Missouri’s agriculture director supports Governor Mike Parson’s special session call, saying farm tax credits are vital to economic development in rural communities.

Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) director Chris Chinn tells 939 the Eagle that a plant in west-central Missouri’s Saline County has produced jobs and has expanded, thanks to tax credits.

“If you look at the ethanol plant in Malta Bend, Missouri, that is a perfect example. For over 20 years, they have been using the tax credits from doing their feasibility study, the new generation cooperative tax credit,” Chinn says.

Director Chinn is referring to Mid-Missouri Energy’s ethanol plant in Malta Bend, a small farming town of 175 residents located between Marshall and Carrollton. Governor Parson vetoed legislation providing a two-year tax credit extension: he and Missouri’s commodity groups are calling for lawmakers to approve a six-year extension instead.

“They have truly helped that group (Mid-Missouri Energy) be able to establish their business in the state and then come back to continue to expand. To create more job opportunities, to add more value to agricultural products in that area of the state,” says Chinn.

Governor Parson is calling for a six-year extension on numerous tax credits, including programs for retail dealers of biodiesel and for establishing or improving urban farming operations.

The urban farming component is important to Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, who backs the governor’s special session call.