<\/a>You’re familiar with the classic situation of somebody who gets hoodwinked because they didn’t read the small print. Well, it looks like we’ve got some purveyers of very, very small print (so small that it’s not even there) here in Missouri. These are the folks who devised and are promoting the proposed Missouri Constitutional Amendment 1 (House Joint Resolution Nos. 11 & 7<\/a>). This is the August 5 ballot language<\/a> that voters will see:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to ensure that the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices shall not be infringed?The potential costs or savings to governmental entities are unknown, but likely limited unless the resolution leads to increased litigation costs and\/or the loss of federal funding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However, the Linn County Reader<\/i> informs us<\/a> that :<\/p>\n <\/p>\n … although the official ballot language voters will see when they go to the polls next month gives no indication of this, the Fair Ballot Language that voters won’t see when they go to the polls on Aug. 5 states, “A ‘yes’ vote will amend the Missouri Constitution…subject to any power given to local government under Article VI of the Missouri Constitution.” Instead, the voters will see official ballot language that reveals nothing about the impact of Amendment One on the ability of local government to regulate CAFOs.[…] If Constitutional Amendment One passes, you will be left without any ability to provide reasonable health and welfare safeguards for neighbors living in the rural areas of your county.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you doubt that all is not what it seems, note that Missouri GOP Senator Roy Blunt, a.k.a. Monsanto’s man in Washington<\/a>, came out recently<\/a> for the Amendment, dubbed<\/a> yet another “Montsanto Protection Act” by one writer who is concerned about the proliferation of genetically modified foods and the dominance of the biotech sector in agriculture. \u00a0Blunt straightaway set about trying to assuage fears that rather than protecting the “family farms” that supporters are piously evoking in their pro-Amendment 1 TV ads, the bill is intended to protect powerful corporate factory farms whose questionable agricultural practices might be vulnerable to regulation and so-called “nuisance” suits that threaten the bottom-line for the Blunt-friendly big-guys.<\/p>\n