October 30, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Farm Bureau filed a brief appealing the denial of a previous motion to intervene in the appeal of the Second Amended Judgment of the Circuit Court of Cole County in the case of Missouri Parks Association, Village of Arrow Rock and Friends of Arrow Rock vs. the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

In its brief, Missouri Farm Bureau gives several reasons why the Circuit Court of Cole County ruling should be reversed or vacated. Among those reasons are the following:

Ø The trial court erred because it lacked subject matter jurisdiction since the case was moot as the farmer’s construction permit expired.

Ø The trial court erred in imposing the two mile buffer because there is no legal or factual basis to do so and such buffer contradicts state law with respect to buffer distances.

Ø The trial court erred in that the Missouri Parks Association et. al. did not exhaust all remedies prior to filing the lawsuit.

Ø The trial court erred in that its ruling affects the rights of individuals who were not parties to the action.

Ø Because DNR missed a court deadline last year to present arguments refuting the claims made by the Missouri Parks Association et. al. and because the Circuit Court of Cole County in making its ruling refused to consider DNR’s arguments, Missouri Farm Bureau hopes to bring to the attention of the appeals court all arguments that should be considered and not the allegations of just one side.

"The ruling by the Circuit Court of Cole County cannot and should not be left unchallenged. Just the fact the Circuit Judge did not consider all the arguments is enough of a reason for this case to be overturned," said Charles E. Kruse, president of Missouri Farm Bureau.

"Of all the Midwest states, the so-called breadbasket of the world, Missouri is second only to Iowa in the overall economic benefit of agriculture. Our industry, which provides 17% of all Missouri economic activity, is important not only to the prosperity of our state but in providing consumers a safe, abundant and affordable food supply," said Kruse.

"Livestock farmers already have strict state and federal rules and regulations by which they must abide. If these need to be changed, then those changes should be considered by the legislative bodies and administrative agencies which make the laws and regulations, not by the ruling of a Circuit Judge," Kruse concluded.