93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Missouri’s commodity groups are praising the passage of a six-year extension for agricultural tax credits.
Governor Mike Parson (R) has signed the legislation into law, and he was joined by Missouri Pork Association (MPA) executive vice president Don Nikodim and other farm group leaders. Nikodim tells 939 the Eagle that the extension is very important.
“The Missouri Agriculture and Small Business program run through the department here (Missouri Department of Agriculture) helps farmers figure out some things that they need to do to be successful in a business plan etc. And so those dollars are going to be allocated based on the same formula as other tax credits for business innovation are,” Nikodim says.
The Columbia-based Missouri Cattlemen’s Association also joined Governor Parson at the bill-signing ceremony. The tax credits include programs for biodiesel, meat processing facilities and urban farming.
Meantime, Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) director Chris Chinn is also praising the bill’s passage. She says the tax credits are vital to economic development in rural Missouri. Director Chinn tells 939 the Eagle that those tax credits helped the Mid-Missouri Energy ethanol plant in west-central Missouri’s Malta Bend get started.
“We’re really excited about that because it’s added value to the corn farmers in that area, but more importantly to that rural community. It’s provided good-paying jobs in that community,” Chinn says.
Malta Bend is a small farming town of about 175 residents located on Highway 65, between Marshall and Carrollton.
