Celebrating Agriculture

As we wrap up National Ag Week, I’m reminded of the tremendous impact that agriculture has on North Missouri and the importance of good policy so our farmers can feed our country. As both a 6th generation farmer and the Congressman for North Missouri, I’m honored to play a role in both.

The numbers don’t lie. The 2025 Feeding the Economy was just released and agriculture accounts for, whether directly or indirectly, 131,595 jobs in North Missouri. That results in $6.25 billion in wages and a total output of $26.3 billion dollars. If you factor in the whole state, it’s 969,726 jobs. Agriculture is a huge driver of our economy.

Earlier this week, on National Ag Day, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin visited with farmers from across Missouri to get their feedback on how the EPA can work with farmers. His visit came on the heels of his announcement that he would review and revise the WOTUS (waters of the U.S.) rule, which was great news for farmers, ranchers, home builders, and families across the country.

The EPA visiting on National Ag Day makes sense because there’s nobody who cares more about being good stewards of the land than farmers. That’s because farmers don’t think in terms of turning a profit this year or next year, we’re thinking about how we build and continue an operation that we can pass along to our children and grandchildren. That doesn’t work if we don’t take care of the land. Rarely is anyone happy to hear that the EPA is going to show up, but it’s a refreshing change when they come to listen and learn instead of dictating and regulating.

It's not just sensible environmental regulations that farmers need. We desperately need input costs to come down. That requires common sense energy policies that utilize the resources we have so we can reduce our reliance on imports.

We also desperately need a tax policy that guarantees certainty for our family farms. That means we have to stop continued efforts to undermine stepped-up basis and supercharge the death tax. Families shouldn’t live in fear that they’ll have to sell the family farm just to pay the taxes when their loved ones pass away. 

On top of all this, there’s a lot more that we need to get done for farm families in this Congress, including passing a new Farm Bill and cutting through even more red tape. Ultimately, we’ve got to get government out of the way and back to helping farmers. I’m proud of my farming heritage and fortunate that I still get to do it today alongside my family. I’ll do everything I can to protect that dream for all farm families in North Missouri.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves