preserve the state's agriculture heritage. © Copyright 2012, KBIA
