I have been fortunate enough to serve in the role of agriculture chairman in both the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate. When I served in the House, term limits were still new and the implications of what it meant were yet to be known.

Now into my last term in the Senate, and having watched a couple of fresh crops of House members being sworn-in, the realities of term limits are setting in. During this time, we have also had one redistricting, which left Missouri with one less member of Congress, and continued to show a shift to more people choosing suburban rather than rural living. The maps for the Missouri General Assembly, drawn in 2011, show there is less rural influence in the House and the Senate.

I realized as the chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee that I was going to need to expose my new colleagues to an agricultural landscape that is very diverse across the state. What we learn as legislators cannot just happen in Jefferson City, in our offices, hearing rooms or hallways. We need to get out and experience it firsthand, from real Missouri citizens. My goal became to educate my colleagues on new topics and innovations in agriculture, so that when or if the time came for legislation, they might have a personal reference upon which to draw.

In the summer of 2012, the first “Keeping Current with Ag Tour” was initiated. Both Missouri House and Senate members attended tours and informational sessions about the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) and all the different divisions within. For instance, did you know that the MDA is the No. 1 consumer watchdog department of the state?

The year 2013 saw about 15 of us go to St. Louis, and in a 24-hour period, we benefited from seeing working barges on the Mississippi River and talks about transportation and the role that transportation plays in agriculture. The St. Louis Agribusiness Club also shared statistics and visions for the St. Louis region as it related to agriculture. At that time, the data showed that 27 percent of the region’s economy had a base in agriculture.

Next time I will share more information about our other tours and opportunities as representatives of Missouri citizens.

As always, if you have any questions or need assistance please do not hesitate to contact my office.