Bill Text: MO HCR20 | 2014 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Requests the U.S. Congress to urge the USDA and EPA to approve 2,4-D tolerant crops to allow Missouri farmers fair access to needed advancements in agriculture
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-04-10 - Senate Message (S) [HCR20 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2014-HCR20-Comm_Sub.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
House Concurrent Resolution No. 20
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
WHEREAS, the total economic impact of agricultural sectors in Missouri is over $31.4 billion annually and contributes to our nation’s robust agricultural tradition; and
WHEREAS, Missouri’s production of corn, cotton, and soybeans alone is valued at more than $3.7 billion per year, with nearly 80 percent of corn and cotton and 50 percent of soybeans exported annually; and
WHEREAS, these yields are threatened due to no less than six weed species having developed glyphosate resistance throughout important agricultural counties in the state; and
WHEREAS, without access to new modes of action, farmers soon will be forced to revert to outdated, costly, and environmentally unsustainable farming practices to manage weeds such as tillage and weeding by hand; and
WHEREAS, crops tolerant to 2,4-D and dicamba represent new technologies that will inhibit herbicide-resistant weeds from reducing crop yields in Missouri and allow farmers to employ ecological and economical farming practices; and
WHEREAS, these new seed technologies have been under review by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for three to four years or more; and
WHEREAS, these delays by federal regulatory agencies put Missouri farmers at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace as Canada and Brazil have already approved some of these crops; and
WHEREAS, American farmers also must have access to these same tools to provide a livelihood to their families and ensure that Missouri remains a top agricultural producing state:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby request the United States Congress to urge the USDA and EPA to quickly approve 2,4-D and dicamba tolerant crops to allow Missouri farmers fair access to needed advancements in agriculture; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives and each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation.
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