MO Senator Roy Blunt Receives Golden Plow Award From Farm Bureau

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is being honored by the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Officials handing him the Golden Plow award, the highest recognition given to a sitting member of congress.

In a statement, Blunt called the award a “high honor” saying he will “Continue to advocate for programs that benefit Missouri Farmers and Ranchers.”

Some of those include pushing for more rural broadband internet access, improvements to area infrastructure and removing burdensome regulations that prohibit farmers from succeeding at their jobs.

Blunt is one of many who voted in favor of the Farm Bill, which recently passed and was signed into law by President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the American Farm Bureau Federation and Missouri Farm Bureau honored U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) with the Golden Plow award, the highest recognition given to a sitting Member of Congress.

“As the son of dairy farmers, having the opportunity to advocate for programs and policies that benefit Missouri’s farmers and ranchers is one of the things I’ve been most proud of,” said Blunt. “With world food demand expected to double in the next 30 to 40 years, there are a lot of challenges and opportunities ahead for the ag industry. No country in the world is better positioned – geographically, technologically, or academically – to meet that demand than we are. To do so, we need to continue working to expand rural broadband, improve our infrastructure, and prevent burdensome regulations that impose huge costs with little to no benefit. I’m grateful to have the Farm Bureau’s advice on all of these issues and look forward to continuing our partnership as we work together to strengthen the ag industry and support America’s farm families.”

The American Farm Bureau’s press release is available HERE.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Blunt has consistently worked to ensure Missouri priorities are reflected in the annual government funding process. The most recent government funding bill continued investments in a rural broadband expansion, agricultural  research, and rural development.

The digital divide has left about one-third of rural Missourians without access to broadband. Blunt worked to expand access to broadband through the creation of the ReConnect Pilot Program in the FY2018 government funding bill, and supported additional funding for the program in the FY2019 and FY2020 funding bills. Over the past two years, Missouri has received more than $100 million in funding through the ReConnect Program.

In August 2018, Blunt announced that Missouri also received nearly $255 million through the Federal Communication Commission’s Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF-II) auction, about 17 percent of the total amount awarded nationwide, the most of any state.

Blunt voted in favor of the 2018 Farm Bill, which made essential investments in rural America to expand access to high-speed broadband and improve infrastructure.

Blunt has fought to protect Missouri farmers and producers from excessive regulations, like the Obama administration’s Waters of the U.S. rule, which would have given the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction over 99.7 percent of Missouri, and the so-called Clean Power Plan that would have imposed billions in costs on the economy.